Early Experience Affects the Strength of Vigilance for Threat in Rhesus Monkey Infants

Mandalaywala, Tara M.; Parker, Karen J.; Maestripieri, Dario

doi:10.1177/0956797614544175

Cited by 34 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…This finding leads to two questions. First, how can we explain associations such as those between high maternal rank and protectiveness and greater vigilance on the part of infant rhesus monkeys [99]? Second, are there features of the environment that influence personality development?…”

Section: (B) Personality and Ageingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A human model for primate personality

Weiss¹

2017

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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In this article, I review the literature to determine how successful the latent trait theory model of personality from differential psychology has been for studying personality in non-human primates. The evidence for the success of this model is quite good, and offers insights and directions for personality research in primates and other animals. This, I conclude, stems from (i) the human trait model's simplicity, and (ii) the fact that the human differential model of personality developed in the face of harsh criticism, which led researchers to test and refine their models. Animal models of human behaviour and vice versaThe question of whether studies of human behaviour can contribute to the understanding of behavioural evolution is an old one, and the debate that it has engendered is ongoing. In this paper, I will show that using a 'human model' of personality, developed within differential psychology, to study the evolutionary origins of individual differences in behaviour, affect and cognition (i.e. personality) in non-human primates (from now on, primates) has been a successful enterprise. Moreover, in a move that I hope does not distress the editors, I will sidestep answering directly the question posed by this special issue. Instead, I will describe why the human model is useful for studying primate personality and how it came to be that way.Before discussing human models, I will present an overview of animal models. Animal models have been an important and powerful tool for learning about the evolutionary origins of humans behaviour [1]. One would think then that critics of this model would be limited to the likes of creationists [2]. Unfortunately, displeasure and discomfort with the notion that we can learn about our behaviour and its evolution by studying animals has not been limited to people outside the purview of evolutionary biology. For example, because he viewed them as excusing human vices, such as sexism, Stephen J. Gould wrote essays for scientific and lay audiences that criticized adaptationist explanations for human behaviour that were based on studies of animals [3].To some, the use of human models to understand animal behaviour is also controversial. Using humans as models to understand the evolutionary bases of behaviour has a history that dates back at least as far as the use of animal models. The use of human models is rooted in the notion that evolution is gradual, and so related species will tend to be similar [4]. Prominent examples of the use of human models in the history of comparative psychology include Wolfgang Kö hler's investigations into the intelligence of chimpanzees [5], and work by Robert Yerkes [6] and his colleagues, Donald Hebb [7] and Meredith Crawford [8], on chimpanzee personality. These and similar pursuits continue into the present day, and have been enjoined by others (see articles in this special issue).The view that human behaviour can inform us about animal behaviour has been criticized by biologists and psychologists. One criticism is that the use of human m...

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Section: (B) Personality and Ageingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A human model for primate personality

Weiss¹

2017

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…Despite Axelrod's assertions that the long-term adaptiveness of reactive aggression is poor, certain ecological contexts have been found to encourage hostile attributions and reactive aggression in response to ambiguous provocations. For example, rhesus macaque mothers who hold high dominance ranks socialize their 9-mo-old infants to display a pattern of high vigilance to threatening faces, probably as a short-term adaptive strategy to enable the offspring to maintain high rank (2). In the US South, a unique "culture of honor" promotes vigilance toward provocateurs, perceptual readiness to attribute hostile intent to others, and retaliatory aggression in response to being dishonored (3).…”

