scholarly journals Cooperative rescue of a juvenile capuchin (Cebus imitator) from a Boa constrictor

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine M. Jack ◽  
Michaela R. Brown ◽  
Margaret S. Buehler ◽  
Saul Cheves Hernadez ◽  
Nuria Ferrero Marín ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Adult Female ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Group Behavior ◽  
Cooperative Group ◽  
Alpha Male ◽  
Play Session ◽  
Boa Constrictor ◽  
Group Members ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract The threat of predation by snakes is considered to have played a significant role in the evolution of primate sensory systems and behavior. However, we know relatively little about individual and group responses given the rarity of observed predation events. Here we report an observed (filmed) predation attempt by an adult Boa constrictor (~ 2 m) on a juvenile white-faced capuchin (Cebus imitator) in the Sector Santa Rosa of the Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The snake caught the juvenile monkey on the ground during a terrestrial play session. When the victim screamed, the alpha male, alpha female, and another adult female ran to the scene, physically attacked the snake (with bites and hits), and pulled the victim to safety. Most group members participated in the vocal mobbing of the snake both during and after the attack. Based on the outcomes of this predation attempt and published reports of other B. constrictor attacks on primates, the coordinated efforts of ≥ 2 group members is needed for a successful rescue. This observation adds to our growing knowledge of cooperative group behavior and its importance in predator defense.

From whom do we learn group norms? Low-ranking group members are perceived as the best sources

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer E Dannals ◽  
Emily Reit ◽  
Dale T. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Correlation Study ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Norm Perception ◽  
Lower Ranking ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Groups And Teams ◽  
Or Team ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
To Receive

Social norm perception is ubiquitous in small groups and teams, but how individuals approach this process is not well understood. When individuals wish to perceive descriptive social norms in a group or team, whose ad- vice and behavior do they prefer to rely on? Four lab studies and one Teld survey demonstrate that when in- dividuals seek information about a team’s social norms they prefer to receive advice from lower-ranking indi- viduals (Studies 1–4) and give greater weight to the observed behavior of lower-ranking individuals (Study 5). Results from correlation (Study 3) and moderation (Study 4) approaches suggest this preference stems from the assumption that lower-ranking team members are more attentive to and aware of the descriptive social norms of their team. Alternative mechanisms (e.g., perceived similarity to lower-ranking team members, greater honesty of lower-ranking team members) were also examined, but no support for these was found.

RESIGHTINGS AND BEHAVIOR OF FALSE KILLER WHALES ( PSEUDORCA CRASSZDENS ) IN COSTA RICA

1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEJANDRO ACEVEDO‐GUTIÉRREZ ◽  
BERNARD BRENNAN ◽  
PATRICIA RODRIGUEZ ◽  
MOLLY THOMAS
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Killer Whales ◽  
And Behavior

“Scrub”

2012 ◽  
Vol 642 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott N. Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Site Analysis ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
The Social ◽  
Specific Setting ◽  
Group Members ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Complete Account

Conducting ethnographic fieldwork in varied spaces, with different actors, enriches our understanding. A researcher may find paradoxes in practices and ideas and ask for clarification, or recognize that social dynamics and behavior are peculiar to group members present in a specific setting. This article highlights the usefulness of intentional variability and flexibility in the field. Researchers should plan to do multi-site analysis (MSA) to look for negative cases and opportunities to challenge commonsense notions. Additionally, this article emphasizes that the relationships built during fieldwork shape the data that are captured. Therefore, researchers need to consider the bases for their relationships, including what the subjects get out of them, and how subjects’ positionality affects what comes to be known. This perspective de-emphasizes false norms of objectivity and renders a more complete account of the social worlds we study.

