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REVIEW article
Front. Behav. Neurosci.
Sec. Individual and Social Behaviors
Volume 18 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1451283
This article is part of the Research Topic Adapting the Methodology of Developmental Comparative Anatomy to the Study of Animal Behavior View all 3 articles
Oppositions, joints, and targets: The attractors that are the glue of social interactions
Provisionally accepted- University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada
Social interactions are often analyzed by scoring segments of predefined behavior and then statistically assessing numerical and sequential patterns to identify the structure of the encounters. However, this approach can miss the dynamics of the animals' relationship over the course of the encounter, one that often involves invariant bonds, say a nose-to-nose orientation, with many different movements performed by both partners acting to counteract each other's attempts to break or maintain the relationship. Moreover, these invariant bonds can switch from one configuration to another during an interaction, leading from one stable configuration to another. It is this stepwise sequence of configurational stabilities that lead to functional outcomes, such as mating, aggression, or predation. By focusing on the sequence of invariant relational configurations, the deep structure of interactions can be discerned. This deep structure can then be used to differentiate between compensatory movements, no matter how seemingly stereotyped they may appear, from movement patterns which are restricted to a particular form when more than one option is available. A dynamic perspective requires suitable tools for analysis, and such tools are highlighted as needed in describing particular interactions.
Keywords: Eshkol Wachmann movement notation, DeepLabCut, Australian magpies, Cape barren geese, Beluga whales, giant Madagascar hissing cockroaches, invariance, Homeostasis
Received: 18 Jun 2024; Accepted: 14 Aug 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Ham, Pellis and Pellis. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Sergio M. Pellis, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada
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