Nonhuman Behavior Research Articles

An ethogram method for the analysis of human distress-related behaviours in the aftermath of public conflicts

Abstract Research on other than human animals has widely documented the behavioural expression of distress in a conflict context. In humans, however, this remains largely unknown due to the lack of direct access to real-life conflict events. Here, we took the aftermath of 76 video recorded street conflicts and applied the ethological method to explore the distress-related behavioural cues of previous antagonists. Drawing on observations on nonhuman behaviour and inductively identified behaviours, we developed and inter-coder reliability tested an ethogram for the behavioural repertoire of distress. We further quantitively analysed the behaviours with a correlation matrix and PCA, that revealed that the behaviours we observed were not displayed in combination with each other, showing a variability in how people express distress. Since both human and nonhuman primates react to conflict situations with similar expressions of distress, we suggest a comparative approach to understand the evolutionary roots of human behaviour.

Annihilation of Identity in Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness portrays the inhabitants of Congo from non-human perceptions. Charles Marlow’s observation and analysis of the citizens of Congo are based on prejudiced viewpoints and pre-defined white archetypes. The chief motive of the Belgians was to justify the native as ferocious and collect the ivory from Congo. Natives did not recognize the worth of tusk while the white men ship it to Europe to brand ornamental articles. This representation of the Congolese annihilates the identity of the native, depicting them as barbaric to accomplish their trade motive. Marlow’s narrative attempts to commodify the natives and display the white people as the embodiment of civilization. Human beings treat non-human behavior to the inhabitant in the designation of civilization. The narrator’s perspective is instrumental to the authorial voice in abolishing the human identity of the people of Congo. His white racial lens constructs the nature and character of the citizens. The general world of the white as represented by Marlow delivers the people of Congo a forceful encyclopaedia of education and civilization. Then develops cultural dominance comprising reason, intelligence, and wisdom. The forceful negation demolishes the real identity of the natives and hence creates a racial verdict. The firm outlook of the white Europeans displays the vivacious demarcation for exploitation. Hence, the text establishes a world of hierarchy among the people living in the same geographical location. The depiction of predisposed attitude and deficit positioning for ivory trading thrashes natives. Such doings cause revolt in the world.

Exploring the limits to our understanding of whether fish feel pain.

Exploring the limits to our understanding of whether fish feel pain.

Animals in the Mirror of Anthropomorphism in Richard Adams’ Watership Down and Amitav Gosh’s The Hungry Tide

Writers of literary works have long used animals to promote favored morals and values. The depiction of animals in literature renders these nonhumans to social actors enhancing a narrative viewpoint that the animal itself is totally unaware of. This appropriation between humans and nonhuman behaviors is mostly achieved through anthropomorphism, the interpretation of non-human features and events in terms of human characteristics. The relationship between humans and animals has been evolved in literature. There’s quite a variance between earlier literature and more modern works. The past few decades have witnessed a dramatic shift in the way the relationship between humans and animals is demonstrated in modern fiction. Novels that were composed during the second half of the last century frequently displayed fantastically hybrid creatures that owned such exclusive human abilities as linguistic expression and philosophical thought. This is observed in Richard Adams’ Watership Down, in which wild rabbits have not only linguistic capabilities similar to ours, but also their own culture and mythology. As the cultural world continues distancing itself from the natural world - with the advance of technology, and environmental degradation- during the 2000s, there was an intention among authors to move beyond anthropomorphism and imagine the animal standing for itself, without representing or symbolizing humans. Animals were frequently compared to humans, as creatures that struggle against man. This is reflected in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide. In The Hungry Tide, Ghosh introduces the Sundarbans as a living entity, where animals stand as rivals to humans.

Decolonialismo e identidad cultural en América Latina: Herencia Bio-Psico-Social

Since the arrival of colonialism in America, it aimed to impose a new identity on the native inhabitants, a fact that affected all areas of life of the indigenous peoples. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the system of relationships developed in this struggle of the native peoples maintains a legacy that continues to influence the cultural identity of the Latin American peoples to this day. This is a documentary-type study, taking as an example the existence in Venezuela of a Psychopathic load, as a possible result of that inheritance imposed since colonial times. The theoretical review of several authors makes reference to this inherited psychopathic burden, which is expressed in events such as: homicides and other types of violence, in addition to some problems evident in daily social life. The results of the shared documentary analysis assume that this load of aggressiveness could have been inherited from conflicts generated from the first Spanish conquerors. However, other authors point out that the wars of independence broke with the continuity of our Identity. Finally, we reflect on initiating a change of attitude from the colonial/modernity relationship and strengthening the attitude towards the decolonial, which warrants abandoning and moving away from that social catastrophe that delves into non-human behavior and precisely taking a turn towards restoration of the subjective and material human nature.

