Rogers, A. R. (1988). Does Biology Constrain Culture? Am Anthropol, 90(4), 819–831.
Abstract: Most social scientists would agree that the capacity for human culture was probably fashioned by natural selection, but they disagree about the implications of this supposition. Some believe that natural selection imposes important constraints on the ways in which culture can vary, while others believe that any such constraints must be negligible. This article employs a “thought experiment” to demonstrate that neither of these positions can be justified by appeal to general properties of culture or of evolution. Natural selection can produce mechanisms of cultural transmission that are neither adaptive nor consistent with the predictions of acultural evolutionary models (those ignoring cultural evolution). On the other hand, natural selection can also produce mechanisms of cultural transmission that are highly consistent with acultural models. Thus, neither side of the sociobiology debate is justified in dismissing the arguments of the other. Natural selection may impose significant constraints on some human behaviors, but negligible constraints on others. Models of simultaneous genetic/cultural evolution will be useful in identifying domains in which acultural evolutionary models are, and are not, likely to be useful.
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Scherer, W. F., Madalengoitia, J., Flores, W., & Acosta, M. (1975). Ecologic studies of Venezuelan encephalitis virus in Peru during 1970-1971. Am J Epidemiol, 101(4), 347–355.
Abstract: Venezuelan encephalitis (VE) virus has intermittently produced epidemics and equine epizootics on the dry Pacific coastal plain of Peru since at least the 1930's. However, evidence that the virus exists in the Amazon region of Peru to the east of the Andes mountains was not obtained until antibodies were found in human sera collected in 1965, and 10 strains of the virus were isolated in a forest near the city of Iquitos, Peru during February and March 1971. Eight strains came from mosquitoes and two from dead sentinel hamsters. Three hamsters exposed in forests near Iquitos developed VE virus antibodies suggesting that hamster-benign strains also exist there. Antibody tests of equine sera revealed no evidence that VE virus was actively cycling during the late 1950's or 1960's in southern coastal Peru, where equine epizootics had occurred in the 1930's and 1940's. In northern coastal Peru bordering Ecuador, antibodies were present in equine sera, presumably residual from the 1969 outbreak caused by subtype I virus, since neutralizing antibody titers were higher to subtype I virus than to subtypes III or IV. No VE virus was detected in this northern region during the dry season of 1970 by use of sentinel hamsters. The possibility is considered that VE epidemics and equine epizootics on the Pacific coast of Peru are caused by movements of virus in infected vertebrates traversing Andean passes or in infected vertebrates or mosquitoes carried in airplanes from the Amazon region.
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Menges, R. W., Furcolow, M. L., Selby, L. A., Habermann, R. T., & Smith, C. D. (1967). Ecologic studies of histoplasmosis. Am J Epidemiol, 85(1), 108–119.
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Romano, N., Vitale, F., Alesi, D. R., Bonura, F., La Licata, R., Intonazzo, V., et al. (1992). The changing pattern of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection in intravenous drug users. Results of a six-year seroprevalence study in Palermo, Italy. Am J Epidemiol, 135(11), 1189–1196.
Abstract: A cross-sectional seroepidemiologic study was carried out between 1985 and 1990 in 1,567 heterosexual intravenous drug users who had been seen at the AIDS Regional Reference Center in Palermo, Italy, to evaluate the rate of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) seroprevalence in this group and its long-term trend. Sixty serum samples collected from drug users in 1980 and 1983, before the founding of the Center (1985), were tested as well. Some demographic and behavioral risk factors were studied in a subgroup of intravenous drug users enrolled in 1985, 1987, and 1990 for their possible association with HIV-1. These factors were also studied in relation to hepatitis B virus infection, since both viruses share the same modes of spread. These drug users had a higher prevalence of markers for hepatitis B virus than of HIV-1 antibodies, and the prevalence rates in sera collected declined over time for both infections. The presence of both antibodies to HIV-1 and markers for hepatitis B virus was independently associated with the age of the drug user, the duration of drug use, and the year of serum collection. Antibodies to HIV-1 were observed more frequently in females than in males. No relation was found between education or employment status and the presence of HIV-1 antibodies or hepatitis B virus markers. Although new HIV-1 infections still occur, the decline in seroprevalence observed at the end of the 1980s might be related to modifications in social behavior among newer drug users, partial exhaustion of the susceptible population, and increasing risk awareness in more experienced users.
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Previc, F. H. (2002). Thyroid hormone production in chimpanzees and humans: implications for the origins of human intelligence. Am J Phys Anthropol, 118(4), 402–3; discussion 404–5.
