Effects of prior social experience on agonistic responding by Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens)

The role of prior social experience in maleBetta agonistic behavior was investigated in two experiments. Fish were either paired with an opponent until dominance was established naturally (Experiment 1) or given prior combat experience with a known aggressive or nonaggressive opponent (Experiment 2). The effects of prior social experience were then observed both in additional paired encounters and in some noncombat agonistic situations. The paired-encounter data indicate thatBetta attack aggressive opponents more than nonaggressive ones and rarely attack opponents once they have submitted. In contrast to attacking, these fish do not show a significant decrease in displays once their opponent has submitted, nor do they display differentially to aggressive and nonaggressive opponents. The noncombat agonistic-situation data indicate that prior social experience affects both the preference of fish for viewing other conspecifics and the waning of display behaviors. These results suggest that submissive and nonaggressive behaviors can inhibit attacks but not displays byBetta, and they emphasize the necessity of controlling for prior social experience when studying aggressive behavior.     

Social responsiveness and physical space as determinants of agonistic behavior inBetta splendens

Two experiments examined the conditions under whichBetta agonistic responding occurs by manipulating physical space and the species and social responsiveness of an opponent. In Experiment 1, both the species (conspecific or nonconspecific) and the aggressiveness (aggressive or nonaggressive) of the opponent were manipulated. The results indicated that agonistic behavior was greater with both conspecifics and aggressive opponents. Experiment 2 examined the effects of physical space and social responsiveness of the opponent on intraspecific aggressive behavior. An inverse relationship was found between physical space and the number of attacks directed toward the opponent. The results of both experiments also indicated thatBetta tend to attack aggressive opponents more than nonaggressive ones. It is suggested thatBetta aggress either when the individual animal is threatened or when physical space is limited.     

Territorial behavior of laboratory rats under conditions of peripheral anosmia

Two experiments investigated the influence of peripheral anosmia with zinc sulfate solution on aggressive and nonaggressive behaviors of rats in the colony intrusion paradigm. Experiment I was a replication of a previous observation that anosmic intruders arenot attacked by resident males. No significant differences were found in aggressive response to normal or anosmic intruders. Experiment II tested colony residents under normal and anosmic conditions for aggressive and nonaggressive response to intruders. The results were in agreement with previous reports that anosmia abolishes differential responding between males and females as well as all aggressive acts normally directed against unfamiliar males.     

Spending time with teacher: characteristics of preschoolers who frequently elicit versus initiate interactions with teachers

The goal of the present study was to explore the interface between young children’s socio-emotional characteristics and the nature of their interactions with teachers. The participants in this study were 135 preschool children (62 males and 73 females, M_age=48.68 months, SD=8.30 months). Children’s interaction with teachers and play behaviors were observed during teacher-supervised free play with peers. Teachers also rated child behavior problems and social competence. Three groups of children (representing n=76 children) were identified based on the frequency and the nature of their interactions with teachers. Children who most frequently initiated interactions with teachers behaved and were rated by teachers as being more aggressive than their comparison peers. In contrast, children who most frequently received initiations from teachers were more shy and anxious than their peers. Finally, children who spent less time with teachers were more sociable, less solitary, and evidenced fewer behavior problems than peers who interacted more frequently with teachers. Implications for early-childhood educators are discussed in terms of outcomes that may be associated with overly dependent teacher–child relationships.     

Play-solicitation behavior in juvenile male and female rats

Play-solicitation and social investigatory behaviors were observed in male and female juvenile rats exposed to playful and nonplayful juvenile social stimuli. A nonplayful state was induced by treatment with scopolamine HBr. In Experiment 1, the play-solicitation behavior of males exposed to nonplayful stimuli was reliably greater than that of females; social investigation did not differ by gender. In Experiment 2, males and females were exposed to nonplayful male and female stimuli. Male subjects engaged in more soliciting than did female subjects, and male social stimuli were subjected to more soliciting than were female social stimuli. Experiment 3 compared the influence of varying social deprivation intervals on play soliciting by male juveniles. Although social investigation did not vary reliably with interval of social deprivation, play soliciting increased reliably with longer intervals of isolation. In Experiment 4, play-soliciting behavior of males exposed to nonplayful males correlated positively and reliably with play fighting behavior upon exposure to normally playful males. The results support the proposal that some specific behaviors functionally provoke interactive play fighting.     

