Papers by Angelo Tartabini
Journal of Educational, Cultural and Psychological Studies, Dec 15, 2015
PubMed, 1983
In 17 infant rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) four different behaviour patterns of mother-infant i... more In 17 infant rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) four different behaviour patterns of mother-infant interaction (On mother, Nipple, Immobile and Grooming by mother during On) were studied from the end of the first month of life to the beginning of the eighth. For both sexes of infants the mean durations and the mean number of bouts per session (frequency) were correlated for each behaviour; correlations between two different behaviours were also calculated (Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients). The results demonstrate an important fact, namely, that there are almost always significant correlations between frequency and duration both within and between behaviour patterns. In most of the cases, this is so only for analyses within the same sex. In general, neither the frequencies nor the durations of the behaviour of females are highly correlated with the frequencies or durations of the same or different male behaviour patterns. Behavioural frequencies and durations tend to be significantly correlated, but only within the same sex. In addition, two further facts emerge: first, that of all the analysed behaviour patterns, the frequency and the duration of Nipple are influenced by the time that the infant spends On mother and, secondly, that this tendency appears to be dependent on the sex of the infant.
PubMed, 1985
A randomly selected group of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) living in seminatural conditions has... more A randomly selected group of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) living in seminatural conditions has been utilized to study the relationships between an infant and its mother and between an infant and the other members of the group during the development of the infant from the 1st to the 6th month of life. Considering the proximity (0 to 3 m) for different types of partners, it has been found that the greatest difference between sexes occurred towards the 3rd month of the infant's life. For the behaviour On mother (proximity 0 m) the author has made an extra analysis. The results show that, in respect of the development of the infants, the relative frequency and duration of On mother decrease for both male and female infants, though at different rates: from the 3rd month of life, the female infants stay longer in On mother than the male infants. A significant positive correlation between frequency and duration of On mother was found in females.
Universal Journal of Psychology, Sep 1, 2015
This paper suggests that attachment, rejecting behaviour and independence initiatives among rhesu... more This paper suggests that attachment, rejecting behaviour and independence initiatives among rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) constitute the most critical elements of mother-infant interactions. Results of previous studies of different family groups indicate that both the mothers' rejecting behaviour and the infants' independence initiatives (or social activities) are not homogeneus but instead differ from each other, depending on subjects' individual differences and on the diverse relationships and experiences among members of the family groups. These findings underline the relevance of a methodology that takes into account individual, dyadic and social variables among subjects. This complex of variables represents a potentially useful methodology for studies on the attachment-independence process in mother-infant interactions in rhesus monkeys and in many other species of monkeys.
Human Evolution, Jul 1, 1994
This paper examines certain colonial and contemporary texts for their representations of Amerindi... more This paper examines certain colonial and contemporary texts for their representations of Amerindian cannibalism during the Columbian period. Colonial texts from this period describe cannibalism as one of the Amerindians' major "offences" against humanity. Some contemporary studies criticize this depiction of Amerindian cannibalism as a "myth" perpetrated by colonizers and their apologists to justify the enslavement and genocide of Amerindians. On the one hand colonial texts fall prey to an ethnocentric view of cannibalism; on the other hand contemporary texts explain away this amply documented cultural phenomenon. While the two positions appear to be at variance with each other, it is suggested that what they hold in common is a schema of analyzing culture that does not easily admit the existence of a phenomenon that is "Other" without explaining it as a totalized alterity or without explaining it away. Both positions thus help reinscribe the Wild Savage-Noble Savage stereotypes.
PubMed, Jun 1, 1989
The aim of this research is to show the main social patterns in five mother-infant dyads (3 males... more The aim of this research is to show the main social patterns in five mother-infant dyads (3 males and 2 females), observed in their families (48 sessions-8/16 weeks). The maternal patterns Speaking to, Smiling at, Touching directed to infants present significant correlations in our Ss (rs Spearman less than 0.01 p less than 0.001). Infants are active initiators in Looking at/ Smiling by mother, Vocalizing/ Smiling by mother. Moreover maternal initiatives differ significantly in Smiling at/ Looking at by infant, Smiling at/ Vocalizing by infant (t Student less than 0.01 p less than 0.001).
