Robert A. Hinde

The behaviour of socially living rhesus monkeys in their first two and a half years

Summary o 1. The development of behaviour in eight rhesus monkey infants living with their mothers in small social groups was studied for the first 2 1/2 years of life. Eight others were observed for their first 24 to 30 weeks. 2. The changes in various aspects of behaviour and infant-mother relations with age were assessed (Figs. 1 to 19). 3. The relations between the age-changes of various measures of mother-infant relations indicate that the mother plays a large part in the increasing independence of the infant with age. 4. The rank order of individual infants for various measures showed considerable stability over time. 5. At any particular age both infant and maternal characteristics are important in determining the time spent off the mother and related measures. Those infants who sought the proximity of their mothers more often were also those which were rejected more often, spent more time on their mothers, but more of their time off at a distance from her. 6. Some factors determining individual differences are discussed. 7. Attempts to label stages in the development of mother-infant interaction may conceal the essential ambivalence which exists almost from birth. The importance of the mothers role in facilitating the independence of the young has been underestimated: as the infant grows its mother plays an active role in its increasing independence of her. The relationship between mother and infant is a developing interaction, the behaviour of each at every stage being determined by the properties of both, which depend in turn on preceding stages.

Animal signals: Ethological and games-theory approaches are not incompatible

Abstract Recent authors have contrasted the ‘traditional ethological approach’ to the study of animal signals with that derived from games theory. It is argued here that the ‘traditonal ethological approach’ they portray is not in keeping with main stream of ethological research on animal signals. In particular, it has not been generally assumed that the evolution of animal signals was based on selection for mutual benefit of actor and reactor, nor that signals carry precise information of what the actor will do next. A synthesis of the ethological and games-theory approaches is possible. It is suggested that many threat displays may signal ‘Will stay, but attack if provoked’ or ‘Will stay, but will flee if provoked’, and that the subsequent behaviour of the displaying bird depends in part on that of the reactor.

Factors governing the changes in strength of a partially inborn response, as shown by the mobbing behaviour of the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs). I. The nature of the response, and an examination of its course.

The ‘chink ’ call given by chaffinches to non-flying predators can be used as an index of the intensity of the response. The response to predators thus provides suitable material for the quantitative study of certain aspects of instinctive behaviour. Before quantitative treatment can be attempted, however, a qualitative survey of the nature of the response is necessary. This paper contains such a survey, followed by an examination of the course of the response. The ‘mobbing’ response given to predators depends primarily on a conflict between tendencies to approach the predator and to flee from it; an investigatory response also plays a role. The movements made in mobbing are very similar to the intention movements of taking flight. Comparative study shows that the precise nature of the movements varies with the systematic position of the species concerned. The characters of owls which are important in the release of the mobbing response are analyzed. The recognition of many of these characters, including that of shape, seems to be inborn. The motor pattern of the response is also inborn. The behaviour does not appear until the bird is several weeks old: the nature of the maturation process is complex, and involves changes on both sensory and motor sides. The course of the response is described. Various characters of the response are selected for study, their variability examined, and some of the factors which control them investigated. Some of these characters vary independently of each other, so the features of the nervous mechanisms on which they depend must also be independently variable.

Interpersonal relationships and child development

Abstract In studies of psychological development, the child must be seen not as an isolated unit, but as a social being, forming part of a network of relationships. Interactions, relationships, social groups, and the sociocultural structure form successive levels of social complexity, each level involving properties not relevant to lower levels. The levels are connected by dialectical relations and are to be seen not as entities but as processes in continuous creation through the agency of the dialectics. It is rarely possible to study one level in isolation; the dialectics almost always obtrude. A relationships approach must be integrated with others in the field, and especially with that of family systems theorists.

Factors governing the changes in strength of a partially inborn response, as shown by the mobbing behaviour of the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs). II. The waning of the response.

In part I a survey of the nature of the mobbing response made by chaffinches to stationary predators was given. The course of the response was also examined. The present paper is concerned with an investigation into the processes underlying the waning of the response. If the response is allowed to wane through the prolonged presentation of a predator, recovery takes place in two stages—a period of rapid recovery is followed by a period of very slow recovery. The effects of varying the lengths of the initial presentation and the recovery interval are examined. The waning of the response which occurs as a result of the prolonged presentation of one predator also involves a decreased responsiveness to other stimuli which evoke the same response. The waning of the response is thus at least partly due to a change which affects all mobbing responses, and is not specific to the stimulus. The recovery of responsiveness to a stoat after prolonged exposure to an owl takes the same form as the recovery of responsiveness to an owl. Individual variation occurs both in the responsiveness to predators in general, and in the susceptibility to particular predators. If a chaffinch is shown a predator on a number of fairly widely separated occasions (e.g. once per day), the response usually diminishes progressively. This long-term reduction in responsiveness may be referred to as * habituation ’. It occurs even when live owls are introduced into the aviary, and involves a general damping down of the response as a whole. In general, successive presentations of a predator, or of the model of a predator, may produce either an increased or decreased responsiveness on a later presentation; the actual effect depends on the precise circumstances. Habituation is more rapid with spaced trials than with massed ones. Habituation to one predator in one place involves some degree of habituation to the same predator in a different place and to a different predator in the same place. The latter effect was probably exaggerated in the experiments recorded here by the artificial nature of the circumstances. It is suggested that at least two different processes are involved in the waning of the response. One of these is specific to the response and subject to rapid recovery, while the other is specific to the stimulus and produces long-term effects.

