Browsing by Author "Krige, Penelope Disa."

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Behaviour, biology and the social condition of Cercopithecus Aethiops, the Vervet Monkey.
(1984) Tollman, Shirley G.; Lucas, John.; Krige, Penelope Disa.; Murray, C. O.
Biotelemetry has been coupled with an ethological approach to investigate a postulate that the physiological, behavioural, and social functioning of individuals coact in order to maintain homeostasis in an everchanging environment. Attention was focussed upon body temperature, behaviour, and the social situation, as they occurred together in each of five 'undisturbed' adult vervet monkeys. One male and one female were housed alone in single cages, and the other three, all females, were part of a natural troop that live together in captivity in a 6.5 metre radius geodesic dome. Intensive studies, including in-depth and multiple repeated measures at each level of functioning permitted comparisons between and within subjects, so that the connections between body temperature, and individual and social behaviour, could be scrutinised. Techniques for observation, data processing, and factor analysis have been considered, and procedures to facilitate the organisation and interpretation of information are suggested. The results pointed to individual variations superimposed upon a rhythmic underpinning of all the functions monitored. A synthesis of the data of body temperature with individual and social behaviour supports the contention that the individual responds to the vagaries of the environment as an integrated system within which the different levels of functioning are linked. It was found that the oscillation in body temperature was greater in the vervets that lived alone than in the vervets that lived in a troop. These results were supported behaviourally since the isolated subjects could only complement autonomic thermoregulatory responses with individually based behavioural strategies, whereas their troop-living conspecifics could utilise both individual and socially directed behavioural mechanisms. Within the troop an inverse relationship between body temperature variation and social status was revealed that is, the lower the status of the subject, the more the body temperature fluctuated around the mean. Behaviourally, it was found that the lower the status of the subject, the more difficult it became to gain access to resources, and to manipulate interpersonal space. In addition, harassment by troop conspecifics increased and, consequently, the efficiency with which behavioural patterns could be executed, was decreased. An analysis of the data also led to the proposal that social grooming has evolved as a thermoregulatory mechanism; to the identification of three different facets of individual behaviour and of social behaviour; and to the idea that the rhythmic changes in the troop's spatial conformation reflected cyclical patterns in behavioural and social activity.
Childrens' justification of preference for other childrens' drawings.
(1983) Roche, Steven Mark.; Krige, Penelope Disa.; Sharratt, Pamela Arlette.
The present study sought to establish the justifications of preference offered by children when evaluating other children's drawings. The sample consisted of seventy children, divided into seven age groups, of 6 to 12 years, having ten subjects in each, with five females and five males. The five stimulus drawings were selected according to specified criteria, and had not been produced by any of the sample. The paired comparisons method was used for presentation, a content analysis undertaken on the transcript of the subjects tape-recorded verbal justifications, and appropriate analysis of variance and significance tests undertaken on this data. Findings show: (i) there to be predominant categories of response - subject matter and colour, with the subject matter taking precedence over colour and usually provocative of identification therewith (ii) that children had distinct preferences for certain pictures (iii) the age and sex of the child to have an influence upon both criteria of preference (for categories of preference age significant at 0,01 level, sex at 0,05), and the frequency of choice of particular drawings (for drawing choice age significant at 0,01 level, sex at 0,05). The study also presents an extensive review of the literature in the area and of the Clinical Method (Piaget 1973) as appropriate to the present study.
The development of communicative competence : the ontogenesis of joint co-ordinated interaction between mother and infant.
(1977) Krige, Penelope Disa.; Albino, Ronald C.
An analysis of mother-infant interaction during the preverbal period has revealed the importance of gaze in establishing the phatic channel and in the development of an intersubjectivity between them. Before the infant starts speaking there are behavioural indices of intersubjectivity - this enables complex tasks to be jointly accomplished. Seven stages in the ontogenesis of joint co-ordinated activity have been identified. It is argued that there is a continuity of function between these preverbal communicative actions and later verbal behaviour. The two theories providing the theoretical basis for this research are Speech Act Theory (Searle 1969) and Piaget's (1953, 1970) theory of cognitive development. Some modification of these theories has been necessary.