Social transmission of courtship behavior and mating preferences in brown-headed cowbirds,<Emphasis Type="Italic">Molothrus ater</Emphasis>

Studies of the social learning of courtship behaviors and mating preferences of brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) are reviewed. Earlier work has suggested that cowbirds from behaviorally distinct populations mate preferentially with others from the same population. Studies are described which indicate that patterns of courtship behavior that differ by population can be socially transmitted across generations are described. Social background affects male songs, female preferences for males as mates, and courtship interactions between females and males. Thus, social traditions influence mating decisions and may, ultimately, impact reproductive success in this species. Recent work on possible social mechanisms involved in the ontogeny of courtship behavior is described. The implications of these findings are discussed, and future research directions are suggested.     

Rough Physical Play in Adolescents: Does It Serve a Dominance Function?

In Study 1, a questionnaire was designed to investigate secondary school pupils' participation in, and perceptions of, playful and aggressive fighting. It was administered to a sample of 13- to 16-year-old male and female pupils who attended 5 different schools. The majority of pupils (and significantly more males than females) reported that they did engage in playful fighting. Most pupils also indicated that it was possible to tell whether other students were engaged in playful as opposed to aggressive fighting, attesting to the view that playful and aggressive fighting should be seen as separate categories of behavior. Other results converged to indicate that, unlike during the childhood years, playful fighting may be used by some individuals (especially males) to establish and display dominance positions. The responses of some pupils (again more males than females) also suggested that prowess in aggressive fighting was valued, in many cases because it deterred other pupils from directing unwanted behaviors (such as aggression and teasing) at them. In Study 2, more detailed individual interviews with 5 males and 5 females were carried out. These were used to illustrate some of the issues surrounding adolescents' participation in, and perceptions of, playful and aggressive fighting. Overall, the results of both Study 1 and Study 2 supported the hypothesis that some bouts of playful fighting are used during adolescence to settle dominance disputes. Results also suggested that aggression may be introduced into bouts of playful fighting in order to achieve these ends. Theoretical explanations are presented.     

Infants’ Preference for Social Interactions Increases from 7 to 13 Months of Age

This study examined 7-to-13.5-month-old middle-class Western infants’ visual orienting to third-party interactions in parallel with their social attention behavior during own social interactions (Leipzig, Germany). In Experiment 1, 9.5- to-11-month-olds (n = 20) looked longer than 7- to-8.5-month-olds (n = 20) at videos showing two adults interacting with one another when simultaneously presented with a scene showing two adults acting individually. Moreover, older infants showed higher social engagement (including joint attention) during parent–infant free play. Experiment 2 replicated this age-related increase in both measures and showed that it follows continuous trajectories from 7 to 13.5 months (n = 50). This suggests that infants’ attentional orienting to others’ interactions coincides with parallel developments in their social attention behavior during own social interactions.     

Social skills and problem behaviors as mediators of the relationship between behavioral self-regulation and academic achievement

Early behavioral self-regulation is an important predictor of the skills children need to be successful in school. However, little is known about the mechanism(s) through which self-regulation affects academic achievement. The current study investigates the possibility that two aspects of children's social functioning, social skills and problem behaviors, mediate the relationship between preschool self-regulation and literacy and math achievement. Additionally, we investigated whether the meditational processes differed for boys and girls. We expected that better self-regulation would help children to interact well with others (social skills) and minimize impulsive or aggressive (problem) behaviors. Positive interactions with others and few problem behaviors were expected to relate to gains in achievement as learning takes place within a social context. Preschool-aged children (n = 118) were tested with direct measures of self-regulation, literacy, and math. Teachers reported on children's social skills and problem behaviors. Using a structural equation modeling approach (SEM) for mediation analysis, social skills and problem behaviors were found to mediate the relationship between self-regulation and growth in literacy across the preschool year, but not math. Findings suggest that the mediational process was similar for boys and girls. These findings indicate that a child's social skills and problem behaviors are part of the mechanism through which behavioral self-regulation affects growth in literacy. Self-regulation may be important not just because of the way that it relates directly to academic achievement but also because of the ways in which it promotes or inhibits children's interactions with others.     

Procedurally related differences in the aggressive behavior ofBetta splendens (Regan)

The agonistic behaviors of maleBetta splendens (Regan) were studied during both mutually viewing and mutually caged encounters in an investigation of differences between these types of encounters. With the pairings of animals held constant, the experience of prior mutual viewing which produced significant habituation did not significantly alter aggression in subsequent mutually caged encounters. Furthermore, animals which exhibited submissiveness (zero display rates) during mutually caged encounters significantly increased the intensity of aggression during subsequent mutual viewing, while the dominant caged mates decreased the rate of displays. These results were interpreted to mean that mutual viewing produces habituation while mutual caging produces conditioned suppression, and that generalizations from one situation to the other may therefore be unwarranted.     

Rough Physical Play in Adolescents: Does It Serve a Dominance Function?

