H2020Индивидуална стипендия2020–2022

CooPMacaque · Why do individuals cooperate? Exploring the behavioural, cognitive, and hormonal mechanisms governing cooperation in macaques.

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2020-09-01 → 2022-08-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 175 572 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Поведението на макаците разкрива как личността, социалният ранг и алтруизмът влияят върху избора на партньор при съвместна работа. Разбирането на тези механизми помага да се обясни човешкото сътрудничество и да се подобрят грижите за животните в плен.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Why do individuals cooperate? Exploring the behavioural, cognitive, and hormonal mechanisms governing cooperation in macaques.

The MSC Action is titled “Why do individuals cooperate? Exploring the behavioural, cognitive, and hormonal mechanisms governing cooperation in macaques.” The project investigates the evolution of partner choice during cooperation in macaque societies. Cooperation in animal societies is essential as it ensures the survival and reproduction of individuals, thus significantly impacting their fitness. Understanding cooperation among kin and non-kin members in non-human animals can provide us with scientific insights into how humans cooperate and choose their cooperation partners. Despite numerous theoretical explanations, empirical evidence on why and how animals cooperate and select their partners is scarce. Furthermore, in-depth knowledge of the proximate drivers of cooperation can provide critical insights that may benefit a range of disciplines other than life science, such as political science, social science, economics, and comparative psychology. CooPMacaque investigated the proximate mechanisms that underlie cooperation and shed light on the evolution of cooperative interactions. The project specifically looked at personality, prosociality, and dominance-rank (i.e., asymmetry in resource-holding power) relationships, in predicting partner choice during cooperation. The individual-level information, i.e., personalities, was paramount in applied biological fields, such as welfare science. The project not only built rigorous scientific knowledge on macaque personalities but also proposed animal welfare measures, especially in captivity. Moreover, the “other-regarding behaviour”, i.e., prosociality, was also studied as one of the proximate drivers facilitating cooperation. Finally, cooperative interactions were investigated across different species, emphasising partner choice and its underlying mechanisms (i.e., the abovementioned proxies). The primary aim of this MSC Action was to address how individuals choose their cooperation partners. I proposed and tested different species of macaques to answer this question due to their close phylogenetic relatedness yet different ‘social tolerance levels’. Formally, the objectives were – (i) investigation of the personalities of macaques, (ii) assessment of prosocial motivations in macaques, (iii) quantification of the hormonal mechanisms of cooperation and finally, (iv) testing cooperation and partner choice across different species of macaques. In addition, an objective was to foster the individual development of the experienced researcher. In this project, the objectives and goals have been addressed via six different work packages (WP): WP1 – behavioural observations and hormonal sampling, WP2 – personality tests, WP3 – prosociality tests, WP4 – cooperation tests, WP5 – Training by attending courses, teaching and supervision of students, and finally WP6 – dissemination of work and outreach.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

A myriad of species including humans are social. Maintenance of sociality is based on cooperative interactions among individuals. Regardless of theories and empirical explanations, experimental evidence scarcity has rendered addressing the evolution of cooperation challenging. Ergo, little is known about what influences humans and other animals to cooperate and select specific partners during cooperative interactions. Proximate mechanisms facilitating cooperation can provide crucial information on its evolution and maintenance. In this project, I will focus on the following proxies - personality, prosociality, dominance rank-relationships, and the interplay of hormones - to understand how cooperation evolved, using ~100 individuals belonging to 5 macaque species (Macaca mulatta, M. fuscata, M. fasicularis, M. sylvanus, and M. silenus). I will examine - how similarities in personality and dominance-rank relationships influence partner choice; whether prosocial motivations of individuals initiate and enhance cooperative interaction; and the effect of the interplay of peripheral oxytocin, testosterone, and cortisol on cooperation. The innovative and new perspectives of the project include– a. avoiding anonymous/forced dyad testing - testing of macaques based on their intrinsic motivations to cooperate, thus, prioritising areas of ecological relevance such as partner choice; b. testing macaques in their social groups; c. testing in semi free-ranging environment. Hence, I will use an integrative, interdisciplinary, and comparative approach in the project. My existing expertise in social cognition and subsequent training during the fellowship will undoubtedly result in pioneering research output and scientific advancement in the area of cooperation dynamics. This project is the first attempt to study cooperation from an unexplored angle and will provide us with significant information on why cooperation evolved and how it is being maintained in social systems.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT · UtrechtКоординаторНидерландия