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confidence: 99%

Hostile attributional bias and aggressive behavior in global context

Dodge

Malone

Lansford

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

144

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We tested a model that children's tendency to attribute hostile intent to others in response to provocation is a key psychological process that statistically accounts for individual differences in reactive aggressive behavior and that this mechanism contributes to global group differences in children's chronic aggressive behavior problems. Participants were 1,299 children (mean age at year 1 = 8.3 y; 51% girls) from 12 diverse ecological-context groups in nine countries worldwide, followed across 4 y. In year 3, each child was presented with each of 10 hypothetical vignettes depicting an ambiguous provocation toward the child and was asked to attribute the likely intent of the provocateur (coded as benign or hostile) and to predict his or her own behavioral response (coded as nonaggression or reactive aggression). Mothers and children independently rated the child's chronic aggressive behavior problems in years 2, 3, and 4. In every ecological group, in those situations in which a child attributed hostile intent to a peer, that child was more likely to report that he or she would respond with reactive aggression than in situations when that same child attributed benign intent. Across children, hostile attributional bias scores predicted higher mother-and child-rated chronic aggressive behavior problems, even controlling for prior aggression. Ecological group differences in the tendency for children to attribute hostile intent statistically accounted for a significant portion of group differences in chronic aggressive behavior problems. The findings suggest a psychological mechanism for group differences in aggressive behavior and point to potential interventions to reduce aggressive behavior.aggressive behavior | cultural differences | hostile attribution | interpersonal conflict | social cognition W hy do children in some ecological contexts and cultural groups across the world exhibit more chronic aggressive behavior problems than children in other contexts? We assert that groups differentially socialize a key psychological process of attribution of hostile intent, which mediates the display of aggression in response to threat (i.e., it statistically accounts for differences in reactive aggressive behavior), which, when repeated in interpersonal interactions over time, grows into chronic aggressive behavior problems.Some evolutionary theorists posit the adaptive function of deescalating aggressive conflict in response to ambiguous provocation or threat. Axelrod's computer simulations and empirical tests of ambiguous conflicts in political science suggest (but do not prove) that the response strategy responsible for the containment of violence and the evolution of cooperation is a "tit for tat" tactic characterized by a benign interpretation of another's ambiguous intentions (1). He asserts that an alternate two-step strategy of attributing hostile intent to another and retaliating with aggression leads to escalation of conflict and eventual mutual destruction.

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“…Vigilance data were collected as part of a previous study (Mandalaywala et al, 2014). At 8.5 ± 0.08 months old (mean ± SEM) subjects were simultaneously shown two validated stimuli (Bethell et al, 2012a): stimuli were color photographs (8.25 in.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…long x 11.75 in. high) of an unfamiliar male displaying either an open-mouth threat or a non-emotional expression (see Mandalaywala et al, 2014 for example stimuli), and subjects responses were then videorecorded for 5 sec using a handheld camcorder (Canon FS20). Subjects were approached while sitting calmly and away from the group, and a trial was initiated by setting up the cardboard apparatus less than 2.5 m in front of the subject.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One aspect of cognition that might explain inter-individual variation in resilience is vigilance for threat (hereafter, vigilance), an attentional bias to threat-relevant stimuli, which emerges early in life in both human and nonhuman primates (humans: Farroni, Menon, Rigato, & Johnson, 2007; Grossman, Striano, & Friederici, 2007; rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta) : Mandalaywala, Parker, & Maestripieri, 2014). Vigilance develops in response to environmental input and is often expressed more strongly in individuals previously exposed to ELA (humans: Shackman, Shackman, & Pollak, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vigilance for threat accounts for inter‐individual variation in physiological responses to adversity in rhesus macaques: A cognition × environment approach

Mandalaywala

Petrullo

Parker

et al. 2017

Developmental Psychobiology

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Early life adversity (ELA) can lead to poor health later in life. However, there is significant variation in outcomes, with some individuals displaying resilience even in the face of adversity. Using longitudinal data collected from free-ranging rhesus macaques between birth and 3 years, we examined whether individual variation in vigilance for threat, an early emerging attentional bias, can account for variation in long-term outcomes between individuals reared in similar environments. We found that ELA and vigilance during infancy interact to predict physiological dysregulation in Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) stress responses during juvenility. During high stress periods, High ELA juveniles with high vigilance exhibit less asymmetry than High ELA juveniles with low vigilance. This suggests that although increased vigilance is viewed as a negative consequence of ELA, it might also be a mechanism by which vulnerable individuals proactively buffer themselves from negative outcomes in unstable or threatening environments.

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Early Experience Affects the Strength of Vigilance for Threat in Rhesus Monkey Infants

Cited by 34 publications

References 42 publications

A human model for primate personality

A human model for primate personality

Hostile attributional bias and aggressive behavior in global context

Vigilance for threat accounts for inter‐individual variation in physiological responses to adversity in rhesus macaques: A cognition × environment approach

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