Overview: Expanding an animal's self-world to include conspecifics

To further the thinking about animal communication, the authors have returned to J. von Uexküll's (1934/1957) original writings on the Umwelt. Applying J. von Uexküll's self-world concept to studies of communication helps to highlight some of the unanswered questions in behavior. The authors illustrate that some researchers have adopted views that complement and expand the ideas outlined in J. von Uexküll's classic concept of an Umwelt by exploring the influence of individual, social, and ontogenetic contexts on communication. The authors maintain that further application of these concepts expands the understanding of animal communication and, more generally, of animal behavior.     

Social complexity can drive vocal complexity: group size influences vocal information in Carolina chickadees

One hypothesis to explain variation in vocal communication in animal species is that the complexity of the social group influences the group's vocal complexity. This social-complexity hypothesis for communication is also central to recent arguments regarding the origins of human language, but experimental tests of the hypothesis are lacking. This study investigated whether group size, a fundamental component of social complexity, influences the complexity of a call functioning in the social organization of Carolina chickadees, Poecile carolinensis. In unmanipulated field settings, calls of individuals in larger groups had greater complexity (more information) than calls of individuals in smaller groups. In aviary settings manipulating group size, individuals in larger groups used calls with greater complexity than individuals in smaller groups. These results indicate that social complexity can influence communicative complexity in this species.     

Acoustic interaction in animal groups: signaling in noisy and social contexts

It has long been known that individuals of many species vocally communicate with one another in noisy environments and in rich contexts of social interaction. It has recently become clear that researchers interested in understanding acoustic communication in animal groups must study vocal signaling in these noisy and socially complex settings. Furthermore, recent methodological advances have made it increasingly clear that the authors can tackle these more complex questions effectively. The articles in this Special Issue stem from a Symposium held at the June 2006 meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, and illustrate some of the taxonomic and methodological diversity in studies aimed at understanding how acoustic communication functions in social grouping. This introduction to the Special Issue provides a brief overview of the articles and key ideas in this field of inquiry, and suggests some future directions to take the field to help us understand how social pressures in animal groups may influence, and be influenced by, acoustic signals.     

Marmosets as a next-generation model of comparative cognition

Common marmosets have traditionally been used in fields such as comparative psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and ethology, and as animal models of human disease research because of their relatively small body size, high reproductive rate, similar breeding system characteristics to those of humans, high dependency on vocal communication, and behavioral effects from drug administration that resemble those of humans. Although the animal has proved to be quite advantageous in animal model research in comparison to rodents, and has specific ecological and evolutionary characteristics that are worthy of exploration, few attempts have been made until recently to combine both types of approach. Thus, supported by neuroscientific methodologies that have recently been developed using this species, the authors suggest that the evolutionary origins of cognitive and social functions common to or differentiated in primates, could be uncovered through research that explores the behavioral and neural bases of cognition in the marmosets.     

Compatible Dynamical Models of Environmental,Sensory, and Perceptual Systems

ABSTRACT

One of the cornerstones of the ecological stance in psychology is the compatibility, or symmetry, between animal and environment. In this article, it is argued that a first principles reevaluation of the dynamical systems that structure the information signals animals live through is an important step in understanding how compatibility is possible. What is especially important is how environmental properties are encoded by dynamical laws into the information signals of the environment and how these signals can reveal environmental properties. It is argued that that compatibility is not just 2-way compatibility between animal and environment but also 3-way compatibility of environmental, sensory, and perceptual systems. The argument is illustrated using a conceptual exegesis of 2 dynamical systems, Newtonian mechanics and Webster's acoustic horn equation. The discussion of the latter equation is accompanied by the extraction of articulatory information from speech signals of 50 speakers. It is believed that the work presented here further develops the theory of ecological psychology as well as its specific application to speech perception pioneered by Carol Fowler.     