Cortisol responsiveness and dominance rank, but not baseline cortisol level, are repeatable traits in adult female guinea pigs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor Lynne Rystrom ◽  
Romy C. Prawitt ◽  
S. Helene Richter ◽  
Norbert Sachser ◽  
Sylvia Kaiser
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Adult Female ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Dominance Hierarchies ◽  
Current State ◽  
Baseline Cortisol ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Endocrine Mechanism ◽  
Males And Females

Social interactions among group members often lead to the formation of stable dominance hierarchies. Glucocorticoids (i.e. cortisol) have been proposed as an endocrine mechanism underlying social behavior, and previous studies have linked baseline as well as challenge glucocorticoid concentrations to dominance rank. Since the importance of rank on fitness differs between males and females, selection pressures acting on the underlying endocrine mechanisms may differ between the sexes. In male guinea pigs, for example, it is known that cortisol responsiveness mediates social behavior and that dominance rank and cortisol responsiveness are stable within individuals over time. It is unclear whether this is also the case for female guinea pigs. Thus the aim of this study was to investigate whether cortisol concentrations are repeatable in female guinea pigs and whether female rank is correlated to baseline cortisol concentrations or cortisol responsiveness. We show that cortisol responsiveness and dominance rank were significantly repeatable but not correlated in female guinea pigs. Furthermore, baseline cortisol was not repeatable and also did not correlate to dominance rank. Our results demonstrate that baseline cortisol and cortisol responsiveness represent different biological processes; cortisol responsiveness reflects a stable trait while baseline cortisol likely fluctuates with current state. Furthermore, cortisol responsiveness as a mediator of aggressive behavior and dominance acquisition might not be important for maintaining dominance hierarchies in stable groups of females displaying minimal aggression. Overall, this study reveals the remarkable stability of cortisol responsiveness and dominance rank in an adult female rodent and lays the groundwork for future investigations into the causes and consequences of this individual variation.

How the Show Goes On: Using the Aesthetic Experience of Collective Performance to Adapt while Coordinating

2020 ◽  
pp. 000183922091105 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Paul Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Aesthetic Experience ◽  
Musical Score ◽  
Action Group ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Collective Performance ◽  
Community Choir ◽  
Immediate Experience ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
And Behavior

Coordinating in action groups consists of continuously adapting behaviors in response to fluctuating conditions, ideally with limited disruption to a group’s collective performance. Through an 18-month ethnography of how members of a community choir maintained beautiful, ongoing performance, I explored how they continuously adapted their coordinating, starting when they felt that their collective performance was fragmented or falling apart. The process model I developed shows that this aesthetic experience—the sense of fragmentation based on inputs from the bodily senses—leads to emotional triggering, meaning group members’ emotions prompt changes in their attention and behavior. They then distribute their attention in new ways, increasing their focus on both global qualities of their ongoing performance (in this context, the musical score and conductor) and local qualities (singers’ contributions). My findings suggest that by changing what aspects of a situation compose their immediate experience, action group members can adapt their coordinating behaviors by changing their heed: the behavior that demonstrates their attentiveness and awareness. The intertwining of attention and emotions helps explain how groups move between heedless and heedful interrelating over time, leading to an aesthetic experience of collective performance as being whole or coherent. My research shows that embodied forms of cognition (what we know from direct experience of an environment) complement accounts of how representational forms of knowledge (what we know from symbols, concepts, or ideas) facilitate real-time adaptation in groups. These insights have implications for a range of organizations engaged in complex action group work.

Field observations on the social relationships between adult female and juvenile Richardson's ground squirrels

1973 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail R. Michener
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Adult Female ◽  
Ground Squirrels ◽  
The Other ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Agonistic Interactions ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Behavior

Field observations were conducted in southern Saskatchewan in 1969 and 1971. Adult female Richardson's ground squirrels and their own young engaged predominantly in nasal and cohesive contacts while adults and young from other litters engaged predominantly in agonistic contacts. Identification sometimes occurred at a distance based on the location and behavior of the other animal.Newly emerged juveniles remained close to the home burrow and engaged mainly in non-agonistic interactions with both their mothers and other adults. Not until juveniles were 6–7 weeks old and were familiar with the area used by the mother did they correctly identify adults regardless of where the interaction occurred.

