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Social behavior and knowledge of social "scripts" among mentally retarded adults.

Mentally retarded individuals' script-based knowledge and performance of routine events was explored. Twenty mentally retarded adults and 20 nonretarded preschoolers were asked to sequence photographs of events depicted in familiar and novel contexts. Retarded individuals were better able to sequence events depicted in familiar contexts than in novel contexts, suggesting deficits in generalizing social knowledge. Preschoolers performed above chance levels in the familiar context only. Observations of retarded individuals during naturally occurring events indicated that actual social behavior was unrelated to event knowledge.

Activities of Daily Living↗

[Sociological aspects of modification of social behavior. Spontaneous action, social stress and individual life style].

To interest people in health behavior there are two different ways. First of all the way using the methods of mass communication or as some call it: "social marketing". But this raises the problems of defining the population that should be referred to and to overcome the resistance of social structure. So generally there are only few chances in succeeding. The other way would be that those people engaged in realizing preventive medicine would try to cooperate with existing groups, organizations or institutions. This seems to be far more successful. To reduce the number of "arbeitsbedingte Krankheiten" (sickness that mainly but not only depends on working conditions) special opportunities are offered by industrial firms.

Adult↗

Behavioral responses to social stress in noradrenaline transporter knockout mice: effects on social behavior and depression.

Noradrenaline has been implicated in the pathogenesis of depression and the noradrenaline transporter (NET) is a target for some antidepressants. Therefore, mice with disrupted NET gene expression (NET-KO) appear especially suitable for studying this behavioral disorder. We have examined the interaction between social stress (an etiological factor of depression) and the resulting depressive behaviors in NET-KO mice. Social stress was induced by daily defeats from larger resident mice while depression was assessed by the behavioral despair model. Animals subjected to repeated social stress showed reduced weight gain and a gradual shift from offensive to defensive behaviors. The latter may be considered a situation-specific depressive-like behavior. NET gene disruption did not prevent these changes that developed in a homotypic situation (i.e., during the repeated application of the same stressor). In contrast, stressed NET-KO mice showed more struggling in the behavioral despair model than stressed wild type (WT) animals. Thus, NET gene disruption inhibited depression-like behavior in chronically stressed animals tested in a situation heterotypic to the original cause of chronic stress. We suggest that the behavioral effects of NET gene disruption were overruled by experience and learning in the homotypic situation but manifested fully in the heterotypic situation. Tentatively, our data suggest that enhanced noradrenergic function does not prevent situation-specific social learning but impedes the generalization of depression to heterotypic circumstances.

Aggression↗

Effects of early exposure to ventral gland odor on physical and behavioral development and adult social behavior in Mongolian gerbils.

Comparisons were made between male and female gerbils reared by ventral gland-excised and intact patents. Repeated measurements before and after puberty failed to reveal an effect of gland odor exposure on body weight, ventral gland size, open-field defecation, and time of vaginal opening. Exposed animals were more attracted than nonexposed animals to a strange male's gland odor during preference tests involving "marked" and "unmarked" paper strips. Opposite-sex pairs of exposed animals engaged in more social behavior than did nonexposed pairs, but there was no difference in fighting frequency or, during extended cohabiitation, in fecundity. While early exposure to gland odor apparently does not affect physical maturation, it may enhance later responsiveness to stimuli (gland odors) that are useful in locating conspecifics and that facilitate social interactions between previously unacquainted gerbils.

Age Factors↗

Prediction of preschool social behavior from social-emotional development at one year.

In an attempt to directly investigate later consequences of the early mother-infant relationship, several measures of social-emotional and cognitive-motivational development at 12 months of age were correlated with two measures of preschool adjustment for 26 children. Results indicated that both of our measures of early social functioning were related to more optimal adjustment in a peer-setting at three-and-a-half years of age. Taken together, the results of the study provide empirical support for the widely held, but seldom tested, hypothesis that the quality of the early mother-infant tie has important consequences for the child's subsequent development in most areas.

Attention↗

Issues in the genetics of social behavior: revisited.

