g., the amount of time a friend and interloper spend together), and (d) ultimately motivates behavior aimed at countering third-party threats to friendship ("friend guarding"). Even as friendship jealousy may be negative to experience, it may include features designed for beneficial-and arguably prosocial-ends to help maintain friendships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).Orthographic systems vary dramatically in the extent to which they encode a language's phonological and lexico-semantic structure. Studies of the effects of orthographic transparency suggest that such variation is likely to have major implications for how the reading system operates. However, such studies have been unable to examine in isolation the contributory effect of transparency on reading because of covarying linguistic or sociocultural factors. We first investigated the phonological properties of languages using the range of the world's orthographic systems (alphabetic, alphasyllabic, consonantal, syllabic, and logographic), and found that, once geographical proximity is taken into account, phonological properties do not relate to orthographic system. We then explored the processing implications of orthographic variation by training a connectionist implementation of the triangle model of reading on the range of orthographic systems while controlling for phonological and semantic structure. We show that the triangle model is effective as a universal model of reading, able to replicate key behavioral and neuroscientific results. The model also generates new predictions deriving from an explicit description of the effects of orthographic transparency on how reading is realized and defines the consequences of orthographic systems on reading processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).A quintessential challenge for any perceptual system is the need to focus on task-relevant information without being blindsided by unexpected, yet important information. The human visual system incorporates several solutions to this challenge, 1 of which is a reflexive covert attention system that is rapidly responsive to both the physical salience and the task-relevance of new information. #link# This article presents a model that simulates behavioral and neural correlates of reflexive attention as the product of brief neural attractor states that are formed across the visual hierarchy when attention is engaged. Such attractors emerge from an attentional gradient distributed over a population of topographically organized neurons and serve to focus processing at 1 or more locations in the visual field, while inhibiting the processing of lower priority information. The model moves toward a resolution of key debates about the nature of reflexive attention, such as whether it is parallel or serial, and whether suppression effects are distributed in a spatial surround, or selectively at the location of distractors. The model also develops a framework for understanding the neural mechanisms of visual attention as a spatiotopic decision process within a hierarchy and links them to observable correlates such as accuracy, reaction time (RT), and the N2pc and PD components of the electroencephalogram (EEG). This last contribution is the most crucial for repairing the disconnect that exists between our understanding of behavioral and neural correlates of attention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).Early spatial skills predict the development of later spatial and mathematical skills. Yet, it is unclear how comprehension of the words that capture spatial relations, words like behind and under, might be associated with children's early spatial and mathematics skills. The current study addressed this question by conducting a moderated mediation model to test the potential moderating effects of group factors, such as socioeconomic status (SES) and gender, on the possible mediation of spatial language comprehension on the association between spatial skill and mathematics performance. In total, 192 3-year-olds were tested on a battery of assessments, including a novel Spatial Language Comprehension Task, a test of spatial skills (2- and 3-dimensional trials of the Test of Spatial Assembly [2D and 3D TOSA, respectively]), and a composite of 2 mathematical assessments. The results indicate that this novel Spatial Language Comprehension Task is a reliable measure useful for examining group differences and the early space-math link. Specifically, higher-SES preschoolers and females had higher spatial language comprehension compared with their lower-SES peers and males, respectively. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/epz004777.html and gender disparities in spatial language comprehension are concerning, given the strong association between spatial language comprehension and mathematics skills. Additionally, spatial language comprehension mediated the association between spatial skill and mathematics performance for females only. Future work should examine the potential causal role that spatial language comprehension may have in concurrent and later spatial and mathematics skills. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by impairments in social communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. Many studies have demonstrated atypical responses to audiovisual sensory inputs, particularly those containing sociolinguistic information. It is currently unclear whether these atypical responses are due to the linguistic nature of the inputs or the social aspect itself. Further, it is unclear how atypical sensory responses to sociocommunicative stimuli intersect with autism symptomatology. The current study addressed these outstanding questions by using pupillometry in mental age-matched children with and without autism (N = 71) to examine physiological responses to dynamic, audiovisual stimuli including social, sociolinguistic, socioemotional, and nonsocial stimuli, as well as to temporally manipulated stimuli. Data revealed group differences in pupillary responses with social stimuli but not nonsocial stimuli and, importantly, showed no variation through the inclusion of linguistic or emotional information.