Boldness traits, not dominance, predict exploratory flight range and homing behaviour in homing pigeons

This study investigated whether consistent individual differences in behaviour (particularly exploratory tendency and object neophilia) were associated with the tendency to explore in free-ranging scenarios. This was tested in homing pigeons. The results showed that birds that were more likely to explore in the loft were also more likely to explore the local area during self-driven flights. When birds were released from a fixed release points, those which had explored less took more tortuous and longer routes back to the loft. This demonstrates the cost associated with lack of exploratory behaviour, and also links traits measured in laboratory scenarios to behaviour in free-ranging animals

Wise or mad crowds? The cognitive mechanisms underlying information cascades

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.Whether getting vaccinated, buying stocks, or crossing streets, people rarely make decisions alone. Rather, multiple people decide sequentially, setting the stage for information cascades whereby early-deciding individuals can influence others’ choices. To understand how information cascades through social systems, it is essential to capture the dynamics of the decision-making process. We introduce the social drift–diffusion model to capture these dynamics. We tested our model using a sequential choice task. The model was able to recover the dynamics of the social decision-making process, accurately capturing how individuals integrate personal and social information dynamically over time and when their decisions were timed. Our results show the importance of the interrelationships between accuracy, confidence, and response time in shaping the quality of information cascades. The model reveals the importance of capturing the dynamics of decision processes to understand how information cascades in social systems, paving the way for applications in other social systems.German Research Foundation, grant number: KU 3369/1-1Germany’s Excellence Strategy—EXC 2002/1 “Science of Intelligence”—project number 39052313

South Carolina Wildlife, January-February 1989

The South Carolina Wildlife Magazines are published by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources who are dedicated to educating citizens on the value, conservation, protection, and restoration of South Carolina's wildlife and natural resources. These magazines showcase the state’s natural resources and outdoor recreation opportunities by including articles and images of conservation, reflections and tales, field notes, recipes, and more. This issue covers Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall

Dominance hierarchy

Dominanční hierarchie se vyvinula jako adaptace sociálně žijících živočichů na podmínky prostředí. Postavení v dominanční hierarchii výrazně ovlivňuje život a chování člověka i v dnešních moderních evropských a amerických společnostech. Zde 1) stručně vysvětlíme principy a evoluční pozadí dominanční hierarchie z úhlu pohledu behaviorálních věd, 2) popíšeme rysy dominanční hierarchie u člověka, a 3) uvedeme příklady toho, co určuje hierarchické postavení jedince u člověka, jak toto postavení ovlivňuje život jedince a jak se projevuje v chování.Struktura dominanční hierarchie, ustavení hierarchického postavení (rank) a omezení daná tímto postavením jsou předvídatelná. Postavení ovlivňuje život jedince v mnoha směrech (reprodukce, komunikace, zdraví, tok informací, vzorce chování). Pokud chceme plně porozumět chování člověka, jeho rozhodnutím a pocitům, musíme brát v úvahu existence dominanční hierarchie mezi jedinci a mezi skupinami jedinců.Dominance hierarchy has evolved as an adaptation of socially living beings to environmental surroundings. Even today, the evolutionary history of humans influences modern people of Euro-American societies. Here we 1) briefly explain the function and evolutionary background of dominance hierarchy in terms of behavioral sciences, 2) characterize features of dominance hierarchy in humans, and 3) give examples of how the dominance rank is established in humans, how it affects the life of an individual, and is manifested in human behavior.Hierarchical structure, rank establishment and limitations given by the rank are predictable. Rank limits the individual in many ways (such as reproduction, communication, health, stress and behavioral patterns). Specialists should bear in mind the existence of social hierarchy between individuals, and between groups of individuals, to fully understand human behavior, decisions and feelings

Misinformed leaders lose influence over pigeon flocks

In animal groups where certain individuals have disproportionate influence over collective decisions, the whole group's performance may suffer if these individuals possess inaccurate information. Whether in such situations leaders can be replaced in their roles by better-informed group mates represents an important question in understanding the adaptive consequences of collective decision-making. Here, we use a clock-shifting procedure to predictably manipulate the directional error in navigational information possessed by established leaders within hierarchically structured flocks of homing pigeons (Columba livia). We demonstrate that in the majority of cases when leaders hold inaccurate information they lose their influence over the flock. In these cases, inaccurate information is filtered out through the rearrangement of hierarchical positions, preventing errors by former leaders from propagating down the hierarchy. Our study demonstrates that flexible decision-making structures can be valuable in situations where 'bad' information is introduced by otherwise influential individuals

Centaur 1947

Digitised by the Faculty of the Veterinary Scienc

Florida Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, Number 2

THE ROUTE OF JUAN PARDO’S EXPLORATIONS IN THE INTERIOR SOUTHEAST, 1566-1568 Chester B. DePratter, Charles M. Hudson, and Marvin T. Smith T. GILBERT PEARSON: YOUNG ORNITHOLOGIST IN FLORIDA Oliver H. OrrHILLSBOROUGH COUNTY (1850): A COMMUNITY IN THE SOUTH FLORIDA FLATWOODS John Solomon Otto NOTES AND DOCUMENTS: NEW LIGHT ON GÁLVEZ’S FIRST ATTEMPT TO ATTACK PENSACOLA Everett C. Wilkie, Jr. BOOK REVIEWS BOOK NOTES HISTORY NEWSANNUAL MEETIN