scholarly journals Begging behavior as an honest signal of need and parent–offspring association during the postfledging dependency period

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (13) ◽  
pp. 7497-7508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayla L. Davis ◽  
Sarah M. Karpanty ◽  
Jeffrey A. Spendelow ◽  
Jonathan B. Cohen ◽  
Melissa A. Althouse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honest Signal ◽  
Begging Behavior

Duchenne Smiles as Honest Signals of Chronic Positive Mood

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162095983
Author(s):  
Kennon M. Sheldon ◽  
Mike Corcoran ◽  
Melanie Sheldon
Keyword(s):  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Positive Mood ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Happy People ◽  
Honest Signals ◽  
Neutral Mood ◽  
Duchenne Smiles ◽  
Positivity Offset ◽  
Behavioral Influences ◽  
Better Than

Chronic positive mood (CPM) has been shown to confer a wide variety of social, functional, and health benefits. Some researchers have argued that humans evolved to feel CPM, which explains why most people report better than neutral mood (the “positivity offset bias”) and why particularly happy people have particularly good outcomes. Here, we argue that the Duchenne smile evolved as an honest signal of high levels of CPM, alerting others to the psychological fitness of the smiler. Duchenne smiles are honest because they express felt positive emotion, making it difficult for unhappy people to produce them. Duchenne smiles enable happy people to signal and cooperate with one another, boosting their advantages. In our literature review, we found (a) that not all Duchenne smiles are “honest,” although producing them in the absence of positive emotion is difficult and often detectable, and (b) that the ability to produce and recognize Duchenne smiles may vary somewhat by a person’s cultural origin. In the final section of the article, we consider behavioral influences on CPM, reviewing research showing that engaging in eudaimonic activity reliably produces CPM, as posited by the eudaimonic-activity model. This research suggests that frequent Duchenne smiling may ultimately signal eudaimonic personality as well as CPM.

scholarly journals Chest beats as an honest signal of body size in male mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei)

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Wright ◽  
Sven Grawunder ◽  
Eric Ndayishimiye ◽  
Jordi Galbany ◽  
Shannon C. McFarlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Competitive Ability ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Sexual Competition ◽  
Mountain Gorillas ◽  
Temporal Characteristics ◽  
Gorilla Beringei Beringei ◽  
Vocal Signals

AbstractAcoustic signals that reliably indicate body size, which usually determines competitive ability, are of particular interest for understanding how animals assess rivals and choose mates. Whereas body size tends to be negatively associated with formant dispersion in animal vocalizations, non-vocal signals have received little attention. Among the most emblematic sounds in the animal kingdom is the chest beat of gorillas, a non-vocal signal that is thought to be important in intra and inter-sexual competition, yet it is unclear whether it reliably indicates body size. We examined the relationship among body size (back breadth), peak frequency, and three temporal characteristics of the chest beat: duration, number of beats and beat rate from sound recordings of wild adult male mountain gorillas. Using linear mixed models, we found that larger males had significantly lower peak frequencies than smaller ones, but we found no consistent relationship between body size and the temporal characteristics measured. Taken together with earlier findings of positive correlations among male body size, dominance rank and reproductive success, we conclude that the gorilla chest beat is an honest signal of competitive ability. These results emphasize the potential of non-vocal signals to convey important information in mammal communication.

scholarly journals Mauritian coloured nectar no longer a mystery: a visual signal for lizard pollinators

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis M Hansen ◽  
Karin Beer ◽  
Christine B Müller
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Visual Signal ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Endemic Plant ◽  
Floral Trait ◽  
Flower Visitation ◽  
Artificial Flowers ◽  
Endemic Plant Species

Most floral nectars are clear as water, and the enigmatic coloured nectar in three endemic plant species in Mauritius has puzzled scientists studying it. One hypothesis about the possible ecological function of coloured nectar is that it serves as a visual signal for pollinators. Recent studies have shown that at least two of the three Mauritian plant species with coloured nectar are visited and pollinated by endemic Phelsuma geckos. We here provide experimental evidence for the visual signal hypothesis by showing that Phelsuma ornata geckos prefer coloured over clear nectar in artificial flowers. In flowering plants, coloured nectar could additionally function as an honest signal that allows pollinators to assert the presence and judge the size of a reward prior to flower visitation, and to adjust their behaviour accordingly, leading to increased pollinator efficiency. Our study provides a first step in understanding this rare and intriguing floral trait.

Effect of hypoxia on opercular displays: evidence for an honest signal?

