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Author Dubois, F.; Giraldeau, L.-A.; Hamilton, I.M.; Grant, J.W.A.; Lefebvre, L. doi  openurl
  Title Distraction sneakers decrease the expected level of aggression within groups: a game-theoretic model Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication The American Naturalist Abbreviated Journal Am Nat  
  Volume 164 Issue 2 Pages E32-45  
  Keywords *Aggression; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Columbidae/*physiology; Competitive Behavior; Cooperative Behavior; *Game Theory; Hawks/*physiology; Models, Biological  
  Abstract Hawk-dove games have been extensively used to predict the conditions under which group-living animals should defend their resources against potential usurpers. Typically, game-theoretic models on aggression consider that resource defense may entail energetic and injury costs. However, intruders may also take advantage of owners who are busy fighting to sneak access to unguarded resources, imposing thereby an additional cost on the use of the escalated hawk strategy. In this article we modify the two-strategy hawk-dove game into a three-strategy hawk-dove-sneaker game that incorporates a distraction-sneaking tactic, allowing us to explore its consequences on the expected level of aggression within groups. Our model predicts a lower proportion of hawks and hence lower frequencies of aggressive interactions within groups than do previous two-strategy hawk-dove games. The extent to which distraction sneakers decrease the frequency of aggression within groups, however, depends on whether they search only for opportunities to join resources uncovered by other group members or for both unchallenged resources and opportunities to usurp.  
  Address Departement des Sciences Biologiques, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Case postale 8888 Succursale Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3P8, Canada. frede_dubois@yahoo.fr  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1537-5323 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15278850 Approved no  
  Call Number (up) Serial 2130  
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Author Whiten, A. openurl 
  Title Social complexity and social intelligence Type Conference Article
  Year 2000 Publication Novartis Foundation Symposium Abbreviated Journal Novartis Found Symp  
  Volume 233 Issue Pages 185-96; discussion 196-201  
  Keywords Animals; Brain/anatomy & histology/*physiology; Humans; *Intelligence/physiology; Learning; Models, Psychological; Primates; *Social Behavior; Social Problems  
  Abstract When we talk of the 'nature of intelligence', or any other attribute, we may be referring to its essential structure, or to its place in nature, particularly the function it has evolved to serve. Here I examine both, from the perspective of the evolution of intelligence in primates. Over the last 20 years, the Social (or 'Machiavellian') Intelligence Hypothesis has gained empirical support. Its core claim is that the intelligence of primates is primarily an adaptation to the special complexities of primate social life. In addition to this hypothesis about the function of intellect, a secondary claim is that the very structure of intelligence has been moulded to be 'social' in character, an idea that presents a challenge to orthodox views of intelligence as a general-purpose capacity. I shall outline the principal components of social intelligence and the environment of social complexity it engages with. This raises the question of whether domain specificity is an appropriate characterization of social intelligence and its subcomponents, like theory of mind. As a counter-argument to such specificity I consider the hypothesis that great apes exhibit a cluster of advanced cognitive abilities that rest on a shared capacity for second-order mental representation.  
