Antiphonal exchanges in African elephants (Loxodonta africana): collective response to a shared stimulus, social facilitation, or true communicative event?

Behaviour ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 145 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Savage ◽  
Joseph Soltis ◽  
Katherine Leighty ◽  
Kirsten Leong
Keyword(s):  
Social Facilitation ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Individual Identification ◽  
Vocal Response ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
The Social ◽  
Independent Effects ◽  
The Individual ◽  
External Stimuli

AbstractFemale African elephants are thought to exchange 'rumble' vocalizations, but such temporally associated calls may not constitute communicative events. Affiliated females are more likely to engage in antiphonal calling, but affiliation is defined according to time spent in proximity. Affiliated partners may vocalize in sequence simply because their proximity causes them to collectively respond to shared external stimuli or due to a social facilitation effect. We used bi-variate and partial correlation analyses to test for the independent effects of the strength of the social relationship and distance between vocal partners on the likelihood of a vocal response. Female African elephants at Disney's Animal Kingdom were video-taped and outfitted with audio-recording collars that allowed for the individual identification of low-frequency rumbles. Affiliation had a strong influence on response likelihood, even after controlling for the effects of the distance between vocalizing partners. Further, the distance between vocalizing partners did not correlate with response likelihood, and factoring out the effects of affiliation did not significantly alter this result. These results suggest that rumble exchanges are communicative events that reflect social bonds, not simply artifacts of increased proximity and, therefore, provide support for functional hypotheses concerning rumble exchanges in wild African elephants.

Anthropologische Voraussetzungen einer Theorie der Sozialisation / Anthropological Foundations of a Theory of Socialization

1973 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter Claessens
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Socialization Theory ◽  
Selective Pressures ◽  
The Social ◽  
Historical Fact ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Individual ◽  
External Stimuli

AbstractAnthropology today consists of statements about the evolution of the mammals resulting in man; it could provide the counterpoint to mans plasticity (GEHLEN) and implies the assumption that man is not capable of unlimited educational moulding.The subsistence of life in general requires a complementary and affine environment. With the evolution of (bi- parental) care of young, the development of „existing“ - that is, biologically possible - dispositions and competences becomes more highly contingent; personality development in each individual depends on the timeley offer of appropriate external stimuli for the inner mechanisms.COUNT’s concept of the biogram points the correspondence between the constitution of an organism (as a product of its evolution) and its behavior. However, his emphasis on the continuity of evolutionary prerequisites of human culture with the tendencies of mammal and primate evolution fails to grasp the particular complexity of the human biogram. The realization of man’s social, sexual and linguistic competence entangles him necessarily in cultural and social networks, thus the extent to which such competences exist even as possibilities depends on the opportunities for such participation. Precondition for their realization is the isolation from selective pressures through the group (H. MILLER). This relieves the individual from specialization towards the environment and at the same time requires that he specializes in aiding the survival of the group as such. The (social and sexual) tendencies which lead to building a group are thereafter modified by the genesis of principally new social relationships and new real needs. Constitutive for the specifically human development is „work“, which may be defined as the consequence of intending or wanting something which one cannot do alone. Language is a necessary product and prerequisite of planned (not merely ad hoc) work. This may be seen as the threshold which defines the evolving species as „man“.If human nature is then the necessity incessantly to come to terms with the consequences of realizing competence, it has in historical fact developed as inequality of adaptive pressure within the society and towards the environment. It is thus not possible to speak of a general human social, sexual or linguistics competence, as the lack of developmental opportunity deforms or destroys the competence. The anthropological concept of competence must therefore be historically specified. Socialization theory must begin by analyzing the (social) sources of impediments to the development and the realization of competence before it can describe abstractly the conditions for the chance of realization.

Failure and its Relationship to the Social Facilitation Effect: Evidence for a Learned Drive Interpretation of the Social Facilitation Effect

1978 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 823-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Lombardo ◽  
John F. Catalano
Keyword(s):  
Conditioned Stimulus ◽  
Classical Conditioning ◽  
Factorial Design ◽  
Social Facilitation ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
The Other ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
The Social ◽  
Complex Motor ◽  
Drive Effect

Social facilitation theory states that an audience functions as a conditioned stimulus for generalized drive and that this drive effect is learned through classical conditioning. In the present study an attempt was made to condition classically an aversive drive to an audience by having a subject fail a task in front of an audience. A sample of 61 subjects took part in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Half of the subjects did not perform a first task but only a complex motor task. Half of these subjects performed in the presence of an audience, half without an audience present. Of those subjects exposed to failure on the first task, half performed a second complex motor task in the presence of the same audience. Results indicated that performance of subjects who failed a first task in the presence of an audience and then performed the second task in the presence of that audience was significantly poorer than all of the other groups. The findings were taken as evidence that the social facilitation effect may be based on an aversive learned drive.

