Social Feedback and the Emergence of Rank in Animal Society.

ABSTRACT: Dominance hierarchies are group-level properties that emerge from the aggression of individuals. Although individuals can gain critical benefits from their position in a hierarchy, we do not understand how real-world hierarchies form. Nor do we understand what signals and decision-rules individuals use to construct and maintain hierarchies in the absence of simple cues such as size or spatial location. A study of conflict in two groups of captive monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) found that a transition to large-scale order in aggression occurred in newly-formed groups after one week, with individuals thereafter preferring to direct aggression more frequently against those nearby in rank. We consider two cognitive mechanisms underlying the emergence of this order: inference based on ove

SUBMITTER: Hobson EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4565698 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature