Faculty Research and Publications

Permanent URI for this community

https://opus.uleth.ca/handle/10133/309

Browse

Browsing Faculty Research and Publications by Title

Now showing 1 - 20 of 70
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Acquisition of object-robbing and object/food-bartering behaviours: a culturally maintained token economy in free-ranging long-tailed macaques
    (The Royal Society Publishing, 2021) Leca, Jean-Baptiste; Gunst, Noëlle; Gardiner, Matthew; Wandia, I. Nengah
    The token exchange paradigm shows that monkeys and great apes are able to use objects as symbolic tools to request specific food rewards. Such studies provide insights into the cognitive underpinnings of economic behaviour in non-human primates. However, the ecological validity of these laboratory-based experimental situations tends to be limited. Our field research aims to address the need for a more ecologically valid primate model of trading systems in humans. Around the Uluwatu Temple in Bali, Indonesia, a large free-ranging population of long-tailed macaques spontaneously and routinely engage in token-mediated bartering interactions with humans. These interactions occur in two phases: after stealing inedible and more or less valuable objects from humans, the macaques appear to use them as tokens, by returning them to humans in exchange for food. Our field observational and experimental data showed (i) age differences in robbing/bartering success, indicative of experiential learning, and (ii) clear behavioural associations between value-based token possession and quantity or quality of food rewards rejected and accepted by subadult and adult monkeys, suggestive of robbing/bartering payoff maximization and economic decision-making. This population-specific, prevalent, cross-generational, learned and socially influenced practice may be the first example of a culturally maintained token economy in free-ranging animals.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Aggressiveness and size: a model and two tests
    (University of Chicago Press, 2011) Logue, David M.; Takahashi, April D.; Cade, William H.
    Individual variation in aggressive behavior in animals might be caused by adaptive covariation with body size. We developed a model that predicts the benefits of aggressiveness as a function of body size. The model indicated that individuals of intermediate sizes would derive the greatest benefits from being aggressive. If we assume that the cost of aggression is approximately uniform with respect to body size, selection should favor higher aggression in intermediate-sized individuals than in large or small individuals. This prediction was tested by stimulating male Madagascar hissing cockroaches, Gromphadorhina portentosa, with disembodied antennae and recording the males’ aggressive responses. Antennae from larger males evoked weaker responses in subjects, suggesting that males obtained information about their opponents’ size from the opponents’ antennae alone. After accounting for this effect, we found support for the key prediction of our model: aggressiveness peaked at intermediate sizes. Data from actual male-male interactions validated that the antenna assay accurately measured aggressiveness. Analysis of an independent data set generated by staging male-male interactions also supported the prediction that intermediate-sized males were most aggressive. We conclude that adaptive covariation between body size and aggressiveness explains some interindividual variation in aggressiveness.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Animal culture: how a birdsong went viral
    (Cell Press, 2020) Logue, David M.; Leca, Jean-Baptiste
    A new white-throated sparrow song has overtaken most of Canada in less than 20 years. The explanation for this remarkably fast spread may lie in the southern migratory grounds, where populations from across Canada converge each winter.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Are the roots of human economic systems shared with non-human primates?
    (Elsevier, 2020) Addessi, Elsa; Beran, Michael J.; Bourgeois-Gironde, Sacha; Brosnan, Sarah F.; Leca, Jean-Baptiste
    We review and analyze evidence for an evolutionary rooting of human economic behaviors and organization in non-human primates. Rather than focusing on the direct application of economic models that a priori account for animal decision behavior, we adopt an inductive definition of economic behavior in terms of the contribution of individual cognitive capacities to the provision of resources within an exchange structure. We spell out to what extent non-human primates’ individual and strategic decision behaviors are shared with humans. We focus on the ability to trade, through barter or token-mediated exchanges, as a landmark of an economic system among members of the same species. It is an open question why only humans have reached a high level of economic sophistication. While primates have many of the necessary cognitive abilities (symbolic and computational) in isolation, one plausible issue we identify is the limits in exerting cognitive control to combine several sources of information. The difference between human and non-human primates’ economies might well then be in degree rather than kind.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Articulation speaks to executive function: an investigation in 4- to 6-year olds
    (Frontiers Media, 2018) Netelenbos, Nicole; Gibb, Robbin L.; Li, Fangfang; Gonzalez, Claudia L. R.
