Audio file

Title: Alan Lomax and Michael Chance discuss Chance's "Social Groups of Monkeys, Apes, and Men"
Date recorded: 1980
Contributor(s): Contributor: Chance, Michael; Contributor: Lomax, Alan
Genre: interview/commentary

Subject(s): Evolutionary Biology; Social Groups of Monkeys, Apes and Men (Book); Primates; Goodal, Jane

Note: Difficulties of interpretation of animal behavior due to use of existing conventions in describing function and imaginary "evolutionary" explanations. Such interpretations are useless. Definition of rank order in primates. Subordinate animals constantly aware of special position of more dominant ones (not necessarily visa versa). Subordinate animals typically pay attention to ones closest in rank. Centric and a-centric organization in primate groups. Some primates pay attention to dominant animal, others to environment. Alan Lomax: We set out to work on leadership in dance. Lots of data on figures that are outstanding - prominent - in dance groups. Orientation, differential activity are important. An important individual can be one that moves less than the others in the troupe. Michael Chance: Dominant macaques appear more relaxed. Other animals look at him. He looks at environment - this is centric organization. In a-centric species, each individual is clear about escape routes. Among pattus monkeys the male stays 300 yards away from females on an eminence (bush or rock) from which he jumps to lure predators (typically leopards) away from females. In both a-centric and centric societies (baboon or macaques), the object is not to be picked off by predators Lomax: Any environmental distribution of those two types? Michael Chance: No data on that. In agonistic societies, forms of attention are concentrated on defense-escape strategies. Aggressive aspect: tension between the attraction of animals to each other for protection and sex and the danger of attack by dominant males. Survival drives: Social investigation, aggression, mating, and pathways of response. Evolutionary pressure of constant need to avoid agonistic contact with dominant animal gives rise to cut-off devices to reduce arousal (looking away). Rats have this, mice do not. In hedonic societies, such as those of chimpanzees, although rank order exists, animals do not typically behave agonistically, but split up in extremely flexible groups. They exhibit affection (hugs, cries) when they meet each other and go off in pairs, arm in arm. Hedonic social traits are: display and body contact. Display is not correlated with aggression. Hedonic societies are characterized by body contact of all sorts (grooming, sitting close). Agonistic "looking at" must be "cut off"; looking around is associated with being close. Some individuals are better in getting attention than others. Social anthropologist Thomas Pitcairn coined word "advertence" (related to advertising) for collecting the attention of a group (can be negative, in humans). Mention of film by Jane Goodall on chimpanzee body language. (Her other work in general is criticized because she provided bunches of bananas, a man-made artifact, such as would not have naturally occurred). More than half the chimps' time is devoted to mutual grooming and support.

Location:

Archive ID: T3235

Original format: Reel to Reel
Tape number: T3235
Track: 1

Part of: Chance/Lomax, 1980

About the session: Alan Lomax and Michael Chance discuss Chance's "Social Groups of Monkeys, Apes, and Men"

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