Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain chickadees (P. gambeli) are ecologically segregated due to differences in habitat preference. However, forestry practices in northwestern Canada have created a mosaic of coniferous (mountain chickadee habitat) and deciduous forest patches (black-capped habitat), which might explain cases of observed regional sympatry between these 2 closely related species. In Poecile species, social hierarchies amongst conspecific individuals influence lifehistory parameters such as mate choice. As a result, interspecific social hierarchies might drive hybridization between these 2 closely related species. By conducting field observations and aviary experiments, we demonstrated that black-capped chickadees are dominant over mountain chickadees. Using a combination of species-specific phenotypes (plumage), mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to assess maternal genotype, and microsatellite markers, we confirmed that genetic mixing occurs within our contact zone but that the pattern of parentage appears directional. All but one of the adult hybrids was phenotypically identified as mountain chickadee and had mountain chickadee mtDNA. Furthermore, all nestlings where microsatellites detected mixedspecies ancestry were from mountain chickadee nests with both attending parents having mountain chickadee phenotypes. All mtDNA from these nestlings was mountain chickadee except for one individual, and in all cases, these nestlings showed genetic patterns of having arisen through extrapair copulations between female mountain and male black-capped chickadees. Our results suggest that hybridization may result from males of the mountain chickadees having lower expression of a preferred trait (dominance) than the black-capped chickadees.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the physical and emotional health of older adults living with dementia and their care partners. Objective: Using a patient-centered approach, we explored the experiences and needs of people living with dementia and their care partners during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of an ongoing evaluation of dementia support services in British Columbia, Canada. Methods: A survey instrument was developed around the priorities identified in the context of the COVID-19 and Dementia Task Force convened by the Alzheimer Society of Canada. Results: A total of 417 surveys were analyzed. Overall, respondents were able to access information that was helpful for maintaining their own health and a period of social distancing. Care partners reported a number of serious concerns, including the inability to visit the person that they care for in long-term or palliative care. Participants also reported that the pandemic increased their levels of stress overall and that they felt lonelier and more isolated than they did before the pandemic. The use of technology was reported as a way to connect socially with their loved ones, with the majority of participants connecting with others at least twice per week. Conclusion: Looking at the complex effects of a global pandemic through the experiences of people living with dementia and their care partners is vital to inform healthcare priorities to restore their quality of life and health and better prepare for the future.

Introduction Socially assistive robots are devices designed to aid users through social interaction and companionship. Social robotics promise to support cognitive health and aging in place for older adults with and without dementia, as well as their care partners. However, while new and more advanced social robots are entering the commercial market, there are still major barriers to their adoption, including a lack of emotional alignment between users and their robots. Affect Control Theory (ACT) is a framework that allows for the computational modeling of emotional alignment between two partners. Methods We conducted a Canadian online survey capturing attitudes, emotions, and perspectives surrounding pet-like robots among older adults ( n = 171), care partners ( n = 28), and persons living with dementia ( n = 7). Results We demonstrate the potential of ACT to model the emotional relationship between older adult users and three exemplar robots. We also capture a rich description of participants’ robot attitudes through the lens of the Technology Acceptance Model, as well as the most important ethical concerns around social robot use. Conclusions Findings from this work will support the development of emotionally aligned, user-centered robots for older adults, care partners, and people living with dementia.

Recent literature has demonstrated that hand position can affect visual processing, a set of phenomena termed Near Hand Effects (NHEs). Across four studies we looked for single-hand NHEs on a large screen when participants were asked to discriminate stimuli based on size, colour, and orientation (Study 1), to detect stimuli after a manipulation of hand shaping (Study 2), to detect stimuli after the introduction of a peripheral cue (Study 3), and finally to detect stimuli after a manipulation of screen orientation (Study 4). Each study failed to find a NHE. Further examination of the pooled data using a Bayesian analysis also failed to reveal positive evidence for faster responses or larger cueing effects near a hand. These findings suggest that at least some NHEs may be surprisingly fragile, which dovetails with the recent proposition that NHEs may not form a unitary set of phenomena (Gozli & Deng, 2018). The implication is that visual processing may be less sensitive to hand position across measurement techniques than previously thought, and points to a need for well-powered, methodologically rigorous studies on this topic in the future.

From birth, infants move their bodies in order to obtain information and stimulation from their environment. Exploratory movements are important for the development of an infant's understanding of the world and are well established as being key to cognitive advances. Newly acquired motor skills increase the potential actions available to the infant. However, the way that infants employ potential actions in environments with multiple potential targets is undescribed. The current work investigated the target object selections of infants across a range of self-produced locomotor experience (11- to 14-month-old crawlers and walkers). Infants repeatedly accessed objects among pairs of objects differing in both distance and preference status, some requiring locomotion. Overall, their object actions were found to be sensitive to object preference status; however, the role of object distance in shaping object encounters was moderated by movement status. Crawlers' actions appeared opportunistic and were biased towards nearby objects while walkers' actions appeared intentional and were independent of object position. Moreover, walkers' movements favoured preferred objects more strongly for children with higher levels of self-produced locomotion experience. The multi-target experimental situation used in this work parallels conditions faced by foraging organisms, and infants' behaviours were discussed with respect to optimal foraging theory. There is a complex interplay between infants' agency, locomotor experience, and environment in shaping their motor actions. Infants' movements, in turn, determine the information and experiences offered to infants by their micro-environment.