scholarly journals The Social Lives of Free-Ranging Cats

Animals ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 126
Author(s):  
Kristyn R. Vitale

Despite the diversity of social situations in which cats live, the degree to which free-ranging cats (FRCs) are social is still debated. The aim of this review is to explore the literature on the social behavior of FRCs. A search of two major databases revealed that observations of intraspecies and interspecies social interactions have been conducted. The intraspecific social dynamics of FRCs differ based on group of cats surveyed. Some groups display strong social bonds and preferential affiliations, while other groups are more loosely associated and display little to no social interaction. Factors impacting FRC conspecific interactions include cat body size, cat social rank, cat individuality, cat age, relationship to conspecific (kin/familiar), cat sex, level of human caretaking, presence of food, the health of the individual, or sexual status of conspecifics. Interspecies interactions also occur with humans and wildlife. The human’s sex and the weather conditions on the day of interaction have been shown to impact FRC social behavior. Interactions with wildlife were strongly linked to the timing of cat feeding events. These findings support the idea that FRCs are “social generalists” who display flexibility in their social behavior. The social lives of FRCs exist, are complex, and deserve further study.

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alžbeta Talarovičová ◽  
Lucia Olexová ◽  
Lucia Kršková

AbstractThe aim of our study was to investigate the effects of a small therapeutic animal (TA, guinea pig) on the social behavior of nine autistic children. The social contacts of the autistic children were evaluated by a descriptive method of direct observation that was performed without (in period one) and with (in period two) the presence of a TA. In period one, contacts with an unfamiliar person (UP) and acquaintances (A) were registered; in period two, contacts with the acquaintances and the TA were registered. The frequency of contacts of autistic children with their acquaintances significantly increased in the presence of the TA (P < 0.001). The frequency of contacts with the TA was significantly higher than the frequency of contacts with the UP (P < 0.001). The form of the autistic children’s contacts with A, with the UP, and with the TA was individually dependent, and the presence of the TA changed the characteristics of contacts with A. Our results indicate that the presence of a small TA can positively influence the quantity and quality of the social behavior of autistic children and that the characteristics of social contacts were dependent on the individual.


Author(s):  
Emanuele Mantovani ◽  
Marco André Cadoná

O artigo analisa as dinâmicas sociais que estão presentes na afirmação de trabalhadores enquanto Microempreendedores Individuais (MEIs). Toma-se como referência empírica a experiência de trabalhadores que formalizaram suas ações econômicas a partir da Lei do Microempreendedorismo Individual, criada em 2008 e sancionada em 2009. A análise enfatiza a importância das redes de sociabilidade para a compreensão não só da apropriação da política pública por parte dos trabalhadores, mas também das repercussões da legislação nas práticas dos agentes econômicos, indicando, ao final, que as relações sociais que os indivíduos estabelecem, seja com amigos, familiares, organizações ou poder público, condicionam as possibilidades de integração desses trabalhadores e de promoção da cidadania através da Lei do Microempreendedorismo Individual. Social Networks and the Experience of Formalizing Individual Microentrepreneurs The article analyzes the social dynamics that are present in the affirmation of workers as Individual Microentrepreneurs. Empirical reference is made to the experience of workers who formalized their economic actions based on the Individual Microenterprise Law, created in 2008 and sanctioned in 2009. The analysis emphasizes the importance of networks of sociability for the understanding not only of the appropriation of public policy in the end, that the social relations that individuals establish, whether with friends, family, organizations or public power, condition the possibilities of integration of these workers and promotion of citizenship through the Individual Microentrepreneurship Law. Redes Sociales y la Experiencia de Formalizacion de Microempresarios Individuales El artículo analiza las dinámicas sociales que están presentes en la afirmación de trabajadores como Microemprendedores Individuales (MEI). Se toma como referencia empírica la experiencia de trabajadores que formalizaron sus acciones económicas a partir de la Ley del Microemprendedorismo Individual, creada en 2008 y sancionada en 2009. El análisis enfatiza la importancia de las redes de sociabilidad para la comprensión no sólo de la apropiación de la política pública por parte de los trabajadores, pero también de las repercusiones de la legislación en las prácticas de los agentes económicos, indicando, al final, que las relaciones sociales que los individuos establecen, sea con amigos, familiares, organizaciones o poder público, condicionan las posibilidades de integración de esos trabajadores y de promoción de la ciudadanía a través de la Ley del Microemprendedorismo Individual.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-117
Author(s):  
Sainath Suryanarayanan

Abstract This paper excavates the epistemological and ontological foundations of a rapidly emerging field called sociogenomics in relation to the development of social insects as models of social behavior. Its center-stage is “the genome,” where social and environmental information and genetic variation interact to influence social behavior through dynamic shifts in gene expression across multiple bodies and time-scales. With the advent of whole-genome sequencing technology, comparative genomics, and computational tools for mining patterns of association across widely disparate datasets, social insects are being experimented with to identify genetic networks underlying autism, novelty-seeking and aggression evolutionarily shared with humans. Drawing on the writings of key social insect biologists, and historians and philosophers of science, I investigate how the historical development of social insect research on wasps, ants and bees shape central approaches in sociogenomics today, in particular, with regards to shifting understandings of “the individual” in relation to “the social.”


