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Castles, D. L., Whiten, A., & Aureli, F. (1999). Social anxiety, relationships and self-directed behaviour among wild female olive baboons. Anim. Behav., 58(6), 1207–1215.
Abstract: Self-directed behaviour (SDB) can be used as a behavioural indicator of stress and anxiety in nonhuman primates (Maestripieri et al. 1992, Animal Behaviour, 44, 967-979). We investigated the effect of nearest neighbours' relative dominance status on the SDB of sexually mature female olive baboons, Papio anubis. When the animal nearest to (within 5 m of) a female was a dominant individual, SDB rates (a combined measure of self-scratching, self-grooming, self-touching, body shaking and yawning) increased by ca. 40% over those observed when the nearest neighbour was a subordinate. The results indicate that (1) SDB can be used as a measure of uncertainty during the social interactions of cercopithecine primates and (2) as there was considerable variation in SDB response according to the nature of the dominant individual, SDB can be used to assess relationship security (i.e. the perceived predictability of a relationship for one partner). Finally, in combination with measures of affiliation rate, SDB may provide insight into relationship value.
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Whiten, A., Custance, D. M., Gomez, J. C., Teixidor, P., & Bard, K. A. (1996). Imitative learning of artificial fruit processing in children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). J Comp Psychol, 110(1), 3–14.
Abstract: Observational learning in chimpanzees and young children was investigated using an artificial fruit designed as an analog of natural foraging problems faced by primates. Each of 3 principal components could be removed in 2 alternative ways, demonstration of only one of which was watched by each subject. This permitted subsequent imitation by subjects to be distinguished from stimulus enhancement. Children aged 2-4 years evidenced imitation for 2 components, but also achieved demonstrated outcomes through their own techniques. Chimpanzees relied even more on their own techniques, but they did imitate elements of 1 component of the task. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence of chimpanzee imitation in a functional task designed to simulate foraging behavior hypothesized to be transmitted culturally in the wild.
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Byrne, R. W. (2002). Imitation of novel complex actions: What does the evidence from animals mean? In C. T. Snowdon, T. J. Roper, & J. S. Rosenblatt (Eds.), Advances in the Study of Behavior (Vol. 31, pp. 77–105). San Diego: Academic Press.
Abstract: Summary Underlying the various behaviors that are classified as imitation, there may be several distinct mechanisms, differing in adaptive function, cognitive basis, and computational power. Experiments reporting “true motor imitation” in animals do not as yet give evidence of production learning by imitation; instead, contextual imitation can explain their data, and this can be explained by a simple mechanism (response facilitation) which matches known neural findings. When imitation serves a function in social mimicry, which applies to a wide range of phenomena from neonatal imitation in humans and great apes to pair-bonding in some bird species, the fidelity of the behavioral match is crucial. Learning of novel behavior can potentially be achieved by matching the outcome of a model's action, and it is argued that vocal imitation by birds is a clear example of this method (which is sometimes called emulation). Alternatively, the behavior itself may be perceived in terms of actions that the observer can perform, and thus it may be copied. If the imitation is linear and stringlike (action level), following the surface form rather than the underlying plan, then its utility for learning new instrumental methods is limited. However, the underlying plan of hierarchically organized behavior is visible in output behavior, in subtle but detectable ways, and imitation could instead be based on this organization (program level), extracted automatically by string parsing. Currently, the most likely candidates for such capacities are all great apes. It is argued that this ability to perceive the underlying plan of action, in addition to allowing highly flexible imitation of novel instrumental methods, may have resulted in the competence to understand the intentions (theory of mind) of others.
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Zentall, T. R. (2001). Imitation In Animals: Evidence, Function, And Mechanisms. Cybern Syst, 32, 53–96.
Abstract: The terms sociallearning and social influence have been used descriptively and theoretically to characterize a broad range of animal behavior from physical antipredatory adaptations such as eye spots, which are totally under genetic control, to the human capacity for the exaggeration of individual characteristics, known as caricature, which are largely under cognitive control. In the present review, the various forms of social influence and social learning are identified and distinghished from imitation, a term that generally has been reserved for behavioral matching that cannot be accounted for using simpler specifically predisposed, motivational, or learning mechanisms. It is suggested that much of the ambiguity in the literature concerning the various forms of social learning can be attributed to the distinction between the function of a behavior and the mechanisms responsible for its occurrence. Finally, the various mechanisms that have been proposed to account for imitative learning are presented and an attempt is made to evaluate them.
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Berger, J. (1977). Organizational systems and dominance in feral horses in the Grand Canyon. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 2(2), 131–146.