Objects, parts, and categories

Concepts may be organized into taxonomies varying in inclusiveness or abstraction, such as furniture, table, card table or animal, bird, robin. For taxonomies of common objects and organisms, the basic level, the level of table and bird, has been determined to be most informative (Rosch, Mervis, Gray, Johnson, & Boyes-Braem, 1976). Psychology, linguistics, and anthropology have produced a variety of measures of perception, behavior, and communication that converge on the basic level. Here, we present data showing that the basic level differs qualitatively from other levels in taxonomies of objects and of living things and present an explanation for why so many measures converge at that level. We have found that part terms proliferate in subjects' listings of attributes characterizing category members at the basic level, but are rarely listed at a general level. At a more specific level, fewer parts are listed, though more are judged to be true. Basic level objects are distinguished from one another by parts, but members of subordinate categories share parts and differ from one another on other attributes. Informants agree on the parts of objects, and also on relative "goodness" of the various parts. Perceptual salience and functional significance both appear to contribute to perceived part goodness. Names of parts frequently enjoy a duality not evident in names of other attributes; they refer at once to a particular appearance and to a particular function. We propose that part configuration underlies the various empirical operations of perception, behavior, and communication that converge at the basic level. Part configuration underlies the perceptual measures because it determines the shapes of objects to a large degree. Parts underlie the behavioral tasks because most of our behaviors is indirect toward parts of objects. Labeling appears to follow the natural breaks of perception and behavior; consequently, part configuration also underlies communication measures. Because elements of more abstract taxonomies, such as scenes and events, can also be decomposed into parts, this analysis provides a bridge to organization in other domains of knowledge. Knowledge organization by parts (partonomy) is contrasted to organization by kinds (taxonomy). Taxonomies serve to organize numerous classes of entities and to allow inference from larger sets to sets included in them. Partonomies serve to separate entities into their structural components and to organize knowledge of function by components of structure. The informativeness of the basic level may originate from the availability of inference from structure to function at that level.     

COMMUNICATION DIVERSITY AND INFORMATION ACQUISITION AMONG KOREAN IMMIGRANTS IN HAWAII

The general purpose of the study was to construct a precise explanation of the communication patterns of Korean immigrants in Hawaii and the subsequent impact of these communication patterns on their level of information. A general pattern of communication diversity was conceptualized on two levels: (1) whether an immigrant uses diverse channels of communication rather than depending upon one dominant channel, and (2) whether his communication behavior cuts across ethnic boundaries rather than remaining restricted to just one ethnic group. It was hypothesized that for immigrants to be engaged in diverse communication patterns requires both a greater social capacity and a greater cognitive capacity. The cognitive structure with which immigrants process information from their new environment, and their perceived locus of control over the environment, were used as measures of cognitive capacity. Education, occupational status, length of residence in the United States, and English fluency were used as measures of social capacity. All of the hypothesized relationships were tested and supported by face-to-face interviews in a sample survey of 401 randomly selected Korean immigrants in Hawaii.     

Values,expectations, and the prediction of social action: An expectancy-valence analysis

Two studies were conducted to test hypotheses about the relationship of values to action within the context of expectancy-valence theory. In these studies, university students who had previously completed the Rokeach Value Survey answered questionnaires that related to social movement organizations and that contained attitude items, expectancy items, and measures of willingness to assist these organizations. It was predicted that (1) value rankings from the Rokeach Value Survey will be systematically related to attitudes toward social movement organizations; (2) both attitudes and outcome expectancies (subjects' estimates of how helpful their action will be) will be correlated with measures of willingness to act on behalf of an organization; and (3) attitudes and expectancies will jointly account for more of the variance in action measures than either attitudes or expectancies can account for independently. Results showed that hypotheses were consistently supported across two measures of action, two contrasting organizations, hypothetical and actual commitments to act, and two subject samples. These results extend the scope of the expectancy-valence approach by incorporating general values (conceived as motives) into the analysis, and they have practical implications for social movement strategies.The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of John Mann and John Crosbie in compiling and analyzing the data reported here.     

Multiple environmental contexts and communication in pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea)

There are multiple components to the concept of Umwelt experienced by an organism that may constrain the type and structure of communication signals as well as the usefulness of these signals. To illustrate the impact of these multiple environmental components, the authors used signals of the pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea), a small primate from the western Amazon. The authors summarize studies to show how the physical effects of the habitat; effects of other species, both predators and nonpredators; anthropogenic effects on the communication environment; within-group and between-groups influences other pygmy marmosets exert; and ontogeny influence the structure and usage of vocal signals. Communication within a species can be understood only in consideration of each of these contexts.     

Agonistic screams in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) vary as a function of social role

Some nonhuman primates have demonstrated the capacity to communicate about external objects or events, suggesting primate vocalizations can function as referential signals. However, there is little convincing evidence for functionally referential communication in any great ape species. Here, the authors demonstrate that wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) of Budongo forest, Uganda, give acoustically distinct screams during agonistic interactions depending on the role they play in a conflict. The authors analyzed the acoustic structure of screams of 14 individuals, in the role of both aggressor and victim. The authors found consistent differences in the acoustic structure of the screams, across individuals, depending on the social role the individual played during the conflict. The authors propose that these 2 distinct scream variants, produced by victims and aggressors during agonistic interactions, may be promising candidates for functioning as referential signals.     