    Executive function (EF) and language learning play a prominent role in early childhood development. Empirical research continues to point to a concurrent relation between these two faculties. What has been given little attention, however, is the association between EF and speech articulation abilities in children. This study investigated this relation in children aged 4–6 years. Significant correlations indicated that children with better EF [via parental report of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF)inventory] exhibited stronger speech sound production abilities in the articulation of the “s” and “sh” sounds. Furthermore, regression analyses revealed that the Global Executive Composite (GEC) of EF as measured by the BRIEF, served as a predictor for speech sound proficiency and that speech sound proficiency served as a predictor for the GEC. Together, these results demonstrate the imbricated nature of EF and speech sound production while bearing theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical standpoint, the close link between EF and speech articulation may indicate a common ontogenetic pathway. From a practical perspective, the results suggest that children with speech difficulties could be at higher risk for EF deficits.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Assessing the similarity of song-type transitions among birds: evidence for inter-species variation
    (Elsevier, 2018) Hedley, Richard W.; Logue, David M.; Benedict, Lauryn; Mennill, Daniel J.
    In many species of songbird, individuals sing multiple song types, some of which are shared with their neighbours. Individuals may also share syntactical rules that govern the transitions between different song types, but few studies have attempted to study this kind of sharing. Progress has been inhibited by a lack of statistical tools to compare song-type transitions among individuals. We present a straightforward method for comparing song transitions based on Markov transition matrices. The method calculates the number of mutually preferred song-type-to-different-song-type transitions found in the song sequences of two birds, then assesses whether that number is significantly greater than would be expected if the two birds ordered their songs independently of one another. We applied this method to song sequences from five songbird species. All pairwise comparisons among male Cassin's vireos, Vireo cassinii, showed significant similarity in song transitions, as did a minority of comparisons among Adelaide's warblers, Setophaga adelaidae, and one pair of marsh wrens, Cistothorus palustris. In contrast, dyads of rock wrens, Salpinctes obsoletus, and rufous-and-white wrens, Thryophilus rufalbus, did not share song-type transitions at levels exceeding chance. Interterritory distance was not significantly related to our measure of song transition similarity in any of our study species. These results provide evidence that interindividual similarity in song-type transitions is a trait that varies considerably among species. We discuss the potential drivers of similarity in song transitions, but note that assessing its evolutionary breadth will require a larger sample of species. The application of our method to additional species will provide a more comprehensive understanding of signal use and vocal interaction in songbirds.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Behavior systems approach to object play: stone handling repertoire as a measure of propensity for complex foraging and percussive tool use in the genus Macaca
    (SciKnow Publications, 2017) Pelletier, Amanda N.; Kaufmann, Tatjana; Mohak, Sidhesh; Milan, Riane; Nahallage, Charmalie A. D.; Huffman, Michael A.; Gunst, Noëlle; Rompis, Aida; Wandia, I Nengah; Arta Purta, I Gusti A.; Pellis, Sergio M.; Leca, Jean-Baptiste
    Stone handling (SH), has been identified in four closely related primate species of the Macaca genus. We provide the first ethogram of SH in long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), a primate species known to use stones for extractive foraging. A total of 62.7 hrs of video recorded data were scored from a population of Balinese long-tailed macaques living in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, and a total of 36 stone handling patterns were identified. Behavior discovery curves were generated and showed that the minimum threshold of completeness was exceeded for the SH repertoire in this group. A “foraging substitute” hypothesis for the expression of SH was proposed, suggesting that SH consists of performing foraging-like actions on non-edible objects. We used a “behavior systems” framework to test this prediction, finding that all 36 stone handling patterns could be reliably categorized in a foraging behavior system, supporting the hypothesis that stone handling can be considered pseudo-foraging behavior. Our “behavior systems” approach will serve as a foundation for the future testing of the motivational basis of stone handling. Additionally, a comparison of 39 stone handling patterns performed by three macaque species (M. fascicularis, M. fuscata and M. mulatta) showed overlapping behavioral propensities to manipulate stones; however, the differences suggest that long-tailed macaques might be more prone to use stones as percussive tools in a foraging context. This work could offer insights into the development and evolution of complex activities such as percussive stone tool use in early humans.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Behavioral genetics: The study of differences
    (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, 2005) Lalumière, Martin L.
    Behavioural genetics is about partitioning the sources of individual differences in any trait that can be measured reliably. The fundamental question is how much of the observed variability in a given trait can be explained by the fact that people have different genes, and how much can be explained by the fact that people have been exposed to different environments.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Behaviour development: a cephalopod perspective
    (University of California eScholarship, 2006) Mather, Jennifer A.
