Lupine Publishers | Generalisation Abilities of Learned Tasks in Horses (Equus Caballus) are Influenced by the Experimental Context

 Lupine Publishers | Scholarly Journal Of Psychology And Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

The generalisation of responses to different stimuli depends on the ability to create associations between stimuli. Stimulus generalisation can be performed for different stimuli or for different contexts in which the same stimulus is perceived. This study investigated the stimulus-generalisation abilities of horses in different contexts. Sixteen horses were involved in this study. During the learning activity (LA), horses were given the chance to choose between two geometrical figures (a triangle and a circle) to obtain a food reward; the circle always corresponded to the correct choice. The rule was considered learned if a horse was correct more than 70% of the time and made 4 consecutive correct choices. Then, a generalisation test (GT) with ten devices (5 circles, 5 triangles) was created to test generalisation. Only eleven horses respected the learning criteria and were included in the generalisation test. A significant difference in the number of correct choices between the learning activity and the generalisation test was observed (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, S=-33; p=0.001; LA: median=6, min=3, max=9; GT: median=3, min=0, max=5). There was no significant difference in the number of incorrect choices between the two tests (Student’s t test, t=-0.91; DF=10; p=0.384). A significant difference in the total number of choices between the two tests was observed (Student’s t test, t=2.56; DF=10; p<0.05). This experiment suggested limits in the capacity of horses to generalise a well-known task in different contexts. Because horses are often exposed to different environments or contexts, these results provide interesting and applicable knowledge for equine training and management.

Keywords: Behaviour; Equine Management; Generalisation; Horse; Learning; Welfare

Introduction

Horses are involved in many activities that have evolved over time and have changed the human-horse relationship [1]. Currently, horses perform sports and work activities that require adaptation to different contexts [2,3]. Horses are continuously challenged from physical and psychological perspectives and need to understand information provided by different persons or in different contexts [3,4]. To succeed in equitation, horses must learn different categories of exercises that are demanded by riders [5]. However, rider weight and posture, as well as the intensity applied to cues, are variable, which often results in differences in the information perceived by the horse [6]. Nevertheless, horses have an incredible behavioural flexibility that allows them to adapt their responses to the intensities of the cues given by different riders [7-10]. In addition, horses are athletes that often participate in competitions. Competition has been shown to induce physiological modifications in horses related to stress [5-11]. In competition, riders expect their horses to ignore external stimuli and to perform as usual in response to trained cues, which requires horses to generalise those cues from a training environment to a new context with multiple stimuli, such as the presence of the public [11]. The same situation might happen each time horses experience a change of ownership or a change in their living conditions [12]. To summarise, equine living conditions, training and competitions are full of different stimuli that challenge horses’ coping strategies [13-15]. In this context, it is important to understand that the generalisation of a stimulus implies that animals can form associations between different stimuli (Nicol, 2005). Horses are requested to generalise their responses to different stimuli over training, either through positive or negative reinforcement [7]. Stimulus generalisation could be performed from a group of stimuli with some similarities (e.g.: curved shapes) to a novel stimulus, which share the same similarities (e.g.: a circle) [16]. However, stimulus generalisation may also occur as the generalisation of a defined stimulus to different contexts [17]. Stimulus generalisation to new contexts appears to be difficult for horses [18-20].

Hence, the generalisation of a well-known stimulus to different stimuli is a factor in equine management and welfare [5]. This means that providing more efficient and reliable training methods for riders and owners can increase the welfare of horses [6,11]. Therefore, to efficiently improve horse welfare in equine husbandry and training, riders and owners should learn from scientific knowledge instead of following common beliefs [15]. The present study aimed to investigate the ability of equines to generalise a learned task, based on the same rule, to different contexts. We hypothesised that horses would show the generalisation of a learned stimulus to a novel test in a different setting.

Methods

Subjects

Sixteen horses (11 geldings; 5 females) older than eighteen months (11.5 ± 6.14 years) were involved in this study. All horses participated in equestrian activities on a daily basis. A visual examination was performed by a veterinary doctor to ensure that none of the animals had vision issues that could impair the tests. This study was divided into two learning events. All animals were submitted to a learning activity (LA), which was a reproduction of the test used. The LA intended to show the discriminative rule to the horses, enabling the selection of a population of horses that understood the rule before performing the second test. The discriminative rule was considered learned if a horse was correct more than 70% of the time and made 4 consecutive correct choices. Only horses that respected these criteria were included in the second test, which was a generalisation test (GT).

Material

“Philbox”, the dispositive adapted and he was used for the LA in this experiment (Figure 1). The device consisted of two white panels; removable black shapes (a circle or a triangle) could be placed in front of the panels, and a hidden operator could insert treats on a food tray through a hole under each shape. A second operator led the horses to the panels. Ten “Pesadelo” devices were created to test the equine generalisation abilities (Figure 2). Each of these devices included a tilting mechanism, with one black shape painted on a white panel on the top (5 had a circle, and 5 had a triangle) and an inverted container on the bottom. Treats were placed in the containers, which each had a cover. For all devices marked by a circle, this cover was pierced such that the treats fell on the ground when the animals pushed or pulled the panel. For devices marked by a triangle, the cover was intact, so the treats did not fall when the animal pushed or pulled the panel. Some holes were created on the container to ensure that both devices had the same odour, regardless of cover type. There was a tray under each container. No operators were needed to run this device.

Figure 1: Philbox. The Philbox is a modified device for performing cognitive tests. The Philbox includes two removable geometrical shapes (circle and triangle) and a hidden operator who provides treats when the animals touch the panel with the correct shape.

