Syllabus Anthropology 563

Anthropology 563

The Biology of Social Bonds

Fall, 2006

"It has often been assumed that animals were in the first place rendered social, and that they feel as a consequence uncomfortable when separated from each other, and comfortable whilst together; but it is a more probable view that these sensations were first developed, in order that those animals which would profit by living in society, should be induced to live together; for with those animals which were benefited by living in close association, the individuals which took the greatest pleasure in society would best escape various dangers; whilst those that cared least for their comrades and lived solitary would perish in greater numbers."

-- Darwin

Instructor: Ryne A. Palombit

Prerequisites: Some background in Behavioral Ecology or Animal Behavior. Permission of instructor.

Goals of Seminar:

Our goals are to understand how the evolutionary biology of social relationships is studied, as well as to explore what we know (and don't know) about the biology of particular bonds.

The focus is on the adaptive significance of variation in social bonds. But we will not neglect the study of proximate mechanisms and its importance in understanding the evolutionary biology of bonding. Our objective is to evaluate the methods, issues, and questions constituting the study of social bonding, and to enhance our understanding of the history and findings of this field of behavioral biology. The framework will be broadly comparative. There is some taxonomic emphasis on nonhuman primates because of the confluence of two advantageous characteristics: social relationships are highly diverse and very well described. However, we will not limit ourselves to nonhuman primates, but will also consider at times other animals, such as fish, reptiles and humans.

The syllabus is partly flexible; we will modify it in light of current trends, findings, or interests. Please bring to my attention new papers or topics you run across that you think might merit our consideration.

Requirements:

Seminar Duties (30%) (includes participation in discussions, moderating and summarizing

Position Papers (each worth 10%, totaling 20%)

Oral Presentation (15%)

Analytical Paper (35%)

Moderating
One or twice during the semester you’ll moderate discussion. This means leading the discussion by offering your critical evaluations of the readings. This does not mean simply rephrasing the content of the papers. Rather, take a position on the work and present (and defend) it. Foster debate by presenting opposing views on a subject. If you like, you can take time at the beginning of class to present material (a brief “lecture”) or you can present it during the course of the discussion.

One of your responsibilities as moderator is to do a search of the literature on the topic you’re moderating and make recommendations regarding papers we should (or should not) read in seminar. The question basically is: are there other papers of enough importance to recommend we drop the currently assigned reading (see below) and replace it? Your recommendations don’t have to be necessarily based on in-depth analysis of each paper. Rather, you should be able to make a preliminary evaluation based on a quick examination of it. So, two weeks before your moderating date, email to me a list of 3-5 papers you’ve run across that you think are potentially relevant for the discussion. Give full bibliographic information for each paper, e.g.,:

Betzig, L. 1992. Of human bonding: Cooperation or exploitation? Soc. Sci. info., 31:611-642.

Then, for each one, explain in a few sentences why you recommend it or don’t recommend it for as a reading for the seminar.

Position Papers
A couple times during the semester you will write a “position paper.” These are brief and cogent articulations of your position and the support for it. Position papers on a topic will be photocopied and distributed to everyone. We will read the papers and then discuss them in the next meeting. You are not graded on the position you take. What is required for full credit is a serious effort to state a convincing position.

These papers are somewhat similar to the “Open Peer Commentary” exemplified by journals such as The Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Each position paper should not exceed 1500 words. Due date and topic TBA later in semester. Remember: take a position and convince the reader of it.

EMAIL: On the due dates, please email your position paper to me. Please do not email participants in the course directly. Around 5pm on the due date, I will email all position papers to everyone. Make sure yours reaches me before then!

Rapporteur

Each meeting will have one person who will act as rapporteur, charged with summarizing the important points of the discussion that day. This should generally be only one page (single-spaced). Rapporteurs should link ideas with the people who offered them, and should identify and highlight in their reports the following: (1) the 3 most important ideas presented (and explain why!); (2) the best quote of the day (linked to the person who generated it). These summaries are not transcripts, however. They are brief statements of the best insights/questions we managed to achieve that day. Rapporteurs should also feel free to editorialize. Email the summary to me within 24 hrs of the meeting. After checking it, I’ll then put in on the Sakai site.

