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Rendall, D., Seyfarth, R. M., Cheney, D. L., & Owren, M. J. (1999). The meaning and function of grunt variants in baboons. Anim. Behav., 57(3), 583–592.
Abstract: Wild baboons Papio cynocephalus ursinus, give tonal, harmonically rich vocalizations, termed grunts, in at least two distinct, behavioural contexts: when about to embark on a move across an open area ('move' grunts); and when approaching mothers and attempting to inspect or handle their young infants ('infant' grunts). Grunts in these two contexts elicit different responses from receivers and appear to be acoustically distinct (Owren et al. 1997 Journal of the Acoustical Society of America101 2951-2963). Differences in responses to grunts in the two contexts may, then, be due to acoustic differences, reflecting at least a rudimentary capacity for referential signalling. Alternatively, responses may differ simply due to differences in the contexts in which the grunts are being produced. We conducted playback experiments to test between these hypotheses. Experiments were designed to control systematically the effects of both context and acoustic features so as to evaluate the role of each in determining responses to grunts. In playback trials, subjects differentiated between putative move and infant grunts. Their responses based only on the acoustic features of grunts were functionally distinct and mirrored their behaviour to naturally occurring move and infant grunts. However, subjects' responses were in some cases also affected by the context in which grunts were presented, and by an interaction between the context and the acoustic features of the grunts. Furthermore, responses to grunts were affected by the relative rank difference between the caller and the subject. These results indicate that baboon grunts can function in rudimentary referential fashion, but that the context in which grunts are produced and the social identity of callers can also affect recipients' responses. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
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Nicol, C. J., & Pope, S. J. (1999). The effects of demonstrator social status and prior foraging success on social learning in laying hens. Anim. Behav., 57(1), 163–171.
Abstract: Opportunities for social learning within a group of animals are likely to be influenced by the social dynamics of that group. Some individuals may be more influential demonstrators than others even when there are no differences in their skill level or performance. In this study of domestic hens,Gallus gallus domesticus, differences in demonstrator salience were examined. From 24 separate flocks we selected as demonstrators a dominant cockerel, a dominant hen, a mid-ranking hen or a subordinate hen. Demonstrators were pretrained to perform an operant discrimination task to obtain food. Six observers from each flock individually watched the demonstrator perform the task for four 5-min sessions held on consecutive days. On the fifth day observers were tested individually in the operant chamber. We analysed data from 19 flocks, where there were no quantitative differences in demonstrator performance. Observer hens of relatively high social status performed more correct operant pecks than observer hens of relatively low social status. Demonstrator category also had a significant effect on subsequent observer behaviour. Hens that had observed cockerels performed very few general pecks or operant pecks. Hens that had observed dominant hens performed more operant pecks, but hens that had observed sub-ordinate hens performed more general pecks in the chamber. The results suggested either that there was an interaction between dominance and gender in demonstrator salience or that dominant hens might have been influential because of some factor imperfectly associated with their dominance status. A possible candidate was the foraging ability of the dominant hens. In a second experiment using the same protocol, we manipulated the prior foraging success of dominant hens from four additional flocks but this had no significant effect on their subsequent influence as demonstrators.
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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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Sayigh, L. S., Tyack, P. L., Wells, R. S., Solow, A. R., Scott, M. D., & Irvine, A. B. (1999). Individual recognition in wild bottlenose dolphins: a field test using playback experiments. Anim. Behav., 57(1), 41–50.
Abstract: We conducted playback experiments with wild bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, to determine whether there is sufficient information in their individually distinctive signature whistles for individual recognition. We conducted experiments with members of a resident community of dolphins in waters near Sarasota, Florida, during temporary capture-release projects. We used a paired playback design, wherein the same two whistle sequences were predicted to evoke opposite responses from two different target animals. This design controlled for any unknown cues that may have been present in the playback stimuli. We predicted that mothers would respond more strongly to the whistles of their own independent offspring than to the whistles of a familiar, similar-aged nonoffspring. Similarly, we predicted that independent offspring would respond more strongly to the whistles of their own mother than to the whistles of a familiar, similar-aged female. Target animals were significantly (P<0.02) more likely to respond to the predicted stimuli, with responses measured by the number of head turns towards the playback speaker. In bottlenose dolphin societies, stable, individual-specific relationships are intermixed with fluid patterns of association between individuals. In primate species that live in similar 'fission-fusion' type societies, individual recognition is commonplace. Thus, when taken in the context of what is known about the social structure and behaviour of bottlenose dolphins, these playback experiments suggest that signature whistles are used for individual recognition. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
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Koba, Y., & Tanida, H. (1999). How do miniature pigs discriminate between people? The effect of exchanging cues between a non-handler and their familiar handler on discrimination. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 61(3), 239–252.
