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Author Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.
Title (up) Social cognition Type Journal Article
Year 2015 Publication Animal Behaviour Abbreviated Journal
Volume 103 Issue Pages 191-202
Keywords evolution; fitness; future research; personality; selective pressure; skill; social cognition
Abstract The social intelligence hypothesis argues that competition and cooperation among individuals have shaped the evolution of cognition in animals. What do we mean by social cognition? Here we suggest that the building blocks of social cognition are a suite of skills, ordered roughly according to the cognitive demands they place upon individuals. These skills allow an animal to recognize others by various means; to recognize and remember other animals' relationships; and, perhaps, to attribute mental states to them. Some skills are elementary and virtually ubiquitous in the animal kingdom; others are more limited in their taxonomic distribution. We treat these skills as the targets of selection, and assume that more complex levels of social cognition evolve only when simpler methods are inadequate. As a result, more complex levels of social cognition indicate greater selective pressures in the past. The presence of each skill can be tested directly through field observations and experiments. In addition, the same methods that have been used to compare social cognition across species can also be used to measure individual differences within species and to test the hypothesis that individual differences in social cognition are linked to differences in reproductive success.
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Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6025
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Author Manser, M.B.; Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.
Title (up) Suricate alarm calls signal predator class and urgency Type
Year 2002 Publication Trends in Cognitive Sciences Abbreviated Journal Trends. Cognit. Sci.
Volume 6 Issue 2 Pages 55-57
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ISSN 1364-6613 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15866180 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 686
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Author Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.
Title (up) The acoustic features of vervet monkey grunts Type Journal Article
Year 1984 Publication The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Abbreviated Journal J Acoust Soc Am
Volume 75 Issue 5 Pages 1623-1628
Keywords *Acoustics; Animals; Auditory Perception; Cercopithecus/*physiology; Cercopithecus aethiops/*physiology; Cues; Dominance-Subordination; Female; Male; Social Behavior; Sound Spectrography; *Vocalization, Animal
Abstract East African vervet monkeys give short (125 ms), harsh-sounding grunts to each other in a variety of social situations: when approaching a dominant or subordinate member of their group, when moving into a new area of their range, or upon seeing another group. Although all these vocalizations sound similar to humans, field playback experiments have shown that the monkeys distinguish at least four different calls. Acoustic analysis reveals that grunts have an aperiodic F0, at roughly 240 Hz. Most grunts exhibit a spectral peak close to this irregular F0. Grunts may also contain a second, rising or falling frequency peak, between 550 and 900 Hz. The location and changes in these two frequency peaks are the cues most likely to be used by vervets when distinguishing different grunt types.
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0001-4966 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:6736426 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 703
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Author Owren, M.J.; Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.
Title (up) The acoustic features of vowel-like grunt calls in chacma baboons (Papio cyncephalus ursinus): implications for production processes and functions Type Journal Article
Year 1997 Publication The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Abbreviated Journal J Acoust Soc Am
Volume 101 Issue 5 Pt 1 Pages 2951-2963
Keywords Animals; Female; *Papio; Sound Spectrography; *Vocalization, Animal
Abstract The acoustic features of 216 baboon grunts were investigated through analysis of field-recorded calls produced by identified females in known contexts. Analyses addressed two distinct questions: whether the acoustic features of these tonal sounds could be characterized using a source-filter approach and whether the acoustic features of grunts varied by individual caller and social context. Converging evidence indicated that grunts were produced through a combination of periodic laryngeal vibration and a stable vocal tract filter. Their acoustic properties closely resembled those of prototypical human vowel sounds. In general, variation in the acoustic features of the grunts was more strongly related to caller identity than to the social contexts of calling. However, two acoustic parameters, second formant frequency and overall spectral tilt, did vary consistently depending on whether the caller was interacting with an infant or participating in a group move. Nonetheless, in accordance with the general view that identity cueing is a compelling function in animal communication, it can be concluded that much of the observed variability in grunt acoustics is likely to be related to this aspect of signaling. Further, cues related to vocal tract filtering appear particularly likely to play an important role in identifying individual calling animals.
Address Department of Psychology, Reed College, Portland, Oregon 97202, USA. michael.owren@reed.edu
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ISSN 0001-4966 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:9165741 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 698
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Author Palombit,R.A.; Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.
