1,721,008 research outputs found
Aggression and Hierarchical Steepness Inhibit Social Play in Adult Wolves
No full textIn canids, play dynamics seem to be more affected by dominance hierarchy rather than cooperative social bonds. To test this hypothesis we studied a colony of grey wolves (Canis lupus lupus). We quantified the dynamics of aggression and hierarchical changes in two periods (Sample 1 and Sample 2). Sample 2 was characterized by higher level of aggressiveness and by a more strict and steep linear hierarchy. The negative correlation between rank distance and play frequency characterizing both periods and the higher play asymmetry in Sample 2 suggest that rank rules dictate play rules thus highlighting the competitive side of wolf play behaviour. The overall affiliation rates showed no variation between the two samples. Yet, play performance was modified. In Sample 2, wolves reduced playful activity, limited the number of players per session and avoided playing during high competition contexts. Our findings support the hypothesis that wolf play is modulated by dominance relationships more than by cooperative social bonds
The right time to happen: play developmental divergence in the two Pan species
Full text linkBonobos, compared to chimpanzees, are highly motivated to play as adults. Therefore, it is interesting to compare the two species at earlier developmental stages to determine how and when these differences arise. We measured and compared some play parameters between the two species including frequency, number of partners (solitary, dyadic, and polyadic play), session length, and escalation into overt aggression. Since solitary play has a role in developing cognitive and physical skills, it is not surprising that chimpanzees and bonobos share similar developmental trajectories in the motivation to
engage in this activity. The striking divergence in play developmental pathways emerged for social play. Infants of the two species showed comparable social play levels, which began to diverge during the juvenile period, a ‘timing hotspot’ for play development. Compared to chimpanzees, social play sessions in juvenile bonobos escalated less frequently into overt aggression, lasted longer, and frequently involved more than two partners concurrently (polyadic play). In this view, play fighting in juvenile bonobos seems to maintain a cooperative mood, whereas in juvenile chimpanzees it acquires more
competitive elements. The retention of juvenile traits into adulthood typical of bonobos can be due to a developmental
delay in social inhibition. Our findings show that the divergence of play ontogenetic pathways between the two Pan species and the relative emergence of play neotenic traits in bonobos can be detected before individuals reach sexual maturity. The high play motivation showed by adult bonobos compared to chimpanzees is probably the result of a long developmental process, rooted in the delicate transitional phase, which leads subjects from infancy to juvenilit
The mediating role and the emphatic impact of females in conflict management: the investigation of consolation dynamics in pre-school children
No full textThe occurrence of ‘consolatory’ behaviours, directed towards distressed individuals or victims of aggression, is a widespread phenomenon throughout the animal kingdom, having been documented in primates, carnivores, proboscideans, rodents and corvids. The capacity to understand and share the emotional states of others, labelled as empathy, is the basis of ‘consolatory’ behaviours. In humans, empathy is involved in numerous social arenas, such as, conflict management, parental care, love affairs and compassion. Recently, neurobiological research revealed significant qualitative and quantitative gender differences in affective and cognitive forms of empathy and in the influence of emotions in the decision making process. Indeed, females appear to be more empathic and more competent in understanding others’ internal states. Moreover, females show a higher propensity to compromise and mediate compared to males. We carried out an ethological study on 137 pre-school children, ranging from 3 to 5 years old, hosted at the kindergarten ‘Florinda’ (Viareggio, Italy). We assessed the occurrence of consolation after an aggressive event in all age-classes under study (3 years old – mean group TCT 46.99% ± 12.36 SE, 4 years old – mean group TCT 52.64% ± 13.60 SE, 5 years old – mean group TCT 62.75% ± 16.64 SE). The consolatory behaviour is used to evaluate if a difference in empathic and mediation abilities exist between males and females. Moreover, since some studies suggested that as children get older their empathic propensity acquire more cognitive elements, we investigated if gender difference in this propensity is also linked to age by delineating possible ontogenetic trajectories of this capacity in human primates
Play and post-conflict mechanisms in wolves: a comparison with human and non-human primates.