In Study 1, a questionnaire was designed to investigate secondary school pupils' participation in, and perceptions of, playful and aggressive fighting. It was administered to a sample of 13- to 16-year-old male and female pupils who attended 5 different schools. The majority of pupils (and significantly more males than females) reported that they did engage in playful fighting. Most pupils also indicated that it was possible to tell whether other students were engaged in playful as opposed to aggressive fighting, attesting to the view that playful and aggressive fighting should be seen as separate categories of behavior. Other results converged to indicate that, unlike during the childhood years, playful fighting may be used by some individuals (especially males) to establish and display dominance positions. The responses of some pupils (again more males than females) also suggested that prowess in aggressive fighting was valued, in many cases because it deterred other pupils from directing unwanted behaviors (such as aggression and teasing) at them. In Study 2, more detailed individual interviews with 5 males and 5 females were carried out. These were used to illustrate some of the issues surrounding adolescents' participation in, and perceptions of, playful and aggressive fighting. Overall, the results of both Study 1 and Study 2 supported the hypothesis that some bouts of playful fighting are used during adolescence to settle dominance disputes. Results also suggested that aggression may be introduced into bouts of playful fighting in order to achieve these ends. Theoretical explanations are presented.     

Effects of habituation on threat display and dominance establishment in the Siamese fighting fish,Betta splendens

In three separate experiments, maleBetta splendens were exposed, respectively, to mirror images, a variety of conspecifics, and to future opponents, prior to combat with unexposed subjects. Threat display to mirror images and to live opponents habituated significantly, but the outcomes of dominance-subordinance tests were not significantly affected by prior exposure to any of the threat-eliciting stimuli. Results are discussed in terms of stimulus and response specificity and possible chemical suppression of agonistic behavior.     

The Child Care Ecology Inventory: A domain-specific measure of home-based child care quality to promote social competence for school readiness

This study investigates the reliability and validity of the Child Care Ecology Inventory (CCEI), a measure of the quality of family child care in the social domain. The CCEI focuses on research-based environmental features and caregiving practices for promoting positive social development in preschool-age children. A total of 198 family child care homes in the Northwest USA participated. Good scale reliabilities were found for the measures of the environment (Enrichment and Organization) and for caregivers’ practices (Monitoring, Positive Attention, Promoting Social Skills, and Teaching Rules) and interrater reliability was adequate for research purposes. The CCEI was associated with other commonly used measures of child care quality that assessed similar environmental and caregiving constructs. Linear regression models were run to determine the features of family child care quality that were concurrently associated with observed child behavior. The child–caregiver ratio, Environment Organization, and caregivers’ Teaching Rules were negatively associated with children's problem behavior (noncompliance and aggression). Caregivers’ provision of Planned Activities/Routines and Positive Attention were associated with positive child behavior. Results indicate that different aspects of quality are related to different aspects of children's social interactions and behaviors.     

Aggressive behavior in preschoolers' social networks: Do birds of a feather flock together?

In a preschool setting, the naturally occurring aggressive behavior of sixtyfour 4-year-old children was observed and recorded. Individual differences in gender, behavioral style, social competence, reciprocal friendship, and social clique membership were examined to understand how these variables might be related to children's aggressive behavior. Variations in children's aggressive behavior were found to be associated with behavior style and social competence with peers. Children within social cliques were relatively similar in the frequency of their observed aggressive behavior. The results suggest that efforts to decrease children's aggression might target groups of children rather than individuals.     

Information and aggression in fishes

Aggressive interactions between fishes commonly take place in a social environment in which uninvolved individuals (bystanders) have an opportunity to gather information about interactants. Signals frequently used during such interactions are designed to transmit information about resource-holding power and/or intention. They are generally related to the level of escalation reached and the eventual outcome of a fight. We consider here the information available in signaling and nonsignaling aspects of aggressive interactions. We focus, in particular, on information available to bystanders. We summarize evidence that bystanders alter their behavior toward interactants on the basis of information acquired while bystanding, and we discuss the sources of information that may result in this change of behavior. In particular, we distinguisheavesdropping (i.e., extracting information from signaling interactions) as a subset ofbystanding (i.e., extracting information from all available sources). We conclude that considerations of aggressive strategies should include potential costs and benefits resulting from wider social contexts in which aggression occurs.     

