scholarly journals Capuchin monkey rituals: an interdisciplinary study of form and function

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1805) ◽  
pp. 20190422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Perry ◽  
Marco Smolla
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Capuchin Monkey ◽  
Ritual Performance ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Sacred Objects ◽  
And Function ◽  
Opening And Closing ◽  
Performance Rate ◽  
Interdisciplinary Study ◽  
Behavioural Repertoire

Many white-faced capuchin monkey dyads in Lomas Barbudal, Costa Rica, practise idiosyncratic interaction sequences that are not part of the species-typical behavioural repertoire. These interactions often include uncomfortable or risky elements. These interactions exhibit the following characteristics commonly featured in definitions of rituals in humans: (i) they involve an unusual intensity of focus on the partner, (ii) the behaviours have no immediate utilitarian purpose, (iii) they sometimes involve ‘sacred objects’, (iv) the distribution of these behaviours suggests that they are invented and spread via social learning, and (v) many behaviours in these rituals are repurposed from other behavioural domains (e.g. extractive foraging). However, in contrast with some definitions of ritual, capuchin rituals are not overly rigid in their form, nor do the sequences have specific opening and closing actions. In our 9260 h of observation, ritual performance rate was uncorrelated with amount of time dyads spent in proximity but (modestly) associated with higher relationship quality and rate of coalition formation across dyads. Our results suggest that capuchin rituals serve a bond-testing rather than a bond-strengthening function. Ritual interactions are exclusively dyadic, and between-dyad consistency in form is low, casting doubt on the alternative hypothesis that they enhance group-wide solidarity. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Ritual renaissance: new insights into the most human of behaviours’.

scholarly journals Capuchin monkey rituals: an interdisciplinary study of form and function

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Perry ◽  
M. Smolla
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Capuchin Monkey ◽  
Ritual Performance ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Sacred Objects ◽  
And Function ◽  
Opening And Closing ◽  
Performance Rate ◽  
Interdisciplinary Study ◽  
Behavioural Repertoire

ABSTRACTMany white-faced capuchin monkey dyads in Lomas Barbudal, Costa Rica, practice idiosyncratic interaction sequences that are not part of the species-typical behavioural repertoire. These interactions often include uncomfortable or risky elements. These interactions exhibit the following characteristics commonly featured in definitions of rituals in humans: (1) they involve an unusual intensity of focus on the partner, (2) the behaviours have no immediate utilitarian purpose, (3) they sometimes involve “sacred objects”, (4) the distribution of these behaviours suggests that they are invented and spread via social learning, and (5) many behaviours in these rituals are repurposed from other behavioural domains (e.g. extractive foraging). However, in contrast to some definitions of ritual, capuchin rituals are not overly rigid in their form, nor do the sequences have specific opening and closing actions. In our 9,260 hours of observation, ritual performance rate was uncorrelated with amount of time dyads spent in proximity but is (modestly) associated with higher relationship quality and rate of coalition formation across dyads. Our results suggest that capuchin rituals serve a bond-testing rather than a bond-strengthening function. Ritual interactions are exclusively dyadic, and between-dyad consistency in form is low, casting doubt on the alternative hypothesis that they enhance group-wide solidarity.

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) of DNA and RNA

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 34-35
Author(s):  
Patricia G. Arscott ◽  
Gil Lee ◽  
Victor A. Bloomfield ◽  
D. Fennell Evans
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Structures ◽  
Inorganic Materials ◽  
Resolving Power ◽  
Scanning Tunneling ◽  
Tunneling Microscopy ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Dna And Rna ◽  
Calf Thymus ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Relationship

STM is one of the most promising techniques available for visualizing the fine details of biomolecular structure. It has been used to map the surface topography of inorganic materials in atomic dimensions, and thus has the resolving power not only to determine the conformation of small molecules but to distinguish site-specific features within a molecule. That level of detail is of critical importance in understanding the relationship between form and function in biological systems. The size, shape, and accessibility of molecular structures can be determined much more accurately by STM than by electron microscopy since no staining, shadowing or labeling with heavy metals is required, and there is no exposure to damaging radiation by electrons. Crystallography and most other physical techniques do not give information about individual molecules.We have obtained striking images of DNA and RNA, using calf thymus DNA and two synthetic polynucleotides, poly(dG-me5dC)·poly(dG-me5dC) and poly(rA)·poly(rU).

Re-examining the form and function of superstition

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Fluke ◽  
Russell J. Webster ◽  
Donald A. Saucier
Keyword(s):  
Form And Function ◽  
And Function

A New Form and Function for Personality

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Wilt ◽  
William Revelle
Keyword(s):  
Form And Function ◽  
New Form ◽  
And Function

Ausnahmesegment

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (191) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Schönig
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Development Models ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Institutional Organization ◽  
National Welfare ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Welfare State

Going along with the end of the “golden age” of the welfare state, the fordist paradigm of social housing has been considerably transformed. From the 1980s onwards, a new paradigm of social housing has been shaped in Germany in terms of provision, institutional organization and design. This transformation can be interpreted as a result of the interplay between the transformation of national welfare state and housing policies, the implementation of entrepreneurial urban policies and a shift in architectural and urban development models. Using an integrated approach to understand form and function of social housing, the paper characterizes the new paradigm established and nevertheless interprets it within the continuity of the specific German welfare resp. housing regime, the “German social housing market economy”.

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