Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Ave. West, Waterloo, ONT, N2L 3C5, Canada.
School of Nursing, Fanshawe College, London, Ontario, Canada.
Anim Cogn. 2024 Feb 22;27(1):2. doi: 10.1007/s10071-024-01859-5.
Personality traits drive individual differences in behaviour that are consistent across time and context. Personality limits behavioural plasticity, which could lead to maladaptive choices if animals cannot adapt their behavior to changing conditions. Here, we assessed consistency and flexibility in one personality trait, boldness, across non-social and social contexts in eastern gartersnakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis). Snakes explored a novel open arena either alone or in a pair. Pairs were assigned based on the data from the solo trials, such that each snake was paired once with a bolder and once with a less bold partner. We predicted that snakes would conform when in a social context, displaying plasticity in their personality, and causing boldness scores to converge. We found that snakes were consistent within contexts (solo or paired), but changed their behavior across contexts (from solo to paired). Plasticity in boldness resulted from an interaction between conformity and repeatable individual differences in plasticity. In line with some data on other species, snakes conformed more when they were the less bold partner. Personality reflects a consistent bias in decision-making, but our results highlight that the cognitive processes that drive the expression of personality traits in behavior are flexible and sensitive to social context. We show that both consistency and plasticity combine to shape snake social behavior in ways that are responsive to competition. This pattern of behavior may be particularly beneficial for species in which group-living is seasonal.
人格特质驱动着个体行为在时间和环境上的差异。人格限制了行为的可塑性，如果动物不能根据环境变化调整自己的行为，就可能导致适应不良的选择。在这里，我们评估了东部束带蛇（Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis）在非社交和社交环境中一种人格特质——大胆程度的一致性和灵活性。蛇要么独自，要么成对探索一个新的开放竞技场。根据单独试验的数据，将蛇成对分配，以便每条蛇与一只更胆大的蛇和一只不那么大胆的蛇配对一次。我们预测，当处于社交环境中时，蛇会表现出顺从性，表现出人格的可塑性，导致大胆程度得分趋同。我们发现，蛇在同一环境（单独或成对）内具有一致性，但在不同环境（从单独到成对）之间改变了行为。大胆程度的可塑性源于顺从性和可重复的个体差异之间的相互作用。与其他物种的一些数据一致，当蛇处于不那么大胆的一方时，它们更顺从。人格反映了决策中的一致偏见，但我们的结果强调了驱动人格特质在行为中表达的认知过程是灵活的，并对社会环境敏感。我们表明，一致性和可塑性都结合在一起，以适应竞争的方式塑造蛇的社交行为。这种行为模式可能对季节性群体生活的物种特别有益。