Predicting Mothers' Beliefs about Preschool-Aged Children's Social Behavior: Evidence for Maternal Attitudes Moderating Child Effects

Maternal beliefs about children's social behavior may be important contributors to socialization and development, but little is known about how such beliefs form. Transactional models suggest that children's characteristics may influence parents. At 2 years of age, the shy and aggressive behaviors of 65 toddlers (28 females) were observed during interactions with an unfamiliar peer; as well, mothers described the extent to which they advocated protective and authoritarian childrearing attitudes. These variables were used to predict mothers emotions, attributions, parenting goals, and socialization strategies in response to vignettes depicting aggressive and withdrawn child behaviors 2 years later. Most child effects were moderated by maternal attitudes or gender effects. Authoritarian mothers of aggressive toddlers were most likely to report high control and anger, to blame their children for aggression, and to focus on obtaining compliance rather than teaching skills to their children. Protective mothers reported that they would use warmth and involvement to comfort withdrawn children, especially their daughters.     

Children’s emotional and behavioral responses to peer provocation and early school adjustment

ABSTRACT

Even very young children think about their own and others’ behavior, including emotions. Such cognitions and emotions about the self and others convey information that is crucial to social interactions and relationships. The current study based on an integrated model of emotion processes and cognition in social information processing (SIP) aimed to explore students’ emotional and behavioral responses in SIP choices, and their association with teacher-reported early school adjustment. Two-hundred and thirty pre-school and first-grade primary school students were interviewed using the Challenging Situations Task (CST). CST assessed students’ emotional and behavioral responses to 12 unambiguous hypothetical peer provocation situations. Children’s preschool and first-grade primary teachers rated children’s early school adjustment with the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation (SCBE-30) measure. The results revealed that children chose mainly sad and angry emotions and socially competent and passive behaviors. We found a relationship both between sad emotions and socially competent behavior choices, and between angry emotion and aggressive behavior choices. Sad emotions and aggressive behavior choices were the main predictors of school adjustment. Children’s responses to peer provocation situations varied depending on how the children interpreted the situations. The results address the importance of children’s SIP and school adjustment.     

Examining the Relationship of Children’s Behavior to Emotion Regulation Ability

This study investigated the relationship between children’s ability to regulate emotions and display of appropriate behavior in social settings. A sample of 33 children representing a wide range of social economic status was randomly selected from a Head Start Program and an Early Childhood Development Center in the Midwest. Data were collected using the Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC) developed by Shields and Cicchetti (Dev Psychol 33:906–916, 1997, J Clin child Psychol, 27:231–395, 1998). A “Behavior Recording” checklist was developed and used to record appropriate and inappropriate behavior observed during children social interactions. Teacher ratings identified children as generally high emotion regulators. Girls had generally higher scores than boys in emotion regulation ability. A high relationship (r = .76) was also found between emotion regulation and display of appropriate behavior. Results indicate the importance of emotions in relation to a child’s well being and academic achievement. Additionally, these findings suggest a need for parents and early childhood educators to teach children appropriate emotional behavior when confronted with situations that are in conflict with societal norms.     

Predicting First Graders’ Social Competence from Their Preschool Classroom Interpersonal Context

Research Findings: This study investigates contributions of the preschool classroom interpersonal environment to students’ social competence in 1st grade. Participants were 862 ethnically/racially diverse children who attended public preschool classrooms serving low-income families. Systematic observations of 60 classrooms occurred across the preschool year and quantified teacher and student behaviors. Preschool and 1st-grade teachers provided reports of children’s social behavior. First-grade teachers also assessed children’s problem behaviors. Multilevel analyses indicated that at the end of 1st grade, students who experienced preschool settings with teachers who displayed more approving behavior, less disapproving behavior, and more positive emotional tone showed significant gains in positive social behavior and lower rates of problem behavior, even after students’ social skills at preschool entry were controlled. Greater gains in positive social behavior and fewer problem behaviors in 1st grade were also predicted by immersion in preschool classrooms that had more positive and cooperative interactions among peers. Practice or Policy: Universal preschool is a policy under consideration nationally and locally, with social competence often listed as an important goal. This study indicates that even in the absence of a particular social-emotional curriculum, preschool teachers’ behaviors and interactions among their students may have lasting implications for children’s social development.     

藏族大学生社会支持与问题行为的关系

目的:探讨藏族大学生社会支持与问题行为的关系。方法:采用社会支持评定量表和青少年行为问卷,对西藏地区三所高校的460名藏族大学生进行问卷调查。结果:(1)藏族大学生客观支持与退缩、神经质、考试焦虑和问题行为总分存在显著负相关,主观支持与攻击行为、退缩、神经质、考试焦虑和问题行为总分存在显著负相关,支持利用度与问题行为各维度和问题行为总分不存在相关。(2)回归分析发现,藏族大学生主观支持可以预测攻击行为、退缩、神经质和考试焦虑,客观支持与支持利用度均无法预测问题行为,社会支持的三个维度对问题行为的学业适应不良、违纪都没有显著影响。结论:社会支持是影响藏族大学生问题行为的重要因素之一。