Early Experience Affects the Strength of Vigilance for Threat in Rhesus Monkey Infants

• Published in: Psychological science Vol. 25; no. 10; pp. 1893 - 1902
• Main Authors: Mandalaywala, Tara M., Parker, Karen J., Maestripieri, Dario
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2014; Sage Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Animal cognition; Animals; Arousal; Attention; Babies; Behavior, Animal; Bias; Biological and medical sciences; Child development; Cognition; Cognitive bias; Cognitive biases; Data collection; Developmental psychology; Facial expressions; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Infants; Language development; Macaca mulatta; Maternal Behavior; Mental stimulation; Monkeys & apes; Mothers; Newborn. Infant; Primates; Protectiveness; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Ratings & rankings; Social attribution, perception and cognition; Social Behavior; Social biases; Social cognition; Social Environment; Social Perception; Social psychology; Stimuli; Threat; Threats; Vigilance; primate; socio-cognitive development; rhesus macaque; cognitive bias; maternal effects; Affect affectivity; Parental behavior; Vigilance; Monkey; Emotion emotionality; Macaca mulatta; Experimental study; Young animal; Social cognition; Maternal behavior; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Early experience; Family environment; Simioidea; Primates; Cognitive development; Cognitive bias
• ISSN: 0956-7976; 1467-9280
• DOI: 10.1177/0956797614544175

Both human and nonhuman primates exhibit a cognitive bias to social threat, but little is known about how this bias develops. We investigated the development of threat bias in free-ranging infant rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) at 3 months (n = 45) and 9 months (n = 46) of age. Three-month-olds did not display bias, but 9-month-olds exhibited increased maintenance of attention to threatening social stimuli. To examine whether the social environment affected this increased vigilance for threat, we collected behavioral data on maternal rank and protectiveness across the first 12 weeks of life for infants tested at 9 months. Among 9-month-olds, those of high-ranking and more protective mothers displayed greater vigilance for threat than those of lower-ranking and less protective mothers. These results demonstrate that infant social cognition is shaped by mothers both directly (via protectiveness) and indirectly (through social rank).