An Animal Model for Collective Behavior in Humans: The Impact of Manipulated Trust and Aggression
Abstract
There were four objectives identified for this research. This report documents the findings for each of these objectives. The status of these objectives is: 1. To measure the collective response in same-gender compared with mixed-gender groups. 2. To identify the social rank of initiators and followers individuals, and test whether the followers adopt the behavior of the initiators, thereby resulting in the uniform collective behavior. 3. To support the data of collective behavioral responses with measurements of physiology by tracking corticosteroids that provide a robust index of anxiety level. 4. To administer oxytocin or testosterone to dominant or subordinate males and females in same-gender and mixed-gender groups. This will modify the social status of the respective individuals, and in consequence will alter the collective behavior of the entire group. The results of each of these objects are published separately. During the conduct of this research, we also identified a need to evaluate whether the voles suffer symptoms observed in post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD). Our hypothesis is that the PTSD effect would not be contagious like the acute response to the threat. PTSD trials revealed a wash-out of the stress induced by life-threat one week before the PTSD test. This result has been combined and will be published with those of Objective #3.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 30, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA611566
Entities
People
- David Eilam
Organizations
- Tel Aviv University