Journal of Human Evolution, 1980
Our rrsearch was made observing 6 infants for a period of 6 months in a group of 13 Macaca Rhesus... more Our rrsearch was made observing 6 infants for a period of 6 months in a group of 13 Macaca Rhesus in captivity conditions. We pointed out that mother-infant body contact behavior in Macaca Rhesus is strictly related to the mothers' rank order. In fact, as the inknts of the same age grow up, the higher is the mother's rank order, the more frequent and varied are the infants' interactions with the other members of the group and the more frequently the body contact initiatives are taken by the infants. The behaviors observed in the first months of life can be also considered as the indispensable background of the subjects' future status in the group social structure. Animals 2. Methods The observations were made from the month of May to the month of October 1978. At the observation moment the group constituted an adult male (7-8 years), six adult females (from 4-6 years) and two infants (from 8-12 months). The group had been housed in a cage with the dimensions of 6 x 5 x 2 m. The rank order of the group was preliminarily judged on the basis of inter-individual agonistic behaviors, and by observa
Journal of Educational, Cultural and Psychological Studies, 2012
The Evolution of Sexual Signals in Humans: Direct Verbal and Nonverbal Tactics of Communication D... more The Evolution of Sexual Signals in Humans: Direct Verbal and Nonverbal Tactics of Communication During Courtship In human evolutionary history, men and women have dealt with different adaptive aspects in the sexual domain. This study offers an account of these adaptive problems and presents a view of human sexual psychology as a rich repertoire of mechanisms that have evolved as adaptive solutions. The paper also includes an account of the sex differences found in both genders’ preferences for certain characteristics of their partner and in the tactics implemented in order to attract the opposite sex. It appears that women use indirect nonverbal tactics more than men do, while the latter use more direct verbal tactics compared to women. In self-presentations, men and women use characteristics which, according to the evolutionary hypothesis, are more appreciated by the opposite gender. Making individuals aware of the identification processes that they implement with regard to the soc...
L’affinita genetica fra noi e lo scimpanze doveva costituire un vantaggio per tutti, ma, al contr... more L’affinita genetica fra noi e lo scimpanze doveva costituire un vantaggio per tutti, ma, al contrario, ci ha posti su un piano di rivalita interspecifica che ci condurra a un vicolo cieco. Il bilancio della Terra e in passivo. Noi uomini siamo in debito con il futuro e le sue generazioni. Non siamo piu in grado di far tesoro delle esperienze negative del passato. Guerre, sopraffazioni, razzismi, genocidi, disastri ambientali e inquinamento, sono gli esempi piu evidenti di un malessere che forse abbiamo interiorizzato e che ci costringe a vivere della morte e della sofferenza degli altri animali, anche di quelli con cui siamo piu strettamente imparentati, gli scimpanze appunto.
Language has deeply shaped our world, and has not strongly and subtantially cut the bonds between... more Language has deeply shaped our world, and has not strongly and subtantially cut the bonds between chimpanzee and man. The origin of language probably goes back to a period in which man had already perfected upright walking and had freed his hands and arms from the ground for locomotion.This happened thanks to a contemporary morphological evolution of mouth, palate muscles, tongue, larynx, pharynx and epiglottis, the fundamental muscles for phonation.There is no doubt that chimpanzees have the intelligence for forming mental representations of objects and manipulating them. There is an interesting psychological evolutionary theory which postulates that courtship and sex could have played an important role in the evolution of communication and language in apes and humans.
