英國研究人員在最新一期《動物行為》雜志上發(fā)表研究論文"Friendship affects gaze following in a tolerant species of macaque, Macaca nigra"稱，與家庭成員相比,，朋友會對人的行為和發(fā)展產(chǎn)生更深遠的影響,。
追視研究
英國樸茨茅斯大學(xué)心理學(xué)系的杰羅姆·米凱萊塔和布麗奇特·沃勒在漢普郡一處野生動物保護區(qū),，以生活在那里的獼猴群為研究對象,，觀察獼猴的“眼神追視”情況。
眼神追視指的是追著同伴目光凝視的方向看,。米凱萊塔解釋說,，追視是“社交發(fā)展的一個關(guān)鍵標(biāo)志”，獼猴通過觀察同伴的動向,，了解身邊所發(fā)生事件的信息,。
研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，無論身邊是朋友,、家庭成員還是猴群首領(lǐng),，獼猴都會追視，不過,，如果身邊是朋友,，獼猴的追視速度更快。
米凱萊塔認(rèn)為：“獼猴追隨其它同類的目光,，這樣他們才能應(yīng)對復(fù)雜和充滿挑戰(zhàn)的社會生活,。”
朋友重要
“我們的重要發(fā)現(xiàn)是，追視受獼猴間友誼深厚程度的明顯影響,，”米凱萊塔說,，“一群互為朋友關(guān)系的獼猴對另一群不熟悉獼猴的凝視目標(biāo)沒有明顯反應(yīng)，但對朋友的目光變化反應(yīng)敏銳,，就算這種變化微小得難以察覺也沒關(guān)系,。”
他說：“研究結(jié)果揭示了友誼的進化過程以及它與認(rèn)知和交流的關(guān)系，這些東西先前未有研究涉及,。研究顯示,，友誼能讓獼猴的追視能力提高,，它比家庭關(guān)系或社會地位影響更大。”
米凱萊塔說：“研究結(jié)果表明,，友誼的影響力獨立于社會地位和家庭關(guān)系外存在,。”
他說：“這一現(xiàn)象在其他靈長類動物身上同樣適用，其中也包括人類,。”
原因未明
當(dāng)前還無法弄清楚獼猴的目光為何會隨著朋友目光的變化而改變,。
米凱萊塔說：“一個可能的原因是，對追視者來說,，朋友那里的信息與自身關(guān)系更密切,、更有用，迅速追隨朋友的目光可能帶來諸多好處,，比如找到食物來源,。”
另外，“追視還能讓個體更容易得知在朋友身邊發(fā)生的社會事件,。這樣,，在沖突中，朋友間可以更方便地互相保護,，從而促進社會融合與穩(wěn)定”,。
研究人員認(rèn)為，這種友誼關(guān)系的力量可以幫助解釋靈長類動物,，包括人類在內(nèi),，如何形成社會技巧。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.11.018
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Friendship affects gaze following in a tolerant species of macaque, Macaca nigra
Jérôme Michelettaa, b, Bridget M. Wallera, b
Gaze following, the ability to follow the direction in which others are looking, is thought to allow individuals to acquire valuable information from their physical and social environment. Recent studies, using artificial stimuli, showed that gaze following can be modulated by social factors such as dominance or social context, suggesting the importance of integrating these factors in future cognitive studies to understand better the evolution and function of gaze following. Whether this finding still holds true when animals are tested with conspecifics is unknown. Moreover, additional social factors remain to be tested. Testing live conspecifics, we show that friendship (i.e. strong positive bonds between individuals) improved gaze-following responses in a tolerant primate: the crested macaque. Subjects did not follow the gaze of friends more often, but in dyads characterized by a high friendship index, subjects were quicker to react to gaze cues. The increased social tolerance characteristic of crested macaques’ social relationships may lessen the constraints imposed by dominance and kinship, thus allowing sociocognitive abilities to be better used among friends. Together with previous findings, our results suggest the importance of relationship quality and species’ social style in shaping primate cognition. We studied the ability of crested macaques to follow the gaze of conspecifics. We investigated the effect of relationship quality on subjects’ performances. Dominance rank and kinship had no effect on gaze following responses. Subjects were quicker to react to gaze cues provided by friends.
