Behavioral Context (behavioral + context)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Multimodal signaling in wild Lemur catta: Economic design and territorial function of urine marking

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
Elisabetta Palagi
Abstract Urine marking has been neglected in prosimian primates. Captive studies showed that the Malagasy prosimian Lemur catta scent marks with urine, as well as via specialized depositions. L. catta urine mark, a multimodal signal, differs from simple urination in terms of different design features, including tail configuration: the tail is held up during marking (UT-up) and down during urination (UT-down). We explore economy and function of UT-up in the female dominant L. catta. We collected 240 h of observations on one group at Berenty (south Madagascar) during the nonmating period via all occurrences sampling. We gathered behavioral bouts/contexts (marking, traveling, feeding, resting, and fights) and recorded 191 UT-ups and 79 UT-downs. Via Global Positioning System we established the location of the places frequented i) by extragroup individuals and ii) by group members, in this case recording also behavioral context and time spent in each place. We found that L. catta UT-up is not an artifact of captivity. Moreover, UT-up in the nonmating period plays a role in territorial defense, which is mostly performed by females in L. catta society. Female UT-ups were the most investigated and UT-ups were performed/investigated more by females. Finally, signal use is parsimonious, in that urine is economically placed where and when detection probability by competitors is higher. UT-ups were performed in places most frequented by extragroup individuals and in presence of extragroup competitors (nonrandom topography and timing). In conclusion, we suggest that UT-up is an economical signal with a primarily territorial function. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Signals of female reproductive quality and fertility in colony-living baboons (Papio h. anubis) in relation to ensuring paternal investment

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 7 2009
Agnès Daspre
Abstract The fitness of a female's offspring depends cruicially on the traits, genetic and paternal, that the father contributes. As such, females may either have an interest in behaviorally choosing the highest-quality male, or in reliably signaling their fertility status to males. Combining hormonal data on a female's ovulatory fertile window with a behavioral context, we suggest that captive female olive baboons (Papio h. anubis) provide fathers with reliable signals of their fertile period. One signal, the maximum anogenital swelling (AGA), typically coincided with a 4-day fertile window of ovulation, which occurred 2,3 days prior to deturgescence. As expected from previous studies, AGA swelling indicated general attractiveness to males, and males attended to the relative attractiveness of females. Males approached and copulated with females significantly more often during the 4-day window around ovulation, irrespective of the absolute swelling stage. The two adult males present in the group were both able to copulate with consistent partners as at least two cycling females were available in most months; the dominant male was more selective about the timing of his copulations close to ovulation during the maximal swelling phase. Females with ovulatory but nonconceptive cycles were less attractive to males, especially during their maximal AGA swelling phase. Am. J. Primatol. 71:529,538, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Strongly autonomous interconnections and stabilization of 2D behaviors,

ASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 2 2010
Diego Napp
Abstract In this paper we study linear discrete two-dimensional systems in the behavioral context where control is viewed as interconnection. Within this framework the natural concept of regular interconnection has been introduced by J.C.Willems. Here we investigate regular interconnections that yield finite dimensional behaviors using tools previously developed to analyze almost implementation problems. We prove that when a finite dimensional (sub-) behavior can be achieved from a given behavior by regular interconnection then the controllable part of the original behavior is rectifiable, moreover, in this case all the other sub-behaviors are almost regularly implementable. We apply these results to characterize all stabilizable behaviors. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society [source]


Through Neural Stimulation to Behavior Manipulation: A Novel Method for Analyzing Dynamical Cognitive Models

COGNITIVE SCIENCE - A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL, Issue 3 2010
Thomas Hope
Abstract The dynamical systems' approach to cognition (Dynamicism) promises computational models that effectively embed cognitive processing within its more natural behavioral context. Dynamical cognitive models also pose difficult, analytical challenges, which motivate the development of new analytical methodology. We start by illustrating the challenge by applying two conventional analytical methods to a well-known Dynamicist model of categorical perception. We then introduce our own analysis, which works by analogy with neural stimulation methods, and which yields some novel insights into the way the model works. We then extend and apply the method to a second Dynamicist model, which captures the key psychophysical trends that emerge when humans and animals compare two numbers. The results of the analysis,which reveals units with tuning functions that are monotonically related to the magnitudes of the numbers that the agents must compare,offer a clear contribution to the contentious debate concerning the way number information is encoded in the brain. [source]


Gender-related changes in the avian vasotocin system during ontogeny

MICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 1 2001
Aleksandr Jurkevich
Abstract The arginine vasotocin (AVT) system of the avian brain includes a sexually dimorphic part that extends from the caudal part of preoptic region through the medial part of the bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BSTm) to the lateral septum. It is composed of the parvocellular neurons located in the BSTm and the dense innervation of the medial preoptic region and lateral septum. In this part of the brain, AVT expression is stronger in males than in females in a few bird species investigated to date. This review focuses on the ontogeny of sexual differences in the vasotocinergic system of two gallinaceous species, domestic chicken and Japanese quail, and on the role of gonadal hormones in organizing during development and maintaining in adulthood these differences. Parvocellular AVT neurons become discernible in the BSTm of males and females during the second half of embryonic development. These cells undergo a profound and irreversible sexual differentiation during ontogenetic development. Recent findings demonstrate a dual role of estrogens in the organization and activation of sex differences in the AVT system. During the embryonic period of ontogeny, estrogens differentiate the AVT system in a sexually dimorphic manner in parallel with the differentiation of sexual behavior, while in adulthood estrogens, locally produced from testosterone in the male brain, activate AVT synthesis in the BSTm. The sexually dimorphic part of the AVT system is sensitive to a number of abiotic factors such as light, temperature, and water availability. It is suggested that sex dimorphic vasotocinergic systems could be implicated in processes of social recognition in various behavioral contexts. Microsc. Res. Tech. 55:27,36, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Female dominance in captive gray mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus)

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2001
Ute Radespiel
Abstract Female dominance or female feeding priority seem to be characteristic for many lemur species, but are rare traits in other primates and mammals in general. The nocturnal lemur species, however, are underrepresented in the quantitative studies on social dominance. The aim of this study is to investigate the pattern of intersexual dominance relationships in the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), a species that is generally thought to possess a number of ancestral lemur traits. The context, distribution, and outcome of intersexual conflicts are analyzed in four captive groups of gray mouse lemurs. Intersexual conflicts occurred in the study groups in different behavioral contexts and were mostly spatial interactions (chasing/fleeing, approach/avoidance). The majority of conflicts were decided, and were in all but one case won by females. This is the first evidence suggesting unconditional female dominance in a cheirogaleid primate. The existence of female dominance in most families of the Lemuriformes suggests it is an ancient trait that evolved in their common ancestor. Am. J. Primatol. 54:181,192, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]