AB Lecture 11: social behavor

most domestic animals tend to interact with what and require what

one another individually when possible and require socialization

social behavior in golden/syrian hamsters

well known for needing to be solitary

• how mature males of most species like this

social behavior of cats

able to happily live independently, interacting with mates or offspring only

• may also live in colonies, but have preferential social interactions

social behavior of dogs

are often living in solitude in homes, but experience companionship from their owners

society definition

group of indivduals organized in a cooperative manner

social organization types - 3

• physical structure

• social structure

• group cohesion

physical structure defintion

the size of the group and its composition in respect to age, sex, and degrees of relatedness of group members

social structure defintion

all of the relationships among individuals in a social group and their consequences for spatial distribution and behavioral interactions

group cohesion defintion

duration of association of the members of the group and the frequency of fission in which one or more members leaves the group

• how much do they hang out with one another vs how much do 1/ multiple branch off and then come back to the main group

example of a social structure in horses

group of females with one or several males

• horses

  • referred to as harems

social structure example in sheep and goats

separate male and female groups

• rams and bucks will form separate bachelor groups when it is not breeding season

social structure example in horses - gender separation

young stallions will form bachelor groups until they are able to form or take over their own harem

social structures of swine and cattle

groups of females with solitary males

• boars and bulls will live relatively solitary lives unless they are breeding

social structure of cats

groups based on kinship with the mother

• matrilineal social groups, where the mother is the leader, and all the individuals have a direct relationship to that mother

social structure of dogs

form loose kinship groups with no clear linear hierarchy

• the alpha; beta terminology and strict hierarchical relationship does not actually exist in dogs

hierarchies defintion

sequence of individuals or groups of individuals in a social group based upon some ability or characteristic

type of hierarchies - 2

• 2-tiered: one dominant

• multi-tiered: complex dominance relationships

hierarchies are usually

linear

hierarchies are sometimes referred to as

dominance order

dominance defintion

refers to when an individual has more / better access to resource than another

• does not need to always be based on fighting ability, but often is

social facilitation defintion

behavior that is initiated or increased in rate or frequency by the presence of another animal carrying out that behavior

animals in social groups tend to exhibit

facilitation and synchronize their activities

social facilitation tends to be

in some way beneficial to those animals survival

pros of social facilitation - 5

• reduced time spent searching for resources

• better defense of resources

• reduced predation risk

• division of labor

• communal care of young

cons of social facilitation - 5

• potential of increased aggression

• competition for resources within a group

• predator attraction as a group

• disease transmission

• infanticide and cannibalism

highly social species tend to find it stressful

to be isolated

sociability index

relative proportion of time an animal spends close to another animal physically

• greater than one is highly social animals

sociability index measures

the individual, not the species or the group

domestication tends to occur with what type of animals

animals that are highly sociable

• benefit for us to manage animals that tend to stay and perform activities together

leader defintion in a social group

individual that is in front during an orderly group procession

• often according to milk yield (higher-producing cows are in the front)

initiator definition in a social group

individual that is the first to react in a way that elicits a new group activity

• may or may not be the same behavior that the initiator themselves is performing

examples of actions an initiator may make - 2

• movement to a new area to feed

• alarm call that elicits freezing behavior from the rest of the group

controller defintion in a social group

individual that determines whether a new group activity occurs, when it happens, and what activity it is

controller roles in a social group

could be enforced under threat of violence, but more common to be the individual that the group looks to for guidance

unless a controller decides to participate as well, an initiator may

be unsuccessful

who is likely to be a controller in a social group

the oldest mare in a herd of wild horses