Role of vision in social development in monkeys.
8 stump-tailed macaques were reared individually and either given all of their daily social experience in darkness (dark group) or given half their social experience in the dark and half in the light (controls). The dark group showed almost no aggressive behavior and less play than controls. Later, when all were tested in the light, the dark group were still less aggressive. Controls were less aggressive in the dark than in the light. There was no difference between the two groups in the form of the dominance hierarchy or the strength of preferences for social partners. This suggests that vision is especially important in the maintenance of assertive behaviors and in the instigation and the direction of aggressive behaviors, but relatively less important in other areas of social development.
D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D003624:Darkness; D005239:Fear; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012919:Social Behavior; D012930:Social Dominance; D014785:Vision, Ocular