Studying personality variation in invertebrates: why bother?

Kralj‐Fišer, Simona; Schuett, Wiebke

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.02.016

Cited by 182 publications

(158 citation statements)

References 137 publications

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“…Arthropods, and in particular those species that live in groups, are ideal to test hypotheses that address the evolution of sociality. Unlike vertebrates, arthropods tend to have shorter generation times, and a variety of tools are available to study the internal developmental mechanisms (e.g., fixed neural pathways or epigenomic factors) that affect the personality type expressed by an individual (Kralj-Fišer and Schuett, 2014). As a result, social invertebrate colonies are particularly useful to study colony personality, and more specifically, the development of colony personality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of collective personality: the ontogenetic drivers of behavioral variation across groups

2014

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For the past decade, the study of personality has become a topic on the frontier of behavioral ecology. However, most studies have focused on exploring inter-individual behavioral variation in solitary animals, and few account for the role that social interactions may have on the development of an individual's personality. Moreover, a social group may exhibit collective personality: an emergent behavioral phenotype displayed at the group-level, which is not necessarily the sum or average of individual personalities within that group. The social environment, in many cases, can determine group success, which then influences the relative success of all the individuals in that group. In addition, group-level personality may itself evolve, subject to the same selection pressures as individual-level behavioral variation, when the group is a unit under selection. Therefore, we reason that understanding how collective personalities emerge and change over time will be imperative to understanding individual-and group-level behavioral evolution. Personality is considered to be fixed over an individual's lifetime. However, behavior may shift throughout development, particularly during adolescence. Therefore, juvenile behavior should not be compared with adult behavior when assessing personality. Similarly, as conditions within a group and/or the local environment can shift, group behavior may similarly fluctuate as it matures. We discuss potential within-group factors, such as group initiation, group maturation, genetic make-up of the group, and the internal social environment, and external factors, such as how local environment may play a role in generating group-level personalities. There are a variety of studies that explore group development or quantify group personality, but few that integrate both processes. Therefore, we conclude our review by discussing potential ways to evaluate development of collective personality, and propose several focal areas for future research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of collective personality: the ontogenetic drivers of behavioral variation across groups

2014

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“…Consistent behavioral differences among individuals of the same population are widespread across various taxa in the animal kingdom (reviewed in e.g., Gosling, 2001;Bell et al, 2009;Kralj-Fišer and Schuett, 2014). This means individuals differ in their mean level of behavior (inter-individual behavioral variation) while being (more or less) consistent in their behavior over time and/or different contexts (intra-individual consistency).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Environmental Conditions Shape Personality Types in a Jumping Spider

et al. 2015

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Individuals of many species across the animal kingdom are found to be less plastic than expected, even in behavioral traits. The existence of consistent behavioral differences between individuals, termed "personality differences", is puzzling, since plastic behavior is considered ideal to enable animals to adaptively respond to changes in environmental conditions. In order to elucidate which mechanisms are important for the evolution of personality differences, it is crucial to understand which aspects of the environment are important for the development of personality differences. Here, we tested whether physical or social aspects of the environment during development influence individual differentiation (mean level of behavior) using the jumping spider Marpissa muscosa. Furthermore, we assessed whether those behaviors were repeatable, i.e. whether personalities existed. We applied a split-brood design and raised spider siblings in three different environments: a deprived environment with no enrichment, a socially and a physically enriched environment. We focused on exploratory behavior and repeatedly assessed individual behavior in a novel environment and a novel object test. Results show that the environment during development influenced spiders' exploratory tendencies: spiders raised in enriched environments tended to be more exploratory. Most investigated behaviors were repeatable (i.e., personalities existed) across all individuals tested, whereas only few behaviors were also repeatable across individuals that had experienced the same environmental condition. Taken together, our results indicate that external stimuli can influence the development of one aspect of personality, the inter-individual variation (mean level of behavior), in a jumping spider. We also found family by environment interactions on behavioral traits potentially suggesting genetic variation in developmental plasticity.

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“…Studies of nonhuman animals have shown that personality traits are ubiquitous in the animal kingdom; a wide range of fish (Mittelbach, Ballew, & Kjelvik, 2014;Toms, Echevarria, & Jouandot, 2010), birds (e.g., chickens, Gallus gallus domesticus, Favati, Leimar, & Lovlie, 2014; zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, David, Auclair, & Cezilly, 2011, Schuett, Dall, & Royle, 2011Japanese quail, Coturnix japonica, Miller, Garner, & Mench, 2006), numerous mammal species (e.g., pigs, Sus domesticus, Marino & Colvin, 2015;horses, Equus caballus, Hausberger, Bruderer, Le Scolan, & Pierre, 2004;dogs, Canis familiaris, Svartberg, Tapper, Temrin, Radesäter, & Thorman, 2005;cats, Felis catus, Bennett, Rutter, Woodhead, & Howell, 2017;nonhuman primates, Freeman & Gosling, 2010); reptiles and amphibians (Allard, Fuller,Torgerson-White, & Murray, 2015;Burghardt, 2013), and invertebrates (Kralj-Fišer & Schuett, 2014, for a review) show persistent individual differences that can be organized along core personality dimensions, many of which overlap with those found in humans (Gosling, 2008;Gosling & John, 1999). Vonk, Weiss, and Kuczaj (2017) offer a comprehensive and upto-date review of personality in nonhuman animals.…”

Section: Personalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Psychology of Cows

Marino¹,

Allen²

2017

ABC

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-Domestic cows (Bos taurus) are consumed worldwide as beef and veal, kept as dairy product producers, employed as draft animals in labor, and are used for a long list of other products, including leather and manure. But despite global reliance on cows for thousands of years, most people's perception of them is as plodding herd animals with little individual personality and very simple social relationships or preferences. Yet, a review of the scientific literature on cow behavior points to more complex cognitive, emotional and social characteristics. Moreover, when cow behavior is addressed, it is almost entirely done within the framework of and applied to their use as food commodities. Therefore, there is relatively little attention to the study of cow intelligence, personality and sociality at a basic comparative level. In this review, we examine the current state of scientific knowledge about cows within an objective comparative framework, describing their cognitive, emotional, and social characteristics. Our aim is to provide a more veridical and objective current summary of cow psychology on its own terms and in ways which will facilitate better-informed comparisons with other animals. Moreover, an understanding of the capabilities and characteristics of domestic cows will, it is hoped, advance our understanding of who they are as individuals.

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Studying personality variation in invertebrates: why bother?

Cited by 182 publications

References 137 publications

The development of collective personality: the ontogenetic drivers of behavioral variation across groups

The development of collective personality: the ontogenetic drivers of behavioral variation across groups

Early Environmental Conditions Shape Personality Types in a Jumping Spider

The Psychology of Cows

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