title: Response to social challenge in young bonnet (Macaca radiata) and pigtail (Macaca nemestrina) macaques is related to early maternal experiences.
abstract: Previous experience affects how young primates respond to challenging social situations. The present retrospective study looked at one aspect of early experience, the quality of the mother-infant relationship, to determine its relationship to young bonnet and pigtail macaques' responses to two social challenges: temporary maternal separation at 5-6 months and permanent transfer to an unfamiliar peer group at 16-17 months. Relationship quality was measured quantitatively on 30 macaque mother-infant pairs with the Relationship Quality Index (RQI), the ratio of relative affiliation to relative agonism as previously applied to capuchin monkeys. Infants with high RQI values had amicable mother-infant relationships and infants with low RQI values had agonistic mother-infant relationships. Young monkeys with amicable and agonistic relationships showed consistent differences in behavior before, during, and after each social challenge, supporting the hypothesis that juveniles from amicable mother-infant relationships based on the RQI coped more effectively with social challenges than did juveniles from agonistic mother-infant relationships. Results suggest 1) characteristic amicability or agonism in early mother-offspring macaque relationships has the potential to influence offspring behavior in tense social contexts and 2) the RQI is useful as one of a coordinated suite of methods for studying the development of social skills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado 80220, USA.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weaver
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Worlein
authors.forename: Frans
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Waal
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laudenslager
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D000378:Agonistic Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D005195:Family Relations; D008254:Macaca nemestrina / Q000502:physiology*; D008255:Macaca radiata / Q000502:physiology*; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D009035:Mothers; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012931:Social Environment