Figure 2: Pesadelo. A Pesadelo is a device created to perform cognitive tests. The device includes a tilting mechanism with a shape-marked panel on one side and a treat in a container on the other side. To obtain the treat, a horse must push the panel (circle or triangle), such that the shape-marked panel tilts down and forward, the container tilts up and backward, and the treat drops onto the floor.

Procedure

A habituation session to the Philbox device was performed, as described. The setting was presented to the subjects, and spontaneous approaches and interactions with the device were rewarded with a treat. The session consisted of twelve efforts with the shapes removed from the devices. The initial phase of the session included 6 attempts (3 on the right and 3 on the left) using a treat on the panels as a lure; an additional reward was given each time the horses touched the panels. The horses then made 6 more attempts, for which they received a reward only upon touching the panels. A habituation session for the Pesadelo device was also performed to show horses the mechanism of pushing/pulling the panel to obtain treats. For this session, two devices with the shape panel replaced by a whole white panel were used. Horses were given 3 minutes of free contact with the two devices, in which any spontaneous contact with the panel was reinforced with a treat that felt from the container. For this purpose, each time a horse obtained a treat, an operator led the horse to the other device, while a second operator refilled the empty container with treats.

The LA were performed using the Philbox device and lasted five minutes for each horse. Horses had the possibility to choose between the shapes and received a reward (food treat) upon touching the correct shape (always the circle) with their noses (positive reinforcement). The development of a side preference was avoided by following predefined sequences of four figures, with a randomised order of appearance, thus avoiding any recognisable pattern. In addition, a food treat was hidden behind each shape to provide the same olfactory cue for both the circle and triangle. There was no limit to the number of attempts horses could perform during the 5 minutes of the test. Once a choice was made, horses were walked around by the operator and returned to the starting position. Thus, the horses that made choices faster could perform more attempts during the 5 minutes of the test. Each horse was led to a distance of 1.5 metres in front of the panels and then freed to interact with the setting. The operator stopped at 1.5 metres, stayed in a neutral position, and did not interact with the animal until a choice was made. Horses that made 70% or more correct choices, with at least 4 consecutive correct choices, were subsequently included in the GT. There was a time lapse of 48 hours between the two tests for all horses. The GT lasted 5 minutes for each horse. The setting consisted of ten Pesadelo devices (5 circles and 5 triangles) placed in a controlled testing area inside of a riding arena (Figure 3). Each device provided only one treat. The devices were randomly positioned in the setting area to permit the horse to easily access the two options (triangle and circle). Each horse was completely free in the testing area, and the operator left the riding arena and the visual field of the horse. The performance parameters for both tests included correct and incorrect choices and the total number of choices. For the GT, a choice was considered correct both the first and second time a horse pushed/pulled the same panel with a circle, even if the treat reward was only achieved during the first interaction. The same rule was applied for incorrect choices. If the horse returned to the same device a third time, that choice was not considered, neither correct or incorrect. Each horse was considered its own control.

Figure 3: Generalisation test setting. Ten Pesadelo devices were positioned in a controlled area to test equine generalisation capacities.

Statistical Analysis

Statistical analysis was carried out using 9.4 SAS software (2002-2012 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). The significance threshold was classically fixed at 5%. Comparisons among the horses’ performances during the LA and the GT involved paired samples. To use the paired Student’s t test, normality was tested on the difference of the results in the LA and in the GT for the following parameters: “correct choices”, “incorrect choices” and “total number of choices”. For the “correct choices”, assumption of normality was not verified, so the non-parametric signed-rank Wilcoxon test was preferred. Normality was verified for “incorrect choices” and “total number of choices”; hence, the parametric Student t test was used.

Results

From the 16 initial horses, five did not learn the discriminative rule, so they were not included in the GT. The final population of horses comprised 11 subjects (7 geldings; 4 females). Only these horses were considered for the statistical analysis. Figure 4 compares these horses’ performances between the two tests. A significant difference in the number of correct choices between the learning activity and the generalisation test was observed (Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test, S=-33; p=0.001; LA: median=6, min=3, max=9; GT: median=3, min=0, max=5). Horses made two times fewer correct choices in the GT than in the LA. There was no significant difference in the number of incorrect choices between the two tests (Student’s t test, t=-0.91; DF=10; p=0.384).

Figure 4: Comparison of horses’ performances in the two tests (mean ± SD of choices). The learning activity is represented by light grey, and the generalisation test is represented by dark grey. ***: highly significant p-value, p=0.001; *: significant p-value, p<0.05.

A significant difference was observed in the total number of choices between the two tests, (Student’s t test, t=2.56; DF=10; p<0.05). Horses made a greater number of choices in the LA than in the GT.

Discussion and Conclusion

This experiment showed that horses who learned a specific discrimination task had a lower performance when the task was presented for the first time in a different context and setting. This result was emphasised by the decrease in the total number of choices and the number of correct choices between the learning and the GTs. The absence of a significant difference in the incorrect choices between the tests was probably related to the reduced total number of choices in the GT when compared to the LA. Horses made fewer attempts in the GT and often chose the wrong shape or device. The decrease in the horses’ performance between tests suggests that the generalisation of a learned task between contexts might require training and repetition. Even if the discriminative rule had been the same in both tests, the setting was completely different. The GT involved a three-dimensional setting with multiple devices, with only one positive reinforcement per device. For the LA, horses had panels simultaneously presenting all possible choices in their visual field, while for the GT, it was essential for horses to walk between the devices to reach all of them. The new context of the test can have impacted the performance in the GT. In addition, for the LA, an operator was always present. His presence could have represented a help for the animal. However, in our study, the operators were trained to stay in a neutral position and avoid any interaction with the horses to prevent them from influencing the horses’ choices. One could argue that the time (i.e. 48h) between tests could have a role in memorisation and, consequently, the generalisation of the rule. Nevertheless, memory in horses seems to be reliable and longlasting through life, as described by Hanggi and Ingersoll (2009).

