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Author Stueckle, S.; Zinner, D.
Title To follow or not to follow: decision making and leadership during the morning departure in chacma baboons Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal (up) Anim. Behav.
Volume 75 Issue 6 Pages 1995-2004
Keywords chacma baboon; collective movement; consensus; decision making; leadership; Papio hamadryas ursinus
Abstract To benefit from group living, group members need to keep the group cohesive by coordinating time and direction of travelling. Self-organization and leadership are two means of coordination and two types of decision can be made on the group level: combined and consensus. We studied the initiation process of group movements during the morning departure of a group of chacma baboons, Papio hamadryas ursinus, from its sleeping site in De Hoop Nature Reserve, South Africa. Findings from other female-bonded primate groups led us to hypothesize that females should play a major role in the decision-making process. Approximately 75% of the adults made a start attempt, with 62 of 92 attempts being by males. There was no sex difference in the probability of being successful when initiating an attempt. Lactating females initiated fewer than pregnant or cycling females. Thus, at least for this group of chacma baboons, leadership appeared to be distributed and the decision about the timing of departure and travel direction seemed to be a partially shared consensus decision with adult males contributing more to the decision outcome, with a slightly more prominent role of the dominant male. Our results do not support the [`]leading females' hypothesis. No behavioural patterns that might serve as specialized signals leading to a more successful recruitment of other group members were observed. The departure process appeared to be coordinated merely through individuals setting an example by moving off.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5130
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Author Watanabe, S.; Huber, L.
Title Animal logics: decisions in the absence of human language Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal (up) Anim. Cogn.
Volume 9 Issue 4 Pages 235-245
Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Brain/physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Decision Making/*physiology; Evolution; Humans; *Language; *Logic; Problem Solving/physiology
Abstract Without Abstract
Address Department of Psychology, Keio University, Mita 2-15-45, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108, Japan. swat@flet.keio.ac.jp
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16909231 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2453
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Author Shettleworth, S.J.
Title Taking the best for learning Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Behavioural processes Abbreviated Journal (up) Behav. Process.
Volume 69 Issue 2 Pages 147-9; author reply 159-63
Keywords *Algorithms; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Decision Making; Evolution; *Learning; *Models, Theoretical
Abstract Examples of how animals learn when multiple, sometimes redundant, cues are present provide further examples not considered by Hutchinson and Gigerenzer that seem to fit the principle of taking the best. “The best” may the most valid cue in the present circumstances; evolution may also produce species-specific biases to use the most functionally relevant cues.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., Canada M5S 3G3. shettle@psych.utoronto.ca
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15845301 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 361
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Author Jacobs, A.; Maumy, M.; Petit, O.
Title The influence of social organisation on leadership in brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus fulvus) in a controlled environment Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal (up) Behav. Process.
Volume 79 Issue 2 Pages 111-113
Keywords Animals; *Decision Making; Dominance-Subordination; *Exploratory Behavior; Female; Group Structure; *Leadership; Lemur/*psychology; Male; Sex Factors; *Social Environment
Abstract Studies on leadership during group movements in several lemur species showed that females were responsible for the travelling choices concerning time and direction. Interestingly, in these species females are dominant over males. We investigated the influence of social organisation upon leadership processes by studying a lemur species in which social organisation is characterized by the absence of female dominance: the brown lemur (Eulemur fulvus fulvus). The study was conducted on a semi-free ranging group of 11 individuals and the analysis performed on 69 group movements showed that all the individuals could initiate a group movement. In 34 cases, the whole group moved. There was no significant difference in the number of start attempts or in the number of group members involved from one initiator to another. Moreover, there was no effect of sex or age of the initiator on the number of individuals following it or on the speed of the joining process. Therefore, the leadership observed is widely distributed to all group members. These results support the hypothesis of an influence of social organisation upon the decision-making processes but still remain to be studied in a more relevant ecological context.
Address IPHC-DEPE, Equipe d'ethologie des primates, UMR 7178, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Universite Louis Pasteur and Centre de Primatologie, Strasbourg, France
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:18586413 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5127
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Author Allen, D.; Tanner, K.
Title Putting the horse back in front of the cart: using visions and decisions about high-quality learning experiences to drive course design Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication CBE Life Sciences Education Abbreviated Journal (up) CBE Life Sci Educ
Volume 6 Issue 2 Pages 85-89
Keywords Curriculum/*standards; *Decision Making; *Learning; Models, Educational; Schools; Teaching/*methods/*standards
Abstract
Address Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA. deallen@udel.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1931-7913 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17548870 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3999
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Author Biro, D.; Sumpter, D.J.T.; Meade, J.; Guilford, T.