Assessing tests of animal consciousness

Which animals have conscious experiences? Many different, diverse and unrelated behaviors and cognitive capacities have been proposed as tests of the presence of consciousness in an animal. It is unclear which of these tests, if any, are valid. To remedy this problem, I develop a list consisting of eight desiderata which can be used to assess putative tests of animal consciousness. These desiderata are based either on detailed analogies between consciousness-linked human behavior and non-human behavior, on theories of consciousness or on methods from human consciousness science. If a test or set of tests satisfies more of these desiderata, passing it provides stronger evidence of consciousness. Moreover, one can design future tests of animal consciousness with the intention of satisfying these desiderata to ensure their evidential strength.

“Perchoo,” or the Music of Mourning

“Perchoo,” or the Music of Mourning

A Theoretical Framework for Human and Nonhuman Vocal Interaction.

Vocal communication is a critical feature of social interaction across species; however, the relation between such behavior in humans and nonhumans remains unclear. To enable comparative investigation of this topic, we review the literature pertinent to interactive language use and identify the superset of cognitive operations involved in generating communicative action. We posit these functions comprise three intersecting multistep pathways: (a) the Content Pathway, which selects the movements constituting a response; (b) the Timing Pathway, which temporally structures responses; and (c) the Affect Pathway, which modulates response parameters according to internal state. These processing streams form the basis of the Convergent Pathways for Interaction framework, which provides a conceptual model for investigating the cognitive and neural computations underlying vocal communication across species.

Lassie shrugged: The premise and importance of considering non-human entrepreneurial action

While management and entrepreneurship scholars have displayed comfort in and receptivity towards anthropomorphizing organizations, technologies, and even algorithms, our field has not yet grappled with a mountain of empirical evidence gathered over decades of research in the natural sciences that non-humans may behave entrepreneurially. For reflection and valuable perspective, our study relaxes the central assumption that entrepreneurial behaviors are the exclusive domain of human beings. Doing so invites fresh insights concerning the transversal nature of entrepreneurial action, the biological origins of innovation and entrepreneurship, the categorical assumptions demarcating the field of entrepreneurship, and the persistent emphases on intendedly rational conceptions of entrepreneurial action. The inspiration for our study involves “moving back from the species,” as E.O. Wilson advised. Through this “more distanced view” and by focusing on the reproducible benefits of entrepreneurship rather than narrower, human-centric conceptions of firm formation and profit generation, we find that the consideration of non-human behaviors contributes to the evolving definitions and future study of entrepreneurial action.

Remembering events and representing time

Episodic memory—memory for personally experienced past events—seems to afford a distinctive kind of cognitive contact with the past. This makes it natural to think that episodic memory is centrally involved in our understanding of what it is for something to be in the past, or to be located in time—that it is either necessary or sufficient for such understanding. If this were the case, it would suggest certain straightforward evidential connections between temporal cognition and episodic memory in nonhuman animals. In this paper, I argue that matters are more complicated than this. Episodic memory is memory for events and not for the times they occupy. As such, it is dissociable from temporal understanding. This is not to say that episodic memory and temporal cognition are unrelated, but that the relationship between them cannot be straightforwardly captured by claims about necessity and sufficiency. This should inform our theoretical predictions about the manifestations of episodic memory in nonhuman behaviour.

Temperance and the Second-Person Perspective

The virtue of temperance with respect to food and drink is often assumed to be relatively straightforward, a matter of steering a mean between excess and deficiency. Given also that humans share the need to eat and drink with non-human animals, this topic might therefore seem promising to explore for possible connections between evolutionary research on morality and theological ethics. In this paper, however, I argue that many aspects of temperance go far beyond the Aristotelian account and can be understood principally as reflecting the fact that human beings are embodied relational persons. This second-person account can indeed be connected to theological ethics, but it is also one that draws principally from the discontinuities of human and non-human behaviour.