Our results differ from those of Christensen et al. (2008), who conducted a study in which horses were submitted to a GT between stationary objects of the same colour with varying shapes in the same setting conditions. That study changed the rewarded shape between tests, while in the present study, the rewarded shape (the circle) remained the same between tests, but the setting was changed. Therefore, the generalisation of a well-known stimulus might depend on the context and environment [20]. This hypothesis is supported by the results, who created a setting with a lever near two buckets in an area open to horses. Horses learned that once they pressed the lever, they could have a food reward. Then, in a Y-maze test, a lever pointed to the direction of the correct side of the maze, where horses could find a food reward. They found that horses’ performance decreased from the bucket test to the Y-maze test. Even if the rule, i.e. the presence of a lever, was the same to obtain a food reward in both tests, the manner to follow the rule was different. Indeed, horses are accustomed to exploring new objects by touching or licking them; therefore, the exploratory behaviour of horses may have spontaneously provided the manners to use the lever to get a reward. However, in the Y-maze, this natural behaviour does not lead to any reward, so horses probably needed to find new coping strategies, which requires time and experience. Conversely, in our study, horses could obtain the reward by following the same rule with the same manner in the two tests, i.e. by pressing on a circle, which provided the same reliable information that horses could use for both tests. We observed a decrease in horses’ performances between the two tests, indicating that context features other than the manner to follow the rule can influence the generalisation abilities of horses.

Research findings are of great importance and should be considered in equine welfare and management because these findings often contradict commonly held beliefs about equine cognition and learning abilities [10-16]. Horses are part of a worldwide market and are moved across countries, which often implies regrouping with other conspecifics [18].

The ease of habituation to new living conditions is a serious welfare concern in horses that often results in misunderstandings in the human-horse relationship [4,6]. For example, if a horse is moved to novel husbandry conditions, its behavioural response to a well-known stimulus and the resulting coping strategies could be different from the original response and strategies, and these differences could be justified by the context modification, regardless of the horse’s previous habituation to that stimulus. The same problem could occur during competition because horses must perform previously learned exercises in new contexts [5]. In conclusion, this experiment suggested some limits in the capacity of horses to generalise a well-known task to different contexts. This study demonstrated that horses’ perception of different stimuli is context specific. Increasing our knowledge about the generalisation abilities of these animals is of great importance to improve equine management and training. Further research is still needed to fully understand horses’ generalisation abilities, especially focusing on the ability to generalise similar information in the same context, and to measure the influence of this ability on equine management and training.

 

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Lupine Publishers | Robots Among Us: Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun

 Lupine Publishers | Scholarly Journal Of Psychology And Behavioral Sciences

Introduction

Kazuo Ishiguro won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature. The award citation said of him that “in his novels of great emotional force, he has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world” [1]. Four years later, his most recent novel, Klara and the Sun [2] was published. It is not about any kind of abyss. It is about connections among us humans, and also with other kinds of being. Although its protagonist, Klara, is a robot, this novel is far more psychological than some of the papers that are published in psychology journals. As with solar panels, Klara is powered by the Sun, an entity that not only provides her with electrical energy to move and think, but comes to take on, for her, a god-like significance. What, then, is the difference between her and biologically based human beings?

Robots and Artificial Intelligence

As we think about robots, we generally consider them to be artificial, made from silicon. But this isn’t the only kind of robot. In The Robot’s Rebellion [3], Keith Stanovich has pointed out that we humans are also robots. The genes, which we tend to think of as “ours,” are not really ours at all. It is we who are their vehicles. Genes have programmed us to carry them along and nourish them, so that they can reproduce and proliferate. It’s not gods that are immortal, it’s these strands of DNA: the genes. So, as Stanovich proposes, we need to rebel, not just allow ourselves to be programmed by genes but, instead, to make our own human decisions. Ishiguro’s novel is about what kind of decisions we make for ourselves and others, and for what purposes. It prompts us towards thinking: what, or who, is a robot? What does it mean to be a human? What does it mean to understand someone fully, and to love them? Some people have wondered whether robots based in artificial intelligence (AI) will not just learn but will do so better than any other kind of being and, in this way, become more intelligent that humans, and perhaps take over the world. Looking back through history, with its wars and colonialism, thinking about income inequality and climate change, we may wonder how well we humans have done, in charge of the world: not nearly as well as we might have wished. But, with the coming of more effective forms of artificial intelligence, including “Deep Learning,” in which computational artificially intelligent systems do not need to be trained, but construct intuitions by taking in many examples from which they change their systems’ inter-neural connections [4], perhaps we might collaborate with them and learn, ourselves, to think more clearly. The physicist Stephen Hawking has said that “Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. It might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks” [5].

Perhaps this idea of artificial robots taking over the world is a Western view. Another view is, as Ishiguro suggests, that robots might be our friends. The emergency room physician, Brian Goldman, wrote a book called The Power of Kindness [6]. In one chapter he describes a visit he made to Japan, to investigate the making of robots who look after people who can’t look after themselves. With increased numbers of such people, as many of us become older, when diseases that used to kill us become chronic disabilities, more of us need to be cared for. These robots don’t just do physical tasks. The designers are striving to enable them to hold conversations in the way that people do, as Klara does in Ishiguro’s novel. Goldman said that he went to Japan in search of empathetic androids. What he found were kind people, working to produce kind robots. Might it be, perhaps, that this kind of influence from Japan, where Ishiguro lived until he was five years old, when he and his Japanese parents moved to Britain, became part of his idea of the novel about Klara: an AF: “Artificial Friend.” Here the question is not whether we humans might be annihilated by a form of artificial life, but what it is to be a friend, what it is to love someone. In the novel, the artificial friend, Klara is purchased by the mother of a teenager called Josie. The two of them live together, and after her morning cup of coffee, Mother (capital M in this novel) goes to work each day. And that is why, Josie needs someone to be her companion and friend. This someone is Klara. She looks like a human being. She is intelligent, perceptive of what occurs in the world, and very good at understanding people. A fascinating feature of this novel is its depiction of Klara’s thought patterns and observations. Klara comes to love Josie, as if from the inside, and would do anything for her. We see how the two of them get on extremely well together. We readers also form a close attachment with Klara, and, because of this, the last part of this novel is emotionally moving.