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (12) ◽  
pp. 150580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manabi Paul ◽  
Sreejani Sen Majumder ◽  
Anjan K. Nandi ◽  
Anindita Bhadra

Parent–offspring conflict (POC) theory provides an interesting premise for understanding social dynamics in facultatively social species. In free-ranging dogs, mothers increase conflict over extended parental care with their pups beyond the weaning stage. In this study, we investigated whether resource quality affects POC in the dogs that typically live in a highly competitive environment as scavengers. We built a theoretical model to predict the alternative options available to the mother in the context of food sharing with her pups when protein-rich food (meat) is provided, as compared to carbohydrate-rich food (biscuits). We fit the mothers’ response from experimental data to the model and show that the mothers choose a selfish strategy, which can in turn ensure higher lifetime reproductive success, while depriving the current litter access to better resources. These results have interesting implications for understanding the social dynamics of the dogs, and the emergence of facultative sociality in a species that evolved from strongly social ancestors. We speculate that the tendency of increased conflict in resource-rich conditions might have driven the process of domestication in the ancestors of dogs which defected from their groups in favour of richer resources around human settlements.


1977 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 963-982 ◽  
Author(s):  
PB Bell

The social behavior of 3T3 cells and their polynoma virus-transformed derivative (Py3T3 cells) was examined by time-lapse cinemicrography in order to determine what factors are responsible for the marked differences in the patterns formed by the two cell lines in culture. Contrary to expectations, both cell types have been found to exhibit contact inhibition of cell locomotion. Therefore, the tendency of 3T3 cells to form monolayers and of Py3T3 cells to form crisscrossed multilayers cannot be explained on the basis of the presence versus the absence of contact inhibition. Morevover, with the exception of cell division control, the social behavior of the two cell types is qualitively similar. Both exhibit cell underlapping and, after contact between lamelliopodia, both show inhibition of locomotory activity and adhesion formation. Neither cell type was observed to migrate over the surface of another cell. The two cell types do show quantitative differences in the frequency of underlapping, the frequency with which contact results in inhibition of locomotion, and the proportion of the cell margin that adheres to the substratum. The increased frequency pf Py3T3 underlapping is correlated with the reduced frequency of substratum adhesions, which in turn favors underlapping. On the basis of these observations, it is concluded that the differences in culture patterns are the result of differences in the shapes of the individual cells, such that underlapping, and hence crisscrossing, is favored in Py3T3 cell interactions and discouraged in 3T3 cells.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Luise Pitzl

AbstractIn the past years, it has become generally accepted that the social dynamics of ELF cannot be captured by the notion of a speech community. Instead, the concept Community of Practice (CoP) has gained widespread currency in ELF research. While applications of the CoP framework have given rise to valuable insights, even ELF scholars who work with the concept often acknowledge its limitations. Since factors like situationality and ad hoc negotiation are seen as particularly important in ELF interactions, many ELF researchers have recently emphasized the transient and dynamic nature of the social clusters in which ELF communication typically takes place, especially in light of the multilingualism and language contact. This paper offers a first sketch of how the social dimension of ELF might on many occasions be conceptualized as involving Transient International Groups (TIGs) rather than more stable CoPs. Building on the idea that the Individual Multilingual Repertoires (IMRs) of ELF speakers make up a Multilingual Resource Pool (MRP) in each ELF interaction, the paper argues that ELF theory-building and descriptive work would benefit from exploring the group and the development dimension of ELF more thoroughly than has been done so far. In support, the paper provides a qualitative case study of a TIG in the leisure domain of VOICE. This case study illustrates how an in-depth micro-diachronic analysis of multilingual practices and instances of explicit reference to languages, countries, places, etc., can make visible the group’s development of shared translingual and transcultural territory.


Author(s):  
Andrey V. Kolesnikov ◽  

To develop a strategy for building the Union State of Russia and Belarus’ better future, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms and identify the main causes that govern the dynamics of this complex and specifi c social system. As the main factor determining the social dynamics of a given civilization cluster, we consider the competition of two basic sociotypes. They are conditionally designated as a molecular man and a space man. A molecular person is a consumer whose social behavior is based on the power of the selfi sh gene and consumer society’s ideals. A space person is passionate, driven by the creative imperative of cognition and synthesis of culture. In our opinion, it is this fundamental confl ict that forms the social dynamics of the civilization cluster of the Union State. The scenario of its future development will depend on the resolution of this confl ict. In order to better understand this process, we have developed a cellular-automate computer model of competition between the two sociotypes in the framework of a unifi ed social system. This computer model can be considered as a simplifi ed cognitive proto-construct of the social system dynamics. By examining it, one can transfer the properties and features of its behavior to an unknown object under study - a society.


Author(s):  
Vinogradova A.I. ◽  
Melnikova O.D. ◽  
Paskhalskaya Y.V. ◽  
Yaskov E.S. ◽  
Gorodischeva A.N.

The specificity of the individuals and groups interaction in society affects the social structure and dynamics of social mechanisms, necessitates studying the reasons for changing the behavior of the parties involved. In recent years, under the influence of various factors that cause an increase in tension in the society life, such as differentiation according to several criteria, expansion of the sphere of interaction between the individual and society, there has been a significant increase in deviations in the personal development and younger generations, behavior which is most often reflected in the strong desire manifestation dominance over the weak. One of the most complex and poorly studied forms of social behavior is bullying, manifested by both individuals and entire groups of people. It becomes necessary to analyze the data analysis patterns and methods, concentrating on the causes predicting, forms that determine the consequences specificity of the bullying model implementation as a destructive form of the socio-cultural environment interaction. The processes digitalization implies the digitalization of data collection and the improvement of analytics for unstable systems associated with the human factor. As a result of the study, there was determined the need for the cultural environment formation in conditions of a certain nature, namely, the creation of a system that would carry out cultural regulation of social interactions and communications. The cultural environment reacts to changes in society, social consciousness changes, ensures the individuals collective life by regulating their social behavior. Separately, it should be noted the importance of changes in this area at the legislative level, which will increase the importance of this aspect and make adjustments at a subconscious level.


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