Pet Personality

Question 1

Correlated trait examples

Answer 1

Three-spined sticklebacks , territorial aggression correlates with predator approach behaviour

Rainbow trout selected to be high CORT responding or low CORT responding. High responding = ‘Freeze, hide’, shy, less aggressive. Low responding = ‘Fight or flight’, bold, more aggressive

Serotonin in rhesus macaques. High serotonin = more social, consorting with females, heterosexual. Low serotonin = dispersal from natal group, aggression, threatening-life risks

Question 2

Decoupling of physiological and behavioural traits example

Answer 2

Trout translocation from UK to Norway. Low CORT fish were quicker to resume feeding - however immediately after transport high CORT were dominant to low CORT - decoupling or a result from increased hunger?

Question 3

Different personality success examples

Answer 3

Great tits are fast or slow explorers: Low beach mast: 1999-2000, 2001-2002 - Slow males do better due to there being less competition for territorial space - Females do better due to being more aggressive for food
High beach mast: Fast males more aggressive for territorial space and costs outweighs benefits for aggressiveness in females when food is abundant (Dingemanse, 2004)

Canadian big horn sheep - boldness and docility heritable and negative correlated. During high predation from cougar selection for boldness (Dingemanse, 2005)

Question 4

Basic animal personality example

Answer 4

Strong positive correlation of boldness in dogs across a range of situations