2014 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Evolutionary origins of social justice: inequity and pro-social tendencies in domestic dogs
| Project/Area Number |
26380981
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
ROMERO Teresa 東京大学, 総合文化研究科, 特任研究員 (50723615)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
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| Keywords | Inequity / Pro-social behavior / fairness / oxytocin / empathy / domestic dog / wolf / carnivores |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The purpose of this project is to investigate the evolutionary origins of fairness by examining inequity aversion reactions and prosocial tendencies in dogs and other carnivore species.
During the first fiscal year I have run a first set of experiments in order to explore individual differences in dogs’ reactions to unfairness and the role of oxytocin (OT) in those reactions. Data collection for 20 dogs took 9 months, and data codification 3. I am currently analyzing the data and I will write the manuscript in the next coming months. I believe that these findings will resonate especially given the current surge of interest in the biological base of prosocial behavior, cooperation, fairness, and morality.
Building on my previous successful research (Romero et al. PNAS 2014 ; PLOS ONE 2013), I have investigated behaviors known to promote prosocial and cooperative associations in carnivores as a first step to understand the relationship between prosocial tendencies and inequity aversion. An experiment with 18 dogs showed that after OT nasal intake dogs initiated play more often, and played for longer periods of time than after saline administration, suggesting that OT enhances dogs’ play motivation. In the published paper (C&IB in press) we discuss the potential therapeutic use of OT treating social deficits in dogs. Also, using an observational approach, we showed for the first time that yawn contagion in wolves is mediated by social closeness, suggesting that the mechanism underlying contagious yawning relates to the capacity for empathy also in carnivores (PLOS ONE 2014)
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
According to the research plan of the application, the first fiscal year would be used to investigate the relationship between pro-social and inequity by evaluating (1) to what extent prosocial tendencies are affected by the degree of inequity in the distribution of rewards, and (2) how social and individual factors modulate this effect. With a slight modification on the initial protocol, I was able not only to test these two objectives, but also to examine the OT mediation in these responses, an objective that was aimed for the last year of the grant.
Additionally, I took advantage of the opportunity to observed a captive group of wolves and examined behaviors known to facilitate and promote cooperative interactions.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Following the research plan, during the second year of the project the results of the first set of experiments will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences. Also, a second set of experiments to test how effort and reward are interrelated in the subject’s perception of inequity will be implemented. The first few months will be used to try several possible experimental paradigms in a small group of dogs in order to check that the procedure could be easily performed by the subjects. Once the protocol is set, 18 to 20 dogs will be trained and tested in the different conditions. A unique feature of this set of experiments will be the co-recording of behavioral and physiological data, which will help to distinguish between sensibility to inequity and reactivity to inequity. All sessions will be videotaped and an observer naive to the purpose of the study (i.e. research assistant) will code subjects’ reactions, after which the data will be analyzed.
Additionally, based on the positive results and the national and international media attention that the study on prosocial behaviors in wolves received (e.g. Romero, Nextcom 2015), I intend to explore several options to investigate similar behaviors in other carnivore species. This will also give me the opportunity to contact and collaborate with national and foreigner researchers who are currently working with captive and wild carnivore populations.
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| Causes of Carryover |
For the first set of experiments, the behavior of the dog subjects needed to be video-recorded for subsequent analysis. From past experiences, regular camcorders did not keep our videos blur-free. Thus the purchase of a high quality camcorder with low light setting was planned. However, a change in the location of the experimental room (which was provided by the J.G.D.A. Yokohama dog center) and a significant improvement in the room lighting made unnecessary the purchase of these camcorders with low light settings. Instead, we could successfully use regular camcorders.
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| Expenditure Plan for Carryover Budget |
I plan to add the transferred amount to my travel budget for next fiscal year. Apart from the already planned national and international conferences (e.g. International Society for Applied Ethology, Sep. 2015), I plan to contact international renowned researchers working on inequity aversion (the main focus of this project) in order to develop collaborative projects with them. As an example, Dr. Sarah Brosnan (Georgia State University, USA) has already responded positively to the idea of a possible collaboration in which the behavior of primates (i.e. her research) and carnivores (my own research) will be compared. To consolidate this idea it would be necessary to meet at least once.
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| Remarks |
We are currently working on a new webpage which will include a direct reference to this project and its funding.
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