The build-up of dominance hierarchies in eusocial insects

Reproductive division of labour is a hallmark of eusocial insects. However, its stability can often be hampered by the potential for reproduction by otherwise sterile nest-mates. Dominance hierarchy has a crucial role in some species in regulating which individuals reproduce. Compared with those in vertebrates, the dominance hierarchies in eusocial insects tend to involve many more individuals, and should require additional selective forces unique to them. Here, we provide an overview of a series of studies on dominance hierarchies in eusocial insects. Although reported from diverse eusocial taxa, dominance hierarchies have been extensively studied in paper wasps and ponerine ants. Starting from molecular physiological attributes of individuals, we describe how the emergence of dominance hierarchies can be understood as a kind of self-organizing process through individual memory and local behavioural interactions. The resulting global structures can be captured by using network analyses. Lastly, we argue the adaptive significance of dominance hierarchies from the standpoint of sterile subordinates. Kin selection, underpinned by relatedness between nest-mates, is key to the subordinates' acceptance of their positions in the hierarchies. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies’.

Organizational memory: a qualitative research study on a multi-cultural organization

PurposeThis paper articulates a multi-contextual and dynamic system for memory research in relation to multi-cultural organizations (MCOs) by a qualitative research method.Design/methodology/approachFace-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of 30 national officers in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to illuminate how the construction of organizational memory (OM) can then be compared and contrasted across different cultures.FindingsThe findings show that OM still mostly resides in individuals with the social transfer. However, even if, cultural aspects define what should be stored, time and purpose, the static memory of individuals becomes dynamic OM that is represented and interpreted in an organization's practices, policies and learning.Originality/valueThe primary contribution is to attempt to dissolve the seeming assumption of dialectical metaphoric perspectives of OM between different but related sub-communities of practice and outcomes. Consequently, socially constructed and individual memory models are necessary to integrate different metaphors according to the multi-context theory, which extends the understanding of the diversity between the cultural backgrounds of individuals and groups.

Narrating Memory: Weighing up the Testimony

Memory is the ability to store, maintain and recall information and experiences. Although predominantly an individual attribute, memory coincides with the life-world, with consciousness and with the ability to define reality – all of which are shared with others. When analysing narratives the sociologist needs to situate individual memory within its broader context. The article follows the argument that individuals acquire their memories within a broader social context. They also recall and localise their memories within a broader social context. This article interprets a remarkable testimony: the story of a former political prisoner who circumcised a large number of young fellow inmates in the notorious prison on Robben Island, South Africa, during the period of Nelson Mandela‟s incarceration. The article relates the narrative in question to the life-world of the narrator and to his experiences whilst serving his 18-year prison sentence. It reflects on the epistemological questions regarding memories. Memory as recollection, as reconstruction of events and information, and as process of re-membering come under the spotlight. Narratives that are often repeated start taking on a life of their own – particularly in the case of trauma memories. When analysing these narratives, the sociologist needs to distinguish between objective markers and subjective interpretation. Memory does not constitute pure recall by the individual. The article illustrates the effect of intersubjective and collective factors on the process of remembering. It calls for a reflexive process to identify, re-interpret and unpack the process of remembering.

SOVIET PERIOD OF HISTORY AND HOLOCAUST IN ORAL HISTORY STUDIES: BETWEEN OFFICIAL AND PERSONAL MEMORY

The aim of this paper is to examine the mechanisms of action of individual and collective memory on the features of remembering/ forgetting / interpreting complex pages of history. The use of oral historical memories has allowed to trace the level of influence of stereotypes and dominant (official) historical narratives that were formed both in the Soviet period and in the independence era. The methodological basis of the study is the tools of oral, social history and the history of everyday life. Scientific novelty. The article is written on the basis of oral historical evidence. The article focuses on the issues that break stereotypes about Jews formed during the Soviet period. The collected evidence constitutes an important source of information that explains the peculiarities of the formation of social memory and political factors that determine the agenda of historical policy in a given period. Conclusions. The article considers several blocks of problems that reflect the most typical stereotypes, fixed at the level of consciousness, behavioral attitudes, partially presented (or omitted) facts from history, which to some extent destroy them. The memoirs used in the article, which were collected in the framework of the project "Voices" in 2020 in Zhytomyr region (in which the author has participated), reflect the similarity of general ideas, assessments, tone, and memory stereotypes about anti-Semitism, the legitimacy of the Holodomor’s status of the genocide directed exclusively against ethnic Ukrainians, the role and place of Jews in the victory over Nazism, the peculiarities of evacuation, and the issues of preserving and honoring the memory of those killed during the Holocaust. At the same time, those memoirs demonstrate the differences between collective and individual memory, which preserves plots that to some extent destroy stereotypical attitudes that have long been ingrained in the mind and, accordingly, influenced the formation of social memory. The analysis of the interviews shows that oral history has significant source potential for studying various issues and sections of Soviet and modern history that await their researchers.

Places of Memory: Holocaust Memorials in Vidzeme and Their Symbolic Language

In analysing the symbolic language of Holocaust memorials, the author uses the concept of lieux de mémoire, elaborated by the French historian Pierre Nora. Nora highlights the essential differences, even rupture, between history and memory and the growing importance of lieux de mémoire, places of memory that lie between memory and history. The task of these places is to return the event to the present, reviving it in both the individual memory and the memory of society. Therefore, a memorial can also be considered a lieu de memoire. Moreover, the memorial is a more complicated case with material, symbolic and functional significance, a lieu de mémoire and a historical text with changing relations between them. The paper will briefly describe the basic principles of Holocaust iconography and the history of the development of Holocaust memorials as a new genre of commemorative art. The author will look at the development of this genre in Latvia using the example of memorials dedicated to victims of Nazism in Vidzeme. The monument’s symbolic language and whether it has been influenced by the specific place and events or whether artists have followed a specific iconographic canon will be explained. The examples will also be considered from the point of view of the dialectics between a place of memory and a historical text, mentioned above.

