Personality is defined as inter-individual variation of behavioral traits while maintaining intra-individual stability. The focus of this study was to observe distinct personality trait categories, establish baseline personality trait phenotypes for the juvenile population, and compare the personality phenotypes between different categories, such as sex or generation. Three personality traits were studied—sociability, curiousity, and boldness—based on the percentage of time individuals spent with conspecifics, human researchers, and their mothers, respectively. The surveyed individuals significantly varied positively and negatively from the means of each trait, and no significant difference for any trait was found between males and females, or across time periods. A moderately strong correlation was discovered between two personality traits, boldness and curiousity, suggesting a personality syndrome. The second primary goal was to use the aforementioned baseline to determine if personality traits can be used to predict neophilic behavior specific to human-dolphin communication research. Six of the study subjects were more prone than their peers to engage with the two-way work, and these individuals were more bold—spent less time with their mothers—than the other subjects. This suggests that boldness has some predictive capabilities towards this type of neophilia. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Evidence for conceptual semantics is well established in monkeys, however this basis of human language is less evident in the great apes. In order to study semantic communications in chimpanzees, I analyzed alarm calls produced towards a blimp as it was flying overhead. I then replayed a set of these alarm calls to the chimps on a different day. The chimps appeared to act in a manner consistent with the presence of the blimp. The calls they produced in response to the playback stimuli were nearly identical to the calls that were produced during the actual flyover. Though the data collected were not sufficient to support a definitive claim, it does appear that the chimpanzees of the study have a meaning-laden vocalization for the aerial stimuli. Whether this call is specific to the blimp or generalizable to other aerial threats is yet to be determined. / by Alyssa M. Raymond. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

I examined summer home range use of Altantic spotted dolphins in the Bahamas from 1991-2004. Home ranges for 86 dolphins using the 95% Fixed Kernel Density (FKD) estimator averages 62.o km2+=22.96 km2 and ranged from 24.8 km2 to 148.4 km2. Older animals and males had the largest ranges. Home range size did not vary with female reproductive status. core areas were defined by the 50% FKD contour and averaged 10.32 km2 +=5.47 km2. Habitat use was different between reproductive states for females. Non-reproductively active (NRA) females used deeped habitat. Behavioral use of the home range varied spatially. The core area was an important foraging area for males and reproductively active females. NRA females foraged more outside their core area compared to the core area. / by Bethany Augliere. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Primates are known for being highly social species, living in groups of various compositions with different social structures. The study of social or observational learning has largely focussed on investigating non-human primates' abilities to imitate, with a more recent shift towards examining the social context of social learning. This shift has presented opportunities to investigate how the social context of different species affects the diffusion of socially learnt behaviours. In this thesis, I set out to monitor the spread of different experimentally seeded and naturally occurring socially learned behaviours in brown (tufted) capuchin monkeys (Sapajus sp.) and common squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus).These species were selected as they form mixed species groups in the wild, and display marked differences in their social tolerances, thus presenting the opportunity to investigate conspecific and heterospecific social learning in related but differently bonded social groups. My results show evidence of social learning from conspecifics in capuchin and squirrel monkeys, attesting to that already documented in capuchin monkeys and indicating for the first time, that common squirrel monkeys can learn socially. Additionally, I demonstrate that capuchin monkeys are influenced by squirrel monkeys when foraging for food in mixed species groups. Furthermore, although squirrel monkeys are not as socially tolerant as capuchin monkeys, individuals who were better connected within the foraging test area learned experimentally-seeded techniques of models faster and more faithfully. When performing socially contagious anointing behaviours, regardless of tufted capuchin monkeys being influenced by the amount of resources provided for them to anoint with, they still performed more socially anointing than has been previously documented in other captive species, corroborating the levels of social anointing demonstrated in semi-free ranging groups. Further support was found for anointing demonstrating a social bonding and medicinal function in tufted capuchin monkeys.