Schedule of Meetings and Readings

Fall 2006 reading list

Meeting	Topic(s) Covered	Readings	Moderator	Summarizer
Sept. 7	Organizational Meeting	-	-	-
Sept. 14	How do we describe and think about "bonds"?	Hinde, R.A., ed. 1983. Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach. Sunderland, Massachusetts:Sinauer: Kummer, H. 1978. On the value of social relationships to nonhuman primates: A heuristic scheme. Soc. Sci. Info., 17:687-705. Mendoza, S.P., Reeder, D.M. & Mason, W.A. 2002. The nature of proximate mechanisms underlying primate social systems: Simplicity and redundancy. Evol. Anthro. Suppl., 1:112-116.	Nancy	Luca
Sept. 21	Attachment: General	Mahoney, M.J. 1991. Human Change Processes: The Scientific Foundations of Psychotherapy. Basic Books. (Excerpt: pp. 167-174). Bowlby, J. 1977. The making and breaking of affectional bonds. I. Aetiology and psychopathology in the light of attachment theory. British Journal of Psychiatry, 130: 201-210. Maestripieri, D. & Roney, J.R. 2006. Evolutionary developmental psychology: Contributions from comparative research with nonhuman primates. Developmental Review, 26:120-137. Mason, W.A. & Mendoza, S.P. 1998. Generic aspects of primate attachments: Parents, offspring and mates. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 23: 765-778.	Frank	Ryan
Sept. 28	Attachment: Filial & Beyond?	Bartels, A. & Zeki, S. 2004. The neural correlates of maternal and romantic love. NeuroImage, 21:1155-1166. Suomi, S.J. 1999. Attachment in rhesus monkeys. In: Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications, (J. Cassidy & P.R. Shaver, eds.), pp. 181-197. Guilford, New York. Hrdy, S.B. 1999. Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection. Pantheon, New York. Chapter 16 "Meeting the Eyes of Love" and Chapter 17 "'Secure From What?' or 'Secure From Whom?'" Hazan, C. & Zeifman, D. 1999. Pair bonds as attachments: Evaluating the evidence. In: Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications, (J. Cassidy & P.R. Shaver, eds.), pp. 336-354. Guilford, New York.	Lisa	Rolando
Oct. 5	Evolution of social bonds & social systems: same thing?	Curley, J.P. & Keverne, E.B. 2005. Genes, brains and mammalian social bonds. Trends Ecol. Evol., 20: 561-567. Emlen, S.T. & Oring, L.W. 1977. Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. Science, 197:215-223. Kappeler, P.M. & van Schaik, C.P. 2002. Evolution of primate social systems. Int. J. Primatol., 23:707-740. Chapple, D.G. 2003. Ecology, life history, and behavior in the Australian scinid genus Egernia, with comments on the evolution of complex sociality in lizards. Herpetological Monographs, 17:145-180. By the way: recall Kummer (1978) above.	Ryan	Kristy
October 7: Email me the topic and question for your paper.
Oct. 12	Male-Female Relations & the "Pair Bond" I: Mechanisms	Curley, J.P. & Keverne, E.B. 2005. Genes, brains and mammalian social bonds. Trends Ecol. Evol., 20: 561-567. Marazziti, D. & Canale, D. 2004. Hormonal changes when falling in love. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 29:931-936. Carter, C.S. 1998. Neuroendocrine perspectives on social attachment and love. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 23:779-818. Fisher, H., Aron, A. & Brown, L.L. in press. Romantic love: A mammalian brain system for mate choice. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B,	Marc	Nancy
Oct. 19	Male-Female Relations & the "Pair Bond" II: Adaptation	Fraley, R.C., Brumbaugh, C.C. & Marks, M.J. 2005. The evolution and function of adult attachment: A comparative and phylogenetic analysis. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol., 89:731-746. Palombit, R.A. in review. Friendships with males: A female counterstrategy to infanticide in the Okavango chacma baboons. In: Male Aggression Against Females in Primates, (M.N. Muller & R.W. Wrangham, eds.), Harvard University Press, Cambrdige, Massachusetts. Chapman, T., Arnqvist, G., Bangham, J. & Rowe, L. 2003. Sexual conflict. Trends. Ecol. Evol., 18:41-46. Wrangham, R.W. 2002. The cost of sexual attraction: Is there a trade-off in female Pan between sex appeal and received coercion? In: Behavioural Diversity in Chimpanzees and Bonobos, (C. Boesch, G. Hohmann & L.F. Marchant, eds.), pp. 204-215. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Betzig, L. 1992. Of human bonding: Cooperation or exploitation? Soc. Sci. Info., 31:611-642.	Rolando	Emily
