Boldness by habituation and social interactions: a model |
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Authors: | Johanneke E Oosten Carin Magnhagen Charlotte K Hemelrijk |
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Institution: | 1. Theoretical Biology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, P.O. Box?14, 9750 AA, Haren, The Netherlands 2. Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Ume?, Sweden
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Abstract: | Most studies of animal personality attribute personality to genetic traits. But a recent study by Magnhagen and Staffan (Behav
Ecol Sociobiol 57:295–303, 2005) on young perch in small groups showed that boldness, a central personality trait, is also shaped by social interactions
and by previous experience. The authors measured boldness by recording the duration that an individual spent near a predator
and the speed with which it fed there. They found that duration near the predator increased over time and was higher the higher
the average boldness of other group members. In addition, the feeding rate of shy individuals was reduced if other members
of the same group were bold. The authors supposed that these behavioral dynamics were caused by genetic differences, social
interactions, and habituation to the predator. However, they did not quantify exactly how this could happen. In the present
study, we therefore use an agent-based model to investigate whether these three factors may explain the empirical findings.
We choose an agent-based model because this type of model is especially suited to study the relation between behavior at an
individual level and behavioral dynamics at a group level. In our model, individuals were either hiding in vegetation or feeding
near a predator, whereby their behavior was affected by habituation and by two social mechanisms: social facilitation to approach
the predator and competition over food. We show that even if we start the model with identical individuals, these three mechanisms
were sufficient to reproduce the behavioral dynamics of the empirical study, including the consistent differences among individuals.
Moreover, if we start the model with individuals that already differ in boldness, the behavioral dynamics produced remained
the same. Our results indicate the importance of previous experience and social interactions when studying animal personality
empirically. |
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