Social Facilitation following Response Prevention in the Rat

1978 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-133
Author(s):  
Donald P. Corriveau ◽  
Katherine Contildes ◽  
Nelson F. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Avoidance Response ◽  
Social Facilitation ◽  
Conditioned Avoidance ◽  
Response Prevention ◽  
Conditioned Avoidance Response ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
Approach Behavior ◽  
Fear Reduction ◽  
The Social

Baum (1969) found that the presence of a nonfearful rat during response prevention facilitated fear reduction. However, Baum used the problematic “reduction in the conditioned avoidance response” as a measure of fear. The present study re-examined the social facilitation effect by examining approach behavior as an index of fear. 60 male rats either received or did not receive response prevention. These treatments were presented either alone or in the presence of a mobile or immobile nonfearful rat. Although all measures of fear showed significant response prevention, none showed social facilitation. The discrepancy between these results and those of Baum was explained by hypothesizing the conditioning of incompatible responses within the context of avoidance procedures.

scholarly journals Can Virtual Observers Affect Our Behavior? Social Facilitation in Virtual Environments: A Mini-Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Radosław Sterna ◽  
Paweł Strojny ◽  
Krzysztof Rębilas
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Social Facilitation ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Inhibition ◽  
Experimental Room ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
Definite Answer ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pilot Tests

The social facilitation effect describes the change in the performance of the task under the influence of the presence of observers. The effect itself consists of two components: social facilitation in simple tasks and social inhibition in complex tasks. In the context of the dynamic development of new technologies, the question of the possible influence on human behavior by virtual characters gains importance. We attempted to critically describe and summarize current research on social facilitation in order to answer the question of whether it occurs in virtual environments. We found 13 relevant studies, 3 of which demonstrated social facilitation, 4 social inhibition and 1 demonstrated the whole effect. The conclusions drawn from the analysis are ambiguous. Firstly, we identified that 12 out of 13 analyzed studies failed to show the whole effect. Secondly, we encountered several shortcomings of the summarized research that further complicated its interpretation. The shortcomings: presence of the researcher, unclear usage of “agent” and “avatar”, evaluation of activation, no pilot tests of observers and no description of how their characteristics are generated, among others, are discussed. Furthermore, we investigated the effect sizes and their variability. The average effect size for social facilitation was g = 0.18, CI [-0.28; 0.64] and for social inhibition g = -0.18, CI [-0.40; 0.04]. In social facilitation, a substantial level of heterogeneity was detected. Finally, we conclude that it is still too early to provide a definite answer to the question of whether social facilitation exists in Virtual Environments. We recommend limiting evaluation activation to the lowest possible level, conducting pilot tests prior to the experiment, avoiding the presence of the researcher in the experimental room and a clear distinction of “agent” and “avatar”, as measures to achieve a better quality in future research.

The Effect of Auditory Processing on the Development of Low Level Low Frequency Noise Criteria

1982 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Benton ◽  
H.G. Leventhall
Keyword(s):  
Auditory System ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Frequency Noise ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Low Frequency Noise ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Noise Assessment ◽  
The Individual ◽  
External Stimuli

The role played by loudness in the assessment of annoyance is seen to effect an intensity dominated concept current in noise assessment practices. Such dominance is not supported by the complex processing nature of the auditory system. The individual is placed within a context which requires the auditory system to align the person to external stimuli whilst maintaining the production of appropriate behaviours. Development of the concepts associated with audition is a pre-requisite to establishing viable noise assessment criteria. The limitations of present day criteria, with an accepted assumption of intensity as the key parameter, are accentuated when assessments are made of low level low frequency noise. Once the individual is viewed as an active processor, bodily parameters may also serve to provide indices which are derived from the amount of ‘processor work’.

scholarly journals Replicating Roaches: A Preregistered Direct Replication of Zajonc, Heingartner, and Herman’s (1969) Social-Facilitation Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-337
Author(s):  
Emma Halfmann ◽  
Janne Bredehöft ◽  
Jan Alexander Häusser
Keyword(s):  
Social Facilitation ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Social Inhibition ◽  
Major Conclusion ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
Impaired Performance ◽  
Inhibition Effect ◽  
The Social ◽  
Main Effects ◽  
And Task

Fifty years ago, Zajonc, Heingartner, and Herman (1969) conducted a famous experiment on social enhancement and inhibition of performance in cockroaches. A moderating effect of task difficulty on the effect of the presence of an audience, as revealed by impaired performance in complex tasks and enhanced performance in simple tasks, was presented as the major conclusion of this research. However, the researchers did not test this interaction statistically. We conducted a preregistered direct replication using a 2 (audience: present vs. absent) × 2 (task difficulty: runway vs. maze) between-subjects design. Results revealed main effects for task difficulty, with faster running times in the runway than the maze, and for audience, with slower running times when the audience was present than when it was absent. There was no interaction between the presence of an audience and task difficulty. Although we replicated the social-inhibition effect, there was no evidence for a social-facilitation effect.

On the Social Behavior in a Stable Group of Long-Tailed Field Mice (Apodemus Sylvaticus). Ii. Its Relations With Distribution of Daily Activity

Behaviour ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 41 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 55-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Bovet
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Apodemus Sylvaticus ◽  
Individual Activity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Field Mice ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Simultaneous Activity

AbstractA group of three or four long-tailed field mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) living in a large terrarium was observed for three consecutive months. A comparative analysis of their social behavior and temporal distribution of activity shows that there was a simple direct correlation between the number of encounters and the amount of time two or more mice spent together at the surface of the terrarium. It also shows an alternation of social and asocial periods, each of those lasting one or several weeks. In a social period, encounters were frequent, the mice spent much time together and were rarely seen to be active alone. The individual activity patterns were concordant, which contributed to the high amounts of simultaneous activity and of encounters. But in an asocial period, encounters were scarce, little time was spent together and solitary mice were often seen; the socially top ranking animal restricted its activity to certain times of the day and the three other mice to other times of the day, which contributed to the low amount of simultaneous activity and to the low frequency of encounters.

The social contexts of some very low frequency calls of African elephants

1988 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 385-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce H. Poole ◽  
Katherine Payne ◽  
William R. Langbauer ◽  
Cynthia J. Moss
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Very Low Frequency ◽  
The Social
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