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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

The Ocean-Hill Brownsville and Cambodian-Kent State crises: a biobehavioral approach to human sociobiology.

The author traces the origin of his thinking on a biobehavioral systems approach to human sociobiology as it evolved from his observations and analyses of on-the-ground human behavior in local, Ocean-Hill Brownsville, and nationwide, Cambodia-Kent State, political crises, as well as from his naturalistic observations of face-to-face behavior in group psychotherapy. He argues that the resulting sociobiological paradigm--arrived at independently by several other workers--is a fruitful alternative to sociobiological models derived from population biology and genetics.

Biology↗
PubMed2003

Science as ideology: the rejection and reception of sociobiology in China.

The spread of sociobiology in China is not simply an internal event in the development of science. From the day it was introduced to China, its destiny was closely bound up with the development and change of Chinese society. Although it did not create as great disturbance as in America, it did have a significant impact in academic circles. However, scholars have paid little attention to these historical events. Today, sociobiology seems outdated and Wilson's grand agenda seems to have faded with the passing of time, but the mark that he made on the history of science is still striking. A review of the process of reception of sociobiology in China is helpful for understanding this theory as well as the society of China.

Biology↗
PubMed1989

[The sociobiological ideas of Arthur Schopenhauer].

Starting from the basic ideas of sociobiology we prove that Schopenhauer, in his "Metaphysics of Sexual Love", has to pass for a precursor of sociobiological thinking. Several consequences of this parallel are discussed: The quest for strategic principles of organismic growth and evolution as a positive characteristic of both approaches--the hypothesis of a dominant genetic determination of human behaviour as an outcome of a typical bourgeois view of mankind connecting Schopenhauer and sociobiologists--the necessity of taking into consideration biological predispositions of flexible (learned) behaviour as elements of sociobiological models enjoying the same rights as genetical ones--the utility of Schopenhauer's natural philosophy for the purpose of complementing historical knowledge of many disciplines (also psychology).

Biology↗
PubMed1997

Sociobiology and HLA genetic polymorphism in hill tribes, the Irula of the Nilgiri hills and the Malayali of the Shevroy hills, south India.

Two endogamous tribes of Tamil Nadu, South India, the Irula of the Nilgiri hills and the Malayali of the Shevroy hills, were studied for their sociobiology and HLA polymorphism. For sociobiological studies 166 marriages in the Irula and 368 marriages in the Malayali were recorded. The number and spatial distribution of patrilineal clans and their marriageable range (number of clans from which the brides came) were studied. Eight clans in the Irula and 16 clans in the Malayali were identified. Of these the Kuppar of the Irula and the Malayan of Malayali were the largest clans, and both of them had the greatest marriageable range. The numerical strength and the resultant spatial distribution correlated well with the marriageable range. HLA-A, B, and DR polymorphism was studied on 191 Irula and 42 Malayali following standard procedures. HLA typing revealed high frequencies (> 10%) of alleles HLA-A2, A9, A11, B17, B35, B40, DR2, and DR7 in both tribes, but the Irula had elevated HLA-A10, B8, and DR8 frequencies and the Malayali had elevated HLA-A31, B7, DR4, and DR5 frequencies. Two-locus haplotypes A10-B8 and A2-B5 were identified in both tribes, but A11-B40 and A2-B53 were present only in the Irula and A33-B44 and B15-DR6 were present only in the Malayali. The sociobiology of the Irula was correlated to the HLA genetic profile. The Irula sample was stratified based on clan and HLA data; The Kuppar clan was closer to the Kalkatti, the second largest clan, than to the Pungar and the Sambar clans. Thus the numerical strength and spatial distribution of various exogamous clans, presumably a result of migration during different periods of history, is reflected in the marriageable range and thus in the genetic distance. In studying HLA or any other genetic polymorphism of an endogamous tribe or caste, one needs to consider the social structure, spatial distribution, and marriageable range.