The Impact of Environmental,Social, and Animal Factors on Visitor Stay Times at Big Cat Exhibits

ABSTRACT

An accurate understanding of visitor interest is critical to the education and conservation missions of zoos. However, studies that consider multiple influences are rare, and measures such as stay time that have been used to measure visitor interest vary widely, making broader inferences challenging. The authors sought to (a) compare the relative influences of social interactions, animal behavior, environmental factors, and animal species on visitor stay time and (b) evaluate how conclusions vary depending on the metric of stay time used. They conducted 701 direct observations of zoo visitors at a big cat exhibit. The data suggest that animal visibility was a critical factor driving stay time. Animal species played a minor role. The relative importance of the number of other visitors present and animal activity level differed depending on the stay time metric used. Nine other factors examined were relatively unimportant in predicting stay time. These results have important implications for exhibit design, crowd flow management, animal husbandry, collection management, and educational programs in zoos.     

New methods,measures, and models for analyzing memory impairment using triadic comparisons

We study the effect of memory impairment on triadic comparisons of animal names in a large clinical data set. We define eight groups of subjects in terms of their delayed free recall performance, and present standard analyses of the triadic comparison and free recall data that provide little insight into the effect of memory impairment on semantic structure. We then develop and apply two new methods for analyzing the data, based on cognitive models and using Bayesian statistical inference. The first new method focuses on modeling changes in semantic representation, by inferring multidimensional scaling (MDS) representations for each group based on their triadic comparisons. These representations reveal a successive decrease in semantic cluster structure and increase in uncertainty with increasing impairment. We propose a measure of spatial organization as a means of quantifying the visually evident changes in semantic organization, and demonstrate its usefulness. The second new method focuses on modeling changes in memory access with impairment, inferring the extent to which each individual makes triadic comparisons consistent with a common semantic representation. Although these inferences are based on just 12 comparisons per subject, we show that they vary systematically with memory impairment group. We conclude by discussing the potential for clinical application of our new models, measures, and methods.     

Love and Power,and the Development of the Brain,Mind, and Agency

In drawing on my own research and collaborative work with Karl Pribram, I show that love (affective attachment) and power (social control) play a central role in psychosocial evolution. When these relations are coupled in a self-regulating system of cooperative interactions, brain growth is stimulated, mind and agency develop, and stable forms of collective social organization are generated. Focusing on the endogenous dynamics of social collectives, the article is organized in four parts. (A "social collective" is defined as a durable arrangement of relations among two or more individuals that is distinguished by shared membership and collaboration in relation to a common function or goal.) Part I summarizes evidence from developmental neuropsychology and social science to show that stable psychosocial organization, across the human life span, is associated with social interaction organized along two dimensions. One dimension involves love, positive affective attachment, and the second involves power, social regulation of the aroused affective energy. Part II draws on Piaget's theory of cooperation and Bradley and Pribrams' theory of communication to describe how mind and agency are generated, and how stable organization is produced, respectively, from the relations involved in the arousal and regulation of affective energy. Combining elements of the two theories, Part III presents a sketch of a holographic model of collective organization in which goal-directed behavior is generated by a feed-forward process involving imaging and information processing of interaction along the two dimensions. Part IV shows how the model accounts for the emergence of human agency within the context of a more general evolutionary theory, such as Laszlo's. The article concludes with a discussion of my approach for building a "fully human theory of evolution."     

Sex and species recognition by wild male southern white rhinoceros using contact pant calls

Recognition of information from acoustic signals is crucial in many animals, and individuals are under selection pressure to discriminate between the signals of conspecifics and heterospecifics or males and females. Here, we first report that rhinos use information encoded in their calls to assess conspecifics and individuals of closely related species. The southern (Ceratotherium simum) and critically endangered northern (C. cottoni) white rhinos are the most social out of all the rhinoceros species and use a contact call pant. We found that southern white rhino pant calls provide reliable information about the caller’s sex, age class and social situation. Playback experiments on wild territorial southern white rhinoceros males revealed that they responded more strongly to the pant calls of conspecific females compared to the calls of other territorial males. This suggests that pant calls are more important form of communication between males and females than between territorial males. Territorial southern males also discriminated between female and territorial male calls of northern species and reacted more intensively to the calls of northern than southern males. This might be caused by a novelty effect since both species naturally live in allopatry. We conclude that white rhinos can directly benefit from assessing individuals at long distances using vocal cues especially because their eyesight is poor. Pant calls thus likely play a significant role in their social relationships and spatial organization. In addition, better understanding of vocal communication in white rhinos might be helpful in conservation management particularly because of their low reproduction in captivity.     