  Address School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9JU, UK  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1528-2511 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:11276903 Approved no  
  Call Number (up) Serial 2084  
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Author Huber, L.; Gajdon, G.K. doi  openurl
  Title Technical intelligence in animals: the kea model Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 4 Pages 295-305  
  Keywords Animals; *Comprehension; *Intelligence; Models, Psychological; Observation; *Parrots; *Problem Solving; Psychological Theory; Social Environment; *Tool Use Behavior  
  Abstract The ability to act on information flexibly is one of the cornerstones of intelligent behavior. As particularly informative example, tool-oriented behavior has been investigated to determine to which extent nonhuman animals understand means-end relations, object affordances, and have specific motor skills. Even planning with foresight, goal-directed problem solving and immediate causal inference have been a focus of research. However, these cognitive abilities may not be restricted to tool-using animals but may be found also in animals that show high levels of curiosity, object exploration and manipulation, and extractive foraging behavior. The kea, a New Zealand parrot, is a particularly good example. We here review findings from laboratory experiments and field observations of keas revealing surprising cognitive capacities in the physical domain. In an experiment with captive keas, the success rate of individuals that were allowed to observe a trained conspecific was significantly higher than that of naive control subjects due to their acquisition of some functional understanding of the task through observation. In a further experiment using the string-pulling task, a well-probed test for means-end comprehension, we found the keas finding an immediate solution that could not be improved upon in nine further trials. We interpreted their performance as insightful in the sense of being sensitive of the relevant functional properties of the task and thereby producing a new adaptive response without trial-and-error learning. Together, these findings contribute to the ongoing debate on the distribution of higher cognitive skills in the animal kingdom by showing high levels of sensorimotor intelligence in animals that do not use tools. In conclusion, we suggest that the 'Technical intelligence hypothesis' (Byrne, Machiavellian intelligence II: extensions and evaluations, pp 289-211, 1997), which has been proposed to explain the origin of the ape/monkey grade-shift in intelligence by a selection pressure upon an increased efficiency in foraging behavior, should be extended, that is, applied to some birds as well.  
  Address Department for Behavior, Neurobiology and Cognition, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria. ludwig.huber@univie.ac.at  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16909237 Approved no  
  Call Number (up) Serial 2085  
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Author Barrett, L.; Henzi, P. doi  openurl
  Title The social nature of primate cognition Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Proceedings. Biological Sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci  
  Volume 272 Issue 1575 Pages 1865-1875  
  Keywords Animals; Brain/anatomy & histology/*physiology; Cognition/*physiology; *Evolution; Intelligence/*physiology; Primates/*physiology; *Social Behavior  
  Abstract The hypothesis that the enlarged brain size of the primates was selected for by social, rather than purely ecological, factors has been strongly influential in studies of primate cognition and behaviour over the past two decades. However, the Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis, also known as the social brain hypothesis, tends to emphasize certain traits and behaviours, like exploitation and deception, at the expense of others, such as tolerance and behavioural coordination, and therefore presents only one view of how social life may shape cognition. This review outlines work from other relevant disciplines, including evolutionary economics, cognitive science and neurophysiology, to illustrate how these can be used to build a more general theoretical framework, incorporating notions of embodied and distributed cognition, in which to situate questions concerning the evolution of primate social cognition.  
  Address School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK. louiseb@liv.ac.uk  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16191591 Approved no  
  Call Number (up) Serial 2086  
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Author Cambefort, J.P. openurl 
  Title A comparative study of culturally transmitted patterns of feeding habits in the chacma baboon Papio ursinus and the vervet monkey Cercopithecus aethiops Type Journal Article
  Year 1981 Publication Folia Primatologica; International Journal of Primatology Abbreviated Journal Folia Primatol (Basel)  
  Volume 36 Issue 3-4 Pages 243-263  
  Keywords Age Factors; Animals; *Cercopithecus; *Cercopithecus aethiops; Culture; *Feeding Behavior; Female; Group Structure; Learning; Male; *Papio; Social Class; Teaching  
