Records |
Author |
Bergman, T.J.; Beehner, J.C.; Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M. |
Title |
Hierarchical classification by rank and kinship in baboons |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Science (New York, N.Y.) |
Abbreviated Journal |
Science |
Volume |
302 |
Issue |
5648 |
Pages |
1234-1236 |
Keywords |
Animals; Animals, Wild; Botswana; *Cognition; Family; Female; *Hierarchy, Social; Language; *Papio/psychology; Social Dominance; Vocalization, Animal |
Abstract |
Humans routinely classify others according to both their individual attributes, such as social status or wealth, and membership in higher order groups, such as families or castes. They also recognize that people's individual attributes may be influenced and regulated by their group affiliations. It is not known whether such rule-governed, hierarchical classifications are specific to humans or might also occur in nonlinguistic species. Here we show that baboons recognize that a dominance hierarchy can be subdivided into family groups. In playback experiments, baboons respond more strongly to call sequences mimicking dominance rank reversals between families than within families, indicating that they classify others simultaneously according to both individual rank and kinship. The selective pressures imposed by complex societies may therefore have favored cognitive skills that constitute an evolutionary precursor to some components of human cognition. |
Address |
Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. thore@sas.upenn.edu |
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English |
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ISSN |
1095-9203 |
ISBN |
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Notes |
PMID:14615544 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
689 |
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Author |
Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.; Bergman, T.J. |
Title |
Primate social cognition and the origins of language |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Trends in Cognitive Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Trends. Cognit. Sci. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
6 |
Pages |
264-266 |
Keywords |
Animals; *Cognition; Humans; *Language; Papio; Psychological Theory; Social Behavior; *Social Perception |
Abstract |
Are the cognitive mechanisms underlying language unique, or can similar mechanisms be found in other domains? Recent field experiments demonstrate that baboons' knowledge of their companions' social relationships is based on discrete-valued traits (identity, rank, kinship) that are combined to create a representation of social relations that is hierarchically structured, open-ended, rule-governed, and independent of sensory modality. The mechanisms underlying language might have evolved from the social knowledge of our pre-linguistic primate ancestors. |
Address |
Departments of Biology and Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. seyfarth@psych.upenn.edu |
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English |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
1364-6613 |
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Notes |
PMID:15925802 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
343 |
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Author |
Manser, M.B.; Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L. |
Title |
Suricate alarm calls signal predator class and urgency |
Type |
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Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Trends in Cognitive Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Trends. Cognit. Sci. |
Volume |
6 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
55-57 |
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English |
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Series Editor |
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ISSN |
1364-6613 |
ISBN |
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Notes |
PMID:15866180 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
686 |
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Author |
Kitchen, D.M.; Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M. |
Title |
Male chacma baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) discriminate loud call contests between rivals of different relative ranks |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Animal cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
8 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
1-6 |
Keywords |
Acoustic Stimulation; Animals; *Discrimination Learning; *Hierarchy, Social; Male; Papio hamadryas/*psychology; *Social Dominance; *Vocalization, Animal |
Abstract |
Males in multi-male groups of chacma baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) in Botswana compete for positions in a linear dominance hierarchy. Previous research suggests that males treat different categories of rivals differently; competitive displays between males of similar rank are more frequent and intense than those between disparately ranked males. Here we test whether males also respond differently to male-male interactions in which they are not directly involved, using playbacks of the loud 'wahoo' calls exchanged between competing males in aggressive displays. We played paired sequences of vocal contests between two adjacently ranked and two disparately ranked males to ten subjects, half ranking below the signalers in the call sequences and half above. Subjects who ranked above the two signalers showed stronger responses than lower-ranking subjects. Higher-ranking subjects also responded more strongly to sequences involving disparately ranked, as opposed to adjacently ranked opponents, suggesting that they recognized those individuals' relative ranks. Strong responses to sequences between disparately ranked opponents might have occurred either because such contests typically involve resources of high fitness value (defense of meat, estrous females or infants vulnerable to infanticide) or because they indicate a sudden change in one contestant's condition. In contrast, subjects who ranked lower than the signalers responded equally strongly to both types of sequences. These subjects may have been able to distinguish between the two categories of opponents but did not respond differently to them because they had little to lose or gain by a rank reversal between males that already ranked higher than they did. |
Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. dkitchen@psych.upenn.edu |
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Thesis |
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Place of Publication |
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Language |
English |
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Original Title |
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Series Editor |
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Series Title |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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Series Volume |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
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Conference |
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Notes |
PMID:15164259 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
687 |
Permanent link to this record |