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Author Nathan J. Emery
Title The Evolution of Social Cognition Type Book Chapter
Year 2005 Publication The Cognitive Neuroscience of Social BehaviourGarten Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages
Keywords
Abstract Although this bookis focusedon the cognitive neuroscience ofhuman social behaviour, an

understandingofsocial cognition in non-human animals is critical for unravellingthe neural basis of

social cognition in humans as well as the selective pressures that have shapedthe evolution ofcomplex

social cognition. Thanks to methodological limitations, we know little about the relationships between

certain biochemical andelectrophysiological properties ofthe human brain andhow theycompute the

behaviour andmental states ofother individuals. Traditional techniques for examiningneural function

in humans, such as event-relatedpotentials (ERP),positron emission tomography(PET),and

functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI),are constrainedbythe fact that subjects are placed

either into an immoveable scanner with a lot ofbackgroundnoise or wiredup with dozens of

electrodes that are sensitive to slight movements. The possibilityofscanningor recordingbrain waves

from two individuals that are physicallyinteractingsociallyis technicallyimpossible at present

(however, see Montague et al, 2002 for a new methodfor simultaneouslyscanningtwo individuals

interactingvia a computer).

The onlywayto understandthe neurocognitive architecture ofhuman social behaviour is to examine

similar social processes in both human andnon-human animal minds andmake comparisons at the

species level. An additional argument is that traditional human socio-cognitive tasks are dependent on

the use ofstories, cartoons andverbal cues andinstructions (Heberlein & Adolphs, this volume)which

themselves will elicit specific neural responses that have to be eliminatedfrom neural responses

specificallyrelatedto mindreading. Therefore, the development ofnon-verbal tasks wouldprovide a

breakthrough for studies in non-linguistic animals, pre-verbal human infants andhuman cognitive

neuroimaging.
Address
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Publisher Psychology Press Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
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Author Hare, B.; Tomasello, M.
Title Human-like social skills in dogs? Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Trends in Cognitive Sciences Abbreviated Journal Trends. Cognit. Sci.
Volume 9 Issue 9 Pages 439-444
Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Cognition/*physiology; Dogs; *Evolution; Humans; *Social Behavior
Abstract Domestic dogs are unusually skilled at reading human social and communicative behavior--even more so than our nearest primate relatives. For example, they use human social and communicative behavior (e.g. a pointing gesture) to find hidden food, and they know what the human can and cannot see in various situations. Recent comparisons between canid species suggest that these unusual social skills have a heritable component and initially evolved during domestication as a result of selection on systems mediating fear and aggression towards humans. Differences in chimpanzee and human temperament suggest that a similar process may have been an important catalyst leading to the evolution of unusual social skills in our own species. The study of convergent evolution provides an exciting opportunity to gain further insights into the evolutionary processes leading to human-like forms of cooperation and communication.
Address Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, Germany. hare@eva.mpg.de
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1364-6613 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16061417 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial (up) 546
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Author Digweed, Shannon M.; Fedigan, Linda M.; Rendall, Drew
Title Variable specificity in the anti-predator vocalizations and behaviour of the white-faced capuchin, Cebus capucinus Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Behaviour Abbreviated Journal Behaviour
Volume 142 Issue 8 Pages 997-1021
Keywords
Abstract (Accepted: 23 June 2005)

Summary

Much research in animal communication is aimed at understanding the functional design

features of animal vocal signals. Our detailed analyses of the vocalizations and behavioural

responses elicited in white-faced capuchins by predators and other disturbances point to two

call variants that differ modestly in their acoustic structure and that are accompanied by

functionally distinct behavioural responses. The first variant is given exclusively to avian

predators and is almost invariably accompanied by the monkeys immediate descent from

the treetops where it is most vulnerable; therefore, we label this call variant the aerial

predator alarm?. The second variant, that differs only slightly but noticeably from the first,

is given to a wide range of snakes and mammals, including a range of species that represent

no predatory threat to the monkeys. This second call is also associated with more variable

responses from calling monkeys, from delayed retreat from the source of disturbance, to

active approach, inspection, and sometimes mobbing of the animal involved. We therefore

label this variant more generally as an “alerting call”. Although some other primate species

show a more diverse system of anti-predator calls, and the capuchins themselves may yet

be found to produce a greater variety of calls, a system of two call variants with varying

degrees of predator specificity and behavioural response is not uncommon among primates

and appears functionally appropriate for capuchins. The basic structure of the alerting call

allows conspecific listeners to localize the caller and the source of disturbance readily, thereby

allowing listeners to approach and assist in mobbing in cases where the disturbance warrants

it, or to avoid the area in cases where the disturbance is identified as a predatory threat.