  Abstract Japanese workers have studied social acquisition patterns of new feeding habits in Macaca fuscata which they have termed precultural. The present study investigates the same phenomenon in the chacma baboon and the vervet monkey in their natural habitat. The questions addressed are: (1) How a new feeding habit enters a troop and by which age and sex category, also how it is propagated? (2) When individuals are permitted with a choice between palatable and unpalatable food, can they learn by demonstration only or do they have to pass through a direct learning process? (3) Can the results from the above questions be explained by social parameters such as the social structure of the individual species? It was found that juvenile baboons discover new food and that after the discovery propagation is instantaneous. In vervets discovery is random among the age classes and propagation is slow and takes place through certain 'pivot' individuals. Both species fail to learn about palatability by demonstration but have to go through a direct learning process. This contrasts strongly with the forest baboon Mandrillus sphinx that have been shown to learn by demonstration. Socially, baboon juveniles stay closer to each other than the adults who force them to live at the periphery of the troop. Vervets again forage without precise sub-group formation. The link between social and cultural propagation and social structure is discussed on the basis of these findings.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0015-5713 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:7319426 Approved no  
  Call Number (up) Serial 2087  
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Author Joffe, T.H.; Dunbar, R.I. doi  openurl
  Title Visual and socio-cognitive information processing in primate brain evolution Type Journal Article
  Year 1997 Publication Proceedings. Biological Sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci  
  Volume 264 Issue 1386 Pages 1303-1307  
  Keywords Animals; Brain/anatomy & histology/*physiology; Cognition/physiology; *Evolution; Geniculate Bodies/anatomy & histology/physiology; Humans; Mental Processes/physiology; Neocortex/physiology; Primates/anatomy & histology/*physiology/*psychology; *Social Behavior; Visual Cortex/anatomy & histology/physiology  
  Abstract Social group size has been shown to correlate with neocortex size in primates. Here we use comparative analyses to show that social group size is independently correlated with the size of non-V1 neocortical areas, but not with other more proximate components of the visual system or with brain systems associated with emotional cueing (e.g. the amygdala). We argue that visual brain components serve as a social information 'input device' for socio-visual stimuli such as facial expressions, bodily gestures and visual status markers, while the non-visual neocortex serves as a 'processing device' whereby these social cues are encoded, interpreted and associated with stored information. However, the second appears to have greater overall importance because the size of the V1 visual area appears to reach an asymptotic size beyond which visual acuity and pattern recognition may not improve significantly. This is especially true of the great ape clade (including humans), that is known to use more sophisticated social cognitive strategies.  
  Address School of Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:9332015 Approved no  
  Call Number (up) Serial 2095  
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Author Shultz, S.; Dunbar, R.I.M. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Both social and ecological factors predict ungulate brain size Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Proceedings. Biological Sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci  
  Volume 273 Issue 1583 Pages 207-215  
  Keywords Animals; Artiodactyla/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; Brain/*anatomy & histology/physiology; *Ecosystem; Organ Size; Perissodactyla/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; *Social Behavior  
  Abstract Among mammals, the members of some Orders have relatively large brains. Alternative explanations for this have emphasized either social or ecological selection pressures favouring greater information-processing capacities, including large group size, greater foraging efficiency, higher innovation rates, better invasion success and complex problem solving. However, the focal taxa for these analyses (primates, carnivores and birds) often show both varied ecological competence and social complexity. Here, we focus on the specific relationship between social complexity and brain size in ungulates, a group with relatively simple patterns of resource use, but extremely varied social behaviours. The statistical approach we used, phylogenetic generalized least squares, showed that relative brain size was independently associated with sociality and social complexity as well as with habitat use, while relative neocortex size is associated with social but not ecological factors. A simple index of sociality was a better predictor of both total brain and neocortex size than group size, which may indicate that the cognitive demands of sociality depend on the nature of social relationships as well as the total number of individuals in a group.  
  Address School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Biosciences Building, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK. susanne.shultz@liv.ac.uk  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16555789 Approved no  
  Call Number (up) Serial 2098  
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Author Danchin, E.; Giraldeau, L.-A.; Valone, T.J.; Wagner, R.H. doi  openurl
  Title Public information: from nosy neighbors to cultural evolution Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Science (New York, N.Y.) Abbreviated Journal Science  
  Volume 305 Issue 5683 Pages 487-491  
  Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Cues; *Cultural Evolution; *Decision Making; Environment; Evolution; Feeding Behavior; Female; Genes; Humans; Male; Reproduction; Sexual Behavior, Animal  
  Abstract Psychologists, economists, and advertising moguls have long known that human decision-making is strongly influenced by the behavior of others. A rapidly accumulating body of evidence suggests that the same is true in animals. Individuals can use information arising from cues inadvertently produced by the behavior of other individuals with similar requirements. Many of these cues provide public information about the quality of alternatives. The use of public information is taxonomically widespread and can enhance fitness. Public information can lead to cultural evolution, which we suggest may then affect biological evolution.  
