A brief abstract:
Few studies of individual differences in reactivity to social and nonsocial
stimuli in nonhuman primates have adequately addressed the ramifications
of these differences for dominance relationships. Most studies have correlated
subjective ratings of personality dimensions with dominance ranks.
Personality measured in this manner, however, does not disentangle cause-effect
relationships with dominance. The present study used objectively-based
measures of behavioral reactivity to examine individual differences in
changes in dominance relations. Two cohorts of adolescent male rhesus macaques
were tested for reactivity to a novel situation before (pretransfer) and
after (posttransfer) they were permanently removed from their natal groups
and their dominance relationships were monitored for the following 2 years.
Dominance rank in the natal group was unrelated to reactivity measures.
Pretransfer displacement activity was not correlated with pretransfer dominance
but was correlated with posttransfer dominance rank. A composite score
of three reactivity measures from both novelty tests was a poor predictor
of pretransfer and 1 year posttransfer dominance, but a good predictor
of dominance 2 years posttransfer. These results demonstrate a potential
role for male rhesus macaques' dispositional characteristics in shaping
the outcome of dominance interactions once males emigrate from their natal
groups.
This dissertation was done as a graduate student in the Biopsychology Program, Department of Psychology, University of Georgia.
This research could never have started or been completed without the
very generous support from
Kim Wallen
of Emory University and Dave Mann of Morehouse College of Medicine.
Dorothy
Fragaszy's support was also crucial in allowing me to successfully
complete this project. Also the staff at the Yerkes
Regional Primate Research Center was invaluable, especially, Katherine
Paul and the veterinary staff who helped monitor the males after I stopped
watching them.
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