Quand l’éthologie s’intéresse au lien social

RésuméLes soins parentaux en général, maternels en particulier, ont été analysés tantôt en termes d’attachement tantôt en termes d’investissement ou d’effort reproducteur. Les comportements sociaux (parental, conjugal) qui induisent un attachement peuvent aussi être étudiés à la lumière des connaissances que les neurobiologistes ont acquises sur le « circuit de récompense ». Les comportements et attachements sociaux sont renforcés par l’activation de ce circuit nerveux impliquant des structures comme l’aire tegmentale ventrale et le noyau accumbens, et utilisant la dopamine comme neuromédiateur. On pense de plus en plus que les addictions résultent du « détournement » de ces mécanismes qui, naturellement, sont associés au renforcement des comportements dits motivés (manger, boire, s’accoupler, prendre soin de ses enfants...). Les images qu’offre la neuro-imagerie tendent à confirmer que les résultats précédemment enregistrés chez des rongeurs peuvent s’appliquer à notre espèce. L’intérêt de ces recherches est d’asseoir plus fermement les processus à l’origine du lien social, qui trouvent chez nombre d’espèces, dont la nôtre, des ramifications singulières.Ethology and the study of social relationshipsResearch on parental (particularly maternal) care has tended to focus on the notion of attachment or on reproductive effort or investment. However, the social behaviors (i.e. parenting behaviors, marital behaviors) governing attachments can also be studied in the light of recent research on “reward circuits” in neurobiology. Recent studies have shown that social behaviors and attachments are strengthened by the activation of these circuits, which involve structures such as the ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens and use dopamine as a neuromediator. There is increasing evidence to suggest that addictions are a result of these mechanisms (associated with the reinforcement of motivated behavior, such as eating, drinking, mating, or caring for one’s children) being “bypassed”. Neuroimaging has shown that the results of studies on rodents may also apply to humans. Neuroimaging studies provide further evidence of the processes underlying social relationships, which have unique ramifications among many species (including humans)

The State of Animal- Assisted Interventions in France: Is the IAHAIO Model Relevant?

Animal- assisted interventions (AAI) became more generalized in health care settings and their development in Europe is increasing. In France, the practice has grown in the absence of official recognition and regulation. In this context, we aim to identify the main characteristics of the French practice of AAI that can influence the establishment of a local regulation. Second, we aim to question the relevance of the model proposed by the International Association of Human- Animal Interaction Organizations (IAHAIO) distinguishing animal- assisted therapies (AAT) and (AAA) animal- assisted activities from the French practice of AAI. We interviewed 111 French handlers in AAI that work with at least one dog through an online questionnaire about their professional backgrounds and the main features of their practices of AAI (characteristics, beneficiaries, and animals). Our results indicated that AAI are at an important moment of expansion and are currently under autonomous regulation. Practices and handlers’ backgrounds are heterogeneous, as well as training centers in AAI, which reflect the fragmentation of the field. This snapshot of the French practice of AAI underlined that regulations should focus first on a mandatory training, a common standard for each training center, and specific guidelines for each pathology and animal species involved. In addition, the influence of handlers’ backgrounds on the type of AAI they practice must be taken into account in regulations. As animals are central in AAI, regulations should focus on their welfare and the certification of dogs to ensure both their safety and the safety of beneficiaries during sessions. Finally, the initial training in the medico- social field seems to influence the practices. Therefore, the common model distinguishing AAT and AAA could be a basis to regulate AAI in France, as in Italy. Indeed, our results underlined that a first categorization between AAI as a professional specialization or an independent profession could be useful. Still, whatever the type of practices, animal and beneficiary welfare should be at the center of regulations in a One Health perspective. As a result, the French government needs to support AAI development such as in other European countries (Sweden, Austria, and Italy) and should collaborate with handlers, organizations, health care facilities, animal professions, and scientists

Who Is the Good Boy/Girl? Perspectives of French Handlers in AAI on the Selection of Their Dogs

Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) are well implemented in various health care settings; however, there is little data on the characteristics of the mediation dogs and their selection, which can influence the well-being of both the dogs and the beneficiaries. This study aims to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of French mediation dogs and the context in which they are selected to guide future research working on behavioral criteria for mediation dogs and help provide a basis for better selection of dogs in the field. To this end, we interviewed 111 French handlers in AAI, who work with at least one dog, through an online questionnaire about their professional backgrounds, the characteristics of their mediation dogs, and their views of the favorable and prohibitive criteria for a mediation dog. We also examined handlers’ representations of the context of selection of their mediation dog(s). Our data highlighted that (1) mediation dogs do not represent a homogeneous category regarding the age they started to work in AAI, their current ages, their certifications, and their breeds; and that (2) this may be related to the fact that the process of selecting mediation dogs includes the variability of the therapeutic settings as well as the professional backgrounds of the handlers and their personal affinities for a type of dog. There was also variability in handlers’ representations of the favorable and prohibitive criteria for the mediation dogs but with a convergence toward a sociable dog with self-control. The selection of mediation dogs in France requires an individual choice that considers each human–dog team in their relationship and in the context of their work

Sexual preferences for songs in female domestic canaries ( Serinus canaria): can late song exposure, without social reinforcement, influence the effects of early tutoring?

We studied the relative effects of early and late song exposure without social reinforcement on female sexual preferences in the domestic canary ( Serinus canaria). Young female canaries were tape-tutored during their first 4 months of life with songs of either domestic or wild male canaries (DT and WT conditions). When they reached sexual maturity, these females were placed in breeding conditions and some of them were re-exposed to songs. During this “late exposure” the females, according to their experimental group, were either presented with new domestic or wild songs (DL and WL conditions) over 40 days, or were kept without song stimulation (- condition). Afterwards, we assessed the sexual preferences of all the females for domestic or wild songs using the copulation solicitation display assay. The results showed that both DT/– and DT/DL females showed a clear preference for domestic songs. However, whereas WT/WL females preferred wild songs; WT/– females did not show any preference. Finally, DT/WL and WT/DL females failed to show any preference. It appeared that a second song experience at the beginning of their first breeding season, without any social reinforcement, allowed the emergence or stabilisation of early preferences, or interfered with these early preferences depending on whether the song category used during the late exposure phase matched or not the song category used during the early tutoring phase, and also depending on which category was used during the first tutoring phase. This behavioural plasticity could help young adult females to adjust the ‘standard’ they built during infancy to new environmental conditions

Savoirs anciens sur la relation entre la poule et ses poussins. Dialogue d’un littéraire et d’un éthologue.

International audienc

Production et perception de la voix (entre données phylogénétiques et modèles socio-culturels)

Dans cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés à la production et à la perception de la voix. Nous avons utilisé des voix masculines. Les principaux résultats sont : - Il existe des consensus sur le jugement hédoniste de la voix et sur les inférences concernant le locuteur. Les consensus apparaissent quelle que soit la nature linguistique de la production vocale entendue, même à l'écoute d'une simple série de voyelles. - Les auditeurs sont capables d'inférer correctement l'âge des locuteurs mais non la taille car ceux-ci utilisent à tort des indices acoustiques non fiables tel F0. - Il n'y a pas d'effet du genre de l'auditeur sur les jugements : les auditeurs et les auditrices produisent les mêmes jugements. - Il y a un effet du corpus vocal sur les jugements produits à l'écoute des voix, cet effet oppose principalement les voyelles aux autres corpus. - Il apparaît, de manière générale, que les auditeurs/trices utilisent surtout les informations prosodiques de la voix et non les aspects spectraux tels F0 moyen et le timbre de la voix.The present thesis focuses on voice production and perception. We used male voices. Theses are the main results: - Consensus on the voice hedonistic judgment and on the inferences regarding the speaker can be noted. Theses appear whatever the linguistic nature of the vocal production listened, even while listening to a simple series of vowels. - The listeners prove themselves able to infer correctly the speakers' age but not height, as they mistakenly use non-reliable acoustic indications such as pitch. - There is no gender effect on the judgments : both male and female listeners seem to produce the same judgments. - A vocal corpus effect on the judgments produced while listening to voices can be observed, principally opposing the vowels to the other corpora. -It generally turns out that male and female speakers use mainly voice prosodic information and not the spectral aspects such as pitch and the voice tone.NANTERRE-BU PARIS10 (920502102) / SudocSudocFranceF