Gene Editing

At one of the novel’s turning points, Josie starts to become sick. Her physical condition deteriorates. The reason for this, perhaps, although readers are not told explicitly, is that she has been “lifted.” The term is first mentioned well into the novel, and it is never explained. What it seems to mean is that some children have, perhaps after their parents have paid a great deal of money, been genetically engineered to make them more intelligent than other children. The ones who have had this operation, are rather pleased with themselves and tend to look down on those who have not. It seems likely, however, that this piece of genetic engineering can make some of them vulnerable: liable to become sick, and even to die. As this starts to occur with Josie, Klara prays fervently to the Sun, and tries to think of ways to save Josie. Artificial intelligence has now been around for several decades. Genetic engineering is more recent. Alongside the issue of whether artificially intelligent robots might come to live on this planet, this newer question has occurred: might human children have their intelligence lifted? Could they have their abilities improved by means of genetic alterations? And would this be for everyone, or just for children of very wealthy parents? A pioneer of genetic engineering, also a winner of a Nobel Prize, in this case in 2020, for Chemistry, is Jennifer Daudna. Along with her collaborator, Emmanuelle Charpentier, she discovered “the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors. Using these, researchers can change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision” [7]. Animals include human beings. A biography of Daudna has been published this year, by Walter Isaacson: The Code Breaker: Jennifer Daudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race [8]. In Ishiguro’s novel, what is Josie’s Mother to do, as her daughter becomes more and more ill? She begins to have a physical model built of Josie. It looks exactly like her with working limbs and other parts. At the same time, Klara is tested to see whether, with her keen observational skills, she really knows Josie from the inside. She does. The idea, then, is that if Josie were to die, then the computational parts of Klara, which have come to know Josie, would be extracted and inserted into the working physical model of Josie’s body. What, or who, might emerge would be a completely new Josie, without illness, who would have her forebear’s style of movement and facial expressions, her thoughts, her words. In this way perhaps many people might not be able to tell the difference between the artificial Josie and the one who is likely to die. Many people? Including her Mother? Or would something necessarily be left out? If so, what might that be?Acknowledgement

 thank Alison Fleming for reading this review and making a thoughtful suggestion.

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Lupine Publishers | History, Historians and Anthropocene

 Lupine Publishers | Scholarly Journal Of Psychology And Behavioral Sciences

Introduction

Man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself- Rachel Carson. The Anthropocene is a generally accepted framework for describing the planet we now live in. The Anthropocene is a crucial paradigm for addressing environmental challenges in scientific, political, and ethical arguments. Its major contribution is a scientific, and hence non-normative, the hypothesis of man-made global warming. The assumed connection of man and environment provides a systemic perspective.

Holocene or Anthropocene?

The Holocene epoch relates to the fast proliferation, expansion, and global effect of humans, encompassing all its recorded history, technological revolutions, the emergence of major civilizations, and the overall considerable change to urban existence in the present. Sir Charles Lyell seems to have proposed the word Holocene in 1833, and it was adopted by the International Geology Congress in Bologna in 1885, referring to the post-glacial geological age of the past 10 to 12 thousand years of history. The Anthropocene has surpassed the Holocene as the most recent geological period. Since the year 2000, the notion of the Anthropocene has dominated discussion in practically every academic subject [1-4], including the humanities and social sciences, and has evolved into an inter-and transdisciplinary study area. It has also dissolved long-standing humanities divisions that have affected this discipline, such as those between ‘nature’ and ‘history,’ and ‘geological’ and ‘human.’ Furthermore, when previous ideas of human purpose, temporality, and collective memory- all of which are vital to historical inquirydeteriorate, historians must create new and crucial frameworks connecting the past and present to make sense of our future. At the very least, the term ‘Anthropocene’ sounded academic, combining Anthropos, the Greek word for ‘human,’ with ‘cene,’ the suffix used in geological period names [5]. The Anthropocene is a term from the Holocene Era that refers to the current evolutionary stage in which humans have become a significant factor in world activities.

Histories of the Anthropocene

The study of history is based on the concept that human history has a particular consistency that connects our past, present, and future. In our usual creative universe, we typically envisage the future using the same conceptual framework that allows us to comprehend the past. History of climate is the study of historical variations in climate and their impact on civilization from the advent of hominins to the present. This contrasts with palaeoclimatology, which studies climate change throughout Earth’s history. These historical effects of climate change may either improve human existence and lead society to thrive, or they can play a role in civilization’s eventual demise. Scholars have been hesitant to formally identify the Anthropocene as a new epoch, despite a huge increase in research over the last two decades. The difficulty in determining the beginning point is likely the most powerful argument, but issues about the human being, anthropocentrism and the validity of metaphors have also prompted many scientists to question the classification’s efficiency [6]. The Anthropocene’s projected ages, on the other hand, range from 50 to 10,000 years. The word “Anthropocene” was invented by Eugene Stoermer in the early 1980s, but it only acquired general acceptance in the scientific world until Dutch atmospheric scientist Paul Crutzen supported it in 2000. It occurs throughout the Holocene, a roughly 12,000-year period of growing natural stability during which varied human communities evolved.