2005 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark V. Abrahams ◽  
Tonia L. Robb ◽  
James F. Hare
Keyword(s):  
Honest Signal

Weakfish sonic muscle: influence of size, temperature and season

2002 ◽  
Vol 205 (15) ◽  
pp. 2183-2188 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Connaughton ◽  
M. L. Fine ◽  
M. H. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Natural Frequency ◽  
Pulse Duration ◽  
Dominant Frequency ◽  
Forced Response ◽  
Acoustic Energy ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Muscle Twitch ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Fish Size ◽  
Sonic Muscle

SUMMARYThe influence of temperature, size and season on the sounds produced by the sonic muscles of the weakfish Cynoscion regalis are categorized and used to formulate a hypothesis about the mechanism of sound generation by the sonic muscle and swimbladder. Sounds produced by male weakfish occur at the time and location of spawning and have been observed in courtship in captivity. Each call includes a series of 6-10 sound pulses, and each pulse expresses a damped, 2-3 cycle acoustic waveform generated by single simultaneous twitches of the bilateral sonic muscles. The sonic muscles triple in mass during the spawning season, and this hypertrophy is initiated by rising testosterone levels that trigger increases in myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic cross-sectional area of sonic muscle fibers. In response to increasing temperature, sound pressure level (SPL), dominant frequency and repetition rate increase, and pulse duration decreases. Likewise, SPL and pulse duration increase and dominant frequency decreases with fish size. Changes in acoustic parameters with fish size suggest the possibility that drumming sounds act as an `honest' signal of male fitness during courtship. These parameters also correlate with seasonally increasing sonic muscle mass. We hypothesize that sonic muscle twitch duration rather than the resonant frequency of the swimbladder determines dominant frequency. The brief (3.5 ms), rapidly decaying acoustic pulses reflect a low-Q, broadly tuned resonator, suggesting that dominant frequency is determined by the forced response of the swimbladder to sonic muscle contractions. The changing dominant frequency with temperature in fish of the same size further suggests that frequency is not determined by the natural frequency of the bladder because temperature is unlikely to affect resonance. Finally, dominant frequency correlates with pulse duration (reflecting muscle twitch duration),and the inverse of the period of the second cycle of acoustic energy approximates the recorded frequency. This paper demonstrates for the first time that the dominant frequency of a fish sound produced by a single muscle twitch is apparently determined by the velocity of the muscle twitch rather than the natural frequency of the swimbladder.

scholarly journals Reputational and cooperative benefits of third-party compensation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Indrajeet Patil ◽  
Nathan Dhaliwal ◽  
Fiery Andrews Cushman
Keyword(s):  
Social Norm ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Extensive Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Comprehensive Examination ◽  
Social Partners

Sometimes people intervene in others’ conflicts—so called “third-party responding”. In some cases, third parties punish perpetrators; in others, they aid victims. Across 22 studies (N > 20,000), we provide a comprehensive examination of the consequences of this choice between punishment and compensation. What do people infer from, and how do they respond to, the choice of punishment versus compensation? We find that compensating victims leads to greater reputational and cooperative benefits than punishing perpetrators. In fact, even people who themselves prefer to punish still prefer social partners who compensate. We also find that the signal that is sent via third-party compensating may be an honest signal of trustworthiness. Furthermore, we find that people accurately anticipate that observers would prefer them to compensate victims than to punish perpetrators and that participants personal decisions about whether to compensate or punish is based in part on the belief that the social norm is to compensate. These findings provide an extensive analysis of the causes and consequences of third-party responding to moral violations.

scholarly journals Dynamically Engaged Smiling Predicts Cooperation Above and Beyond Average Smiling Levels

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Francois Danvers ◽  
Michelle N. Shiota
Keyword(s):  
Prisoner's Dilemma ◽  
Prisoner’S Dilemma ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Dyadic Data ◽  
Regressive Model ◽  
Auto Regressive ◽  
Auto Regressive Model

Smiling has been conceptualized as a signal of cooperative intent, yet smiles are easy to fake. We suggest that contextually appropriate, dynamically engaged smiling imposes an attentional cost, thereby making engaged smiling a plausible “honest signal” of cooperative intent. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed data from 123 pairs of same-sex strangers having “getting-to-know-you” conversations who subsequently played a one-shot prisoner’s dilemma together. We calculated the strength of engagement in smiling using a cross-lagged auto-regressive model for dyadic data. We found that when an individual’s partner (the signaler) tended to smile in a more responsive way, that individual (the receiver) was more likely to cooperate. Conversely, when a signaler tended to smile in a less responsive way, the receiver was less likely to cooperate. These effects were present over-and-above the effects of average levels of smiling and self-reported liking, which also predicted likelihood of cooperation. However, dynamically engaged smiling did not predict cooperation on the part of the signaler, suggesting that receivers weight the importance of engagement more highly than they should, or even that engaged smiling might be a manipulative display. These results illustrate how conversational dynamics can influence evolutionary signaling.

