2015 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 aversion / Pro-social behavior / Fairness / Oxytocin / Empathy / Domestic dog / Cooperation |
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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 species.
During the second fiscal year I have analyzed the data from the first set of experiments exploring whether the neuropeptide oxytocin mediates responses to inequitable outcomes in domestic dogs. The results of these experiments confirmed the occurrence of inequity aversion in dogs. They also show previous undescribed effects of oxytocin on animals’ responses to inequity aversion. In particular, after oxytocin intake, dogs were less sensitive to the inequitable distribution of reward, performing the task for longer than when administered with placebo. A detailed analysis of dogs’ behavioral reactions revealed that oxytocin modulates responses to inequity by potentially affecting decision-making processes, but not by increasing affiliation. The manuscript describing these findings has been submitted for publication at the journal Hormones and Behavior and it is currently under review.
Additionally, I have run the second set of experiments designed to examine the interconnection between inequity aversion and prosocial tendencies in dogs. A total of 18 dogs have completed all the experimental conditions and their behavior, videotaped during the test sessions, has been coded by two independent observers blind to the hypothesis of the experiments. I am currently analyzing the data and will write the manuscript to submit it to an international peer-review journal in the coming months.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
According to the research plan of the application, the first and second fiscal years would be used to investigate the relationship between inequity aversion and pro-social behaviors, as well as factors affecting them. Although I have been able to successfully conduct the first two sets of experiments, I could not complete the third one in which the interconnection of effort and reward quality in inequity aversion and prosocial responding should have been examined. The reason is that the management protocols at the J.G.D.A. Yokohama Dog Center, where the experiments have been conducted previously, have changed. As a consequence, research studies as the one described in this application are now very difficult to conduct in that facility. As an alternative to the initial plan, I am currently collecting data in collaboration with researchers from Azabu University on the development of prosocial tendencies in dogs at a different facility. This study will shed light on the physiological and behavioral changes during early life stages, which will help us to understand the extent to which the suggested cognitive constrains are actually in play for the expression of prosocial and inequity aversion responses.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
For this fiscal year, the analyses of the data of the second set of experiments will be finished and the results will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals, as well as presented at national and international conferences (i.e. International Conference of Psychology, July 2016, Japan; Human and Animal Emotions Workshop, May 2016, Italy). Also, I plan to finish the collection of physiological and behavioral data on a new set of experiments designed to examime the development of prosocial behaviors in puppies. A total of 16 puppies will undergo experimental and a control conditions. Their behavioral responses will be videotaped and an observer blind to the hypothesis of the study (i.e. research assistant) will code the videos. Additionally, urinary cortisol levels collected during the experimental and control sessions, will be used to examine the developmental changes in endocrinological responses associated to prosocial behaviors.
Finally, the collaboration with Dr. Sarah Brosnan from Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA, USA) will move forward to the next step. During this year, we will meet twice in order to discuss the design of a comparative study on inequity aversion involving primates and carnivores. During our respective visits, we plan to run preliminary tests in order to confirm that the discussed protocols are feasible with the study species.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The money transferred from the previous fiscal year to this one was assigned to hire a research assistant. This research assistant, naive to the hypothesis of the study, would have coded the behavioral data video-recorded during the third set of experiments. However, due to changes in the management protocols at J.G.D.A. Yokohama dog facility, where the study was conducted, the data collection of the third set of experiments could not be finished last year. Therefore, there was no need to hire a research assistant.
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| Expenditure Plan for Carryover Budget |
The money will be used as initially planned. That is, to hire a research assistant that will code the behavioral data from the videos. The data collection will be completed in the next few months, after which a research assistant will be hired.
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| Remarks |
The above URL contains a direct reference to this project and its funding. It will be updated with news from research conferences and publications related with the present project.
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[Presentation] Inhaled oxytocin promotes social play in dogs2015
Author(s)
Romero, T., Nagasawa, M., Mogi, K. Hasegawa, T., Kikusui, T.
Organizer
49th Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology
Place of Presentation
Hokkaido University (Sapporo, Hokkaido)
Year and Date
2015-09-14 – 2015-09-17
Int'l Joint Research
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