No full textCooperation is a series of coordinated interactions in which participants take turns in giving and receiving benefits. Nevertheless, competition is the other side of the coin and it may generate aggression among conspecifics loosing social cohesion. Many social species have developed behavioral strategies to cope with social damage caused by competition. We investigated the occurrence and dynamics of these behavioral strategies in wolves (Canis lupus lupus), a species characterized by high sociality and cooperation levels, by carrying out a long-term observational study on the grey wolf colony hosted at the Pistoia Zoo (Italy). We highlighted the occurrence of post-conflict affiliation both between opponents (reconciliation) and between victims and bystanders (solicited and unsolicited contacts). Reconciliation was uniformly distributed across the different sex-class combinations and seemed to be not affected by the hierarchical relationships. Moreover, coalitionary support given to victim and/or to aggressor during a conflict may be a good predictor for high level of reconciliation. Concerning unsolicited triadic contacts (named “consolation” in human and non-human primates), we found that this affilation was more frequent between individuals sharing good relationships and was reciprocated between partners (victims and third-parties), thus suggesting the reciprocal nature of this mechanism (mutualistic behavior). As it occurs in human and non-human primates, unsolicited contacts provide immediate benefits to the victim by breaking-off aggression and restoring victim’ social cohesiveness. To investigate other affinitive behaviors used by wolves to promote cohesiveness and cooperation, we evaluated the presence of social play, an activity used by animals for self- and social-assessment purposes. We showed the occurrence of adult play in wolves. Play distribution is not affected by relationship quality and aggression level, thus suggesting that other strategies are employed for strengthening inter-individual relationships and reducing aggressiveness. Rank distance between conspecifics negatively correlate with play distribution: by playing wolves with closest ranking positions tested each other for acquiring information on motor and psychological skills of possible competitors and for gaining hierarchical advantage over it. The overall findings on wolves strongly match with those coming from behavioral studies on human and non-human primates. Even though further comparative-cognitive studies are needed in canids, the similarities between primate and wolf social cohesion strategies suggest an evolutionary convergence in certain traits of cognitive skills at the basis of natural conflict resolution and adult social play
Rapid mimicry and emotional contagion in domestic dogs
Full text linkEmotional contagion is a basic form of empathy that makes
individuals able to experience others’ emotions. In human
and non-human primates, emotional contagion can be linked
to facial mimicry, an automatic and fast response (less
than 1 s) in which individuals involuntary mimic others’
expressions. Here, we tested whether body (play bow, PBOW)
and facial (relaxed open-mouth, ROM) rapid mimicry is
present in domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) during dyadic
intraspecific play. During their free playful interactions, dogs
showed a stronger and rapid mimicry response (less than
1 s) after perceiving PBOW and ROM (two signals typical of
play in dogs) than after perceiving JUMP and BITE (two play
patterns resembling PBOW and ROM in motor performance).
Playful sessions punctuated by rapid mimicry lasted longer
that those sessions punctuated only by signals. Moreover, the
distribution of rapid mimicry was strongly affected by the
familiarity linking the subjects involved: the stronger the social
bonding, the higher the level of rapid mimicry. In conclusion,
our results demonstrate the presence of rapid mimicry in dogs,
the involvement of mimicry in sharing playful motivation and
the social modulation of the phenomenon. All these findings
concur in supporting the idea that a possible linkage between
rapid mimicry and emotional contagion (a building-block of
empathy) exists in dogs
Look at me while having sex! Eye-to-eye contact affects homosexual behaviour in bonobo females
Full text linkIn humans, eye-to-eye contact (EEC) or mutual gazing is a reflexive predisposition occurring in intimate contexts. We investigated the role of EEC during bonobo socio-sexual contacts. Females engage in homosexual ventro-ventral, genito-genital rubbing (VVGGR) during which they embrace each other while rubbing part of their vulvae and, sometimes, clitoris. VVGGR facilitates conflict resolution, anxiety reduction and social bonding. We found that EEC was negatively affected by female bonding: the more the eye contact, the weaker the social relationship. This suggests that EEC promotes an intimate contact between the more unfamiliar subjects. Moreover, VVGGRs were successfully prolonged in presence of at least one event of EEC compared to VVGGRs during which none of the partners looked towards the other or only one looked at the other’s face. EEC has been probably favoured by natural selection to enhance the cohesion between bonobo females, who can gain social power through socio-sexual contacts
Fair play and its connection with social tolerance, reciprocity and the ethology of peace
Full text linkThe concept of peace, with its corollary of behaviours, strategies and social implications, is commonly
believed as a uniquely human feature. Through a comparative approach, we show how social
play in animals may have paved the way for the emergence of peace. By playing fairly, human and
nonhuman animals learn to manage their social dynamics in a more relaxed and tolerant way that
results in a more effective management of conflicts. We show that play promotes tolerance, cooperation,
fairness and reciprocity, which are essential elements of the so-called positive peace. This
kind of peace is reached through an evolving process in which individuals continually modify social
relationships to attain peaceful coexistence. In conclusion, we assume that the concept of peace
has deep biological roots that constitute the basis for more sophisticated cultural constructions
Playing together, laughing together: rapid facial mimicry and social sensitivity in lowland gorillas
Full text linkIn nonhuman animals, the phenomenon of rapid facial mimicry (RFM)—the automatic, involuntary,
and rapid (<1 s) replication of others’ facial expressions—has been mainly investigated in the playful domain. In immature lowland gorillas Gorilla gorilla gorilla both play face (PF) and full PF (FPF)
are rapidly mimicked between the players. This makes the species suitable to test hypotheses on
the factors influencing RFM during play. The observations on 3 captive groups of lowland gorillas
(N 1⁄4 27) revealed that contrary to expectations, the closeness of social bond negatively influenced
the occurrence of RFM but it did not affect either RFM latency or its overlapping index (OVERLAP).