Emigration and Immigration↗
PubMed2007

What can microbial genetics teach sociobiology?

Progress in our understanding of sociobiology has occurred with little knowledge of the genetic mechanisms that underlie social traits. However, several recent studies have described microbial genes that affect social traits, thereby bringing genetics to sociobiology. A key finding is that simple genetic changes can have marked social consequences, and mutations that affect cheating and recognition behaviors have been discovered. The study of these mutants confirms a central theoretical prediction of social evolution: that genetic relatedness promotes cooperation. Microbial genetics also provides an important new perspective: that the genome-to-phenome mapping of social organisms might be organized to constrain the evolution of social cheaters. This constraint can occur both through pleiotropic genes that link cheating to a personal cost and through the existence of phoenix genes, which rescue cooperative systems from selfish and destructive strategies. These new insights show the power of studying microorganisms to improve our understanding of the evolution of cooperation.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Sociobiology: another biological determinism.

Sociobiology is a form of biological determinism which argues that human social organization is constrained by genes that have been selected in evolution. In particular, it regards male dominance, hierarchical society, entrepreneurial economic activity, territoriality, and aggression as a consequences of human genes. It is shown that sociobiological theory is carefully constructed to make it impossible to test, that it makes a number of fundamental errors in attempting to describe "human nature," that there is no evidence for inheritance of human social traits, and that the evolutionary arguments used are merely fanciful, adaptive stories.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

The use of a sociobiological questionnaire (SQ) for the assessment of sexual dimorphism.

A sociobiology questionnaire (SQ) (Thiessen and Kittrell, 1980) was administered to 527 undergraduate males and females. Twenty-seven predictions were tested. Sixteen of the predictions were statistically confirmed, and eight were in the expected direction. Overall, females appeared to be more interested in their mate's success than their own and were more selective in the choice of mates. Males gave more evidence of competitiveness and tended to mate polygamously. The results are compatible with theoretical expectations about mating strategies (Buss, 1987; Rushton et al., 1984; Thiessen and Gregg, 1980). A number of problems with regard to the application of sociobiological and sociocultural theories to human behavior are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Variability of trail making test, symbol digit test and line trait test in normal people. A normative study taking into account age-dependent decline and sociobiological variables.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The influence of sociobiological variables and aging on the variability of the Trail Making Tests (TMT), the Symbol Digit Substituting Test (SDT), and the Line Trait Test (LTT) in the general healthy populations are not well known. Even less is known about the reliability at re-testing. This study aimed at determining the reference range of these tests, taking into account sociobiological variables and age, and the re-testing effect. METHODS: We studied 300 healthy subjects from 20 to 80 years of age. The sample was derived by the pooling of two samples stratified by age and sex: a randomized sample of 161 subjects collected from the city registers of Padova, and a convenience sample of 139 subjects collected in 20 towns (mainly rural) of Northern Italy. After normalization, data were assayed for the influence of age, education, job, and gender. RESULTS: Age was found to be a significant independent predictor for all the tests, education for all but the LTT, job only for the TMT-B and a geometrical version of the same test (TMT-G) which was proved to be highly correlated with the TMT-B (r=0.80, p<0.01). Job and the interaction age x education level influenced the difference TMT-B minus TMT-A. From the predicting equations, the normative data and the formulas to obtain Z scores for each test were derived. Reliability was lowest for LTT errors (CV=67%), highest for the SDT (13%), whereas the TMT obtained intermediate values (22-33%, depending on the test). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the most reliable normative data range for the TMT, SDT and LTT to date because it considers important demographic variables such as age, education and job.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Sociobiology and the structural stability of behavior patterns.