O comportamento observado de animais não humanos sugere processamento de informação e tomada de decisão. Diferentes espécies exibem diferenças qualitativas quando a como informação é processada e utilizada, parcialmente graças ao contexto ecológico. Macacos-prego são animais que forrageiam socialmente, com cada indivíduo vivendo em um contexto social distinto, o que afeta suas oportunidades de alimentar-se. O presente projeto propôs um experimento de campo, com plataformas de madeira e amendoins como recompensa, com o objetivo de identificar diferenças quanto à estratégia de forrageio. Ainda, compreender se fatores sociais como hierarquia, parentesco e proximidade influenciam na oportunidade de um animal forragear e utilizar fontes de informação distintas. Encontramos que hierarquia foi um fator crucial quanto à estratégia adotada e no tipo de informação utilizada. Ao utilizar informação social, indivíduos foram seletivos quanto à identidade da fonte de informação, mostrando uma preferência por seguir as escolhas de animais jovens e batedores ativos / When foraging, non-human animals are observed performing actions suggestive of information processing and decision making. Different species show qualitative differences as to how information is processed and used, partially due to its ecological context. Capuchin monkeys are primates that forage socially, with each individual living in a single social context, what affects its opportunity to forage. This project proposes an experimental protocol, aided by wooden platforms and peanuts as rewards, to identify differences in foraging strategies and understand if social factors, such as hierarchy, kinship and proximity, influence ones opportunities to forage and use distinct sources of information. We found that hierarchy play a major role on the strategy adopted and this is reflected on type of information used. Also when using social information, individuals were selective with respect to the identity of the source of information, showing a preference for following young and active foragers

An up to date, psychometrically robust measure of the level of community participation of adults with intellectual disabilities was not in existence, despite research identifying community participation as an important aspect of quality of life. The current research aimed to bring up to date, revise and revalidate the Guernsey Community Participation and Leisure Assessment (GCPLA; Baker, 2000). Adults with intellectual disabilities, carers and relevant experts were consulted in creating a 46-item GCPLA-R. The measure was then tested and the data from 153 adults with intellectual disabilities were analysed for their factor structure and psychometric properties. A stable set of factors emerged from factor analysis describing three different clusters of community participation activities. A full and a brief version of the scale were produced, each containing the three sub-scales. Both the 22-item and 46-item GCPLA-R were found to have satisfactory reliability. Scores on the GCPLA-R were related to challenging behaviour and adaptive behaviour in theoretically consistent ways, and were correlated with scores on comparable measures. The 46-item GCPLA-R was selected for publication due to its stronger face and content validity. The outcome of the analyses is discussed, along with limitations and implications for future research and clinical practice.

Coping with dementia has generally been conceptualised at an individual rather than relational level. In couples coping with chronic illness, dyadic coping models involving shared appraisals of stress and coping have been explored. This study aimed to explore dyadic coping in couples living with dementia. Qualitative framework analysis methodology was used to analyse data from nine joint interviews with spouse dyads living with dementia. Six main themes were identified: ‘Dementia awareness and ownership’, ‘Emotional closeness’, ‘Responsibility’, ‘Individual needs and difficulties’, ‘Individual coping by people with dementia’, and ‘Wider social context’. Findings suggested couples coping with dementia may utilise dyadic coping strategies, with couples maintaining closeness associated with sustaining joint coping. However, the impact of dementia upon a lack of shared dementia awareness and ownership, and loss of shared responsibility for coping, was associated with a lack of shared appraisals of stress and dyadic coping.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:17:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE VERONICA LOPEZ.pdf: 1986765 bytes, checksum: bac678cfd19b546c083a217543b138c5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-05-12 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The purpose of the present study was to verify the levels of preference for a cooperative task, compared with an individual task, when manipulated: a) the reinforcer magnitude on the cooperative task; and b) the ratio for gaining reinforcers on the cooperative task. The research was contucted using a procedure similar to that used in Schmitt and Marwell (1971a), and using a definition of cooperation proposed by Guerin (1994). 