Conversely, the aerial predator alarm is inherently less localizable and therefore conveys the
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial (up) 547
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Author Zhou, W.-X.; Sornette, D.; Hill, R.A.; Dunbar, R.I.M.
Title Discrete hierarchical organization of social group sizes Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci
Volume 272 Issue 1561 Pages 439-444
Keywords Anthropology, Cultural; *Group Structure; Humans; *Models, Biological; *Social Behavior; *Social Environment
Abstract The 'social brain hypothesis' for the evolution of large brains in primates has led to evidence for the coevolution of neocortical size and social group sizes, suggesting that there is a cognitive constraint on group size that depends, in some way, on the volume of neural material available for processing and synthesizing information on social relationships. More recently, work on both human and non-human primates has suggested that social groups are often hierarchically structured. We combine data on human grouping patterns in a comprehensive and systematic study. Using fractal analysis, we identify, with high statistical confidence, a discrete hierarchy of group sizes with a preferred scaling ratio close to three: rather than a single or a continuous spectrum of group sizes, humans spontaneously form groups of preferred sizes organized in a geometrical series approximating 3-5, 9-15, 30-45, etc. Such discrete scale invariance could be related to that identified in signatures of herding behaviour in financial markets and might reflect a hierarchical processing of social nearness by human brains.
Address State Key Laboratory of Chemical Reaction Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15734699 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial (up) 549
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Author Moehlman, P.D.
Title Endangered wild equids Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Scientific American Abbreviated Journal Sci Am
Volume 292 Issue 3 Pages 74-81
Keywords Africa; Americas; Animals; *Animals, Wild/physiology; Asia; *Conservation of Energy Resources; Environment; *Equidae/physiology; Food Chain; Humans; Male; Reproduction
Abstract
Address IUCN-The World Conservation Union/Species Survival Commission Equid Specialist Group
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0036-8733 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15859216 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial (up) 551
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Author Reluga, T.C.; Viscido, S.
Title Simulated evolution of selfish herd behavior Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Journal of Theoretical Biology Abbreviated Journal J. Theor. Biol.
Volume 234 Issue 2 Pages 213-225
Keywords Selfish herd; Behavior; Evolution; Predation risk
Abstract Single species aggregations are a commonly observed phenomenon. One potential explanation for these aggregations is provided by the selfish herd hypothesis, which states that aggregations result from individual efforts to reduce personnel predation risk at the expense of group-mates. Not all movement rules based on the selfish herd hypothesis are consistent with observed animal behavior. Previous work has shown that herd-like aggregations are not generated by movement rules limited to local interactions between nearest neighbors. Instead, rules generating realistic herds appear to require delocalized interactions. To date, it has been an open question whether or not the necessary delocalization can emerge from local interactions under natural selection. To address this question, we study an individual-based model with a single quantitative genetic trait that controls the influence of neighbors as a function of distance. The results indicate that predation-based selection can increase the influence of distant neighbors relative to near neighbors. Our results lend support for the idea that selfish herd behavior can arise from localized movement rules under natural selection.
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Author Suzuki, Y.; Toquenaga, Y.
Title Effects of information and group structure on evolution of altruism: analysis of two-score model by covariance and contextual analyses Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Journal of theoretical biology Abbreviated Journal J. Theor. Biol.
Volume 232 Issue 2 Pages 191-201
Keywords *Altruism; Analysis of Variance; *Communication; Cooperative Behavior; *Evolution; Game Theory; *Group Structure; Humans; Models, Genetic; Models, Psychological; Selection (Genetics); Trust
Abstract An altruistic individual has to gamble on cooperation to a stranger because it does not know whether the stranger is trustworthy before direct interaction. Nowak and Sigmund (Nature 393 (1998a) 573; J. Theor. Biol. 194 (1998b) 561) presented a new theoretical framework of indirect reciprocal altruism by image scoring game where all individuals are informed about a partner's behavior from its image score without direct interaction. Interestingly, in a simplified version of the image scoring game, the evolutionarily stability condition for altruism became a similar form of Hamilton's rule, i.e. inequality that the probability of getting correct information is more than the ratio of cost to benefit. Since the Hamilton's rule was derived by evolutionarily stable analysis, the evolutionary meaning of the probability of getting correct information has not been clearly examined in terms of kin and group selection. In this study, we applied covariance analysis to the two-score model for deriving the Hamilton's rule. We confirmed that the probability of getting correct information was proportional to the bias of altruistic interactions caused by using information about a partner's image score. The Hamilton's rule was dependent on the number of game bouts even though the information reduced the risk of cooperation to selfish one at the first encounter. In addition, we incorporated group structure to the two-score model to examine whether the probability of getting correct information affect selection for altruism by group selection. We calculated a Hamilton's rule of group selection by contextual analysis. Group selection is very effective when either the probability of getting correct information or that of future interaction, or both are low. The two Hamilton's rules derived by covariance and contextual analyses demonstrated the effects of information and group structure on the evolution of altruism. We inferred that information about a partner's behavior and group structure can produce flexible pathways for the evolution of altruism.