    This paper evaluates the development of behaviour from the viewpoint of the intelligent and learning dependent cephalopod mollusks as a contrast to that of mammals. They have a short lifespan, commonly one to two years, and most are semelparous, reproducing only near the end of their lifespan. In the first two months of life, Sepia officinalis cuttlefish show drastic limitation on learning of prey choice and capture, gradually acquiring first short-term and then long-term learning over 60 days. This is paralleled by development of the vertical lobe of the brain which processes visually learned information. In the long nonreproductive adulthood, Octopus species show major flexibility in prey choice and continued mobility across the sea bottom. This results in large behaviour variability within and between individuals and both exploration and simple play-type behaviour. During the short reproductive period, Sepioteuthis sepioidea squid gather for choice and competition, including flexible strategies in use of their skin display system. At the end of the life cycle, Sepia officinalis cuttlefish have a swift decline in memory capacity and also brain degeneration during their short period of senescence. The emphasis on different behaviour capacities during these four stages is contrasted with those of the mammalian model of behaviour development.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The causes of rape: Understanding individual differences in the male propensity for sexual aggression
    (American Psychological Association, 2005-01) Lalumière, Martin L.; Harris, Grant T.; Quinsey, V. L.; Rice, M. E.
    The Causes of Rape: Understanding Individual Differences in Male Propensity for Sexual Aggression examines why some men are prone to rape, offers probable causes for this inclination, and provides a comprehensive review of scientific studies of coercive sex.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Chorus song of the indri (Indri indri: Primates, Lemuridae): Group differences and analysis of within-group vocal interactions
    (eScholarship Publishing, University of California, 2013) Baker-Medard, Merrill S. A.; Baker, Myron C.; Logue, David M.
    The loud chorus songs of the group-living lemur Indri indri are a striking feature of rainforest areas of eastern Madagascar. Despite some research on the conspicuous vocal display of the indri, two hypotheses have not been addressed: do groups differ in the acoustic properties of their songs, and is there evidence of coordinated singing between individuals within groups. We recorded and analyzed the songs of three indri groups to examine these two questions. To answer the first question, we made quantitative spectral measures on songs of the three groups and performed multivariate analyses of the acoustic features of the notes constituting the songs. Our results showed songs of the three groups differed significantly, although there was overlap between groups. To answer the second question, we classified note types and quantified their occurrence as overlapping and abutting pairs. We found non-random associations between sequential note types in all three indri groups. These associations were consistent among groups, suggesting that individuals follow consistent answering rules when contributing to choruses. Whether indris use acoustic group identifiers in management of behavioral strategies and how within-group coordinated note production might function remain unknown. We compare our results to a number of taxonomically diverse species that live in groups and broadcast chorus and duet vocal signals.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Coercive and precocious sexuality as a fundamental aspect of psychopathy
    (Guilford Press, 2007-02) Harris, Grant T.; Rice, M. E.; Hilton, N. Z.; Lalumière, Martin L.; Quinsey, V. L.
    Sexual behavior is closely associated with delinquency and crime. Although psychopaths, by definition, have many short-term sexual relationships, it has not been shown that sexuality is a core aspect of psychopathy. A Darwinian view of psychopathy led to the hypothesis that psychopaths have a unique sexuality involving early, frequent, and coercive sex. Our subjects were 512 sex offenders assessed on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R). Five variables reflecting early, frequent, and coercive sex loaded on the same principal component in exploratory factor analysis on a subset of the sample, whereas PCL-R items pertaining to adult sexual behavior did not. Confirmatory factor analysis of the remaining subjects yielded a measurement model containing three inter-correlated factors – the traditional two PCL-R factors, and coercive and precocious sexuality. Taxometric analyses gave evidence of a natural discontinuity underlying coercive and precocious sexuality. Coercive and precocious sexuality yielded statistically significant associations with other study variables predicted by the Darwinian hypothesis. The present findings are consistent with prior empirical findings and support the hypothesis that psychopathy has been a nonpathological, reproductively viable, alternate life history strategy.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Common HLA alleles associated with health, but not with facial attractiveness
    (Public Library of Science, 2007) Coetzee, Vinet; Barrett, Louise; Greeff, Jaco M.; Henzi, Peter; Perrett, David I.; Wadee, Ahmed A.
    Three adaptive hypotheses have been proposed to explain the link between the human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genes, health measures and facial attractiveness: inbreeding avoidance, heterozygote advantage and frequency-dependent selection. This paper reports findings that support a new hypothesis relating HLA to health. We suggest a new method to quantify the level of heterozygosity. HLA heterozygosity did not significantly predict health measures in women, but allele frequency did. Women with more common HLA alleles reported fewer cold and flu bouts per year, fewer illnesses in the previous year and rated themselves healthier than women with rare alleles. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show a positive correlation between HLA allele frequency and general health measures. We propose that certain common HLA alleles confer resistance to prevalent pathogens. Nevertheless, neither HLA heterozygosity nor allele frequency significantly predicted how healthy or attractive men rated the female volunteers. Three non-mutually exclusive explanations are put forward to explain this finding.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Conduct problems and juvenile sexual offending
    (Guilford, 2006) Seto, M. C.; Lalumière, Martin L.