Though social behavior has not been overlooked by behavior geneticists, the number of studies is small when compared to those on individual traits. One reason for the neglect may be the difficulty of making connections between genes and social behaviors, which by definition involve the interaction of two or more organisms. Fuller and Hahn (1976) addressed this issue and described three means of establishing social groups that would facilitate genetic analysis. We survey the literature on agonistic behavior in mice from 1976 through 1994 and describe interesting uses of those three methods. One of those methods (the standard tester design) often employs a "noninteractive" social partner. We present data showing that the standard tester design may be more valuable when using an evocative and interactive standard tester.

Aggression↗

Association of genetic differences in social behavior and cellular immune responsiveness: effects of social experience.

We have recently demonstrated that selective breeding of ICR mice for differences in social behavior (i.e., high versus low levels of social isolation-induced aggression) are related to increased susceptibility to tumor development and reduced levels of natural killer (NK) cell activity. In the present investigation, we sought to extend examination of the line differences in immune status to T and B cell responsiveness. In addition, we also sought to determine if social experience contributes to line differences in immune responsiveness. A cosibial design was used to examine whether single vs group housing modified the magnitude of line differences in immune status. Compared to aggressive (NC900) mice, nonaggressive (NC100) mice had significantly lower T cell proliferative responses to concanavalin A, lower IL-2 and gamma-interferon production, as well as significantly lower NK activity. Of the various measures of cellular immune responsiveness, housing condition was found to have a significant effect only on NK activity. No significant line by housing interactions were found for any of the immune measures tested. The present data demonstrate that the genetic selection for differences in social behavior is associated with line differences in several parameters of cellular immune responsiveness. These mouse lines provide a valuable research model to examine the association between selection for genetic differences in social behavior and differences in immune responsiveness.

Animals↗

Opiate effects on social behavior of juvenile dogs as a function of social deprivation.

The relationship between opioids and social behavior was examined by administering morphine (an opioid agonist) and naloxone (an opioid antagonist) to juvenile dogs and measuring various social behaviors (e.g., tail wagging) in a large room. Drugs were administered following social deprivation and nondeprivation. It was hypothesized that morphine would ease effects of social deprivation while naloxone would result in behavior typical of untreated socially-deprived dogs. Social deprivation (24 hr) resulted in more contact with the experimenter and increased tail wagging relative to nondeprivation. Morphine (0.25 mg/kg) resulted in more contacts with the experimenter and entrances into the "experimenter's area" relative to vehicle injections. Further, morphine decreased and naloxone increased tail wagging in the dog's area and there was a significant social condition X drug interaction for that measure. Naloxone (0.25 mg/kg) increased wagging following nondeprivation while morphine decreased wagging following deprivation. These data support the hypotheses that social deprivation can increase social behaviors, and that social behavior is regulated by activity in brain opioid systems.

Animals↗

Issues in the genetics of social behavior.

The genetics of social behavior presents special difficulties because the phenotype is the product of an interaction between two or more individuals. Social interactions are of two kinds: (1) cooperative, in which the probabilities of transmission of the genes of all participants are similarly affected by the outcome, and (2) agonistic, in which the probabilities for the participants are affected in opposite directions. The latter are of particular interest for evolutionary theory. Three major types of designs for measuring social behavior in genetic experiments are available: (1) homogeneous sets, (2) standard tester, and (3) tester panel representing a reference population. The advantages and limitations of each method are discussed. Important areas for future development include the relationship of genetic and experiential factors in early life to social status as an adult and the extension of the genetic analysis of social behavior to natural populations.

Animals↗

"Anxiolytic" and "anxiogenic" benzodiazepines and beta-carbolines: effects on aggressive and social behavior in rats and squirrel monkeys.