16 men and women, aging from 25 to 40 years old, were divided into 8 pairs. They went through three experimental conditions, to which they were exposed during three sessions of 20 minutes length. In Condition I, the participants could work only individually; in Condition II, they could work only cooperatively; in Condition III, the participants could choose between the two tasks. On the first session, in which the participants were exposed to all the tree conditions, the reinforcer magnitude was higher on the cooperative task, than on the individual task. In session 2, in which the participants were exposed only to conditions II and III, the reinforcer magnitude was even higher on the cooperative task, while it was the same as session 1, on the individual task. On the third session, in which the participants were exposed to conditions II and III again, the ratio for gaining reinforcers on the cooperative task was higher than session 2, while it was the same as session 2, in the individual task. Results indicated that, when the reinforcer magnitude was increased, there was a preference for cooperation: the participants spent more time working on the cooperative task, and made few choices, almost all for cooperation. The results also indicated that, when the ratio to gain reinforces was increased, there was a disruption on the preference for cooperation: the participants spent less time cooperating than in session 2 and made more choices than in session 2 / O presente estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de verificar os níveis de preferências por uma tarefa cooperativa em comparação a uma tarefa individual, se manipulados: a) a magnitude do reforço cooperativo e b) a razão de respostas exigidas para obter reforço cooperando. A pesquisa foi realizada a partir do procedimento utilizado por Schmitt e Marwell (1971a) e a partir da definição de cooperação proposta por Guerin (1994). 16 homens e mulheres, com idades entre 25 e 40 anos, foram divididos em 8 duplas. Os participantes passaram por três condições experimentais, a que foram expostos durante três sessões de aproximadamente 20 minutos. Na Condição I, os participantes puderam trabalhar apenas individualmente; na Condição II, puderam trabalhar apenas cooperativamente; na Condição III, os participantes puderam escolher entre os dois tipos de tarefa. Na primeira sessão, em que os participantes foram expostos às três condições, a magnitude do reforço era mais alta para cooperar do que para trabalhar individualmente. Na segunda sessão, em que os participantes foram expostos apenas às condições II e III, a magnitude do reforço para cooperar foi aumentada, enquanto a da tarefa individual foi mantida constante. Na terceira sessão, a razão de respostas exigida para obter reforços cooperando foi aumentada, enquanto que a individual foi mantida constante. Observou-se que, quando aumentada a magnitude do reforço para cooperar, houve uma tendência a preferir cooperação: os participantes permaneceram mais tempo trabalhando cooperativamente e realizaram poucas escolhas, sendo que as poucas realizadas eram por tarefa cooperativa. Observou-se, também, que, quando aumentada a razão de respostas exigidas para obter pontos cooperando, houve uma ruptura da tendência a cooperar: os participantes permaneceram menos tempo na tarefa cooperativa do que na sessão anterior e realizaram mais escolhas, seja por tarefa cooperativa, como por tarefa individual

A separação materna é um procedimento bastante utilizado com ratos, no qual a prole é privada do contato com a mãe por algumas horas diárias no período anterior ao desmame, observando-se os efeitos sobre o desenvolvimento comportamental e biológico dos filhotes. O objetivo desta tese foi investigar o efeito da separação materna no desenvolvimento de respostas sociais em ratos de ambos os sexos mais especificamente, sobre o brincar social, entre os dias pós-natais 28 e 36; sobre o comportamento sexual, entre a puberdade e a idade adulta; e sobre o comportamento materno, na idade adulta, de fêmeas submetidas à separação materna na infância. Para tanto, os episódios de separação foram conduzidos por 3hs diárias, entre os dias pós-natais 2 e 14, tendo como controle ratos não expostos a esse procedimento. Observou-se que os animais submetidos ao procedimento de separação materna emitiram mais respostas de brincar do que os animais controle. No que se refere ao desenvolvimento sexual, machos submetidos ao procedimento na infância tiveram frequência elevada de respostas de cópula menos efetivas, em detrimento das mais