White David J, Watts Eliza, Pitchforth Kelsey, Agyapong Samuel, Miller Noam
Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada.
Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada.
Behav Processes. 2017 Aug;141(Pt 2):251-257. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.02.017. Epub 2017 Feb 24.
Selecting a quality mate can involve acquiring and accessing large amounts of information; information that can be obtained either independently or socially. One means of learning about mates socially is to attend to other members of one's sex and copy their mate choices. It is possible however that not all individuals of a species benefit equally from, or are equally effective at, copying. We examined whether female guppies copied the mate choices of other females. Then, in a separate context we measured each female's 'sociability': their proclivity to affiliate with other guppies. In the mate-choice copying procedure, 'focal' females chose to spend time near two putative mates. Next, focals observed another (model) female interact with the focal's non-preferred male. Finally, the focal again chose between the same two males. For sociability, we examined the time focal females spent near a trio of other guppies. Females did indeed mate copy: they spent more time with their non-preferred male when a model female had been seen interacting with that male. The effect however was highly variable. Sociability significantly predicted the intensity of mate-choice copying. Results suggest that individuals vary consistently in the types of information they use when making mating decisions.
选择优质配偶可能涉及获取和处理大量信息，这些信息既可以通过个体独立获取，也可以通过社交方式获得。通过社交方式了解配偶的一种途径是关注同性别的其他个体，并模仿他们的配偶选择。然而，同一物种中的并非所有个体都能平等地从模仿中受益，或者在模仿方面具有同等效果。我们研究了雌性孔雀鱼是否会模仿其他雌性的配偶选择。然后，在另一个情境中，我们测量了每只雌性的“社交性”，即它们与其他孔雀鱼建立联系的倾向。在配偶选择模仿实验中，“焦点”雌性选择在两只潜在配偶附近停留。接下来，焦点雌性观察另一只（示范）雌性与自己不喜欢的雄性互动。最后，焦点雌性再次在这两只雄性之间做出选择。对于社交性，我们观察了焦点雌性在一群其他孔雀鱼附近停留的时间。雌性确实会模仿配偶选择：当看到示范雌性与某只雄性互动后，它们会花更多时间与自己原本不喜欢的雄性在一起。然而，这种效应差异很大。社交性显著预测了配偶选择模仿的强度。结果表明，个体在做出交配决策时所使用的信息类型存在持续的差异。
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