Asymmetry of tymbal action and structure in a cicada: a possible role in the production of complex songs

1998 ◽  
Vol 201 (5) ◽  
pp. 717-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
P J Fonseca ◽  
H-C Bennet Clark
Keyword(s):  
Peak Power ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Sound Radiation ◽  
Abdominal Sternite ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Morphological Asymmetry ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
The Right ◽  
Sound Pulses

The type 1 echeme of the song of the small European cicada Tympanistalna gastrica consists of a pair of loud IN-OUT pulses followed by a train of soft IN-OUT pulses. In all nine insects investigated, the right and left tymbals buckled inwards and outwards alternately, but the echeme started with the buckling of the right tymbal. Both the inward and the outward buckling movements produced single discrete sound pulses. <P> The loud IN pulses were produced with the tymbal tensor muscle relaxed. They were approximately 10 dB louder than the loud OUT pulses and than the soft IN and OUT pulses. The period between the right loud IN and OUT pulses (3.75+/-0.31 ms) (mean +/- s.d.) was significantly shorter than between the left loud IN and OUT pulses (4.09+/-0.28 ms). The period between the loud IN and OUT pulses was significantly shorter than the period between the soft IN and OUT pulses, which was similar on both sides (mean for the right tymbal 5.54+/-0.20 ms, mean for the left tymbal 5.30+/-0.51 ms). <P> Measured at the tymbal, the power spectrum of the right loud IN pulses showed major components between 4 and 8 kHz as well as around 11.7 kHz. That of the left loud IN pulse had approximately 10 dB less power at 4 kHz and similar power at 7-8 kHz, with a further louder peak at around 10.8 kHz. The loud OUT pulses and all subsequent IN and OUT soft pulses showed very little power at 4 and 8 kHz, but all showed a spectral peak at approximately 13 kHz. The soft OUT pulses had similar pulse envelopes to the preceding IN pulses, which they closely mirrored. <P> Measured at the fourth abdominal sternite, only the right loud IN pulse produced peak power at 4 kHz. The transfer function between the tymbal sound and that at sternite 4 was maximal at 4 kHz for the right loud IN pulse and showed a peak at this frequency for both loud and soft IN and OUT pulses. The 4 kHz components of all pulses, and particularly that of the right loud IN pulse, which has the loudest 4 kHz component, excited sympathetic sound radiation from the abdominal sternite region. <P> Measured at the tympanal opercula, both loud IN pulses produced peaks at 7-8 kHz of similar power. The transfer functions between the tymbal sound and that at the tympanal opercula showed peaks of power at this frequency range for both loud and soft IN and OUT pulses, suggesting that this component excites sympathetic radiation via the tympana. <P> Components of the sound pulses produced by one tymbal are also transmitted via the contralateral tymbal. The pulses transmitted during both loud IN pulses had ragged envelopes, but the soft IN pulses and all OUT pulses were transmitted as clean coherent pulses with slow build-up and slow decay, suggesting that the ipsilateral tymbal excited a sympathetic resonance in the contralateral one. <P> The tymbals of T. gastrica have two unusual features. At the dorsal end of rib 2, there is a horizontal bar that extends anteriorly over rib 3 and posteriorly over rib 1 to the dorsal end of the tymbal plate. This bar appears to couple the three ribs so that they buckle in unison. The resilin sheet at the ventral ends of ribs 1, 2 and 3 was significantly wider, dorso-ventrally, in the right tymbal than in the left in eight insects that were measured (mean right-to-left ratio, 1.37). <P> The asymmetry between the right and left loud IN pulses correlates with the morphological asymmetry of the tymbals. The complexities of the song in T. gastrica appear to result from the preferential excitation of sound radiation from the abdomen surface or via the tympana by components of the distinct pulses produced by the asymmetrical tymbals and from the tymbals themselves. <P> Moribund or fatigued insects were successively unable to produce the right loud pulse and then the left loud pulse. The complex song may in this way act as an honest signal of male fitness.

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