Title (up) The adaptive value of 'friendships' to female baboons: experimental and observational evidence Type Journal Article
Year 1997 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 54 Issue 3 Pages 599-614
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Abstract Lactating female baboons, Papio cynocephalusoften maintain close associations with particular males. There are at least three proposed benefits of 'friendships' to females: (1) male protection against potentially infanticidal males; (2) male protection against harassment by dominant females; (3) male attachment to an infant that develops into future care of juveniles. These hypotheses were examined in a population of chacma baboons, P. c. ursinusin which male infanticide accounted for at least 38% of infant mortality. Almost all mothers of young infants formed strong bonds with one or two males with whom they had copulated during the cycle in which they conceived their infants. Females were primarily responsible for maintaining friendships during lactation, but they terminated these relationships if their infants died. In playbacks of females' screams, male friends responded more strongly than control males. They also responded more strongly to the screams of female friends than to the screams of control females. Following an infant's death, however, male friends responded less strongly than control males to the same females' screams. Finally, male friends responded more strongly than control males to playback sequences in which female screams were combined with the threat vocalizations of a potentially infanticidal alpha male, but not when female screams were combined with the threat calls of a non-infanticidal male or the alpha female. Both observations and experiments suggest that the benefits of friendships to females derive from the protection of their infants against infanticide.1997The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
Address Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:9299045 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 697
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Author Rendall, D.; Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.; Owren, M.J.
Title (up) The meaning and function of grunt variants in baboons Type Journal Article
Year 1999 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 57 Issue 3 Pages 583-592
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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.
Address Departments of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, U.S.A
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:10196047 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 696
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Author Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M.
Title (up) The recognition of social alliances among vervet monkeys Type Journal Article
Year 1986 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 34 Issue Pages 1722-1731
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4864
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Author Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M.
Title (up) The representation of social relations by monkeys Type Journal Article
Year 1990 Publication Cognition Abbreviated Journal Cognition
Volume 37 Issue 1-2 Pages 167-196
Keywords Animals; Cercopithecus aethiops/*psychology; Concept Formation; *Dominance-Subordination; Female; Macaca fascicularis/*psychology; Male; *Social Behavior; *Social Environment
Abstract Monkeys recognize the social relations that exist among others in their group. They know who associates with whom, for example, and other animals' relative dominance ranks. In addition, monkeys appear to compare types of social relations and make same/different judgments about them. In captivity, longtailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) trained to recognize the relation between one adult female and her offspring can identify the same relation among other mother-offspring pairs, and distinguish this relation from bonds between individuals who are related in a different way. In the wild, if a vervet monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops) has seen a fight between a member of its own family and a member of Family X, this increases the likelihood that it will act aggressively toward another member of Family X. Vervets act as if they recognize some similarity between their own close associates and the close associates of others. To make such comparisons the monkeys must have some way of representing the properties of social relationships. We discuss the adaptive value of such representations, the information they contain, their structure, and their limitations.
Address Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104
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Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0010-0277 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:2269006 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 702
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Author Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M.; Silk, J.B.
Title (up) The responses of female baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) to anomalous social interactions: evidence for causal reasoning? Type Journal Article
Year 1995 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 109 Issue 2 Pages 134-141
Keywords Animals; Attention; Auditory Perception; *Awareness; *Concept Formation; *Dominance-Subordination; Fear; Female; Hierarchy, Social; Papio/*psychology; *Social Behavior; Social Environment; Vocalization, Animal
Abstract Baboons' (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) understanding of cause-effect relations in the context of social interactions was examined through use of a playback experiment. Under natural conditions, dominant female baboons often grunt to more subordinate mothers when interacting with their infants. Mothers occasionally respond to these grunts by uttering submissive fear barks. Subjects were played causally inconsistent call sequences in which a lower ranking female apparently grunted to a higher ranking female, and the higher ranking female apparently responded with fear barks. As a control, subjects heard a sequence made causally consistent by the inclusion of grunts from a 3rd female that was dominant to both of the others. Subjects responded significantly more strongly to the causally inconsistent sequences, suggesting that they recognized the factors that cause 1 individual to give submissive vocalizations to another.
Address Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, USA
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:7758289 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 348
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Author Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.
Title (up) The Structure of Social Knowledge in Monkeys Type Book Chapter
Year 2003 Publication Animal Social Complexity: Intelligence, Culture, and Individualized Societies Abbreviated Journal
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Publisher Harvard University Press Place of Publication Cambridge, Massachusetts Editor F. B. M. de Waal; P. L. Tyack
Language English Summary Language Original Title Animal Social Complexity: Intelligence, Culture, and Individualized Societies
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN 978-0674009295 Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 464
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