    Research and clinical practice in the area of juvenile sexual offending has advanced considerably over the last decade, and the newly revised second edition of this authoritative work brings the field fully up to date. Chapters from leading authorities examine what is known about the nature and development of sexually abusive behavior, the consequences for both victims and perpetrators, and approaches to assessment, intervention, and relapse prevention. Updated throughout with the latest empirical findings, the book includes seven entirely new chapters on such essential topics as sexual offending among girls, family and environmental risk factors, assessment, treatment evaluation research, and restorative justice.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The crocodile’s tears
    (University of Lethbridge, 2006) Lalumière, Martin L.
    People are fascinated by criminals, especially clever criminals who have the ability to con others. The most vicious offenders are often the subjects of movies and true-crime books. Canadian Paul Bernardo, for example, kidnapped, raped, killed, and mutilated two teenage girls, was involved in the rape and death of his sister-in-law, and raped dozens of women in the late 1980's and early 1990's. His story has already been written in several books, and a movie about him and his wife was released in the spring of 2006. During his trial he received numerous love letters and marriage proposals from complete strangers. Famous criminals are often the inspiration for great literature. Robert Louis Stevenson, for example, is said to have based his story of Jekyll and Hyde on William Brodie. Brodie was a well-respected Deacon by day and a gambler, womanizer, and burglar by night. Our ready fascination for these offenders demands an explanation, but in this chapter I will focus on discussing a group of men who are often considered to be the worst criminals, psychopaths. I begin by describing the concept of psychopathy and showing how unique psychopaths are. Then I discuss the question of whether psychopathy is a mental disorder, and describe an alternative view of psychopathy.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Do monkeys use sex toys? Evidence of stone tool-assisted masturbation in free-ranging long-tailed macaques
    (Wiley, 2022) Cenni, Camilla; Christie, Jessica B. A.; Van der Pant, Yanni; Gunst, Noëlle; Vasey, Paul L.; Wandia, Nengah; Leca, Jean-Baptiste
    Recent reports on tool use in nonforaging contexts have led researchers to reconsider the proximate drivers of instrumental object manipulation. In this study, we explore the physiological and behavioral correlates of two stone-directed and seemingly playful actions, the repetitive tapping and rubbing of stones onto the genital and inguinal area, respectively, that may have been co-opted into self-directed tool-assisted masturbation in long-tailed macaques (i.e., “Sex Toy” hypothesis). We predicted that genital and inguinal stone-tapping and rubbing would be more closely temporally associated with physiological responses (e.g., estrus in females, penile erection in males) and behavior patterns (e.g., sexual mounts and other mating interactions) that are sexually motivated than other stone-directed play. We also predicted that the stones selected to perform genital and inguinal stone-tapping and rubbing actions would be less variable in number, size, and texture than the stones typically used during other stone-directed playful actions. Overall, our data partly supported the “Sex Toy” hypothesis indicating that stone-directed tapping and rubbing onto the genital and inguinal area are sexually motivated behaviors. Our research suggests that instrumental behaviors of questionably adaptive value may be maintained over evolutionary time through pleasurable/self-rewarding mechanisms, such as those underlying playful and sexual activities.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Do people differentially remember cheaters?
    (Transaction Publishers [Springer as of February 2007], 2006-03) Barclay, Pat; Lalumière, Martin L.
    The evolution of reciprocal altruism probably involved the evolution of mechanisms to detect cheating and remember cheaters. In a well-known study, Mealey, Daood, and Krage (1996) observed that participants had enhanced memory for faces that had previously been associated with descriptions of acts of cheating. There were, however, problems with the descriptions that were used in that study. We sought to replicate and extend the findings of Mealey and colleagues by using more controlled descriptions and by examining the possibility of enhanced altruist recognition. We also examined whether individual differences in cheating tendencies were related to cheater and altruist recognition. In the first experiment, 164 undergraduates saw 40 faces that were paired with character descriptions representing the categories of cheater, trustworthy, altruist, or neutral, for individuals who had either low or high social status. One week later participants reported which faces they recognized from the previous week (among 80 faces). Overall, the results failed to replicate the findings of Mealey and her colleagues, as there was no enhanced memory for cheaters. In addition, there was no enhanced memory for altruists, and no effect of participants’ cheating tendencies. A second experiment using a slightly different methodology produced similar results, with some evidence for enhanced memory for altruists.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Does the syrinx, a peripheral structure, constrain effects of sex steroids on behavioral sex reversal in adult canaries?
