Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Information transfer, kin investment, and risk reduction among elderly Tsimane

研究生埃里克·施尼特（Eric Schniter）将在迈克尔·d·格文（Michael D. Gurven）博士的指导下，研究提斯曼老人如何以及在什么条件下为社区其他人的福祉做出贡献。提斯曼人是玻利维亚亚马逊地区的土著民族，他们住在小村庄里，以捕鱼、狩猎、采集和园艺为生。这项研究分为四个阶段，为期三个月，将主要在齐曼人的六个重点社区进行。在第一阶段，他将对社区进行人口普查和绘制地图，包括获取亲属关系和生育史。他还将进行焦点小组访谈，以调查提斯曼人对老年人的技能、能力和优势的看法。在第二阶段，他将对不同年龄的提斯曼人之间的专业知识和信息传递进行访谈。在第三阶段，他将收集100名老年人日常活动的细节。最后，在第四阶段，他将调查100名老年人的人际网络。提斯曼老人如何以及为什么对他们的社会产生影响是一个重要的研究课题，因为它有助于解释人类长寿的原因。让科学家感到困惑的是，大多数动物只活到它们能繁殖和照顾自己的时候，而人类却活过了繁殖年龄，而且经常依赖他人生存。虽然对提斯曼老人是否通过提供食物来帮助周围的人表示怀疑，但这项研究着眼于技能和能力、支持网络和幸福感，以确定提斯曼老人的角色是否更多地以建议、知识、娱乐、情感支持、情感、调解和监督的形式提供帮助。关于老年人如何获得他们需要的帮助以及如何帮助他们周围的人的知识，可以实际应用于解决世界各地庞大且不断增长的老年人口所预期的问题。

Graduate student Eric Schniter, under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Gurven, will undertake research on how and under what conditions elderly Tsimane contribute to the well-being of others in their communities. Tsimane are an indigenous people found in the Bolivian Amazon where they live in small villages and get their food from fishing, hunting, gathering, and gardening. The research is organized into four three-month phases, and will take place primarily in six focal Tsimane communities. During phase one, he will census and map the communities, including taking kinship and reproductive histories. He also will conduct focus group interviews to investigate Tsimane ideas about skills, abilities, and strengths of the elderly. During phase two, he will conduct interviews on expertise and information transfer between Tsimane of different ages. During phase three, he will collect details of the daily activities of 100 older adults. Finally, during phase four, he will examine personal networks of 100 older adults.How and why older Tsimane make a difference in their society is an important topic to study because it helps explain why humans live long lives. It has puzzled scientists that, while most animals live only as long as they can reproduce and take care of themselves, humans live past their reproductive years and often become dependent on others for their survival. While doubtful that elderly Tsimane are helping those around them by providing food, this study looks at skills and abilities, support networks, and well-being in an effort to determine if the role of elderly Tsimane might be more along the lines of providing help in the form of advice, knowledge, entertainment, emotional support, affection, mediation, and supervision. Knowledge about how elderly get the help they need and also help those around them can be practically applied to anticipated problems of a large and growing old-age population across the world.