Ensino de matemática para pessoas com deficiência visual: uma análise de literatura1

This work aimed to characterize empirical studies on the teaching of mathematical repertoires for different populations, including people with visual impairments, carried out in the behavioral approach, in open access publications of national and international scientific literature, between the years 2001 and 2016. This approach studies human and non-human behavior in their interactions with the environment. The literature survey took place in three stages with the inclusion criteria: 1) behavioral approach to studies on the teaching of mathematical repertoires for people with visual impairments, 2) behavioral approach to studies on the teaching of mathematical repertoires for any population; 3) teaching mathematical repertoires for people with visual impairments, regardless of conceptual orientation. In the first stage there were no publications and in the second and third stages11 articles were examined in each one (22). In the 11 articles of the second stage there was a predominance of publications on mathematics for students with typical development, in the stimulus equivalence model, with predominant procedures for choosing according to the model. In the 11 articles in the third stage, the concrete materials were among the main mathematical literacy strategies for people with visual impairments. It is noteworthy that the mathematical content selected in the researches comprised predominantly basic mathematics that is part of the regular curriculum of Elementary School I. Two publications dealt with mathematical content for high school. What was found in the publications was the predominance of mathematical content related to the concepts of basic mathematics, but few studies involving counting and measurement.

A neo-taphonomic approach to human campsites modified by carnivores

Skeletal profiles at archaeological bone assemblages can bear little resemblance to original hominin discarded bone elements. Resulting patterns might originate from different taphonomic problems, such as hominin-carnivore activities in alternate visits, and lead to interpretation issues. In this paper, we present a study of predepositional scattering activities caused by small-sized carnivores on simulated short-term hominin campsites. Their disrupting actions affect skeletal element survival considerably and, to a lesser extent, the spatial distribution of hearth-related assemblages. The results of this study demonstrate that small-sized carnivores might cause as much disruption as large-sized ones. Thus, being able to recognize these taphonomic processes and their consequences is critical when discerning between human and non-human behaviour.

Not by the same token: A female orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is selectively prosocial.

Studies of prosocial behavior in nonhumans have focused on group-living social animals. Despite being highly social and closely related to humans, chimpanzees have rarely exhibited prosocial preferences in experimental tasks. Fewer studies have provided their non group-living relatives-orangutans-with the opportunity to express prosocial preferences. Here, we allowed a single female orangutan to provide rewards for herself and for her mother, sister, or both, across various phases, using a token economy task. The orangutan was more likely to choose prosocially when she could provide rewards to her sister and herself compared to when she could provide rewards to her mother and herself. However, when presented with the simultaneous options of providing rewards for self, self and mother, or self and sister, she chose prosocially equally often to her mother and sister. She made the largest number of prosocial choices in a phase when she could provide rewards to all participants (herself, her sister, and her mother) rather than providing rewards only to herself or only to herself and one other participant. Despite the obvious limitations of a single case study, the study adds to the limited information on prosocial preferences in less social primate species, particularly when given the chance to share food items with different kin.

Functional analysis and treatment of problem behavior in 3 animal shelter dogs

Abstract Problematic dog behaviors at animal shelters may stop animals from being adopted and may lead to euthanasia. Current dog behavior assessments lack scientific validity and do not identify the function (i.e., the reinforcement driving the behavior) of problem behavior. Functional analysis (FA) is an empirical method for determining the functions of problem behavior by manipulating antecedent and consequent events. By determining the functions of problem behavior, function-based treatments can be developed to reduce problem behavior and increase appropriate behavior. Although FAs have been shown to be effective at identifying the functions of problem behavior in humans, there are few published articles that determine the effectiveness of FA methodology in identifying the functions of problem behavior in nonhumans. The purpose of the present study was to analyze the effectiveness and social validity of a modified FA in determining the maintaining function of inappropriate behaviors of animal shelter dogs. The results of the FAs were verified through function-based treatments.

