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This chapter presents a number of challenges for research into skill acquisition and transfer. In particular, a range of factors are considered that can determine whether a skill will be generalizable beyond the conditions of training, or specific to these conditions, including the nature of the task under consideration and the nature of the training programme. The effect of transfer of training on the shape of learning curves is also discussed, starting with a comprehensive review of the account provided in Anderson's ACT* theory of the determiners of learning rate. Consideration is then given to the effect on learning rate of performing a task that involves component skills with varying practice histories. A number of conclusions are stated about this effect: when a task involves old and new components, the task will be learned at a slower rate than that at which each of the two sets of components improves. The amount by which this learning rate will be attenuated will be moderated by the relative number of processing steps between old and new components of the task, and by the amount of practice that the old skills had prior to learning the new task. Learning curves that represent improved performance on a task are thus suggested to reflect summaries of learning curves of component skills. Some evidence in the research literature in support of these predictions is presented. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the influence context effects and individual differences can have on learning curves.

This chapter summarizes a number of studies measuring the degree to which different chords are perceived as related to one another. These perceptual judgments depend strongly on the tonal context according to the principles of contextual dependency proposed in Chapter 6. Supporting results are obtained from studies of memory for chord sequences, also described in Chapter 8. The chapter concludes with a summary of the commonalities found for tonal and harmonic structures.

The specific circumstances in which an individual encounters their mate options may influence how she chooses and, ultimately, whom she chooses. In particular, the choice environment may affect the cues we pay attention to, how we combine them and, ultimately (and significantly), our reproductive fate. This chapter consolidates the current state of knowledge regarding choice environment effects on mating behavior. This chapter's thesis is that human mate choice is adapted to the choice environment in which it is made: We are sensitive to changes in the environment and adapt our judgments and choice strategies accordingly, thereby exhibiting ecological and social rationality—the topic of this volume. This chapter promotes the view that mating-related judgment and choice depend very much on the environmental conditions facing the chooser, while also being shaped by the past recurring conditions in which these behaviors evolved. To substantiate this perspective, the chapter describes anthropological, sociological, and psychological research showing that human mating-related judgments and choice are context-sensitive in meaningful ways. In particular, the chapter shows how the cues and strategies used in mate choice are influenced by environmental structure, considered first at the population level and second at the level of individual choosers. The chapter concludes by focusing in on one important aspect of the mate choice environment in specific modern settings and its impact on heuristic and cue use: the number of potential mates available.

To understand cognition and emotion in the real world, it is critical to investigate the phenomena of interest within the rich context of moment-to-moment variations in the real world, which we assume is at least in part encoded in the high-dimensional state of the brain. Here the chapter reviews empirical evidence from a series of novel validation studies that demonstrate the technical capabilities of one blind source separation (BSS) algorithm—second-order blind identification (SOBI)—in enabling neuronscientists and clinicians to investigate human brain functions, cognition, and behavior using the electroencephalography (EEG). The chapter concludes that by shifting from an EEG-sensor-based to a neuronal-source-based characterization of brain states, one may better capture the rich context of moment-to-moment variations in the real world.

This chapter focuses on the physical environment and on the biotic community in which choosers live: the resources choosers acquire and the challenges toward which they must allocate those resources. It considers how the environment shapes preferences. Environmental effects can be divided into those that affect the immediate context of mating decisions and those that change the chooser's phenotype in a way that affects future mating decisions. So-called context-dependent effects fall into two categories. Context-sensitive preferences are shaped by immediate circumstances: the sensory environment, predators, other choosers, and most obviously the courters themselves. When preferences are state-dependent, a chooser's past history shapes current mating decisions: for example, developmental effects of the sensory environment or social history.

In this short chapter there are more questions than answers. It does not want to go into the complex domain of social psychology. It merely aims to stimulate further research on the effects of the context outside the healing setting. Halo effects can be considered similar to placebo effects because the context plays a crucial role in both. Whereas placebo effects have to do with the evaluation of symptoms, halo effects have to do with judgments of a person’s quality and personality. The approach to placebo and halo effects is somehow related to expectations. If one expects pain reduction, one may experience a real analgesic effect. Likewise, if one expects either positive or negative qualities in a person, one may be misled to give either positive or negative judgments, respectively.

This chapter provides a theory-based analysis of East–West differences in context effects on evaluative responses. Drawing on documented cultural differences in social cognition and a recently proposed representational theory of contextualized evaluation, the chapter discusses how cultural differences in attention and thinking styles may influence the integration of contextual information into mental representations of conflicting evaluative information and, thus, context effects on evaluative responses. The analysis reveals two potential patterns of cultural differences, with diverging predictions regarding the impact of contextual cues on evaluative responses among East Asians and Westerners. Implications of the current analysis for cross-cultural research are discussed.

This chapter begins with a good look at face perception. Very few areas convey as much information on age, gender, attractiveness, and distance from the viewer as the face and the body. The chapter discusses Fodor’s modularity of mind, the development of particular face modules, and newer alternatives of functional object representation. It discusses the temporal processing signatures of the face and our current understanding of the neuropsychology of face disorders, and similarities in the perceptual basis and neural implementation of bodies and faces and their perception. It considers the influence of context, congruence in affect information, natural settings, movement, and prosody on the perception of expressions, as well as what the neurophysiological studies of monkeys tell us.

Chapter 5 assesses whether candidates running in areas where their local party organization is active tend to perform better than those running in otherwise similar areas, but where the organization is less active. We examine the relationship between local party activity and outcomes in races for state legislature and Sheriff, as well as for federal elections. Our evidence indicates that local party efforts can affect both federal and local election outcomes. Notably, these relationships only emerge in contexts where the party is electorally disadvantaged. This suggests that party efforts in areas where the party is unlikely to win elections at the county level are particularly likely to improve the electoral fortunes of their party’s candidates up and down the ballot. This underscores the ability of small local parties to project their power outward, with ripple effects that shape broader politics at all levels of American government.