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

博士论文研究：圣地亚哥岛自由放养恒河猴的游戏信号和游戏行为

• 批准号: 0622357
• 负责人: Carol Berman
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Buffalo
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-01 至 2007-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0622357&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Play; Signaling

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.

本项目将研究玩耍信号的可能用途，以减少波多黎各圣地亚哥岛上自由放养的恒河猴玩耍的潜在社会风险，方法是：（1）识别玩耍信号（即，在游戏行为发生之前并预测游戏行为发生的手势），（2）检查特定游戏信号是否传输关于特定类型游戏的信息和/或是否在距接收器不同距离处使用，以及（3）检查信号的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，这些方面与玩耍会导致负面结果（攻击、拒绝或母亲干预）。社交游戏，特别是打斗游戏，提出了一个有趣的问题，即玩家如何知道他们的伴侣的意图是玩耍而不是攻击性的。潜在的游戏伙伴避免混淆游戏意图的一种方法是通过使用游戏信号。然而，事实上，许多物种都有一个以上的游戏信号，一些游戏信号在物种内不同，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的意图，那么为什么动物需要各种玩耍信号呢？不同的游戏信号是否可以代表不同类型的游戏，就像单词代表不同的活动或想法一样？猴子在提出潜在风险更大的游戏类型时会发出更强烈的信号吗？一些灵长类物种，包括恒河猴，有证据表明，年轻的动物通过自我妨碍和拒绝高强度的游戏来调节他们的游戏行为，以避免身体或社会风险。自我妨碍和游戏拒绝都意味着对高强度社交游戏风险的了解。在这项研究中，申请人将检查恒河猴对游戏的社会风险的理解程度，并以降低风险的方式灵活使用信号。与异性、无关和年轻的伙伴（特别是当他们的母亲在场时）一起玩比与同性、相关的同龄人一起玩更有可能产生负面结果。因此，本研究将测试信号频率和强度的变化与伴侣年龄，性别，亲缘关系和/或母亲的存在相关的预测。这个项目的智力价值涉及增加我们对灵长类动物社会认知的理解，包括表征信号，意向性，关于社会风险的知识和使用预见来避免风险。手势信号的功能，特别是游戏信号，很少在自然组织的社会群体中进行研究。因此，它将有助于我们理解社会认知的演变。它还将为今后从事这一主题研究的实验者提供关键数据和假设。这个项目的更广泛的影响包括加强对圣地亚哥岛的研究，将冲突后/匹配控制方法的使用扩展到社会交流，并向公众、动物园工作人员和对进化和认知生态学感兴趣的大学生传播研究结果。它也将成为博士学位的基础。并为两名本地本科生提供参与研究的机会。