A Primate 's Memoir : A Neuroscientist 's Unconventional Life Among Baboons

Robert Sapolsky is a neuroendocrinologist who wrote about his twenty years of work out in the national park of East Africa. Sapolsky’s turned his adventure into a novel, A Primate 's Memoir: A Neuroscientist’s Unconventional Life Among Baboons, where he discusses the life of baboons and how they are similar to humans. I will analyze Sapolsky’s novel by explaining the complex social hierarchy he witnessed and discuss the ways in which the social hierarchy and rank system among baboons might compare to that of humans. I will then analyze how studying non-human primates in a natural setting is valuable, and will also explain how the scientific study of these non-human primates ultimately provides insight into not only our evolutionary past

According to Wikipedia, spider monkeys tend to live in medium sized groups of around two or three dozen individuals called troops, averaging at about 15 to 25 individuals in a group. The group will break up into smaller bands on occasion, like to split up to forage for food resources or if there are not enough resources to support the entire group to increase their chances of survival. They are typically found in large, unoccupied areas in the upper layer of the rainforests of Central and South America but can also be found in Mexico. They are primarily arboreal, meaning the spend most of their time swinging from trees, using their prehensile tails to move around. They use their tail as a fifth hand using it to help them

While reading the introduction, I literally feel physically exhausted. I was thinking, is this for real? I

In the article “Stop Brain Tests on Primates” discusses use of primates in cruel types of experiments. The article states that researchers use to study and test experiments on primates because they are closer to our own dna than any other animal. Although many other animal are used for testing should primates that can think and reason should they be used for experiments.

The primates species that I observed were the Bornean orangutans and the Sumatran orangutans. There were three adult females. one adult male, and one infant female. The orangutans were observed at San Diego zoo’s ape webcam on April 26, 2106.

The alpha female and male are the pack leaders that track and hunt prey, choose den sites and establish the pack's territory.

There are many species that belong as a part of the Primates; not only in today’s world, but also in a world before Homo Sapiens became advanced enough to be able to differentiate anthropomorphic traits in other species. To identify these species, specific analyses of a wide variety of characteristics had to occur. One of these characteristics being detention, or “the sizes, shapes, and number of an animal’s teeth” (Lavenda and Schultz 100). Looking at skulls of Primates that are no longer around, or maybe even still existing, can sometimes be hard to distinguish; at least if you are still learning about the shapes and sizes of each species. When unsure of which group the skull of a Primate belongs to, looking at the number and shapes of

Harry Harlow’s thorough research on the connection between maternal comfort and rhesus monkeys provides information and knowledge to the reader as an insight into our social and emotional development. In this article, Harlow uses experimental observation of mental and emotional associations of the affectionate ties between the child and the mother. As Harlow says, this is “an instinct incapable of analysis”.

When I was taking psychology 101, we were tasked with an animal metacognition research project. Metacognition is the ability to anylize our thoughts. In other words, to be aware of our existence and our selves in the world. While conducting research, I found a very special case of a primate. This primate's name was Koko. It's thought that Koko has been one of the few primates that has been able to master a certain degree of sign language. Many think its only a case of watching and repeating, but many experiments have been conducting to reinforce the idea that Koko can actually make her own decisions based on physical cues. A very interesting case, yet theres still not a clear answer among scientists as to weather any non-human species poceses

If you’re not paying attention, the mind can be a tricky labyrinth. The less you know about it, the more inexplicable and frightening it becomes. For example, why do seemingly benign elephants wreak havoc upon villages? In “An Elephant Crackup,” Charles Siebert explores the aberrant nature of these elephants and correlates them to their traumatizing upbringing, deprived of community and kinship. The biochemistry of the human mind, analyzed in “Love2.0” by Barbara Frederickson, serves as a worthy addendum to Siebert’s conjecture. “Love2.0” explains that the brain, hormones, and nerves work in unison to build emotional fortitude, stimulate oneself, and express positivity resonance. Siebert’s ideas of elephant culture and trans-species psyche can put Frederickson’s theory of emotions into practice. The absence of certain hormones within elephants, provided their fragmented community, can explain their volatile outbreaks. Alternatively, the reinstitution of human parental roles into elephant culture can help reconstruct their broken emotional states of elephants and rebuild their resilience; this healing process can also extend to humans.