  Address U.P.M.C. CNRS-UMR7625, Bat A-7e etage-Case 237, 7 quai Saint Bernard, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France. edanchin@snv.jussieu.fr  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1095-9203 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15273386 Approved no  
  Call Number (up) Serial 2131  
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Author Dubois, F.; Giraldeau, L.-A. openurl 
  Title The forager's dilemma: food sharing and food defense as risk-sensitive foraging options Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication The American Naturalist Abbreviated Journal Am Nat  
  Volume 162 Issue 6 Pages 768-779  
  Keywords Animals; Competitive Behavior/*physiology; *Environment; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; *Game Theory; *Models, Biological; Population Density; Population Dynamics  
  Abstract Although many variants of the hawk-dove game predict the frequency at which group foraging animals should compete aggressively, none of them can explain why a large number of group foraging animals share food clumps without any overt aggression. One reason for this shortcoming is that hawk-dove games typically consider only a single contest, while most group foraging situations involve opponents that interact repeatedly over discovered food clumps. The present iterated hawk-dove game predicts that in situations that are analogous to a prisoner's dilemma, animals should share the resources without aggression, provided that the number of simultaneously available food clumps is sufficiently large and the number of competitors is relatively small. However, given that the expected gain of an aggressive animal is more variable than the gain expected by nonaggressive individuals, the predicted effect of the number of food items in a clump-clump richness-depends on whether only the mean or both the mean and variability associated with payoffs are considered. More precisely, the deterministic game predicts that aggression should increase with clump richness, whereas the stochastic risk-sensitive game predicts that the frequency of encounters resulting in aggression should peak at intermediate clump richnesses or decrease with increasing clump richness if animals show sensitivity to the variance or coefficient of variation, respectively.  
  Address Departement des Sciences Biologiques, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Case postale 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3P8, Canada. fdubois@u-bourgogne.fr  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0003-0147 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:14737714 Approved no  
  Call Number (up) Serial 2132  
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Author Gauvin, S.; Giraldeau, L.-A. doi  openurl
  Title Nutmeg mannikins ( Lonchura punctulata) reduce their feeding rates in response to simulated competition Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Oecologia Abbreviated Journal Oecologia  
  Volume 139 Issue 1 Pages 150-156  
  Keywords Animals; *Feeding Behavior; Population Density; *Social Behavior; *Songbirds  
  Abstract Group feeding animals experience a number of competitive foraging costs that may result in a lowered feeding rate. It is important to distinguish between reductions in feeding rates that are caused by reduced food availability and physical interactions among foragers from those caused by the mere presence of foraging companions that may be self-imposed in order to obtain some benefit of group membership. Starlings ( Sturnus vulgaris) reduce their feeding rates when in the company of simulated competitors located in an adjacent cage that cannot affect the food availability or interact with the forager. In the present study, we investigate whether the presence of simulated competitors in another species of passerine, nutmeg mannikins ( Lonchura punctulata), can result in self-imposed reductions in feeding rates. When feeding in the company of simulated competitors, mannikins spent more non-foraging time near them, fed more slowly, reduced travel times between patches, reduced their scanning time and pecked more slowly. These results provide evidence that simulated competitors induce a reduction in pecking rate: behavioural interference. These self-imposed responses to competitors may have resulted from attempts to remain close to the non-feeding companions. Such self-imposed reductions in feeding rates may be a widespread yet generally unrecognised foraging cost to group feeding individuals.  
  Address Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0029-8549 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:14722748 Approved no  
  Call Number (up) Serial 2133  
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