efetivas. Já nas fêmeas, constatou-se um atraso no início da puberdade, além de elas terem se tornado atrativas para machos em idade mais precoce que o grupo controle. Por fim, quando as fêmeas submetidas à separação materna na infância se tornaram mães, suas proles tiveram proporção sexual alterada, com maior número de machos, e índices de mortalidade menores. Ademais, mãe e filhotes foram mais atraídos pelo cheiro do ninho em teste olfativo, em comparação ao grupo controle. Esses resultados sugerem que a separação materna tem efeitos extensos sobre o desenvolvimento de respostas sociais, indicando a necessidade da condução de mais estudos que investiguem os motivos pelos quais esse evento, na infância, leva às alterações observadas / Maternal separation is a frequently used procedure with rats in which the offspring is daily deprived of the contact with the mother during a few hours in the period previous to weaning in order to observe the effects on the behavioral and biological development of the pups. Our aim in this study is to explore the effect of maternal separation on the development of social responses in rats of both sexes, specifically on the social play, between the post-natal days 28 and 26; on the sexual behavior, between puberty and adulthood; and on maternal behavior of females in adulthood that underwent maternal separation during childhood. Therefore, the separation episodes were conducted for 3 hours daily between post-natal days 2 and 14. Rats not exposed to this procedure were used as control. We observed that animals submitted to the maternal separation procedure emitted more play responses than control animals. Regarding sexual development, males submitted to maternal separation had high frequency of less effective copula over more effective copula. The females presented a delay in puberty and became attractive to the males in a more precocious age than the control group. Lastly, when the females submitted to maternal separation became mothers their offspring had altered sexual ratio with a higher number of males and a lower mortality rate. In addition, the mother and her pups were more attracted by the nests odor than the control group in an olfactory test. These results suggest that maternal separation has extensive effects on the development of social responses, indicating the necessity of more studies that investigate why this event in childhood leads to the observed alterations

Social context, which includes both the direct social experience of individuals as well as the characteristics of their social network as a whole, has been shown to be an important modulator of behavior across species. However, relatively little is known about the role of social context in regulating the complex relationships between neurobiology, neuroendocrine response, and behavior in mammals. Historically, the neurobiology of social behavior has been studied at the dyadic level, looking at brief social interactions between pairs of individuals. Given that all social species live in groups, rather than pairs, it is essential that we begin to understand the role social context at the group level plays in regulating physiology. Throughout this thesis, I use a novel behavioral housing system to study how the characteristics of stable social groups and how instances of social opportunity, when individuals are ascending up a social hierarchy, are associated with differential brain gene expression, neuroendocrine output, and behavior. I first extensively analyze the social dynamics of male dominance hierarchies, showing that they are both consistent, in that males reliably form significantly linear dominance hierarchies, and unique, in that the characteristics of these hierarchies vary from group to group. I further prove that mice living in these social hierarchies are extremely socially competent, displaying the ability to respond appropriately to individuals of varying social status. I demonstrate that females are capable of forming dominance hierarchies as well, but that their hierarchies differ from those of males. I then use this foundational knowledge to investigate how these different hierarchy characteristics can lead to differences in physiology, how one’s social status is associated with brain gene expression and neuroendocrine response, and how disruption of a hierarchy through removal of the alpha male leads to robust behavioral as well as physiological consequences. Finally, I use the insights gained from this immediate early gene work to demonstrate the crucial role of the infralimbic/prelimbic region of the medial prefrontal cortex in regulating socially competent response to changing social contexts. Taken together, this work establishes the broad role social context plays in regulating the complex relationships between behavior, brain gene expression, neural activation, and neuroendocrine output.