About Impossibility of Forgetting

В статье исследуется следующий парадокс: если индивидуальная память основана исключительно на внутренних ресурсах сознания, без принципиальной связи с внеш-ним положением дел, то мир, оказавшись непричастным к ней, становится местом взаимного равнодушия и полного одиночества. Без осознания всеобщей связи и усво-ения общей судьбы, в т.ч. через страдание как средства выхода за пределы инстинктивности страха, замкнутость на себя была бы непреодолимой. Цель проводимого сравнительного анализа с помощью примеров из художественной и исторической областей состояла в том, чтобы показать процесс погружения человека в измерение тотальной рассогласованности как с собой, так и с миром. В результате было продемонстрировано, что и катализатором, и действенным условием выхода из данного процесса является по-разному настраиваемый механизм культуры как памяти. Эти примеры свидетельствуют, что в жизненных исканиях, надеждах и через саму память происходитвозвращение к такому прошлому, которое, задавая рутину жизни, откры-вается в качестве искомого источника основы. В ходе анализа выясняется и то, что разрыв нарастающих цепей автоматических отношений, хоть и обнаруживает себя как трудноразрешимая задача, вместе с тем является реализуемым опытом, который прекращает раздвоение, т.е. прекращается такое состояние, когда растягиваемое «па-мятливое забвение» превращается во вторую натуру человеческого «я». Разбор филь-ма А. Паркера «Сердца Ангела» позволяет прийти к заключению, что обратная сторона удержания памяти бытия-лишь-при-себе имеет отношение к повседневности совместного бытия, с его частными отражениями в личном опыте, не только духовно-душевном, но и телесном. Через этот опыт и начинает формироваться онтология памяти не как автоматического существования (дления), а как усилия трансцендирующей мысли, благодаря чему изменяется отношение к повторению того же самого. The problem of individual memory is analyzed in this article. The following paradox is put forward: if the basis of individual memory is its own internal resources and they are not related to the external state of affairs, the world is a place of mutual indifference and complete loneliness. When a common destiny does not exist, it is impossible to overcome isolation. The purpose of the comparative analysis based on examples from art and historical studies was to show the process of putting a person in a state of disconnection from both himself and the world. As a result, it has been demonstrated that the mechanism of culture as memory is a condition for leaving this process. These examples show that in life searches, hopes and through memory itself there is a return to such a past, which, setting the routine of life, opens up as a sought-after source of foundation. Consequently breaking the automatism of connections is the termination of bifurcation. As a result forgettingceases to be the second kind of human “self”. The bodily factor is of fundamental importance here. An analysis of A. Parker 's “Angel's Hearts” confirms this. Here, memory experience is shown.

Gut microbiome drives individual memory variation in bumblebees

The potential of the gut microbiome as a driver of individual cognitive differences in natural populations of animals remains unexplored. Here, using metagenomic sequencing of individual bumblebee hindguts, we find a positive correlation between the abundance of Lactobacillus Firm-5 cluster and memory retention on a visual discrimination task. Supplementation with the Firm-5 species Lactobacillus apis, but not other non-Firm-5 bacterial species, enhances bees’ memory. Untargeted metabolomics after L. apis supplementation show increased LPA (14:0) glycerophospholipid in the haemolymph. Oral administration of the LPA increases long-term memory significantly. Based on our findings and metagenomic/metabolomic analyses, we propose a molecular pathway for this gut-brain interaction. Our results provide insights into proximate and ultimate causes of cognitive differences in natural bumblebee populations.

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL POTENTIAL OF HUMOUR AS A MEANS OF TEACHING AND NURTURING PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

The relevance of the article is stipulated to the active search for qualitatively new ways to improve the efficiency of the educational process in primary school. One of them is humour as a special property of human nature. The use of elements of humour in the organization of the educational process in primary school, methods and techniques based on wit, has significant psychological and pedagogical potential and is a significant reserve for improving the effectiveness of learning, education and personality development of primary school. The application of forms of humour with pupils of primary school in work contributes to the development of personal qualities of pupils, the formation of their critical thinking, the ability to make decisions independently and creatively approach any business. The purpose of the article is to determine the psychological and pedagogical potential of humour as a means of teaching and nurturing pupils of primary school. Various approaches to the interpretation of the essence of the concept of “humour” are analyzed in the article; the complexity of the nature of humour is grounded, which is stipulated to synthetic combinations of communicative, emotional and intellectual spheres, personal traits of a child, socio-cultural conditions of its formation. The problem of application of elements of humour during the organization of educational process in establishments of general secondary education in the context of scientific developments of known scientists (Ya. A. Komensky, A. Makarenko, V. Sukhomlinsky, Sh. Amonashvili, O. Savchenko) is investigated. The psychological and pedagogical potential of humour as a means of teaching and nurturing pupils of primary school, which provides a set of all available tools, opportunities for humor that can be used in teaching and educational process in general, and identified a set of psychological and pedagogical conditions to increase its productivity: creating an atmosphere of cooperation and trust through the skillful use of humorous methods and techniques; adequacy of humor to the peculiarities of the development of the emotional sphere of junior pupils; organic use of humor in the content of educational material. The role of the influence of humor elements on the emotional sphere of junior pupils during the organization of the educational process in primary school is substantiated. The relationship of value emotional states (interest, joy, surprise) with the mental processes of the individual (memory, will, thinking) during the use of elements of humour in primary school lessons is analyzed. The forms of humour in the life of pupils of primary school, the peculiarities of their formation and development in accordance with the age category are reflected.