Temperament, social rank and cognition: the nature & nurture of social cognitive ecology

长期以来，科学家们一直对先天和后天的相互作用如何影响人或动物的行为和思维方式感兴趣。一个人的气质，他或她生理反应的特征方式（例如，在生理上）和行为上的情况下，被认为主要是遗传。在对鸟类、啮齿动物和灵长类动物的研究中，已经证明气质会影响个体在环境中获取、储存和使用信息的方式（即，认知），以及它在群体中的社会地位。例如，山雀被描述为“慢”，或低探索的新环境中占主导地位的社会群体和显示上级空间记忆能力相比，“快”，高探索下属。年轻生物体的早期经历，如母亲护理不足，也会直接导致大脑和激素应激反应系统（称为HPA轴）的神经生物学变化，从而显著影响随后的认知和行为。这些变化被认为是表观遗传的。我感兴趣的是研究气质和早期经验如何相互作用，以影响三个物种的社会等级：尤卡坦小型猪（猪），家犬（犬），和欧洲椋鸟（Sturnus vulgaris）。我也将研究气质、早期经验和社会等级如何影响动物在空间和非空间记忆测试中的认知表现。这项研究将进一步为我们提供有关动物个性，社会支配地位以及自然和养育对个体在其世界中如何行动和反应的相对作用的有趣领域。

Scientists have long been interested in how nature and nurture interact to influence the way a person or animal acts and thinks. An individual's temperament, the characteristic way that he or she reacts physiologically (e.g., hormonally) and behaviourally to situations, is thought to be mainly genetic. In studies of birds, rodents and primates, temperament has been shown to influence both the way an individual acquires, stores, and uses information in the environment (i.e., cognition), as well as its social rank within the group. For example, mountain chickadees that are described as "slow", or low explorers of a new environment are dominant in their social group and show superior spatial memory ability compared to "fast", high-exploring subordinates. The early experiences of young organisms, such as low maternal care, also dramatically influence subsequent cognition and behaviour, by directly causing neurobiological changes in the brain and hormonal stress response system, known as the HPA axis. These changes are considered epigenetic. I am interested in studying how temperament and early experience interact to influence social hierarchies in three species: the Yucatan miniature pig (Sus scrofa), the domestic dog (Canis familiaris), and the European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris). I will also examine how temperament, early experience, and social rank influence animal's cognitive performance on spatial and non-spatial memory tests. This research will further inform us about the interesting areas of animal personality, social dominance, and the relative roles of nature and nurture on how individuals act and respond in their world.