Audience effect is context dependent in Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens

Dzieweczynski, Teresa L.; Earley, Ryan L.; Green, Tracie M.; Rowland, William J.

doi:10.1093/beheco/ari088

Cited by 69 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The composition of an audience is known to affect the patterns of communication in a diversity of animal species [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Given that the individuals within a particular social scene can change over time, non-human primates must monitor these changes and adapt their social decision-making strategies accordingly [7,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Audience affects decision-making in a marmoset communication network

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An audience can have a profound effect on the dynamics of communicative interactions. As a result, non-human primates often adjust their social decision-making strategies depending on the audience composition at a given time. Here we sought to test how the unique vocal behaviour of multiple audience members affected decisions to communicate. To address this issue, we developed a novel experimental paradigm in which common marmosets directly interacted with multiple 'virtual monkeys' (VMs), each of whom represented an individual marmoset with distinct vocal behaviour. This active social signalling paradigm provided subjects an opportunity to interact with and learn about the behaviour of each VM in the network and apply this knowledge in subsequent communicative decisions. We found that subjects' propensity to interact with particular VMs was determined by the behaviour of each VM in the audience and suggests that marmoset social decision-making strategies are highly adaptive to nuances of the immediate communication network. BackgroundThe composition of an audience is known to affect the patterns of communication in a diversity of animal species [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Given that the individuals within a particular social scene can change over time, non-human primates must monitor these changes and adapt their social decision-making strategies accordingly [7,8]. Despite the fact that networks of multiple individuals, and not dyadic interactions, are more characteristic of primates and other animals [9], relatively little is known about how individuals change their decisions to communicate based on the unique vocal behaviours of each conspecific in a particular audience. Here we sought to test this issue by implementing a novel active social signalling paradigm designed to simulate a natural primate communication network. In these experiments, a common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) directly engaged in vocal interactions with multiple 'virtual monkeys' (VMs). Each VM was a speaker that broadcast calls from an individual marmoset from our colony, thus encapsulating the vocal identity of that individual. We then used novel interactive playback software to assign specific behavioural attributes to each individual VM and test whether marmoset decisions were determined solely by the specific behavioural characteristics of a particular VM (independent of the other VM) or whether decisions were made by comparing the behaviour of both VMs in the scene.Marmosets frequently engage in natural vocal exchanges known as antiphonal calling [10]. This behaviour involves the reciprocal exchange of the species-typical phee call between visually occluded individuals, a vocalization encoded with a rich corpus of information about the caller, such as individual identity, sex and group dialect [11]. Similar to contact calls produced by other primates, the phee call functions to alert conspecifics to a signaller's presence when visually occluded. Antiphonal interactions are governed by

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Audience affects decision-making in a marmoset communication network

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There is ample work illustrating that the signallers themselves are aware of this network and adjust their signal content accordingly (e.g. the audience effect; [7]). Few have considered the implications of individuals sending conflicting signals to conspecifics simultaneously.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

It pays to cheat: tactical deception in a cephalopod social signalling system

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Signals in intraspecific communication should be inherently honest; otherwise the system is prone to collapse. Theory predicts, however, that honest signalling systems are susceptible to invasion by cheats, the extent of which is largely mediated by fear of reprisal. Cuttlefish facultatively change their shape and colour, an ability that evolved to avoid predators and capture prey. Here, we show that this ability is tactically employed by male mourning cuttlefish ( Sepia plangon ) to mislead conspecifics during courtship in a specific social context amenable to cheating 39 per cent of the time, while it was never employed in other social contexts. Males deceive rival males by displaying male courtship patterns to receptive females on one side of the body, and simultaneously displaying female patterns to a single rival male on the other, thus preventing the rival from disrupting courtship. The use of tactical deception in such a complex communication network indicates that sociality has played a key role in the cognitive evolution of cephalopods.

show abstract

“…Because reproductive state influences male behavior (Jaroensutasinee & Jaroensutasinee 2003;Dzieweczynski et al 2005), trials were only run when males had nests. Thirty males (weight: 1.44-1.69 g; total length: 62.12-67.43 mm) served as subjects and the remaining ninety males served as opponents (weight: 1.25-1.98 g; total length: 58.73-72.22 mm).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repeated Recent Aggressive Encounters Do Not Affect Behavioral Consistency in Male Siamese Fighting Fish

Dzieweczynski¹,

Sullivan²,

Forrette³

et al. 2012

Ethology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Consistent individual differences in behavior suggest that individuals respond in a predictable and repeatable manner in a specific situation while differing from other individuals. Male Siamese fighting fish exhibit consistent individual differences in decision‐making strategies when they encounter a receptive female and a rival male simultaneously. However, whether these differences are altered by recent experience is unknown. We examined the influence of repeated aggressive encounters on behavioral consistency and decision‐making. Males were presented with paired female–male dummies prior to any aggressive experiences to obtain a baseline measure. Next, males either won or lost three consecutive contests against rivals and then received the paired female–male dummies after each of these encounters. Overall levels of highly aggressive behaviors were affected by contest outcome, while levels of female‐directed were not. Not surprisingly, winning a fight led to an increase in male‐directed bites, an overtly aggressive behavior that only occurs after fights have escalated. Fighting a male before encountering the dummies caused males to perform more tail beats to the dummy male, perhaps as a result of increased motivation. Males exhibited similar levels of repeatability and used the same strategies when faced with conflicting stimuli regardless of fighting experience. Thus, while winning or losing a fight impacts overall aggression, it does not influence behavioral consistency. This study demonstrates that consistent individual differences and decision‐making strategies may be resistant to recent aggressive experiences, even over a period of days.

show abstract

Audience effect is context dependent in Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens

Cited by 69 publications

References 38 publications

Audience affects decision-making in a marmoset communication network

Audience affects decision-making in a marmoset communication network

It pays to cheat: tactical deception in a cephalopod social signalling system

Repeated Recent Aggressive Encounters Do Not Affect Behavioral Consistency in Male Siamese Fighting Fish

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About