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Schwartz, B. L., & Evans, S. (2001). Episodic memory in primates. Am. J. Primatol., 55(2), 71–85.
Abstract: Episodic memory refers to a system of memory with the capacity to recollect specific events from an individual's life. Some psychologists have suggested that episodic memory is a uniquely human phenomenon. We challenge that idea and present evidence that great apes and other primates may possess episodic-like memory. We review criteria developed to assess episodic-like memory in nonhumans, and how they apply to primates. In particular, we discuss the criteria of Clayton et al. [2001], who stated that episodic-like memory is based on the retrieval of multiple and integrated components of an event. We then review eight studies examining memory in great apes and apply the Clayton et al. criteria to each of them. We summarize the evidence that is compatible with the existence of episodic-like memory, although none of the data completely satisfy the Clayton et al. criteria. Morover, feelings of pastness and feelings of confidence, which mark episodic memory in humans, have not been empirically addressed in nonhuman primates. Future studies should be directed at these aspects of memory in primates. We speculate on the functional significance of episodic memory in nonhuman primates.
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Heath-Lange, S., Ha, J. C., & Sackett, G. P. (1999). Behavioral measurement of temperament in male nursery-raised infant macaques and baboons. Am. J. Primatol., 47(1), 43–50.
Abstract: We define temperament as an individual's set of characteristic behavioral responses to novel or challenging stimuli. This study adapted a temperament scale used with rhesus macaques by Schneider and colleagues [American Journal of Primatology 25:137-155, 1991] for use with male pigtailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina, n = 7), longtailed macaque (M. fascicularis, n = 3), and baboon infants (Papio cynocephalus anubis, n = 4). Subjects were evaluated twice weekly for the first 5 months of age during routine removal from their cages for weighing. Behavioral measures were based on the subject's interactions with a familiar human caretaker and included predominant state before capture, response to capture, contact latency, resistance to tester's hold, degree of clinging, attention to environment, defecation/urination, consolability, facial expression, vocalizations, and irritability. Species differences indicated that baboons were more active than macaques in establishing or terminating contact with the tester. Temperament scores decreased over time for the variables Response to Capture and Contact Latency, indicating that as they grew older, subjects became less reactive and more bold in their interactions with the tester. Temperament scores changed slowly with age, with greater change occurring at younger ages. The retention of variability in reactivity between and within species may be advantageous for primates, reflecting the flexibility necessary to survive in a changing environment.
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Sankey, C., Richard-Yris, M. - A., Leroy, H., Henry, S., & Hausberger, M. (2010). Positive interactions lead to lasting positive memories in horses, Equus caballus. Anim. Behav., 79(4), 869–875.
Abstract: Social relationships are important in social species. These relationships, based on repeated interactions, define each partner's expectations during the following encounters. The creation of a relationship implies high social cognitive abilities which require that each partner is able to associate the positive or negative content of an interaction with a specific partner and to recall this association. In this study, we tested the effects of repeated interactions on the memory kept by 23 young horses about humans, after 6 and 8 months of separation. The association of a reward with a learning task in an interactional context induced positive reactions towards humans during training. It also increased contact and interest, not only just after training, but also several months later, despite no further interaction with humans. In addition, this ‘positive memory’ of humans extended to novel persons. Overall, positive reinforcement enhanced learning and memorization of the task itself. These findings suggest remarkable social cognitive abilities that can be transposed from intraspecific to interspecific social contexts.
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KOIZUMI, R., MITANI, T., UEDA, K., & KONDO, S. (2017). Skill reading of human social cues by horses (Equus caballus) reared under year-round grazing conditions. Animal Behaviour and Management, 53(2), 69–78.
Abstract: Animals use communicative signals, such as gesture or gaze, to communicate to someone the intention or expression of the sender, which is called social cue. In the previous studies, it was suggested the skill of reading human social cue in domestic animals are influenced to the domestication, the experience contacting with human and training to obey human. In this present study, we tested the skill for horses (Equus caballus) kept in year-round grazing conditions using 33 horses differed from breed and the degree of the experience with human by object-choice task subjects choosing either of bait boxes located at the end of experimenter. As results, non-socialized horses hardly responded to human social cues. Habituated horses that were both of trained and untrained responded to human social cues, but their accuracy rates were not more than 50% except for two trained subjects. For the skill of reading human social cues, there was high individual variation in responding to human social cues in horses kept in year-round grazing conditions. The individual characteristics influenced to it more than domestication, the experience with human, and training to obey human.
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Cowley, J. J., & Griesel, R. D. (1966). The effect on growth and behaviour of rehabilitating first and second generation low protein rats. Anim. Behav., 14(4), 506–517.
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