RFM was affected by the degree of symmetry of play fighting: the more balanced the session, the
higher the occurrence of RFM. Players of the same sex class responded faster than players of different sex. These findings suggest that RFM may help synchronizing behaviors of playmates matching in size (same-sex) and promote symmetric playful interactions. “Laughing together” (measured by the RFM OVERLAP) lasted longer when the responder perfectly mirrored the partner expression
(PF!PF; FPF!FPF). If PF and FPF convey information on the different play roughness degree,
through “laughing together” the players could coordinate their actions and share positive moods
and playful intensity. If the perfect congruency in the motor resonance, also known as social sensitivity, can foster a possible emotional dialogue between gorillas remains to be investigated
Play and Sociality: A Comparative Study in Chimpanzees and Gorillas
No full textGreat apes live in complex social groups and have evolved sophisticated systems to communicate emotions and intentions. During social play, individuals acquire information and inter-individual communication serves to regulate and balance the sessions. Communication modality varies in primate species and is influenced by many factors, such as social system, rank, relationship quality between players, age and gender. During play, animals use both gestures and facial expressions to communicate their motivations. Gestures are considered intentional signals, whereas facial expressions can also be the result of an internal emotional state. Therefore, play is a perfect field to explore the dichotomy between emotionality and intentionality. To understand how signals are produced and used during the play session and how they are influenced by the species, we carried out a comparative study on play dynamics in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) . We investigated what parameters affect play modality in these two species that are characterized by strong differences in hierarchical organization and distribution of affiliative behaviours. Social play involving more than 2 players was more frequent in chimpanzees than in gorillas. The unbalanced play sessions characterized by a prevalence of one player over another occurred more often in chimpanzees than in gorillas, even though the probability of escalation was higher in gorillas than in chimpanzees. In gorillas, play asymmetry was positively affected by the number of players involved, which explains the low levels of polyadic play in this species. In conclusion, play dynamics seem to reflect social dynamics in the great apes showing different levels of cohesion and social support
Differences in play can illuminate differences in affiliation: A comparative study on chimpanzees and gorillas
Full text linkPlay behaviour reinforces social affiliation in several primate species, including humans. Via a comparative approach, we tested the hypothesis that play dynamics in a group of lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are different from those in a group of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as a reflection of their difference in social affiliation and agonistic support. We selected one group of lowland gorillas and one of chimpanzees, hosted at the ZooParc de Beauval (France), managed in a similar way and living in similar enclosures. The same observers video-collected and analysed data on play behaviour in both groups, by applying identical methodological procedures. Data showed that adult play was less frequent in the group of gorillas compare to chimpanzees. Polyadic play, which involves more than two players and is characterised by the most uncertain outcome, was also less frequent in gorillas than chimpanzees. Play sessions were more unbalanced (more unidirectional patterns by one of the player towards the other) in chimpanzees than in gorillas but in the latter play escalated more frequently into serious aggression. Play asymmetry in the gorilla group increased as the number of players increased, which explains why gorillas limited their polyadic playful interactions. In conclusion, our findings on the study groups of apes can be a valuable starting point to expand the study of social play in the great apes to evaluate if inter-individual affiliative relationships really account for the differences in play distribution and dynamics.</div
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