Document Type
Thesis
Date of Degree Completion
Spring 2015
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Primate Behavior
Committee Chair
Lori K. Sheeran
Second Committee Member
Ralf Greenwald
Third Committee Member
Jessica A. Mayhew
Abstract
I explored gestures used by captive Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) at the Gibbon Conservation Center (Santa Clarita, CA). I hypothesized that a sender gibbon’s gesture modality would vary with the recipient gibbon’s attentional state and the sender would be equally likely to use all modalities (tactile, visual, actions, and facial expressions) when the recipient was attending (facing the sender), but would use more tactile gestures and actions when the recipient was non-attending (oriented away from the sender). I collected data from 10 individuals using all-occurrences sampling and an ethogram to score behaviors from video recordings. In 1,143 interactions, gibbons used visual gestures and facial expressions significantly more when the recipient was attending and tactile gestures significantly more when the recipient was non-attending. There was no significant difference in actions. These data show that juvenile Javan gibbons used gestures appropriate to recipient’s attentional state in three out of the four modalities.
Recommended Citation
Bell, Melanie, "Javan Gibbon (Hylobates moloch) Non-Vocal Social Communication and Gesture Use With Conspecifics" (2015). All Master's Theses. 59.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/59
Language
English
Included in
Animal Sciences Commons, Animal Studies Commons, Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons, Cognition and Perception Commons, Other Communication Commons, Social Psychology Commons