Repeatability of endocrine traits and dominance rank in female guinea pigs

Background Glucocorticoids (e.g. cortisol) are associated with variation in social behavior, and previous studies have linked baseline as well as challenge-induced glucocorticoid concentrations to dominance status. It is known that cortisol response to an acute challenge is repeatable and correlates to social behavior in males of many mammal species. However, it is unclear whether these patterns are also consistent for females. The aim of this study was to investigate whether baseline and response cortisol concentrations are repeatable in female guinea pigs (Cavia aperea f. porcellus) and whether dominance rank is stable and correlated to baseline cortisol concentration and/or cortisol responsiveness. Results Our results show that cortisol responsiveness (after 1 h: R = 0.635, 95% CI = 0.229, 0.927; after 2 h: R = 0.764, 95% CI = 0.433, 0.951) and dominance rank (R = 0.709, 95% CI = 0.316, 0.935) of females were significantly repeatable after six weeks but not correlated. Baseline cortisol was not repeatable (R = 0, 95% CI = 0, 0.690) and also did not correlate to dominance rank. Furthermore, the difference in repeatability estimates of baseline and response values was due to high within-individual variance of baseline cortisol concentration; the amount of between-individual variance was similar for baseline cortisol and the two measures of cortisol responsiveness. Conclusions Females occupying different dominance ranks did not have long-term differences in cortisol concentrations, and cortisol responsiveness does not seem to be significantly involved in the maintenance of dominance rank. Overall, this study reveals the remarkable stability of cortisol responsiveness and dominance rank in a female rodent, and it remains an open question whether the magnitude of cortisol responsiveness is adaptive in social contexts for females.

Social behavior in RASopathies and idiopathic autism

Background RASopathies are genetic syndromes that result from pathogenic variants in the RAS-MAPK cellular signaling pathway. These syndromes, which include neurofibromatosis type 1, Noonan syndrome, cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome, and Costello syndrome, are associated with a complex array of medical and behavioral health complications. Despite a heightened risk for social challenges and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), few studies have compared different aspects of social behavior across these conditions. It is also unknown whether the underlying neuropsychological characteristics that contribute to social competence and socially empathetic (“prosocial”) behaviors differ in children with RASopathies as compared to children with nonsyndromic (i.e., idiopathic) ASD. Methods In this cross-sectional, survey-based investigation, caregivers of preschool and school-aged children with RASopathies (n = 202) or with idiopathic ASD (n = 109) provided demographic, medical, and developmental information about their child, including psychiatric comorbidities. For children who were able to communicate verbally, caregivers also completed standardized rating scales to assess social competence and empathetic behavior as well as symptoms of hyperactivity/inattention and emotional problems. Results As compared to children with idiopathic ASD, children with RASopathies were rated as demonstrating more resilience in the domain of empathy relative to their overall social competence. Similarities and differences emerged in the psychological factors that predicted social behavior in these two groups. Stronger communication skills and fewer hyperactive-impulsive behaviors were associated with increased empathy and social competence for both groups. Greater emotional challenges were associated with lower social competence for children with RASopathies and stronger empathy for children with idiopathic ASD. Among children with RASopathy and a co-occurring ASD diagnosis, socially empathetic behaviors were observed more often as compared to children with idiopathic ASD. Conclusions Findings suggest that the development of social behavior among children with RASopathies involves a distinct pattern of strengths and weaknesses as compared to a behaviorally defined disorder (idiopathic ASD). Identification of areas of resilience as well as behavioral and social challenges will support more targeted intervention.

Comparative Study on the Social Behavior of Sambar Deer (Rusa Unicolor) in Three Selected Captive Facilities in Peninsular Malaysia

Sambar deer was up-listed from Least Concern to Vulnerable by the IUCN Red list in 2015. The local government has initiated Ex-situ conservation efforts to boost sambar deer numbers in captivity and reintroduce them into the wild. The reproductive success of sambar deer and their welfare management practices in captivity are important components for effective captive breeding programs. However, there has been a lack of study on sambar deer in recent years, especially about their behavior in captivity. This study aimed to identify environmental factors that may influence the behavior of the captive sambar. Three captive sites were selected and observed for an average of 40 days at each site (minimum 37 days to maximum 43 days, 6 hours/day). A Generalized Linear Model was used to determine the correlation between social behavior and extrinsic parameters. ‘Captive sites’ showed the strongest correlation in behavioral variability environmental settings, such as the size of the enclosure, could force the deer to spend more time in a herd, which increases the frequency in grooming, which was recorded to be highest in Zoo Negara compared to other captive sites. Time of day also significantly influenced certain behavior skewed towards morning slots. It could be due to an adaptive behavior to the feeding time in the captive sites being often in the morning, which caused the deer to rest towards the afternoon. A suggestion would be to create a more erratic feeding schedule to ensure that the deer adapt to behavior variations. An extensive study needs to be done on sambar deer to pinpoint the specifics and better understand these possible influential factors in their behavior.

The Social Lives of Free-Ranging Cats

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.

Influence of Teaching Reading Islamic Narrative Stories toward Students’ Social Behavior

In this millennium era, Indonesia faced moral crisis within the school or outside the school. They are accustomed to do bad behavior due to spiritual lack. Spiritual crisis happened because they were not given enough lessons about religion. However, teachers must provide good learning materials, so that the students can change their behavior. Even when teachers/lecturers teach English they must include religious knowledge in their teachings. Such as reading moral stories, giving good advices to students, telling about prophet stories, etc. Reading or telling story can affect moral, as the study held by Dr. Kang Lee and Colleagues that was recently published in the article ”Can Classic Moral Stories Promote Honesty in Children”. In that case, the researcher should study “The Influence of Teaching Reading Islamic Narrative Stories Toward Students’ Social Behavior”. There are two research problems in this study. The first, is there any influence of using Reading Islamic Narrative Stories towards Social Behavior in intensive class IV semester IDIA Al-Amien Prenduan? The second, how significance does using Reading Islamic Narrative Stories towards Social Behavior in intensive class semester IV IDIA Al-Amien Prenduan? The research population of this study is the students of the intensive class IV semester IDIA Al-Amien Prenduan, they are 19 students. The main instrument used in this research is test, and the supporting instruments are observation and documentation. The tests were divided into pre-test and post-test. Since this study is quantitative, the researcher used statistical analysis as data analysis. The statistical formula which was used was t-test which was suitable with the research design, and it is one group pretest-posttest design. The research result shows that using Reading Islamic Narrative Stories towards Social Attitude in intensive class semester IV IDIA Al-Amien Prenduan with significance.

Runet Users' Attitude to Outrageous Content in Virtual Social Environments

This study of the Runet virtual social environments deals with identifying and analyzing user reactions to watching a video clip containing outrageous behavior, and studying social attitudes of the respondents. The Celebrium-X platform employing the adjoint ideomotion technology for remote collection and processing of group neuro-responses was chosen as a research tool. As the empirical basis of the research, the raw data obtained as a result of the conducted survey was used. The results of the study have shown the respondents' negative attitude to publishing of outrageous video clips in virtual social environments. The Internet audience realizes a negative effect produced by the aggressive content on people's psychological sphere and social behavior. Received: 12 October 2021 / Accepted: 11 December 2021 / Published: 3 January 2022