Abstract: Behavioural tests using operant conditioning were conducted to examine how miniature pigs discriminate between people. During a 3-week handling period, six 8-week-old pigs were touched and fed raisins as a reward whenever they approached their handler. In subsequent training, the handler and a non-handler wearing dark blue and white coveralls, respectively, and wearing different eau de toilette fragrances sat at each end of a Y-maze. Pigs were rewarded with raisins when they chose the handler. Successful discrimination occurred when the pig chose the handler at least 15 times in 20 trials (P<0.05: by χ2 test). When all pigs exhibited successful discrimination under these standard conditions, they were exposed to Experiments 1 through 4. In Experiment 1, (1) handler and non-handler exchanged colours of coveralls; (2) handler and non-handler exchanged eau de toilette; (3) handler and non-handler exchanged both cues. The non-handler was chosen significantly more often following the exchange of coverall colours and the exchange of both coverall colours and eau de toilette. However, the handler was chosen significantly more frequently following exchange of eau de toilette only. In Experiment 2, when both handler and non-handler wore coveralls of the handler's original colour, the pigs had difficulty discriminating between them. In Experiment 3, both handler and non-handler wore coveralls of new colours. The pigs easily chose the handler wearing red or blue vs. white coveralls. In Experiment 4, (1) two novel people wore coveralls of the original colours of handler and non-handler; (2) the test with the original experimenters was conducted under the original conditions but in a novel place. Between novel people, the one wearing the handler's original colour of coveralls was preferentially chosen by the pigs. The pigs had difficulty discriminating the handler from the non-handler in a novel place. Pigs appear to discriminate between a familiar handler and a non-familiar person based primarily on visual cues, prominent of which is colour of clothing.
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Smith, S., & Goldman, L. (1999). Color discrimination in horses. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 62(1), 13–25.
Abstract: Four Arabian horses and one Thoroughbred were presented with a series of two-choice color vs. gray discrimination problems. Testing was done in a stall containing a wall with two translucent panels that were illuminated from behind by light projected through color or gray filters to provide the discriminative stimuli. Horses first learned to push one of the panels in order to receive the food reward behind the positive stimulus in an achromatic light-dark discrimination task, and were then tested on their ability to discriminate between gray and four individual colors: red (617 nm), yellow (581 nm), green (538 nm), and blue (470 nm). The criterion for learning was set at 85% correct responses, and final testing for all color vs. gray discriminations involved grays of varying intensities, making brightness an irrelevant cue. Three subjects were tested with all four colors. Two of those subjects successfully reached the criterion for learning on all four color vs. gray discriminations, while the third reached criterion with red and blue, but performed at chance levels for yellow and green. A fourth horse was only tested with green and yellow, and a fifth only with blue, and both of those horses successfully reached criterion on the discriminations they attempted. With the exception of the one subject's poor performance with yellow and green, there was no significant difference between horses on any of the discrimination tasks, and no significant difference in their performance with different colors. The results suggest that horses have color vision that is at least dichromatic, although partial color-blindness may occur in some individuals.
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Hsu, Y., & Wolf, L. L. (1999). The winner and loser effect: integrating multiple experiences. Anim. Behav., 57(4), 903–910.
Abstract: An important question in state-dependent behaviour is how multiple influences on state are integrated to determine current behaviour. Aggressive behaviour is known to be affected by a prior contest experience. Nevertheless, whether and how multiple prior fighting experiences are integrated into a fighting decision remain unexplored. In this study, individuals ofRivulus marmoratus(Cyprinodontidae), a hermaphroditic fish, were given different combinations of two prior fighting experiences to investigate: (1) the effect of penultimate experiences on the probability of winning a subsequent contest; (2) the relative effect of a recent win and loss; and (3) whether the effect of a winning experience was as short lived as observed in other species. Penultimate and recent fighting experiences were given to the test fish approximately 48 and 24 h prior to the dyadic contests, respectively. From the results of the five types of contests staged, we conclude that: (1) penultimate fighting experiences had a significant effect on the probability of winning a subsequent contest; (2) a more recent experience had a more pronounced effect than an earlier experience, which suggested that the effect of a fighting experience would decay and/or the effect of a recent experience would interfere with the effect of an earlier experience; (3) no asymmetric effect between a winning experience and a losing experience was detected; and (4) the effect of both a winning and a losing experience lasted for at least 48 h inR. marmoratuswhich was the maximum time tested in these experiments. The possible reasons for the differences in results among studies of experience effects on contest outcomes are discussed.
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Barry, K. J., & Crowell-Davis, S. L. (1999). Gender differences in the social behavior of the neutered indoor-only domestic cat. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 64(3), 193–211.
Abstract: The domestic cat exhibits a wide variety of social behavior. The aim of this experiment was to investigate factors which influence the affiliative and aggressive behavior of the indoor-only neutered domestic cat. Some 60 households comprised of either two males, two females or a male and female cat were observed. The cats were between 6 months and 8 years old, and were always restricted to the indoors. Each pair of housemates was observed for 10 h. There were no significant differences in affiliative or aggressive behavior based on cat gender. However, females were never observed to allorub other females. The male/male households did spend more time in close proximity. The amount of time the cats had lived together was negatively correlated with the amount of aggression observed during the study. Factors such as size of the house and weight difference between the cats did not correlate with the aggression rate. Large standard deviations and the correlations of social behavior between housemates indicated the importance of individual differences in behavior.
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Slagsvold, T., & Viljugrein, H. (1999). Mate choice copying versus preference for actively displaying males by female pied flycatchers. Anim. Behav., 57(3), 679–686.
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White, D. J., & Galef Jr, B. G. (1999). Mate choice copying and conspecific cueing in Japanese quail,Coturnix coturnix japonica. Anim. Behav., 57(2), 465–473.
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