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences - Open Journal, 2017
The cognitive "Bignetti Model" (TBM) thoroughly discussed elsewhere, shares a strong analogy with... more The cognitive "Bignetti Model" (TBM) thoroughly discussed elsewhere, shares a strong analogy with "Learning Through Experience" (LTE) and Bayesian Learning Process (BLP). Here, TBM's theory is challenged by means of a psychophysical press/no-press decision task (DT). Participants must press a computer key in response to sweet food image (SWEET) or refrain from doing it with a salted food image (SALTED) (24 trials each, mixed at random in a 48-trial DT). Reaction times (RT) plotted as a function of trials decrease exponentially according to a well-known "intertrial priming" effect. When 1 SWEET is repeated 24 times per DT, RTs tend to a minimal value that corresponds to the fastest, instinctive RT the participant can exhibit when engaged in a traffic light-based task. Interestingly, the more we change SWEET images, the greater are the final RTs in a DT (this disturbance is not seen by changing SALTED images). It is proposed that the increase of motivational incentives along the task may foster the learning process. In the presence of SWEET distractors this process is impaired due to a short-term memory mismatch between increasing targets of similar semantics. These results are compatible both with the current literature and TBM.
Societa Degli Individui, 2008
Se consideriamo il fatto che molti animali, inclusi gli scimpanzé, in questi ultimi decenni sono ... more Se consideriamo il fatto che molti animali, inclusi gli scimpanzé, in questi ultimi decenni sono stati sterminati, e molto dopo che l'Homo sapiens aveva conquistato il mondo e soppiantato con la forza l'altra specie con cui conviveva, cioè l'uomo di Neandertal, la prospettiva non è rosea. L'affinità genetica tra Homo sapiens, uomo di Neandertal e scimpanzé avrebbe dovuto costituire un vantaggio per tutti, ma al contrario ci ha posti su un piano di rivalità interspecifica da cui è difficile uscire indenni.
Journal of Educational Cultural and Psychological Studies, Jun 27, 2012
In human evolutionary history, men and women have dealt with different adaptive aspects in the se... more In human evolutionary history, men and women have dealt with different adaptive aspects in the sexual domain. This study offers an account of these adaptive problems and presents a view of human sexual psychology as a rich repertoire of mechanisms that have evolved as adaptive solutions. The paper also includes an account of the sex differences found in both genders' preferences for certain characteristics of their partner and in the tactics implemented in order to attract the opposite sex. It appears that women use indirect nonverbal tactics more than men do, while the latter use more direct verbal tactics compared to women. In self-presentations, men and women use characteristics which, according to the evolutionary hypothesis, are more appreciated by the opposite gender. Making individuals aware of the identification processes that they implement with regard to the society they live in, and particularly as regards their sex role, could increase their awareness of the values, beliefs and behavioural models adopted.
Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 2015
It can be affirmed that the Q-sorting procedure has not been applied until now to depict the indi... more It can be affirmed that the Q-sorting procedure has not been applied until now to depict the individual attachment differences in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). In this research the Q-sort test procedure in which descriptive items (93 for AQS and 101 for SBQS) put in order ranging from Most Descriptive to Least Descriptive both for mothers-infants observed in two subsequent years (First Year and Second Year), was applied the way that Stony Brook University researchers Everett Waters and Kathleen Deane did for assessing individual difference relationships in children. In this study, the application of this new method to monkeys shows significant change between the First Year and the Second Year in some subjects both in AQS or SBQS. Some of infant groups' conditions (the presence of peers for play behaviour, aunts, older sisters, etc.) influenced the individual behaviour of the focus subjects (6 different composition groups kept in 6 different and not-communicating cages). In conclusion what is the advantage of using the Q-sort method in this research? Why have we not used an ordinary ethological observation method, as was done in many other studies on Attachment behaviour in rhesus monkeys? The main reason is that the Q-sorting can reveal complex details and nuances of behaviour that are impossible to obtain through ordinary ethological observation.
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Papers by Angelo Tartabini