Address Integrative Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Ten-Nou-Dai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan. yukari@pe.ies.life.tsukuba.ac.jp
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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ISSN 0022-5193 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:15530489 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial (up) 556
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Author Griffin, A.S.; Galef, J., Bennett G.
Title Social learning about predators: does timing matter? Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 69 Issue 3 Pages 669-678
Keywords
Abstract In Pavlovian conditioning, animals acquire a response to a previously neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus, CS), such as a light, if that stimulus predicts a biologically important event (unconditioned stimulus, US), such as delivery of food. Learning typically occurs when the CS precedes the US (forward conditioning), and not when the CS follows the US (backward conditioning). In social learning about predators, the predator stimulus is considered to be the CS to which observers acquire avoidance responses after the stimulus has been presented in contiguity with an alarmed demonstrator, the US. We tested the prediction that social learning of response to a predator would occur even if the social alarm cues (the US) appeared before the predatory stimulus (the CS). Carib grackles, Quiscalus lugubris, responded to a familiar predator presented at close range by suppressing alarm calls. Presentation of an unfamiliar avian model (black-and-yellow pigeon) also decreased calling, and this inhibition of calling was enhanced following a training session in which the model stimulus was presented in association with grackle alarm calls. Acquired inhibition of calling was independent of the order of presentation of the model and an alarm chorus. These are the first results to indicate that social acquisition of predator avoidance is not dependent upon a particular temporal relationship between predators and social alarm cues. Evolution may have modified some properties of Pavlovian conditioning to accommodate social learning about potentially dangerous stimuli.
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Author Hare, B.; Plyusnina, I.; Ignacio, N.; Schepina, O.; Stepika, A.; Wrangham, R.; Trut, L.
Title Social cognitive evolution in captive foxes is a correlated by-product of experimental domestication Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Current biology : CB Abbreviated Journal Curr Biol
Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 226-230
Keywords Animals; *Animals, Domestic; Cognition/*physiology; *Cues; *Evolution; Foxes/*physiology; *Selection (Genetics); Social Behavior; Species Specificity
Abstract Dogs have an unusual ability for reading human communicative gestures (e.g., pointing) in comparison to either nonhuman primates (including chimpanzees) or wolves . Although this unusual communicative ability seems to have evolved during domestication , it is unclear whether this evolution occurred as a result of direct selection for this ability, as previously hypothesized , or as a correlated by-product of selection against fear and aggression toward humans--as is the case with a number of morphological and physiological changes associated with domestication . We show here that fox kits from an experimental population selectively bred over 45 years to approach humans fearlessly and nonaggressively (i.e., experimentally domesticated) are not only as skillful as dog puppies in using human gestures but are also more skilled than fox kits from a second, control population not bred for tame behavior (critically, neither population of foxes was ever bred or tested for their ability to use human gestures) . These results suggest that sociocognitive evolution has occurred in the experimental foxes, and possibly domestic dogs, as a correlated by-product of selection on systems mediating fear and aggression, and it is likely the observed social cognitive evolution did not require direct selection for improved social cognitive ability.
Address Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. hare@eva.mpg.de
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Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0960-9822 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:15694305 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial (up) 594
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Author Miklosi, A.; Pongracz, P.; Lakatos, G.; Topal, J.; Csanyi, V.
Title A Comparative Study of the Use of Visual Communicative Signals in Interactions Between Dogs (Canis familiaris) and Humans and Cats (Felis catus) and Humans Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Journal of Comparative Psychology Abbreviated Journal J. Comp. Psychol.
Volume 119 Issue 2 Pages 179-186
Keywords
Abstract Dogs' (Canis familiaris) and cats' (Felis catus) interspecific communicative behavior toward humans was investigated. In Experiment 1, the ability of dogs and cats to use human pointing gestures in an object-choice task was compared using 4 types of pointing cues differing in distance between the signaled object and the end of the fingertip and in visibility duration of the given signal. Using these gestures, both dogs and cats were able to find the hidden food; there was no significant difference in their performance. In Experiment 2, the hidden food was made inaccessible to the subjects to determine whether they could indicate the place of the hidden food to a naive owner. Cats lacked some components of attention-getting behavior compared with dogs. The results suggest that individual familiarization with pointing gestures ensures high-level performance in the presence of such gestures; however, species-specific differences could cause differences in signaling toward the human.
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