Agonistic and sociable behaviors in the mound‐building mice,Mus spicilegus: A comparative study with Mus musculus domesticus

Present social organization and mating systems result from selective pressures and ecological conditions but also from proximate interactions between individuals. Many studies report on a polygynous mating system with a social group territoriality in commensal populations of Mus musculus domesticus. However, little is known about the social organization of other Mus species living in outdoor conditions, such as the mound‐building mouse Mus spicilegus. Comparative studies between M. m. domesticus and M. spicilegus have already shown behavioral differences in female sexual preferences and paternal care. To study agonistic and sociable interactions and gain insight into the social organization and the mating system of M. spicilegus, the present study compared intraspecific dyadic encounters between unfamiliar adults in these two species. Results demonstrated less tolerance between females and between the sexes in M. spicilegus than in M. m. domesticus unfamiliar mice. The consequences of those differences between M. spicilegus and M. m. domesticus on social organization and mating system are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 28:75–84, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

沟通与刻板印象的维持、变化和抑制

沟通提供了维持人类社会行为所必要的信息, 是人类交换信息, 建立并维持相互联系的工具。刻板印象是一种涉及知觉者对某个群体的知识、观念与期望的认知结构。近年来, 研究者们从多个方面探讨了沟通与刻板印象的维持、变化和抑制的关系, 发现群体内沟通, 通过策略性的信息选择和语言偏差, 能够维持刻板印象, 并可能使刻板印象极端化; 而群际沟通, 特别是代理式的群际沟通, 则成为抑制刻板印象的一种可能方法。     

Distinctness of others, mutability of selves: their impact on self-evaluations

The authors postulate that the outcome of social comparison processes is determined by the role social comparison information serves during the self-evaluation process. Assimilation is more likely in situations that instigate the inclusion of social comparison information in self-representations. Contrast is the more probable outcome when information about another person is used as a reference point for self-judgments. Whether comparison information instigates interpretation or comparison effects depends on the distinctness of this information as well as the perceived mutability of the self. The authors found support for their perspective using different types of manipulations of the distinctness construct, treating self-mutability as a contextual as well as an individual-difference variable, and measuring the effects of social comparisons on measures likely to reveal both assimilation and contrast effects (self-evaluative judgments and behavioral predictions), assimilation effects only (mood measures), and motivational self-repair effects (importance ratings of the focal comparison dimension).     

Organization of mating behavior in male hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus)

Factor analysis was applied to standard measures of sexual behavior in 73 male hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) as they interacted with hormone-primed females. The results suggest that 5 factors, or conceptual mechanisms, function in the organization of the behaviors observed in the first 2 copulatory series. Of these, the 3 that relate to the behaviors in the first copulatory series were compared to those emerging from prior analyses of other rodents. These comparisons revealed similarities and differences in factor structure across species. Whereas all of these analyses identify factors related to the initiation and efficiency of copulatory behavior, hamsters seem to differ from other species in the measures that best define these factors. In addition, the copulatory rate factor that has been prominent in previous analyses of rats seems to be absent in hamsters. These results suggest that male sexual behavior in hamsters is organized differently from that in other rodents. In more general terms, they suggest that even species with generally similar copulatory patterns can show significant differences in behavioral organization, in turn suggesting the need for additional factor analytic studies to better establish the extent of these species differences.     

Relations between neighborhood factors, parenting behaviors, peer deviance, and delinquency among serious juvenile offenders

The present study examined relations among neighborhood structural and social characteristics, parenting practices, peer group affiliations, and delinquency among a group of serious adolescent offenders. The sample of 14-18-year-old boys (N=488) was composed primarily of economically disadvantaged, ethnic-minority youth living in urban communities. The results indicate that weak neighborhood social organization is indirectly related to delinquency through its associations with parenting behavior and peer deviance and that a focus on just 1 of these microsystems can lead to oversimplified models of risk for juvenile offending. The authors also find that community social ties may confer both pro- and antisocial influences to youth, and they advocate for a broad conceptualization of neighborhood social processes as these relate to developmental risk for youth living in disadvantaged communities.     

Behavioral consistency in a changed social context in Carolina chickadees

Stable personality-like influences on behavior have been documented in nonhuman animals (S. D. Gosling, 2001), but little is known about such influences within explicitly social contexts. The authors tested whether individuals of a socially complex avian species, Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis), show consistent behavioral profiles when their social context changes. Consistency was tested using 7 groups of chickadees, each group comprising 2 female-male pairs. The 2 pairs from each group were isolated from one another until the male birds were switched between the pairs. The authors made several measures before and after the male switch, including measures of affiliative and agonistic behavior, self-maintenance behavior, and vocalizations. The authors observed strong behavioral consistency despite the major change in social context, suggesting that personality can influence this fundamental social relationship.