The shift from the Holocene to the Anthropocene, unlike any previous geological shift, is driven by the purposeful behaviour of sentient creatures: ‘This is not merely an environmental disaster; it is a volcanic change induced by people.’ As a result, the notion of the Anthropocene implies that the history of human civilizations is inextricably linked to the history of the climate. History and geology are inextricably linked, posing a significant intellectual problem for the humanities. The Anthropocene hypothesis has become a solid, discussed phrase in the humanities and social sciences, bringing up new ways of thinking about humans, environmental communities, energy production, interactions with non-human life, confrontation, the social, and the presence of the past [7-9]. When academicians and other social scientists started studying globalization in the late 1980s and early 1990s, climate change became widely accepted in the public realm. While the Marxist critique of capital, subaltern studies, Indigenous science, and post-colonial criticism have all been enormously helpful in analysing globalization during the past twenty-five years, they have not fully equipped us to make sense of the ecological crisis in which humanity now finds itself. Joseph Needham, a physicist, and historian who had studied extensively in China, explored methods to break down boundaries and proposed a venture that highlighted all cultures’ reciprocal reliance.

The Anthropocene Controversy

We may make the case for the Anthropocene by stating that humans have depleted 40% of the world’s petroleum reserves during the previous few hundred years. This work has taken ages, if not millennia, to complete. Human activity has significantly altered approximately half of the Earth’s terrestrial area, generating biodiversity shifts [10,11], nutrient cycle, and soil, climatic, and environmental changes. Synthetic nitrogen fixation is currently fixing more nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems than all-natural processes combined. People use half of all freshwaters, which is quickly dwindling in many areas. Some scientists think that the Anthropocene began in the late eighteenth century, when analyses of air trapped in polar ice indicated the beginning of increased global carbon dioxide and methane emissions. This day also happens to coincide with the creation of the steam engine. According to the WGA (Working Group on the Anthropocene), the Anthropocene Period began in 1950, because of nuclear testing, the discovery of plastics, and the exponential demographic rise of the human population. The Post-Anthropocene epoch is also known as the Plutocene epoch. Despite significant advances in the study over the previous century [5], we are still a long way from understanding nature. The Anthropocene debate is the peak of Nature/Society duality. And, though the Anthropocene is inadequate as a historical rather than geological assertion, it is always an argument worth considering. A sequence of early steps results in the emergence of new concepts. On the way to a new synthesis, there are various philosophical detours. Without a question, the Anthropocene definition is the most impactful of these compromises. No other theory based on historical transition has had such a broad influence throughout the Green Thought continuum; no other socioecological notion has piqued the public’s curiosity.

Anthropocene and Health

Go to

The fast expansion of the human population and human activities is producing a problem: the increasing pressure is disrupting important biophysical Earth systems and producing environmental changes that are detrimental and disastrous to human well-being. The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change report for 2019 shows how planetary health is evolving in the ecological, social, and human health realms.

Conclusion

If you assume that humans are the only species deserving of consideration, you have not comprehended Darwin’s revelation that we are but are no longer aware of our function in the environment. People’s ability to affect change at such a large scale and such a rapid pace were unparalleled. The rate at which these changes occur spans from decades to centuries, as opposed to hundreds to thousands of years for analogous transitions in Earth’s natural dynamics. The Anthropocene must be part of our lexicon if we acknowledge that not all men are equal contributors to our global ailments and that many are victims. We know who we are, what we do, and what our duties are as a community.

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Lupine Publishers: Lupine Publishers | Antidialectics: Vodou and The ...

Lupine Publishers: Lupine Publishers | Antidialectics: Vodou and The ...:  Lupine Publishers | Journal of Anthropological and Archaeological Sciences Abstract This work, using a structurationist approach ...

Lupine Publishers | Public Health Followership During Covid19: Are followers more dangerous than their leaders?

 Lupine Publishers | Scholarly Journal Of Psychology And Behavioral Sciences

Introduction

The Covid19 pandemic has been a hybrid of 3 components, a highly contagious virus SARSCov2 [1], a culture of fear leading to risk aversion [2], and an escalating sovereign debt overhang [3] risking austerity and loss of ‘non-viable’ jobs. Currently a ‘second wave’ involving all three components is underway. Followership is a recent notion within the leadership genre [4], with recent literature emphasising the effect followers have on moderating behaviour of leaders, through a combination of stable and dynamic factors, in keeping with the social impact theory [5]. Followers are expected to cultivate aptitudes to function in a subordinate role, whilst assisting ‘the Leader’ in enacting his or her wishes. Historically followers were volunteers to a cause, for example ‘people of the way’ who followed the teachings of Jesus, accepting the task of persuading others towards ‘God’s kingdom on earth’ There was no expectation of monetary or social gain, but a real risk of martyrdom [6]. However, over the last century followership has become professionalised, for example in medicine [7], with followers seeking employment in public services, charities or academia; motivated by monetary and career ambitions including the prospect of civic honours. Despite senior followers often having specialist expertise, which leaders have to depend on, they can suffer reputational damage on being demoted or transferred from their post if found wanting. In return, it is [or at least was], expected for leaders to ‘carry the can’ when actions by followers caused unfortunate outcomes. Consequently, relationships between leaders and their followers can be tense or ambivalent [8].