PROBLEM DALAM ASUMSI PSIKOLOGI BEHAVIORIS (SEBUAH TELAAH FILSAFAT ILMU)

Behaviorism as a mainstream in psychology occupies a very significant position in decades. Behaviorism developed a method that is able to overcome the shortcomings of introspection in psychology studies. There are three basic assumptions in behaviorist psychology : (1) The method of behaviorist is out-inside (from outside to inside) so that the focus of the study on psychology is behavior and not on the internal mental state. The method of behaviorist psychology is the opposition of the Cartesian model of thinking that is inside-out. (2) The purpose of psychology was the prediction of behavior. (3) The human body is mechanically qualitatively not much different with animals, just to be more complex, so that there is no qualitative difference between the behavior of humans and non-humans. Based on the above assumptions, the fundamental problem that then arises are follows: (1) Ignored or even rejection of consciousness as a part that should be considered in human behavior. (2) Explanation of a very mechanical style behaviorist only able to explain human behavior in terms of a materialist causa, formalist, and efficient, regardless of cause of finalists who put more emphasis on the intentions of the action. (3) Behaviorism too dogmatic in its aim to predict behavior. Regardless of the problems that exist in the assumptions behaviorist psychology, the flow is still able to contribute in explaining people's behavior, given the influence of the environment (both physical and social environment, cultural and economic) as a source of effective stimulus for the behavior of individuals.

Influence of Body Odors and Gender on Perceived Genital Arousal.

Olfaction is often linked to mating behavior in nonhumans. Additionally, studies in mating behavior have shown that women seem to be more affected by odor cues than men. However, the relationship between odor cues and sexual response-specifically, sexual arousal-has not been studied yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the exposure to human body odors (from individuals of the opposite gender) on perceived genital arousal, while these were presented concomitantly to sexually explicit video clips. Eighty university students (40 women) rated their perceived genital arousal (perceived degree of erection/genital lubrication) in response to an audiovisual sexual stimulus, while simultaneously exposed to a body odor from an opposite-gender donor or no odor. Participants also rated each odor sample's (body odor and no odor) perceived pleasantness, intensity, and familiarity. Findings indicated that odor condition had an effect on women's (but not men's) perceived genital arousal, with women showing higher levels of perceived genital arousal in the no odor condition. Also, results showed that women rated body odors as less pleasant than no odor. Notwithstanding, the odor ratings do not seem to explain the association between body odor and perceived genital arousal. The current results support the hypothesis that women, rather than men, are sensitive to odors in the context of sexual response. The findings of this study have relevance for the understanding of human sexuality with respect to chemosensory communication.

FORTY YEARS OF BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS IN MEXICO: A REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN JOURNAL OF BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

The present paper shows a current review of the Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis (MJBA). The review includes a brief historical summary of the Mexican Society of Behavior Analysis, along with some aspects about the academic and social context of behavior analysis in Mexico which are mentioned in order to understand the origin of MJBA. The paper presents the number of articles published in English and Spanish, an analysis of the articles related to human and non-human behavior, basic and applied research. The paper also reports the first authors’ university affiliation with higher percentage of articles published.Keywords: behavior analysis in Mexico, Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis, Mexican Society of Behavior Analysis

Freedom and the Phenomenology of Agency

Free action and microphysical determination are incompatible but this is so only in virtue of a genuine conflict between microphysical determination with any active behavior. I introduce active behavior as the veridicality condition of agentive experiences (of oneself as active) and of perceptual experiences (of others as active) and argue that these veridicality conditions (a) are fulfilled in many everyday cases of human and non-human behavior and that they (b) imply the incompatibility of active behavior with microphysical determination. The main purpose of the paper is to show that the view proposed about active behavior leads to a natural compromise between libertarianism and compatibilism, which avoids the flaws of both positions while preserving their central insights.

A ANÁLISE DO COMPORTAMENTO HUMANO EM CONTEXTO*

Deve-se inferir do nome deste grupo de interesse especial, “A Análise do Comportamento Humano”, que aqueles que analisam o comportamento de animais humanos devem se constituir em um grupo separado dos que analisam o comportamento de animais não humanos? É o uso de não humanos em experimentos irrelevante para a análise do comportamento em humanos? Se assim é, alguma coisa deve ter mudado. Muitas diferenças existem, é claro, entre o comportamento de humanos e de não humanos – humanos, por exemplo, não podem voar por si sós – mas detectamos diferenças de princípios, diferenças essas que requeiram organizações separadas para seu estudo? Vou tentar mostrar porque acredito que essa é uma preocupação séria, de onde ela surge, e o que, talvez, possa ser feito para manter o que era, outrora, uma florescente relação bidirecional entre a pesquisa com humanos e com não humanos, tanto na pesquisa básica como na pesquisa aplicada.Palavras-chave: pesquisa comportamental com humanos, pesquisa comportamental com não-humanos.*Traduzido por Maria Silvia Ribeiro Todorov