Oct. 26	The "family" (& alloparenting)	Emlen, S.T. 1995. An evolutionary theory of the family. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 92: 8092-8099. Hrdy, S.B. in press. Evolutionary context of human development: The cooperative breeding model. In Evolutionary Family Psychology (C.A. Salmon & T.K. Shackelford, eds). Mitani, J.C. & Watts, D.P. 1997. The evolution of nonmaternal caretaking among anthropoid primates: Do helpers help? Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 40:213-220. Gilchrist, J.S. 2006. Reproductive success in a low skew, communal breeding mammal: The banded mongoose, Mungos mungo. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 60:854-863.	Emily	Frank
Nov. 2	Male-male Bonds	van Hooff, J.A.R.A.M. & van Schaik, C.P. 1994. Male bonds: Affiliative relationships among nonhuman primate males. Behaviour, 130: 309-337. Strier, K.B. 2000. From binding brotherhoods to short-term sovereignity: The dilemma of male Cebidae. In: Primate Males: Causes and Consequences of Variation in Group Composition, (Ed. by P.M. Kappeler), pp. 72-83. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press. Stanford, C.B. 1998. Predation and male bonds in primate societies. Behaviour, 135:513-533. Strier, K.B., Dib, L.T. & Figueira, J.E.C. 2002. Social dynamics of male muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides hypoxanthus). Behaviour, 139:315-342.	Luca	Lisa
Nov. 9	Student Presentations: Male-Male Bonds: Causal & Functional Considerations	Luca: Beyond testosterone: What are additional hormonal correlates of variation in male-male social relationships? Cavigelli, S. A. & Pereira, M. E. 2000. Mating season aggression and fecal testosterone levels in male ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Hormones and Behavior, 37, 246-255. Ostner, J., Kappeler, P. M. & Heistermann, M. 2002. Seasonal variation and social correlates of androgen excretion in male redfronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 52, 485-495. Kraus, C., Heistermann, M. & Kappeler, P. M. 1999. Physiological suppression of sexual function of subordinate males: A subtle form of intrasexual competition among male sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi)? Physiol. Behav., 66, 855-861. Lisa: How do male-male social relationships in the context of cooperation in competition differ in groups where males have kin available as potential allies compared to groups where kin are not available? de Waal, F.B.M. & L.M. Luttrell. 1988. Mechanisms of social reciprocity in three primate species: symmetrical relationship characteristics or cognition? Ethol. Sociobiol., 9: 101-118. Noë, R. & A.A. Sluijter. 1995. Which adult male savanna baboons form coalitions? Int. J. Primatol., 16: 77-105. Noë, R. 1984. Lasting alliances among adult male savannah baboons. In: Primate Ontogeny, Cognition and Social Behaviour (J.G. Else & P.C. Lee, eds.), pp. 381-392. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.	Luca Lisa	Frank Emily
Nov. 16	Student Presentations: Ecology of Female-Female Bonds	Nancy: Does ecology explain variation in female-female social relationships in the Cercopithecinae? Emily: How and why do kin relationships vary within matrilines? Readings: Barton, R.A., Byrne, R.W. & Whiten, A. 1996. Ecology, feeding competition and social structure in baboons. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 38:321-329. Isbell, L.A. & Enstam, K.L. 2002. Predator (in)sensitive foraging in sympatric female vervets (Cercopithecus aethiops) and patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas): A test of ecological models of group dispersion. In: Eat Or Be Eaten: Predator Sensitive Foraging Among Primates, (L.E. Miller, ed.) pp. 154-168. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Isbell, L.A. & Young, T.P. 2002. Ecological models of female social relationships in primates: Similarities, disparities, and some suggestions for future clarity. Behaviour, 139:177-202. Mitchell, C.L., Boinski, S. & van Schaik, C.P. 1991. Competitive regimes and female bonding in two species of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedi and Saimiri sciureus). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 28:55-60. Silk, J.B., Alberts, S.C. & Altmann, J. 2003. Social bonds of female baboons enhance infant survival. Science, 302:1231-1234. Silk, J.B., Altmann, J. & Alberts, S.C. 2006. Social relationships among adult female baboons (Papio cynocephalus). I. Variation in the strength of social bonds. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.	Nancy Emily	Luca Ryan
Nov. 21	Student Presentations: Pair Bonds & Manipulation	Ryan: Why do cichlids form pair bonds? Lamprecht, J. & Rebhan, T. 1997. Factors influencing pairbond stability in convict cichlids (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum). Behav. Proc. 39: 161-176. Draud, M. & Lynch, P.A.E. 2002. Asymmetric contests for breeding sites between monogamous pairs of convict cichlids (Archocentrus nigrofasciatum, Cichlidae): Pair experience pays. Behav., 139: 861-873. Zaret, T.M. 1980. Life history and growth relationships of Cichla ocellaris, a predatory South American cichlid. Biotropica, 12: 144-157. Rolando: Conflict, deceit and manipulation in social relationships. Trivers, R.L. 1974. Parent-offspring conflict. Am. Zool., 14:249-264. Dawkins, R. & Krebs, J.R. 1978. Animal signals: Information or manipulation? In: Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach, 1st ed., (J.R. Krebs & N.B. Davies, eds.), pp. 282-309. Blackwell, Oxford.	Ryan Rolando	Lisa Kristy
Nov. 23	Thanksgiving Holiday	No Class	-	-
Dec. 7	Emotion & bonds	Ekman, P. 1998. Introduction to the third edition of The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Bekoff, M. 2000. Animal emotions: Exploring passionate natures. BioScience, 50:861-870. Panksepp, J. 2000. Emotions as natural kinds within the mammalian brain. In: Handbook of Emotions, (M. Lewis & J.M. Haviland-Jones, eds.), pp. 137-156. Guilford Press, New York. Parr, L.A. 2001. Cognitive and physiological markers of emotional awareness in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Anim. Cog., 4:223-229. Baron-Cohen, S., Riviere, A., Fukushima, M., French, D., Hadwin, J., Cross, P., Bryant, C. & Sotillo, M. 1996. Reading the mind in the face: A cross-cultural and developmental study. Visual Cognition, 3:39-59.	Kristy	Ryan
Dec. 8 12:15-3:15pm	Student Presentations: Imprinting, Filial Attachment Mentalizing Bonds	Kristy: What are the causes and consequences of maternal & filial attachment in artiodactyls? Kendrick, K.M., Hinton, M.R., Atkins, K., Haupt, M.A. & Skinner, J.D. 1998. Mothers determine sexual preferences. Nature, 395:229-230. Maletínská, J. & Spinka, M. 2001. Cross-suckling and nursing synchronisation in group house lactating sows. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 75:17-32. Nowak, R., Porter, R.H., Lévy, F., Orgeur, P. & Schaal, B. 2000. Role of mother-young interactions in the survival of offspring in domestic mammals. Reviews of Reproduction, 5:17-32. Frank: How does Theory of Mind cognitive ability influence the nature of social relationships, particularly with reference to empathy? Premack, D. & Woodruff, G. 1978. Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behav. Brain Sci., 4:515-526. Preston, S.D. & de Waal, F.B.M. 2002. Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases. Behav. Brain Sci., 25:1-72. (Just read the first 20 pages of main target article)	Kristy Frank	Nancy Rolando
Dec. 15		Paper due

If you haven't yet read this paper (or haven't read for it long time) read it:
Tinbergen, N. 1963. On the aims and methods of ethology. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 20: 410-433.

Other graduate seminars:

Primate Ecology & Social Behavior

Methods in Field Primatology

Sex Differences & Sexual Selection in Primates

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