Known Knowns

Prior to Covid19, western governments had developed elaborate plans to manage pandemics. Early intervention was seen as crucial for avoiding exponential contagion and associated economic losses. Furthermore, ‘event 201’ - a scenario-based exercise was conducted in October 2019 organised by the World Economic Forum, the Gates Foundation and the Johns Hopkins University. This meeting concluded that robust organisational links should be created between public health agencies, universities and private logistics firms [9]. However, despite attendance of senior bureaucrats from all relevant stakeholders, no follow-through occurred; perhaps due to recent pandemics [SARS and EBOLA] petering out with negligible western deaths, probably compounded by public health bodies undergoing ‘restructuring’ with associated job insecurity.

Unknown Knowns [Pre-Covid19]

Leadership training in public services have tended to involve ‘in house’ expertise, rarely utilising insights from the financial sector. One key market risk analyst is Nasim Taleb; who coined the term ‘black swan’; events which are completely unpredictable but highly consequential, bursting bubbles of irrational investment; leading to major restructuring of businesses and public sector organisations. Taleb went on to write a follow up book; ‘Antifragilie; the things that gain from disorder’ [10]; the idea being that unexpected disruption revels fragile teams and organisations; which typically fold at an early stage during a black swan event, whereas other teams and organisations survive and thrive. Public services, charities and academia have largely ignored Taleb’s work, perhaps considering themselves protected from market forces, with posts guaranteed through public funding. Although these organisations have repeatedly discussed the need for ‘transformation’, this has not involved building antifragility. Furthermore, there is limited recognition that talented staff move jobs, to work with antifragilie minded teams and leaders.

On selection of senior followers, Warren Buffet [Berkshire Hathaway Investments] described his strategy in recruiting senior staff being based on 3 values; energy, intelligence and, most of all, integrity [11], suggesting that recruits without integrity could ‘kill’ organisations. Integrity, defined by C.S. Lewis as ‘doing the right thing when no one is watching’, is arguably not necessarily a quality foremost in public sector recruitment, where a talent to cut costs and capacity to remain ‘on message’ perhaps being more sought after. The other book relevant to followership is by Paul Babiac and Robert Hare; ‘Snakes in suits; when psychopaths go to work’ [12]. They describe 2 types of damaging followers, firstly those who use the organisational hierarchy to maximise power, and secondly, ‘enablers’ who enforce instructions of their leaders using bullying [13]. The consequences of these individuals include loss of trust between employees, loss of productivity and litigation when evidence of malfeasance comes to light.

Known Unknowns [Post Covid First Wave]

The main observation within the first 2 months of the pandemic was the failure by western public health bodies to communicate risks and safeguards to the public [14]. Perhaps they were awaiting guidance from the World Health Organisation [WHO], which delayed calling the pandemic, having ignored warnings on human-to-human transmission for a crucial 3 week period in January. These bodies were perhaps also awaiting orders from their political leaders, despite these individuals being conflicted on economic preservation and maintaining public popularity. However, public health bodies in the east, with experience of the original SARS pandemic, reacted promptly warning the public on the emerging problem alongside organising testing, contact tracing and quarantining of the vulnerable [15]. The other finding has been the gap between promises made by western politicians on testing and contact tracing compared to actual delivery of these targets. Despite the pre-pandemic protocols, public health has been unable to rapidly organise testing for the virus, alongside failures of contact tracing [16]. Early involvement of firms with track records on logistics was absent, alongside not involving private labs to increase testing capacity. It appears politicians were not aware of practical problems with delivery either due to subordinates not advising them of facts on the ground or due to followers wanting to please their masters with good news [including cost minimisation]. The decision by NHS England to discharge around 25,000 elderly hospital patients in April to care home beds before routine testing for SARSCOv2 was available [17] probably resulted in 50% of care homes contracting Covid19, with around 15,000 elderly deaths. This decision is awaiting legal review as there was no attempt to separate potentially infective people from the other residents, for example by setting up separate care home floors with dedicated staffing. The rationale for bed clearance was to ‘protect the NHS’ although in reality NHS hospitals did not come close to becoming overwhelmed [18]. Nevertheless, over 90% of care home residents were promptly placed on a combination of ‘Do not resuscitate’ orders and ‘Emergency health care’ plans, both reducing the possibility for active treatment of acute illness episodes. NHS England have denied influencing GP practices to carry this action and the government has ordered the Care Quality Commission to investigate blanket imposition of these orders in England [19].

Unknown Unknowns [Post ‘Second Wave’]

The main unknown pertains to how the virus will exert its effects on the population through continuing mutation, partly caused by attempts to degrade it by the immune system. There is concern that infectivity will increase [20], with long term disability affecting the heart, brain and lungs among Covid19 survivors, including those with ‘sub clinical’ initial symptoms [21]. Furthermore, uncertainty remains on effectiveness of the current crop of 11 vaccines undergoing human trials, especially on preventing community spread of infection, as viral carriage in the upper respiratory tract post vaccination is not guaranteed [22]. It is anticipated that spikes of infection will continue for the next 12 months resulting in local ‘circuit braking’ restrictions, although uncertainty remains as to the efficacy of these measures, partly due to less than full public adherence. Partially tested vaccines can be authorized for emergency use, but continuing concerns about delivery, storage and public uptake remain [23]. An evidence-based case for population wide prophylaxis using Vitamin D and Zinc supplementation has been made to public health bodies [24,25] in the face of commercial interests of vaccine and drug manufacturers.