A structural stability approach to population-genetic systems and to dynamic evolutionary games is attempted in order to examine the theoretical significance of sociobiological selection models. A criterion of weak selection is derived that is not restricted to differential reproduction in polymorphic systems but describes possible directions of evolutionary change in time scales governed by genetic mutation rates. The criterion applies to the problems of how the initial mutational basis of an adaptive trait may be established and how this may happen, for analogous traits, independently in different species. Two basic sociobiological concepts are reconsidered with reference to the criterion. It is shown that W. D. Hamilton's condition of increases in inclusive fitness due to altruistic interactions among kin expresses the structural instability of populations against the evolution of altruistic behavior. Using the dynamic approach to evolutionary game theory, it is demonstrated that if a behavioral phenotype is an evolutionarily stable strategy, it is structurally stable against perturbations of the fitness payoffs, provided selection is weak. These results are applied to material problems of the evolution of animal social behavior.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

The sociobiology of bereavement: a reply to Littlefield and Rushton.

This article offers a critique of Littlefield and Rushton's (1986) application of sociobiological principles to bereavement following the death of a child. The following general issues are considered: (a) whether behavior is always adaptive and (b) the distinction between proximate and ultimate explanations. It is argued that grief is a maladaptive by-product of another, adaptive feature and that hypotheses about the severity of grief are best derived from proximate considerations rather than genetic relatedness. The use of a single-item rating scale to measure grief is questioned, and it is noted that interspouse reliabilities reported in the article were low, a problem not solved (as claimed) by aggregation. Criticisms are made of the specific hypotheses, notably in terms of their origins in sociobiological theory. It is argued that functional hypotheses are not alternatives to proximate mechanisms, but enable some proximate mechanisms to be viewed from the perspective of evolutionary biology.

Adaptation, Biological↗
PubMed1979

Sociobiological theories of kin selection and reciprocal altruism and their relevance for psychiatry.

The revelance of sociobiology to psychiatry is examined through a consideration of the theories of kin selection and reciprocal altruism. Predictions developed from these theories are compared with currently available mental-health statistics. The theory of kin selection is used to predict a positive correlation between mental health and the existence of an active kin-support system. Similarly, the theory of reciprocal altruism is used to predict a positive correlation between mental health and the existence of an active friend-support system. The findings tend to support both sets of predictions in that individuals with access to kin-support and/or friend-support systems are less likely to be hospitalized with psychiatric disorders than are individuals without access to such systems. Sociobiology may be useful to psychiatry in that in some cases it provides: a) a new focus on the adaptive functions of human behavior which may serve to aid the psychiatrist in evaluating individual problems; b) functional predictions which may help to identify segments of the population which are more at risk for psychiatric disorders than others, thereby providing guidelines for preventive psychiatry; and c) direction for research into unexplored aspects of human social relationships and their relevance to psychiatric disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Sociobiology and antisocial personality. An alternative perspective.

The clinical characteristics of antisocial personality disorder are well defined, but poorly explained in developmental or etiological terms. After reviewing basic tenets of sociobiology, a theory of the etiology of antisocial personality is developed. Predictions that flow from this etiological theory are compared with published data for the disorder. These comparisons suggest that sociobiological theory provides a powerful and predictive etiological hypothesis for antisocial personality disorder. Social and clinical implications and avenues for future study of antisocial personality are suggested, as are potential relationships of this theoretical approach to other psychopathological conditions.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

Towards a sociobiological model of depression. A marsupial model (Petaurus breviceps).

BACKGROUND: This is a sociobiological approach to depression using hierarchy and its hypothesised relevance to self-esteem in the marsupial sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps). METHOD: Differential access to resources between the dominant and submissive animal is measured by observation in four stable colonies. The dominant animals from two of these colonies are then introduced into the other two, resulting in the transferred former dominants becoming subordinate. Behavioural and biochemical measures relevant to depression and involving access to resources are then repeated. These measures include eating, drinking, social and sexual access, motility, grooming and biochemical estimates of cortisol and testosterone. RESULTS: Subordinate animals have significantly less access to resources, both in the stable colony and when the formerly dominant animals become subordinate. CONCLUSIONS: A sociobiological approach using a hierarchy model equating resource-holding potential with self-esteem, exemplified by this study, may provide new concepts and insights into the phenomenology and pathophysiology of depression. It allows comparisons to be made between animal behaviour and cognition: the lack of such has been a major difficulty in animal studies hitherto. The findings are possibly more relevant to dysthymia than to affective disorder and imply a relationship between low resource-holding potential in sub-human animals as a phylogenetic antecedent of some of the cognitive and affective aspects of depression in man.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Population genetics and sociobiology: conflicting views of evolution.

