Doctoral Dissertation Research: Play Signaling and Play Behavior in Free-ranging Rhesus Monkeys on Cayo Santiago

这个项目将调查在波多黎各圣地亚哥自由放养的恒河猴身上使用游戏信号来降低潜在的社会风险的可能性，方法是：(1)除了众所周知的游戏脸之外，识别游戏信号(即，在游戏行为发生之前和预测游戏行为发生的手势)，(2)检查特定的游戏信号是否传递关于特定游戏类型的信息和/或在距离接收者不同的距离使用，以及(3)检查信号频率和强度是否随着伙伴之间的社会关系的各个方面而变化，这些方面与游戏将导致负面结果(攻击性，拒绝或母亲干预)。社交游戏，尤其是战斗游戏，提出了一个有趣的问题，即玩家如何知道他们伴侣的意图是好玩的，而不是攻击性的。对于潜在的游戏伙伴来说，避免混淆玩耍意图的一种方法是通过使用游戏信号。然而，许多物种有不止一个游戏信号的事实，以及一些游戏信号在物种之间的差异，提出了一个额外的功能问题。如果玩耍信号的功能仅仅是传达玩耍意图，为什么动物需要各种各样的玩耍信号？不同的游戏信号是否能代表不同类型的游戏，就像文字代表不同的活动或想法一样？当猴子提出可能更危险的游戏类型时，它们会发出更强烈的信号吗？一些灵长类物种，包括恒河猴，已经展示出证据表明，年轻的动物通过自我妨碍和拒绝高强度的游戏来调节它们的游戏行为，以避免身体或社会风险。自我妨碍和游戏拒绝都意味着知道高强度社交游戏的风险。在这项研究中，申请者将检查恒河猴在多大程度上理解玩耍的社会风险，并以降低风险的方式灵活地使用信号。与异性、无关的年轻伴侣玩耍(特别是当他们的母亲在场的时候)比与同性、有关系的同龄人玩耍更有可能产生负面结果。因此，这项研究将检验信号频率和强度的变化与伴侣的年龄、性别、亲属关系和/或母亲的存在有关的预测。这个项目的智力价值包括增加我们对灵长类社会认知的理解，包括表征信号、意向性、关于社会风险的知识以及使用预见来避免风险。手势信号，特别是玩耍信号的功能，很少在自然组织的社会群体的背景下进行研究。因此，它将有助于我们理解社会认知的演变。它还将为实验者在这一主题上进行未来的研究提供关键数据和假设。该项目的更广泛影响包括加强对圣地亚哥的研究，将冲突后/匹配控制方法的使用扩展到社会交流，并向对进化和认知生态学感兴趣的公众、动物园工作人员和大学生传播研究结果。它还将构成博士论文的基础，并为两名本地本科生提供参与研究的机会。

This project will investigate the possible use of play signals for reducing potential social risks of play in free-ranging rhesus monkeys on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico by (1) identifying play signals (i.e., gestures that precede and predict the occurrence of play behavior) in addition to the well known play face, (2) examining whether specific play signals transmit information about specific types of play and/or are used at different distances from the receiver, and (3) examining whether signal frequency and intensity varies with aspects of the social relationship between the partners that are related to the risk that play will result in a negative outcome (aggression, refusal or maternal intervention). Social play, and particularly play fighting, poses an interesting question of how players know that their partner's intentions are playful rather than aggressive. One way for potential play partners to avoid confusion about playful intentions is through the use of play signals. However, the fact that many species have more than one play signal and that some play signals vary within species, raises an additional functional question. If the function of play signals is to merely communicate playful intent, why do animals need a variety of play signals? Could different play signals represent different types of play much like words represent different activities or ideas? Do monkeys signal more vigorously when proposing potentially more risky types of play? Some primate species, including rhesus macaques, have exhibited evidence that young animals regulate their play behavior to avoid physical or social risk by self-handicapping and by refusing high intensity play. Both self-handicapping and play refusal imply knowledge about the risks of high intensity social play. In this study, the applicant will examine the extents to which rhesus monkeys understand the social risks of play and use signals flexibly in a manner that reduces risk. Play with opposite sex, unrelated and younger partners (particularly when their mothers are present) is more likely to have a negative outcome than play with same sex, related peers. Thus this study will test the prediction that variation in signaling frequency and intensity is associated with partner age, sex, relatedness and/or the presence of mothers. The intellectual merits of this project involve increasing our understanding aspects of primate social cognition, including representational signaling, intentionality, knowledge about social risk and the use of foresight to avoid risk. The function of gestural signals, particularly play signals, has rarely been studied within the context of a naturally-organized social group. As such, it will contribute to our understanding of the evolution of social cognition. It will also provide critical data and hypotheses for experimentalists pursuing future research on this topic. The broader impacts of this project involve the enhancement of the research on Cayo Santiago, the expansion of the use of post-conflict/matched control methodology to social communication, and the dissemination of findings to the public, zoo staff, and university students interested in evolutionary and cognitive ecology. It will also form the basis of a Ph.D. dissertation and provide opportunities for research participation for two local undergraduate students.