When the monkeys were dropped to the chamber, the monkeys would come out totally abnormal. Harlow concluded that we live because of food, oxygen and relationships with others. At first, the monkeys were very social animals; but once placed in the chamber, then they came out unsocial. In addition, these animals weren’t able to establish relationships with the other monkeys. The monkeys were loner and isolate from the group. Isolation was very hard to reverse. The monkeys needed a lot of interaction to help them come back to normal social monkeys. They introduce a baby monkey as a therapist. Because the baby monkey was clingy, it wants to cling to the isolated monkey. The isolate monkey realizes that the aby didn’t pose a threat to him and that it just wants to be its friend. The monkeys that were in isolation for a longer time need to be warm up slowly. Allowing the presence of other monkey first. Then, the monkeys were slowly introducing to the therapy monkeys. These monkeys had a large impact on many individuals. It shows that each individual has different ways of coping or even experience grief. It also showed that with a therapy, one could come back to

Darwinist would say that it is because status matters and eventually it leads to sex, but the author feels that it has more to do with the need for status rather than sex. Why do we strive for this status, dominance, and social hierarchy? The answer is because hierarchy works.

The most important of factors in this practice are the preferences of those selecting mates. Mate preferences have a scientific importance for several reasons. Mate preferences for instance determine whoever is chosen or excluded. This therefore influences the current direction of sexual selection. Mate preferences also determine which members of the opposite sex are high or low in value. In turn, this influences various variables ranging from social status and desirability of the selected mate. The mate preferences of one sex also conversely influence retention techniques effective on members of the other gender. Such tactics substantiate the wants of the person, one is attempting to retain or attract. Another importance of mate preferences is the fact that some of them might be adaptations that might have psychologically developed over time. Such preferences represent crucial solutions to fundamental mating challenges such as selecting a fertile mate or one able and willing to invest in an offspring. The preferences of one’s mate might also reveal crucial cultural values that when interrogated over a certain period of time document the evolution of various cultural values (Chang, 2010). As such, mate preference is the first step in the process of mate selection which aptly determines one’s choice of a mate. As such, it is impossible to understand mate selection in a certain population without understanding patterns in mate preferences. Mate preferences are especially important in Asian cultures where they are traditionally passed on from one generation to the other. As one grows older, the preferred mates by parents are passed on. As such, one eventually chooses a mate who is more or less agreeable to the entire family. As such, it is imperative to approach and understand the process of mate selection as an interactive process that is subject to disparate factors and circumstances (Chang,

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Los Angeles zoo on a beautiful, sunny Thursday (October 19th). Although I arrived off schedule which left a minimal amount of time to observe primates, I managed my time well. After being told that the larger animals get put away earlier, I figured my first stop would be at an ape enclosure. The ape I chose to see that day was the gorilla. The time that I began my observation was at approximately 3:05. At that time only one ape was quite visible and he was sitting at the front making eye contact with me making it seem as if he is HABITUATED. Next, post gorilla watching, I had the chance to take a gander at the ring railed lemurs at 3:40. These prosimians all had their own personalities which interested me deeply. Lastly, and certainly not least on my journey through the LA zoo, I had the chance of looking at the mandrills which were once classified as baboons. Considering that two baby mandrills were present and only a month old, this was my favorite exhibit to see because of their high energy and randomness of actions.

Boys growing into young men focus more on being dominate and having a strong desire, to be the best at everything. Young men tend to continue giving orders to maintain dominance, which they view as strength. Men seek power, for their social status is important to their self-image. Tannen discussed the research of Marjorie Goodwin, who studied boys in Philadelphia for a year and a half. "She found the high-status boys gave orders just to maintain their dominance, not because they particularly needed the thing done. And the boys who were being told what to do were low status, by virtue of doing what they were told" (Tannen 53). In contrast, girls growing into young women generally do not have the desire to dominate, but are more passive and prefer compromise. Social status is also important to young woman but not to seek power rather their strong desire to be liked. For women their main goal is to be popular and liked by others.