This article explores the tension between the population genetics and sociobiological approaches to the study of evolution. Whereas population geneticists, like Stanford's Marc Feldman, insist that the genetic complexities of organisms cannot be overlooked, sociobiologists (many of whom now prefer to call themselves "behavioral ecologists") rely on optimization models that are based on the simplest possible genetics.These optimization approaches have their roots in the classical result known as the fundamental theorem of natural selection, formulated by R. A. Fisher in 1930. From the start there was great uncertainty over the proper interpretation of Fisher's theorem, which became confused with Sewall Wright's immensely influential adaptive landscape concept. In the 1960s, a new generation of mathematical biologists proved that Fisher's theorem did not hold when fitness depended on more than one locus. Similar reasoning was used to attack W. D. Hamilton's inclusive fitness theory. A new theory, known as the theory of long-term evolution, attempts to reconcile the rigorous population genetics approach with the long-standing sociobiological view that natural selection acts to increase the fitness of organisms.

Biological Evolution↗
PubMed1976

A measure of primary sociobiological functions.

The Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living (Index of ADL) is a scale whose grades reflect profiles of behavioral levels of six sociobiological functions, namely, bathing, dressing, toileting, transfer, continence, and feeding. Its hierarchical nature makes it possible to rank the overall functional status of people in an ordered manner, to make comparisons among them as individuals or groups, and to detect changes over time. Developmental studies have encompassed children as well as adults, the mentally retarded as well as physically disabled, and noninstitutionalized as well as institutionalized people. In view of relationships to behavior of primitive societies and parallelisms between the order of index functions and patterns of child growth and development, the Index of ADL appears to be based on functions of sociobiological primacy. This concept is supported by twenty years of methodological and applied observations. The Index has been used to produce predictive information about chronic conditions and to evaluate the benefits of long-term services. It has been used in profiled measures of severity of illness. As a screening measure and survey measure, it has contributed information about health needs and outcomes which is useful for management, planning, policy making, research, and techning.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The population explosion in sociobiological perspective].

The author uses the assertions of Anne and Paul Erlich regarding population growth as a basis for his analysis of whether the field of sociobiology offers hope that humans can control reproduction effectively. He notes that "sociobiology is rather pessimistic about this since it is the essence of human nature to reproduce and multiply. In spite of this there are reasons to believe that humankind is able to achieve...a declining birth rate, and this thesis...takes account of the genetic or natural and the cultural make-up of human beings." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Biology↗
PubMed1989

[Sociobiology].

Sociobiology represents a systematic study of the biological basis of social behavior. Suggesting its relations to genetics, psychiatry, the theory of games, and ethology, the author summarizes the main sociobiological postulates. The review is intended for postgraduate education.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

An early chapter in behavioral physiology and sociobiology: the science of Martin Lindauer.

The fields of behavioral physiology and sociobiology enjoyed spectacular success in post World War II Germany. One of the major contributors to this blossoming in behavioral science was Martin Lindauer, who furthered the research approach of his mentor (Karl von Frisch), made numerous seminal discoveries, and nurtured a strong next generation in the area of neurobiology and behavior. We review the scientific development of Martin Lindauer within the German academic system in the years surrounding World War II, examine his research approach and achievements, and discuss his unusually successful methods of scientific pedagogy.

Animals↗