scholarly journals Ain’t going down without a fight: state-and environment-dependence of antipredator defensive aggressive personalities in Carpetan rock lizard

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gergely Horváth ◽  
José Martín ◽  
Pilar López ◽  
Gábor Herczeg

Abstract Aggression is one of the most frequently studied behavioural traits across a wide range of taxa; however, most studies evaluate aggressive behaviour in a social context, in which aggressive interactions between conspecifics are motivated by resource control (offensive or social aggression). However, in an antipredator context, the primary role of aggression is defence (defensive or antipredator aggression). Although the neuroendocrinology of antipredator aggression is often studied in domesticated and laboratory animals, how environment and individual state affect this behavioural trait in the wild is largely unknown. Here, by conducting a manipulative experiment, we tested whether (i) consistent between-individual differences (i.e. animal personality) are present in antipredator aggression in adult male Carpetan rock lizards (Iberolacerta cyreni) and (ii) short-term environmental changes (presence vs. absence of predator cues) and differences in individual state (body length, head size, hind limb length) affect individual mean behaviour (i.e. behavioural type). We found moderate-high repeatability in antipredator aggression (willingness to bite a human), indicating the presence of animal personality in this behavioural trait. Lizards were on average more defensive in the presence of predator cues; furthermore, short-legged males showed higher antipredator aggression than long-legged males in the presence of predator cues, probably as an attempt to balance their decreased escape speed. Larger (~ older) males were more defensive than smaller ones, probably due to their increased fighting ability. We conclude that antipredator aggression is an important part of an individual’s behavioural repertoire and its expression is driven by both environmental situation and individual state. Significance statement Antipredator/defensive aggression is not the primary antipredatory response; however, when other ways of escape are not possible, actually hurting the predator could be the only way of survival. While this behaviour obviously has substantial effects on fitness, it is severely understudied compared to social/offensive aggression. In a manipulative experiment, we found that there are consistent between-individual differences in antipredator aggression (i.e. willingness to bite during handling) of adult male Carpetan rock lizards (Iberolacerta cyreni), supporting the presence of animal personality and suggesting that this behavioural trait might respond to natural selection. Furthermore, short-term environmental variation (i.e. presence vs. absence of predator cues) in interaction with individual state affected antipredator aggression of individuals, emphasising the ecological and evolutionary relevance of this behaviour.

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 4335-4350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth E. Tichenor ◽  
J. Scott Yaruss

Purpose This study explored group experiences and individual differences in the behaviors, thoughts, and feelings perceived by adults who stutter. Respondents' goals when speaking and prior participation in self-help/support groups were used to predict individual differences in reported behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. Method In this study, 502 adults who stutter completed a survey examining their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings in and around moments of stuttering. Data were analyzed to determine distributions of group and individual experiences. Results Speakers reported experiencing a wide range of both overt behaviors (e.g., repetitions) and covert behaviors (e.g., remaining silent, choosing not to speak). Having the goal of not stuttering when speaking was significantly associated with more covert behaviors and more negative cognitive and affective states, whereas a history of self-help/support group participation was significantly associated with a decreased probability of these behaviors and states. Conclusion Data from this survey suggest that participating in self-help/support groups and having a goal of communicating freely (as opposed to trying not to stutter) are associated with less negative life outcomes due to stuttering. Results further indicate that the behaviors, thoughts, and experiences most commonly reported by speakers may not be those that are most readily observed by listeners.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Lockhart ◽  
Blaire Dube ◽  
Kevin John MacDonald ◽  
Naseem Al-Aidroos ◽  
Stephen Emrich

Although recent evidence suggests that visual short-term memory (VSTM) is a continuous resource, little is known about how flexibly this resource can be allocated. Previous studies using probabilistic cues to indicate two different levels of probe probability have found that response precision can be predicted according to a continuous allocation of resources that depends on attentional priority. The current study used a continuous report procedure and attentional prioritization via simultaneous probabilistic spatial cues to address whether participants can use up to three levels of attentional priority to allocate VSTM resources. Three experiments were performed with differing priority levels, different cues, and cue presentation time. Although group level analysis demonstrated flexible allocation, there was limited evidence that participants were using three priority levels. An individual differences approach revealed that a minority of participants were using three levels of attentional priority, demonstrating that, while possible, it is not the predominant pattern of behavior.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089020702110173
Author(s):  
Nadin Beckmann ◽  
Damian P Birney ◽  
Amirali Minbashian ◽  
Jens F Beckmann

The study aimed to investigate the status of within-person state variability in neuroticism and conscientiousness as individual differences constructs by exploring their (a) temporal stability, (b) cross-context consistency, (c) empirical links to selected antecedents, and (d) empirical links to longer term trait variability. Employing a sample of professionals ( N = 346) from Australian organisations, personality state data together with situation appraisals were collected using experience sampling methodology in field and repeatedly in lab-like settings. Data on personality traits, cognitive ability, and motivational mindsets were collected at baseline and after two years. Contingent (situation contingencies) and non-contingent (relative SD) state variability indices were relatively stable over time and across contexts. Only a small number of predictive effects of state variability were observed, and these differed across contexts. Cognitive ability appeared to be associated with state variability under lab-like conditions. There was limited evidence of links between short-term state and long-term trait variability, except for a small effect for neuroticism. Some evidence of positive manifold was found for non-contingent variability. Systematic efforts are required to further elucidate the complex pattern of results regarding the antecedents, correlates and outcomes of individual differences in state variability.