Title From Compromise to Leadership in Pigeon Homing Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Current Biology Abbreviated Journal (up) Curr Biol
Volume 16 Issue 21 Pages 2123-2128
Keywords Animal Migration; Animals; Columbidae/*physiology; Decision Making; *Flight, Animal; *Homing Behavior; Models, Biological; Orientation; *Social Behavior; *Social Dominance
Abstract Summary A central problem faced by animals traveling in groups is how navigational decisions by group members are integrated, especially when members cannot assess which individuals are best informed or have conflicting information or interests , , , and . Pigeons are now known to recapitulate faithfully their individually distinct habitual routes home , and , and this provides a novel paradigm for investigating collective decisions during flight under varying levels of interindividual conflict. Using high-precision GPS tracking of pairs of pigeons, we found that if conflict between two birds' directional preferences was small, individuals averaged their routes, whereas if conflict rose over a critical threshold, either the pair split or one of the birds became the leader. Modeling such paired decision-making showed that both outcomes--compromise and leadership--could emerge from the same set of simple behavioral rules. Pairs also navigated more efficiently than did the individuals of which they were composed, even though leadership was not necessarily assumed by the more efficient bird. In the context of mass migration of birds and other animals, our results imply that simple self-organizing rules can produce behaviors that improve accuracy in decision-making and thus benefit individuals traveling in groups , and .
Address Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom. daro.biro@zoo.ox.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Englisch Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0960-9822 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17084696 Approved no
Call Number Serial 2026
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Author Gould, J.L.
Title Animal cognition Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Current Biology : CB Abbreviated Journal (up) Curr Biol
Volume 14 Issue 10 Pages R372-5
Keywords Animals; Awareness; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Concept Formation; Decision Making; Instinct; Intelligence/*physiology; Learning/*physiology; Species Specificity
Abstract
Address Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA. gould@princeton.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0960-9822 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15186759 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4169
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Author King, A.J.; Douglas, C.M.S.; Huchard, E.; Isaac, N.J.B.; Cowlishaw, G.
Title Dominance and affiliation mediate despotism in a social primate Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication Current Biology : CB Abbreviated Journal (up) Curr Biol
Volume 18 Issue 23 Pages 1833-1838
Keywords Animals; *Authoritarianism; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Cooperative Behavior; *Decision Making; Feeding Behavior; Female; *Group Processes; Male; Papio ursinus/*psychology; *Social Dominance
Abstract Group-living animals routinely have to reach a consensus decision and choose between mutually exclusive actions in order to coordinate their activities and benefit from sociality. Theoretical models predict “democratic” rather than “despotic” decisions to be widespread in social vertebrates, because they result in lower “consensus costs”-the costs of an individual foregoing its optimal action to comply with the decision-for the group as a whole. Yet, quantification of consensus costs is entirely lacking, and empirical observations provide strong support for the occurrence of both democratic and despotic decisions in nature. We conducted a foraging experiment on a wild social primate (chacma baboons, Papio ursinus) in order to gain new insights into despotic group decision making. The results show that group foraging decisions were consistently led by the individual who acquired the greatest benefits from those decisions, namely the dominant male. Subordinate group members followed the leader despite considerable consensus costs. Follower behavior was mediated by social ties to the leader, and where these ties were weaker, group fission was more likely to occur. Our findings highlight the importance of leader incentives and social relationships in group decision-making processes and the emergence of despotism.
Address Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK. andrew.king@ioz.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0960-9822 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:19026539 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5124
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Author Nissani, M.
Title Do Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) apply causal reasoning to tool-use tasks? Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes Abbreviated Journal (up) J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 91-96
Keywords Age Factors; Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Conditioning, Operant; *Decision Making; Discrimination (Psychology); Elephants; Female
Abstract Two experiments addressed contradictory claims about causal reasoning in elephants. In Experiment 1, 4 Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were pretrained to remove a lid from the top of a bucket and retrieve a food reward. Subsequently, in the first 5 critical trials, when the lid was placed alongside the bucket and no longer obstructed access to the reward, each elephant continued to remove the lid before retrieving the reward. Experiment 2, which involved 11 additional elephants and variations of the original design, yielded similarly counterintuitive observations. Although the results are open to alternative interpretations, they appear more consistent with associative learning than with causal reasoning. Future applications of Fabrean methodologies (J. H. Fabre, 1915) to animal cognition are proposed.
Address Departmetn of Interdisciplinary Studies, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. moti.nissani@wayne.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16435969 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2763
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Author Devenport, J.A.; Patterson, M.R.; Devenport, L.D.
Title Dynamic averaging and foraging decisions in horses (Equus callabus) Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Journal of Comparative psychology Abbreviated Journal (up) J. Comp. Psychol.
Volume 119 Issue 3 Pages 352-358
Keywords Animals; *Decision Making; *Feeding Behavior; Female; Horses/*psychology; Male; *Memory, Short-Term; Motivation; Orientation; *Social Environment
Abstract The variability of most environments taxes foraging decisions by increasing the uncertainty of the information available. One solution to the problem is to use dynamic averaging, as do some granivores and carnivores. Arguably, the same strategy could be useful for grazing herbivores, even though their food renews and is more homogeneously distributed. Horses (Equus callabus) were given choices between variable patches after short or long delays. When patch information was current, horses returned to the patch that was recently best, whereas those without current information matched choices to the long-term average values of the patches. These results demonstrate that a grazing species uses dynamic averaging and indicate that, like granivores and carnivores, they can use temporal weighting to optimize foraging decisions.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Central Oklahoma, 73034, USA. jdevenport@ucok.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16131264 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 752
Permanent link to this record