Social Comparison, Judgment, and Behavior

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Comparison ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Relative Deprivation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Group Behavior ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
And Behavior

This edited volume presents both classic and contemporary conceptual, empirical, and applied perspectives on the role of comparisons with other people—a core aspect of social life—that have implications for the self-concept, opinions, subjective and physical well-being, conformity, decision-making, group behavior, education, and social movements. The volume is comprised of original chapters, authored by noted experts, divided into three sections: basic comparison processes, neighboring fields, and applications. The first section is comprised of chapters that update classic theories and present advances, such as the dominating effect of local versus global comparisons, an analysis of the psychology of competition, how comparisons across different domains influence self-concept and achievement, and the integral connections between stereotyping and comparison. The second section introduces perspectives from neighboring fields that shed new light on social comparison. These chapters range from judgment and decision science, cognitive psychology, social network theory, and animal social behavior. The third section presents chapters that describe applications of comparison, including relative deprivation; health psychology; the effects of income inequality on well-being; the relationships among social hierarchies, power, and comparison; and the interconnections of psychological processes such as comparison and differential construal that favor the status quo and can discourage social action in the face of injustice and inequity.

When Punishment Backfires

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Willem van Prooijen
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Cooperative Group ◽  
Economic Games ◽  
Cultural Conditions ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Group Members

Sometimes punishment can undermine cooperation. Antisocial punishment, where uncooperative group members punish cooperative group members, exists particularly in countries with lower levels of trust towards strangers. Furthermore, threatening with punishment in interpersonal encounters may undermine trust and cooperation, as people see the unwarranted threat of punishment as unfair. Finally, in economic games, punishment often increases cooperation but decreases the net payoff for individual participants. These insights are integrated with the idea that punishment is a moral instinct. This chapter notes that the cultural conditions that enable antisocial punishment emerged only recently in our evolutionary history, when people started living in large states and could be relatively self-sufficient. Furthermore, punishment not only increases but also stabilizes cooperation, increasing the net payoff for individuals in the long run.

Sentiments as Status Processes? A Theoretical Reformulation from the Expectation States Tradition

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-235
Author(s):  
Alison J. Bianchi ◽  
Robert K. Shelly
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Task Group ◽  
Performance Expectations ◽  
Task Groups ◽  
Expectation States ◽  
Status Characteristics ◽  
Group Members ◽  
And Behavior

Do the ties that bind also create social inequality? Using an expectation states theoretical framework, we elaborate status characteristics and behavior-status theories to explore how sentiments, network connections based on liking and disliking, may affect processes entailing status, the prestige based on one’s differentially valued social distinctions. Within task groups, we theorize that positive and negative sentiments may themselves be status elements capable of evoking performance expectations within dyadic configurations typically modeled by expectation states theorists. Having a reputation for being liked or disliked “imported” into the group may enact status generalization. Alternatively, a status element based on sentiments may emerge during task group interaction as group members ascertain if alters are liked or disliked. Finally, we conclude by discussing how our theorizing motivates future theories and empirical studies.

scholarly journals Conformity in the collective: differences in hunger affect individual and group behavior in a shoaling fish

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 968-974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander D M Wilson ◽  
Alicia L J Burns ◽  
Emanuele Crosato ◽  
Joseph Lizier ◽  
Mikhail Prokopenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Collective Behavior ◽  
Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Collective Motion ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Group Behavior ◽  
Fundamental Interest ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Group Members ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Nearest Neighbor Distances

Abstract Animal groups are often composed of individuals that vary according to behavioral, morphological, and internal state parameters. Understanding the importance of such individual-level heterogeneity to the establishment and maintenance of coherent group responses is of fundamental interest in collective behavior. We examined the influence of hunger on the individual and collective behavior of groups of shoaling fish, x-ray tetras (Pristella maxillaris). Fish were assigned to one of two nutritional states, satiated or hungry, and then allocated to 5 treatments that represented different ratios of satiated to hungry individuals (8 hungry, 8 satiated, 4:4 hungry:satiated, 2:6 hungry:satiated, 6:2 hungry:satiated). Our data show that groups with a greater proportion of hungry fish swam faster and exhibited greater nearest neighbor distances. Within groups, however, there was no difference in the swimming speeds of hungry versus well-fed fish, suggesting that group members conform and adapt their swimming speed according to the overall composition of the group. We also found significant differences in mean group transfer entropy, suggesting stronger patterns of information flow in groups comprising all, or a majority of, hungry individuals. In contrast, we did not observe differences in polarization, a measure of group alignment, within groups across treatments. Taken together these results demonstrate that the nutritional state of animals within social groups impacts both individual and group behavior, and that members of heterogenous groups can adapt their behavior to facilitate coherent collective motion.

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