Ethopharmacological studies on the behavior of socially housed rats and squirrel monkeys were conducted to explore the role of the benzodiazepine GABAA-coupled ionophore receptor complex in aggressive and social interactions. Benzodiazepine receptor (BZR) antagonists, ZK 93426 (1-10 mg/kg) and flumazenil (3-10 mg/kg), the partial agonist, ZK 91296 (1-10 mg/kg) and the partial inverse agonists Ro 15-4513 (0.3-10 mg/kg), were administered to (1) squirrel monkeys prior to 1 h focal observations within established social groups or to (2) resident male rats before confrontations with a naive male intruder in their home cage for 5 min. Aggression was modified in a similar manner in both species, although squirrel monkeys were more sensitive to BZR challenges. Specifically, resident male rats showed dose dependent reductions in attack bites directed at intruder males that were significant at the highest dose of ZK 93426 (10 mg/kg). In squirrel monkeys, ZK 93426 (3 and 10 mg/kg) reduced aggressive grasps, threats and displays, as well as reducing the duration of being the target of aggression from untreated group members (1-10 mg/kg). The BZR partial agonist, ZK 91296 and the antagonist, flumazenil produced few effects on social behavior, low and high intensity aggression and motor activity in both species. Flumazenil (10-30 mg/kg) and ZK 91296 (10 mg/kg), but not ZK 93426, produced significant increases in foraging and feeding behaviors in squirrel monkeys. The hyperphagic effects of ZK 91296 and flumazenil, that are typical of BZR agonists compounds, were not observed in rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aggression↗

Peptide effects on social behavior: effects of vasotocin and isotocin on social approach behavior in male goldfish (Carassius auratus).

The authors measured the effects of centrally infused peptides on social approach behaviors in goldfish (Carassius auratus), a social teleost. Vasotocin (VT) inhibited approach responses toward the visual stimuli of conspecifics in the absence of aggressive or sexual olfactory contextual cues in males, and a V1 receptor antagonist stimulated such responses, at least in males that were not highly social in baseline conditions, as did isotocin (IT). In the absence of social stimuli, VT did not affect activity, therefore indicating that the inhibition was not the result of nonspecific effects on arousal or motor functioning. These experiments indicate that VT and IT induce opposite effects on social approach responses in male goldfish and that endogenous VT, at least, is associated with levels of sociality.

Animals↗

The medial extended amygdala in male reproductive behavior. A node in the mammalian social behavior network.

Hormonal and chemosensory signals regulate social behaviors in a wide variety of mammals. In the male Syrian hamster, these signals are integrated in nuclei of the medial extended amygdala, where olfactory and vomeronasal system transmission is modulated by populations of androgen- and estrogen-sensitive neurons. Evidence from behavioral changes following lesions and from immediate early gene expression supports the hypothesis that the medial extended amygdala and medial preoptic area belong to a circuit that functions selectively in male sexual behavior. However, accumulated behavioral, neuroanatomical, and neuroendocrine data in hamsters, other rodents, and other mammals indicate that this circuit is embedded in a larger integrated network that controls not only male mating behavior, but female sexual behavior, parental behavior, and various forms of aggression. In this context, perhaps an individual animal's social responses can be more easily understood as a repertoire of closely interrelated, hormone-regulated behaviors, shaped by development and experience and modulated acutely by the environmental signals and the hormonal milieu of the brain.

Aggression↗

Treatment of social behavior in autism through the modification of pivotal social skills.

We examined acquisition of individual social communicative behaviors and generalization across other social behaviors in 2 children with autism. The results of a multiple baseline design showed that the children's treated social behaviors improved rapidly and that there were generalized changes in untreated social behaviors. These improvements were accompanied by increases in subjective ratings of the overall appropriateness of the children's social interactions. The results suggest the possibility of identifying pivotal response classes of social communicative behavior that may facilitate the understanding of social behavior in autism as well as improve peer interactions, social integration, and social development.

Adolescent↗

The effects of juvenile social interaction on growth rate, size and age at maturity, and adult social behavior in Girardinus metallicus Poey (Pisces: Poeciliidae).

The aim of the following experiments is to identify and to describe those factors most probably important in determining reproductive success in male Girardinus metallicus and to investigate how competition among juveniles affects these characters. The quantitative relationships among male size, male aggressiveness, and male sexual activity are examined. Small male are either more aggressive or less affected by aggression than large male, and they tend to exhibit higher sexual vigor. Male which are subordinate to other individuals as juveniles mature later at a larger size and tend to be less sexually active than male dominant as juveniles. Juvenile male are more aggressive than juvenile females. The results are discussed in terms of the ecology of the species, and interspecific comparisons are made.

Aggression↗