1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (S2) ◽  
pp. 81-82
Author(s):  
M.P. Goheen ◽  
M.S. Bartlett ◽  
M.M. Shaw ◽  
S.R. Meshnick ◽  
J.W. Smith

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) occurs at some time in most patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole or pentamidine isothionate are the traditional modes of therapy for treatment and prophylaxis of PCP. Unfortunately these drugs are associated with a significant incidence of adverse side effects particularly in patients with AIDS. Toxicity and a growing concern that P. carinii strains are becoming resistant to these compounds is providing the impetus for the search for additional drugs to combat P. carinii. Atovaquone, developed as an antimalarial agent, has activity against a wide range of other organisms, including Toxoplasma sp. and P. carinii, with a lower incidence of adverse reactions during clinical trials. Atovaquone inhibits mitochondrial respiration in P. falciparum and P. carinii. In this study transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to observe the effects of atovaquone on P. carinii organisms in short term spinner flask culture.Spinner flask cultures of human embryonic lung cells were inoculated with P. carinii from infected rat lung.


2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1560) ◽  
pp. 4029-4041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy A. Stamps ◽  
Ton G. G. Groothuis

Developmental processes can have major impacts on the correlations in behaviour across contexts (contextual generality) and across time (temporal consistency) that are the hallmarks of animal personality. Personality can and does change: at any given age or life stage it is contingent upon a wide range of experiential factors that occurred earlier in life, from prior to conception through adulthood. We show how developmental reaction norms that describe the effects of prior experience on a given behaviour can be used to determine whether the effects of a given experience at a given age will affect contextual generality at a later age, and to illustrate how variation within individuals in developmental plasticity leads to variation in contextual generality across individuals as a function of experience. We also show why niche-picking and niche-construction, behavioural processes which allow individuals to affect their own developmental environment, can affect the contextual generality and the temporal consistency of personality. We conclude by discussing how an appreciation of developmental processes can alert behavioural ecologists studying animal personality to critical, untested assumptions that underlie their own research programmes, and outline situations in which a developmental perspective can improve studies of the functional significance and evolution of animal personality.


2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1867) ◽  
pp. 20172035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Samaha ◽  
Bradley R. Postle

Adaptive behaviour depends on the ability to introspect accurately about one's own performance. Whether this metacognitive ability is supported by the same mechanisms across different tasks is unclear. We investigated the relationship between metacognition of visual perception and metacognition of visual short-term memory (VSTM). Experiments 1 and 2 required subjects to estimate the perceived or remembered orientation of a grating stimulus and rate their confidence. We observed strong positive correlations between individual differences in metacognitive accuracy between the two tasks. This relationship was not accounted for by individual differences in task performance or average confidence, and was present across two different metrics of metacognition and in both experiments. A model-based analysis of data from a third experiment showed that a cross-domain correlation only emerged when both tasks shared the same task-relevant stimulus feature. That is, metacognition for perception and VSTM were correlated when both tasks required orientation judgements, but not when the perceptual task was switched to require contrast judgements. In contrast with previous results comparing perception and long-term memory, which have largely provided evidence for domain-specific metacognitive processes, the current findings suggest that metacognition of visual perception and VSTM is supported by a domain-general metacognitive architecture, but only when both domains share the same task-relevant stimulus feature.


Author(s):  
Peter Warr

Prominent among frameworks of well-being is the Vitamin Model, which emphasizes nonlinear associations with environmental features. The Vitamin Model has previously been described through average patterns for people in general, but we need also to explore inter-individual variations. For presentation, those differences can either be viewed generically, based on divergence in age, personality and so on, or through short-term episodes of emotion regulation, such as through situation-specific attentional focus and reappraisal. Both long-term and short-term variations are considered here.


2021 ◽  
pp. 54-59
Author(s):  
L. R. Yurenkova ◽  
O. A. Yakovuk ◽  
I. V. Morozov

The article provides examples of how the device known as the «angle reflector» a few decades ago has been increasingly used in various fields of science and technology in recent years. Angle reflectors are designed to change (reflect) optical and radar rays in the direction, opposite to the original direction. At present, angle reflectors are widely used to ensure the safety of road transport on dangerous road sections. Radio wave reflectors have the same design as optical ones; therefore, in radio detection and location, angle reflectors are used to send warning signals to ship radars on bridge supports, beacons and buoys. Modern angle reflectors attached to meteorological probes allow determining the direction and speed of the wind at high altitude, which is especially important in the study of the outer space. In recent years, devices have been developed to improve the accuracy of radar stations calibration. The examples of graphical calculation of angle reflectors presented in the article clearly demonstrate the primary role of geometry in the design activity of an engineer. The graphical calculation is based on the theoretical positions of projective geometry. The design and calculation of optical systems is carried out by the graphoanalytic method, since only with a combination of graphical and analytical methods it is possible to accurately calculate the course of a light beam, laser, or radio wave and thereby determine the design parameters of the devices. The article focuses on a graphical method for calculating two types of angle reflectors using orthogonal projection, due to which modern engineers will be able to create more up-to-date designs of optical systems with a wide range of applications.


1972 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry B. Adams ◽  
G. David Cooper ◽  
Richard N. Carrera

30 hospitalized psychiatric in-patients exposed to a few hours of partial sensory deprivation (SD) showed a wide range of individual differences in their reactions. Reduced symptoms and improved intellectual functioning after SD were the predominant group trends, but some individuals showed substantial changes in opposite directions. Individual differences in behavioral reactions during and after SD were significantly related to MMPI personality characteristics. Symptom reduction after SD was a function of characteristics quite different from those usually associated with prognosis for conventional verbal psychotherapy. The results suggested that many persons unlikely to benefit from traditional therapeutic procedures might show improved personality and intellectual functioning after a brief exposure to SD. There were many other complex relationships between personality variables and reactions to SD.


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