Conclusion

Covid19 has cast a harsh light on weaknesses of public health bodies in the west and the resulting risk to populations they were meant to protect. It seems unfair to solely blame their political masters, as they are highly dependent on competent civil servant followers, who monitor situations on a week-to-week basis and take operational decisions. Differential roles of elected leaders and their subordinate followers needs redrawing, to avoid loss of public trust due to failures in delivering on promises. Followers must speak ‘truth to power’ on realities on the ground, whilst focusing on building ‘anti-fragility’ within organisational teams, utilising scenario planning and stress testing, thereafter by updating and simplifying practice algorithms. This would free up leaders to communicate with the public with confidence, whilst formulating the future direction of travel [‘the vision’]. This demarcation of roles would produce less conflict and better service delivery going forward, despite recurring ‘black swan’ events. Furthermore, ethical responsibilities of followers need redefining; with an emphasis on duty of care and candour towards the public who ultimately fund them through taxation. This includes admission of mistakes and the courage to ‘whistle blow’ if concerns on public safety are not being acted on by their political masters. Furthermore, capacity for integrity - described as essential by Warren Buffett - will need to be prioritised in recruitment post Covid19.

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Lupine Publishers | The Associations Between Fear of COVID-19 and Preventive Behaviors Among People in Gaza Strip, Palestine

 Lupine Publishers | Scholarly Journal Of Psychology And Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health emergency that could severely impact mental health. Fear of COVID-19 or its risk perceptions is strongly associated with COVID-19 preventive behaviors. This study aimed to examine the associations between the anxiety of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors among People in the Gaza Strip. The sample consists of 682 participants. A cross-sectional online survey design was used; all participants completed the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and preventive behavior scale. The required data were collected and analyzed. The mean fear of COVID-19 score was 2.51 (SD = 0.83, range: 7–35), while the mean score for preventive behavior was 2.48 (SD = 0.38, range: 3–30). Besides, results showed participants from the North Gaza governorates and those with low educated levels had the highest level of fear of COVID-19. In contrast, females and highly educated participants were more likely to engage in preventive behaviors than other participants. Our findings show no significant associations between fear of COVID-19 and adherence to preventive behaviors. It is essential to continue monitoring the psychological reactions of people during the outbreak.

Keywords: COVID-19; Fear; Preventive Behaviors; Palestine; Gaza Strip.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health emergency that could severely impact public health [1]. The outbreak was first revealed in late December 2019 when clusters of pneumonia cases of unknown etiology were found in the city of Wuhan of Hubei Province, in China [2]. Ever since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) attained a pandemic status [3], there have been strenuous efforts by health experts and authorities worldwide to mitigate the spread of the virus [4]. This includes installing health protocols such as washing hands regularly, wearing a face mask and keeping at least a physical distancing meter from each other during a social gathering [5]. Toward prevention of COVID-19, the Ministry of Health (MOH) declared a state of emergency and recommend that several safety protocols such as hand washing, wearing of face mask, physical distancing, and quarantining, all travellers coming through Rafah and Beit Hanon (Erez) crossings had undergone a compulsory quarantine at one of the MOH designated facilities, isolation hospitals, and health quarantine centers. People stay for 21 days in quarantine centers. On 26 August 2020, MOH in Gaza confirmed the first COVID-19 spread through the Gaza strip community. The total number of confirmed cases is 63428, of which 6614 are still active cases, 56211 cases fully recovered and were discharged, while the number of deaths reached 603 deaths. However, reliance on government action alone is insufficient to control COVID-19 disease totally (WHO) proposed several personal preventive behaviors for individuals to engage in to prevent COVID-19 infection. Therefore, understanding the factors associated with individuals’ preventive behaviors is an important topic during the COVID-19 pandemic [6- 10].

One psychological aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic is fear. Fear is an unpleasant emotional state triggered by the perception of threatening stimuli [11]. Also, fear of COVID-19 or its risk perceptions is strongly associated with COVID-19 preventive behaviors [8]. After reviewing the literature, the authors found that fear of COVID-19 are associated with preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors. Some accurate COVID-19 information (e.g., the death rate and numbers of confirmed cases) may trigger an individual’s fear of COVID-19 and induce psychological distress [12]. The authors believe that trust in COVID-19 information sources may improve awareness of preventive behavior; on the other hand, it may affect mental health, including an increase in fear of COVID-19 and induce psychological distress. A study aimed to assess the prevalence and predictors of depression among the Palestinian community during this pandemic found that the prevalence of depression was 57.5% [13-17]. As well known, life in Gaza is so tricky due to the unusual circumstances that the Palestinian people are living under the continuing Israeli blockade. There are many forms of suffering that the Palestinian people experience, such as unemployment, poverty, security instability, siege, and finally impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. All of these factors, when combined, increase mental health problems [18-20]. A recent study aimed to examine the psychological distress among healthcare providers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Gaza Strip, which found that depression level 68%, anxiety 69%, stress 67% [21]. In Gaza, no studies were conducted to examine the associations between fear of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors according to the authors’ knowledge. This study will provide information and data for all concerned people. On the other hand, this study will increase the mental health body knowledge in Palestine; this study seeks to examine the associations between fear of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors among People in the Gaza Strip.

Methods

Study population, sample, and setting

The target population comprises all 18 years or older people and currently living in the Gaza Strip. The sample consists of 682 participants. We adopted a cross-sectional survey design to measure fear COVID-19 and to assess how individuals perform preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors among the study sample by using an online survey. A snowball sampling method focused on recruiting the general public living in Gaza Strip during the pandemic was conducted. The online survey was first disseminated on Facebook and WhatsApp applications to friends, and they were encouraged to pass it on to others.

Procedure

Since the MOH recommended the public to minimize face-toface interaction and isolate themselves at their homes, potential respondents were electronically invited. All of them completed the questionnaires in Arabic through an online survey. Ethics approval was obtained from the Helsinki Ethical Committee in the Gaza Strip, Palestine (Code: PHRC/HC/735/20). Privacy was strictly protected during the procedure. The purposes of the study and information about it were posted on the first page of the questionnaire. To protect data and preserve privacy, the authors contacted the participants by phone and electronically and explained the objectives of the study and the content of the questionnaires and thanked them for participating in the study. The questionnaire was sent to a specialist in English translation. After that, the Arabic version was sent to a specialist in Arabic for accreditation, and then finally, back translation to Arabic was done. All respondents provided online informed consent before starting the questionnaire. Data collection took place over seven days (28 September to 5 October 2020).