    (Elsevier, 2023) dos Santos, Ednei B.; Logue, David M.; Ball, Gregory F.; Cornil, Charlotte A.; Balthazart, Jacques
    We previously confirmed that effects of testosterone (T) on singing activity and on the volume of brain song control nuclei are sexually differentiated in adult canaries: females are limited in their ability to respond to T as males do. Here we expand on these results by focusing on sex differences in the production and performance of trills, i.e., rapid repetitions of song elements. We analyzed >42,000 trills recorded over a period of 6 weeks from 3 groups of castrated males and 3 groups of photoregressed females that received Silastic™ implants filled with T, T plus estradiol or left empty as control. Effects of T on the number of trills, trill duration and percent of time spent trilling were all stronger in males than females. Irrespective of endocrine treatment, trill performance assessed by vocal deviations from the trill rate versus trill bandwidth trade-off was also higher in males than in females. Finally, inter-individual differences in syrinx mass were positively correlated with specific features of trills in males but not in females. Given that T increases syrinx mass and syrinx fiber diameter in males but not in females, these data indicate that sex differences in trilling behavior are related to sex differences in syrinx mass and syrinx muscle fiber diameter that cannot be fully suppressed by sex steroids in adulthood. Sexual differentiation of behavior thus reflects organization not only of the brain but also of peripheral structures.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Duetting as a collective behavior
    (Frontiers Research Foundation, 2016) Logue, David M.; Krupp, Daniel B.
    Mated birds of many species vocalize together, producing duets. Duetting behavior occurs at two levels of organization: the individual level and the pair level. Individuals initiate vocalizations, answer their mates’ vocalizations, and control the structure and timing of their own vocalizations. Pairs produce duets that vary with respect to duration, temporal coordination, and phrase-type combinations, among other properties. To make sense of this hierarchical structure, organize duetting research, and identify new avenues of investigation, we advocate a “collective behavior” approach to the study of duets. We critically review key terminology in the duetting literature in light of this approach, and elucidate six insights that emerge from the collective behavior approach: (1) Individual-level behaviors describe pair-level behaviors, but the opposite is not true; (2) The level of organization informs how we test for the rules that govern behavior; (3) Functional hypotheses about duetting must distinguish individual from group characters; (4) Stimulus-response, cybernetics, and entrainment offer alternative hypotheses for the cognitive control of duetting behavior; (5) Avian duetting has the potential to be a model system for the ontogeny of vocal interaction; and (6) The collective behavior approach suggests new avenues of research. Ultimately, we argue that nearly every aspect of duetting research stands to benefit from adopting a collective behavior approach. This approach also has applications to other forms of interactive vocal communication in birds and primates, including humans.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Duetting behavior varies with sex, season, and singing role in a tropical oriole (Icterus icterus)
    (Oxford University Press, 2017) Odom, Karan J.; Logue, David M.; Studds, Colin E.; Monroe, Michelle K.; Campbell, Susanna K.; Omland, Kevin E.
    Females and males of many animals combine their vocalizations into coordinated acoustic duets. Duets can mediate both cooperation and conflict between partners, and are common in tropical, sedentary species that may use duets for multiple functions year-round. To elucidate the full range of duet functions, we need to study the individual-level behaviors that generate duets throughout the year. We evaluated multiple functions of duetting behavior in female and male Venezuelan troupials (Icterus icterus) during the breeding and nonbreeding seasons, including territory defense, maintaining contact with a mate, and paternity guarding. In both sexes during both seasons, song initiation rates were predicted by conspecific solo and duet rates. However, troupials were more likely to answer their mate to form duets after conspecific duets than after conspecific solos, supporting a territory defense function of duets. Troupials that answered their mate to form duets were also more likely to move toward their mate (than duet initiators and soloists), suggesting that duet participation also functions to maintain contact. During the breeding season, males were particularly likely to fly toward their mate after answering to form a duet. This finding may indicate that males answer to guard paternity, although other predictions of paternity guarding were not supported. Examining individual-level behaviors during both the breeding and nonbreeding season revealed multiple functions of troupial duets. Our results are consistent with social selection acting on females and males to maintain contact and territories year-round, and possibly sexual selection on males for functions tied to the breeding season.