The Conflict Between Drives in the Courtship and Copulation of the Chaffinch

1. Several recent studies have shown threat to be the result of two conflicting tendencies-to attack and flee from the rival. In this paper the courtship of the Chaffinch is analysed in a similar way. The tendencies involved are attacking, fleeing and courting. 2. The main behaviour patterns used in aggressive behaviour are described. Threat displays are used most in those situations where the conflict of drives is most acute. 3. The male Chaffinch is dominant to the female in winter. During the Spring a reversal of dominance takes place, and at the time of nesting the female dominates the male. 4. This reversal of dominance is primarily due to the influence of the males sex drive on his attacking drive, causing a change in the balance between the males tendencies to attack and flee from the female. Although-male sex hormone normally increases aggressiveness, it also influences the males sex drive: activation of the sex drive (s.s.) reduces aggressiveness. 5. Courtship and copulation are described. 6. Attempts to copulate may be unsuccessful if the sex drives of both individuals are not sufficient to inhibit aggressive behaviour. 7. The males displays occur in those situations where his tendencies to approach (court) and flee from the female are in approximate balance. The intensity of the displays depends on the intensity of the conflict. A similar analysis can be applied to the behaviour of the female. 8. The various constituent movements used in courtship are probably derived from intention movements, and are all expressions of one of the three drives-sex, attacking or fleeing. 9. The males sexual chases are attempts to copulate by force, and may have a stimulating effect on the female.

“Aunt”-infant interaction in captive rhesus monkeys

Abstract 1. 1. The paper is concerned with interrelations between infant rhesus monkeys, born into groups each consisting of a male, a few females and their young, with females other than their own mothers. 2. 2. Various types of interaction are described. They include attempts to touch, carry, cuddle, mount, groom, play with and attack the infants. Most patterns were incomplete due to inferference by, or fear of, the mother. 3. 3. The different types of aunt-infant interaction vary in frequency with the age of the young (Fig. 1). 4. 4. The frequency of aunt-infant interaction is also related to the age and status of the aunt.

The habituation and recovery of aggressive display in Betta splendens.

Five Betta splendens were exposed to a mirror for ten days. The mirror was then removed for a recovery period, replaced for 48 hours, removed for a second recovery period, and so on in such a manner that each fish was given recovery periods of 15 minutes, 6 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours and 4 days in an order counterbalanced across subj ects. In most subjects the threat display increased during the first few minutes of mirror exposure (Fig. I). It decreased rapidly during the first 24 hours and then more slowly to a level which was low but above zero (Fig. 2). The recovery data indicate gradual recovery over the first 1-2 days after removal of the mirror; further recovery was either non-existent or very slow, and no subject showed a full return to the initial level.

The Influence of Daylength and Male Vocalizations on the Estrogen-Dependent Behavior of Female Canaries and Budgerigars, with Discussion of Data from Other Species

Publisher Summary Gonadal activity is one aspect of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad system, which is synchronized with the natural season by the influences of specific environmental factors. This chapter discusses on the influence of external factors on the effectiveness of a given level of gonadal hormone in producing a change in behavior, and experiments on two species with marked differences in breeding biology, the domesticated canary, Serinus canarius, and the budgerigar or shell parakeet, Melopsittacus undulatus. The chapter proposes that the data on these species demonstrate that two types of external factors (photoperiod and male vocalizations) affect reproductive behavior not only by influencing hormone secretion by the hypothalamus–pituitary–gonad system, but also by other as yet undefined mechanisms, involving influences on the effectiveness of given steroid levels. Moreover, of the two factors in question, the photoperiod at least is not a direct elicitor of the nest-oriented behavior; it must influence the probability of that behavior, both by affecting steroid output and by another mechanism that is yet to be elucidated. The chapter suggests that a further search for such effects in mammals is likely to be profitable, although, of course, the mechanisms underlying any such effects may well be different.

The evolution of the teddy bear

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