Instrument

Demographic information

The demographic variables explored included the age, gender, marital status, governorate region where the participant resided, and education level.

Fear of COVID-19 scale

(FCV-19S) includes seven items with a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree) to assess how an individual fears COVID-19. The validity and reliability of the tool were verified. The Arabic Version of (FCV-19S) has excellent psychometric properties; internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=.88), with concurrent validity indicated by significant and positive correlations with HADS (r = .66).

COVID-19 preventive behavior scale

It consists of 10 items formulated based on WHO measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Items were assessed on a 3-point Likert scale (always=3, sometimes=2, rarely=1). A higher score indicates a more outstanding commitment to protective behaviors COVID-19. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed using the viewpoints of nine public health and psychology experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was investigated by calculating internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=.825) [22].

Results

Characteristics of the study sample

In this study, 682 participants completed and returned the questionnaire, 46.5% were male, and 53.5% were female, the age group between 21 and 40, represented 68% of the participants, 49.6 % are single, most of the participants (70.7%) were currently studying in college, and On the other hand, 10.7% of them are studying a master or doctorate (Table 1).

Table 1: Sociodemographic characteristics (n = 682).

Fear of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors scales

The highest score item was item 2, “It makes me uncomfortable to think about coronavirus,” by 52% of participants. While item 3, “My hands become clammy when I think about coronavirus,” is considered the lowest item with (7.8%). Result shows (58.5%) of the participants disagree that they have a fear of COVID-19. The most preventive behaviors were Cover the nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, where 90.67% of respondents always said, “I place a tissue paper or bending elbow in front of my mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.” According to the concerned authorities, they always told: “I adhere to the instructions when leaving the house” by 85.67%. While washing hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds came thirdly 85.33%.

On the other hand, the lowest prevention behaviors keeping a safe space between themselves and other people were just 74.67% of the sample said: “keep a distance of at least 1.5 m. from others” (Table 2).

Table 2: Fear of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors scales.

Correlation between fear of Covid-19 and preventive behaviors

Using Pearson correlation, the correlation coefficient was low and not significant (r = 0.006, P = 0.875).

Variations of fears and preventive measures concerning socio-demographic characteristics

Significant differences are shown between fears of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors with education level and residence place (P < 0.001). Post-Hoc Sheffie’s test revealed fear of COVID-19 is more in the northern part of the Gaza strip and among low educated participants. In contrast, preventive behaviors are more adopted in Gaza city and among the highly educated. Concerning gender, the significance is reported with preventive behaviors favoring females (P = 0.004) (Table 3).

Table 3: Comparison between fears of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors concerning socio-demographic characteristics.

Discussion

This current study examined the associations between fear of COVID-19 and Preventive behaviors among people in the Gaza Strip. Contrary to expectation, there were no significant associations between fear of COVID-19 and adherence to preventive behaviors. Participants’ commitment can be attributed to factors other than fear, such as their autonomous motivation and government legislation; this is in line with the findings [23]. These disagree with the findings of previous studies that there exists an association between fear of COVID-19, mental health, and COVID-19 preventive behaviors [4,24]. There are no statistically significant differences at a substantial level (α ≤ 0.05) between demographic factors, age, gender, marital status, and fear of COVID-19. This is inconsistent with other reports showing greater psychological vulnerability in women than men during the COVID-19 pandemic [2,5,9]. On the other hand, there is a statistically significant difference at a substantial level (α ≤ 0.05) between the place of residence favoring the North Gaza Governorate, low educational level, and the fear of COVID-19. This can be explained due to a vast outbreak of COVID-19 in the North Gaza Governorate; lockdown measures were implemented, leading to amplifying adverse psychological reactions to COVID-19. This finding is consistent with [17]. The entirety conclusions suggest that fear of COVID19 may play an integral role in the health and preventive behaviors among low educated participants.

There are no statistically significant differences concerning the preventive behavior results at a significant level (α≤0.05) between demographic factors, age, marital status, and preventive behavior. In contrast, there is a statistically significant difference at a considerable level (α ≤ 0.05) between the place of residence in favor of Gaza city, high educational level, gender in favor of female and preventive behavior. This is due to the high level of fear among females, which motivates them to adhere to preventive behaviors. Urban residents like Gaza Governorate can buy the necessary health equipment for prevention. Their work can be performed from home; unlike in other areas staying at home would imply dropping their primary source of livelihood; this finding is in line with the Rossi. Participants reported high adherence to preventive behaviors, and those with high education levels were associated with more commitment to preventive behaviors. This may be due to participants’ characteristics, as (81.4%) have a bachelor’s degree or higher, these results were found in line with previous studies [15,19].

Conclusion

Our findings show that there were no significant associations between fear of COVID-19 and adherence to preventive behaviors. This study demonstrated a statistically significant difference at a significant level (α ≤ 0.05) between the place of residence in favor of the North Gaza Governorate, low educational level, and the fear of COVID-19. On the other hand, there is a statistically significant difference at a significant level (α ≤ 0.05) between the place of residence in favor of Gaza city, high educational level, gender in favor of female and preventive behavior. The current study indicated a lower-than-average level of fear of COVID-19 and an increased commitment to preventive behaviors among participants. Education level and gender have an essential role in the management of people’s health and preventive behaviors. Health experts and communicators may capitalize on these findings to educate people on COVID-19. It is crucial to continue monitoring the psychological reactions of people during the outbreak.

 

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