Abstract: 1. Several aspects of the behavioral ecology of feral horses (Equus caballus) were studied in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA. Most bands contained three to five horses that included one stallion and his harem. Males that did not obtain a harem remained solitary. Throughout the study bands remained stable in composition.
2. Home ranges for all bands decreased in size in successive warm months, probably due to increased ambient temperature and drought. This resulted in greater utilization of spring areas that led to increased interband confrontation and agonistic display. 3. Territoriality was not observed in individual horses or bands, but bands hierarchial in both inter- and intraband structures. Interband stallion dominance was reinforced through posturing and fighting. Intraband hierarchies, as determined by dominance coefficients, were independent of individual size in three of four bands. 4. Indexes of nervousness (NER), calculated while horses were drinking, showed that stallions were less nervous than mares. A low NER was correlated with individuals leading toward drinking areas, whereas a high NER existed in individuals initiating flight although no single horse acted consistently as a leader. 5. Diurnal activity patterns were correlated with ambient temperatures. |
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McDonnell, S. M., & Haviland, J. C. S. (1995). Agonistic ethogram of the equid bachelor band. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 43(3), 147–188.
Abstract: An ethogram of agonistic and related behaviors among equid bachelor band members was developed. Several key English-language studies on equids were reviewed to derive a preliminary inventory of specific behaviors to be included in the ethogram. A bachelor band of domestic pony stallions pastured together was observed for approximately 50 daylight hours to obtain detailed descriptions of each behavior, enable photographic and video documentation of behaviors, and identify any behaviors to be added to the preliminary inventory. An initial draft of the ethogram was sent to 65 equine researchers for review. Twenty-eight critical reviews were received and their suggestions considered for the final draft. A total of 49 elemental behaviors including five distinct vocalizations was included in the ethogram. Three complex behavioral sequences were also included. Most of the behaviors catalogued from the direct observation of pastured pony stallions were also found in the equid literature. For many, references to these behaviors specifically among males or bachelor band members were not found. The results offer a practical tool for quantitative research and other studies of equid inter-male behavior as well as for teaching of equid behavior, and should facilitate progress toward development of a complete ethogram for the horse and other equids.
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Houston, A. I., & McNamara, J. M. (1988). Fighting for food: a dynamic version of the Hawk-Dove game. Evol. Ecol., 2(1), 51–64.
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Chase, I. D. (2006). Music notation: a new method for visualizing social interaction in animals and humans. Front Zool, 3, 18.
Abstract: ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Researchers have developed a variety of techniques for the visual presentation of quantitative data. These techniques can help to reveal trends and regularities that would be difficult to see if the data were left in raw form. Such techniques can be of great help in exploratory data analysis, making apparent the organization of data sets, developing new hypotheses, and in selecting effects to be tested by statistical analysis. Researchers studying social interaction in groups of animals and humans, however, have few tools to present their raw data visually, and it can be especially difficult to perceive patterns in these data. In this paper I introduce a new graphical method for the visual display of interaction records in human and animal groups, and I illustrate this method using data taken on chickens forming dominance hierarchies. RESULTS: This new method presents data in a way that can help researchers immediately to see patterns and connections in long, detailed records of interaction. I show a variety of ways in which this new technique can be used: (1) to explore trends in the formation of both group social structures and individual relationships; (2) to compare interaction records across groups of real animals and between real animals and computer-simulated animal interactions; (3) to search for and discover new types of small-scale interaction sequences; and (4) to examine how interaction patterns in larger groups might emerge from those in component subgroups. In addition, I discuss how this method can be modified and extended for visualizing a variety of different kinds of social interaction in both humans and animals. CONCLUSION: This method can help researchers develop new insights into the structure and organization of social interaction. Such insights can make it easier for researchers to explain behavioural processes, to select aspects of data for statistical analysis, to design further studies, and to formulate appropriate mathematical models and computer simulations.
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Devenport, J. A., Patterson, M. R., & Devenport, L. D. (2005). Dynamic averaging and foraging decisions in horses (Equus callabus). J. Comp. Psychol., 119(3), 352–358.
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.
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Eccles, T. R., & Shackleton, D. M. (1986). Correlates and consequences of social status in female bighorn sheep. Anim. Behav., 34(5), 1392–1401.
Abstract: Dominance-subordinance relationships among a captive group of adule bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis californiana) were studied from May 1977 to December 1978. Social interactions between females were brief in duration and infrequent. Although a dominance hierarchy was evident among the females, it was not linear. Horn length and body weight were not consistently correlated with social status. The highest ranking females were the most aggressive individuals, initiating more agonistic interactions than subordinates. Females with high social status did not have higher quality diets, lower activity costs, or higher productivity than low ranking females.
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