Primate Social Complexity

Question 1

What are examples of care in primate societies?

Answer 1

grooming, co-huddling, hugging, kissing

Question 2

What were the results of Harlow’s (1950) experiments?

Answer 2

• primates raised in social isolation do not develop appropriate social, sexual, parenting skills
• social experience = critical
• depending on species, if access to social others before adulthood, may recover some abilities

Question 3

What does the soft mom model tell us about primates?

Answer 3

• need physical contact

- always choose cloth mother over rough one

Question 4

What are “together-together monkeys”?

Answer 4

co-housed juveniles without moms will cling to one another when put together

Question 5

What did the shift from solitary nocturnal Prosimians to social dirunal Anthropoids lead to?

Answer 5

feeding in groups

Question 6

What is the impact of grouping on primate sociality?

Answer 6

offers defense against increase predator pressure, but requires developing social skills i.e. group living raises issues of food and mate competition, signals of rank, opportunities for co-op, etc.

Question 7

What are the differences between social domain, natural domain, and physical domain as far as cognitive demand?

Answer 7

social: complex and unpredictable; agents with complex motives ; interaction changes contingencies that apply; most difficult to predict; MOST COGNITIVELY DEMANDING
physical: highly predictable i.e. gravity
natural: more difficult than physical, learn about ecology to understand

Question 8

How does De Waal (1986) define a society?

Answer 8

power not equal to rank

Question 9

When does rank = power?

Answer 9

• when rank alone translates into priority of access to resources (food, mates, etc.)
• individuals must keep track of their own dyadic relations

Question 10

What is a consequences of when rank is not equal to power?

Answer 10

• coalitional behavior => lower ranked individuals can work together to gain resources over one of dominant rank
• set up opportunities for reciprocal altruism especially in unrelated animals

Question 11

Dyadic relationships still exist in societies where rank is not equal to power, but ….

Answer 11

do not always determine outcome

Question 12

What are examples of social complexity in Savannah (“Olive”) Baboons?

Answer 12

• immigrant male competitive strategies change over time

- strong, young males first over aggression => develop friendships with female with whom they are likely to make

Question 13

How do immigrant male baboons interact with infants?

Answer 13

-use kids as passport to female and buffer between male aggression

Question 14

How do some baboons develop trut with other males?

Answer 14

grab each others testes, first tense and assymetrical, then becomes symmetrical in coalitions

Question 15

What are some cognitive demands that result from social complexity?

Answer 15

assessing currency, debt, fairness, cheating, sanctioning, etc

Question 16

What are the different types of cebus coalitions?

Answer 16

-male-male, female-female, male-female paris vs. conspecifics or oustiders

Question 17

How do some cebus test the bonds of friendship?

Answer 17

-sticking finger in eye, up nosem chewing on/sucking body parts, etc

Question 18

How do the cebus coalitions influence who individuals choose?

Answer 18

support partners w/whom they have a more affiliative relations (friends)

Question 19

How does gender influence cebus coalitions?

Answer 19

males generally outrank females, but coalitions can out compete

Question 20

What are some examples of cebus coalition movements in action?

Answer 20

• double headed displays

- alpha intervening to separate potential allies

Question 21

Who made up the triad in de Waal’s (1982) Chimpanzee Politics?

Answer 21

1 and #3 in coalition; Yeoren’s support of Luit required to maintain position

#1 Luit
#2 Niki 
#3 Yeoren 

Question 22

How did Niki act in Chimpanzee politics?

Answer 22

• Niki bothered females, while Luit defending and calming them, groomed and bonded with Yeoren
• Niki then started doing favors for females
• Luit broke up interactions but also needed female support
• Niki then outright challenged Luit

Question 23

What happened after the fight with Luit and Niki in Chimpanzee Politics?

Answer 23

With Yeoren’s and the females’ support, Niki took over as alpha

Question 24

Who got the most females throughout Chimpanzee Politics?

Answer 24

Yeoren; got leftovers from both Niki and Luit

Question 25

Within bonobos, what is unique about the female sexual swellings and what is the impact on the bonobos' sexual interactions?

Answer 25

- sexual swellings persistent (not just during estrus) - lots of non reproductive sex with many different relationships i.e. G-G female rubbing, father-daughter, etc. - use sex to calm down "make love not war" after arguments

Question 26

What does female genital rubbing do for bonobo's social structure?

Answer 26

establish non kin female bonds

Question 27

When Bonobo females emigrate, who must approve their acceptance into new monokin group?

Answer 27

matrons (females)

Question 28

In bonobos, which coalitions can dominate? how is this different from chimpanzees?

Answer 28

- bonobos = female coalitions can dominate | - chimpanzees = all males dominant over females

Question 29

What are some examples of triadic (or polyadic) interactions?

Answer 29

1. Redirected Aggression: If A aggress B, and B redirects to C- C is liable to be ally/kin to A 2. Mediation of Reconciliation: e.g. A & B fight, C groom each until calm and A & B groom each other 3. Intervention: e.g. A&B friendly, C breaks them up (possibly to prevent coalition)

Question 30

What is "peering"?

Answer 30

starting at the mouth while another conspecific is eating; worked when infants but as older tends to show dominance more

Question 31

What is "Social Tool Use"?

Answer 31

triadic interactions involve using a "social tool" to get what they want; user interacts with tool to influence Target

Question 32

What are the different examples of social tools?

Answer 32

1. Buffer: e.g. A use B as shield from aggressive C 2. Recruit e.g. A recruit B against C 3. Passport: e.g. A nice (e.g. baby) to B to get close to (mom) C 4. Incite: e.g. A nice to B to anger/incite investment from C 5. Slander; e.g. Juv wants attention from mom, goes near innocent bystnder & scream, mom rescues (can be used for food too-distraction)

Question 33

What does the concept that one animal is using another for its own ends contributes to?

Answer 33

"Machiavellian Intelligence" hypothesis

Question 34

In socially complex societies, triadic interactions requires what?

Answer 34

1. learning about own dyadic relationships | 2. learning about the relationships between others

Question 35

What did the Dasser (1988) study study?

Answer 35

long tailed macaques trained on Match to Sample

Question 36

What were the results of the Dasser (1988) study?

Answer 36

shown photo of mom from subject group; had to match to her offspring vs. another offspring First trial success of transfer to other familiar mother/offspring pairs: knows other kins relationships

Question 37

What was Seyfarth and Cheney's (1990) experiment results?

Answer 37

- when juvenile Vervet gives alarm, others look to its mother for confirmation - like Dasser experiment above, shows animals in troop know who is related to whom

Question 38

What were the results of Perry's (2004) study on rank?

Answer 38

- Cebus, during antagonism, select coalition partners from their friends - also take into consideration the relative rank of their friends to the target

Question 39

What was the procedure of the Cheney, Seyfarth, & Silk (1995) study on rank?

Answer 39

- recorded dominant and submissive calls from all Chacma Baboon in group - fabricated combination of two animals' calls (i.e. fake vocal interaction for playback tests)

Question 40

What were the results of the Cheney, Seyfarth, & Silk (1995) study?

Answer 40

When played combo of dominant call by dom animal + submissive call by subordinate, no reaction But, when played dominant call from subordinate + submissive call from dominant, large reaction *know normal rank relations between others*

Question 41

What was the impact of primates shifting from multiple to single births on their sociality?

Answer 41

- single births require extended care (maternal, sometimes paternal) - care demands physical contact, infant held, carried - close body contact sought throughout life