Name: Karen Kostan
Major Professor: Lynette A. Hart
Department: [other or N/A]
Lab Phone: (530)757-8442
Email: kmkostan@ucdavis.edu
Web Site:
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BS -
University of Wisconsin, Madison -
Zoology, Psychology and Philosophy -
1998
MS -
University of California, Davis -
Animal Behavior -
2002
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Research Interests
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I have previously studied attachment in juvenile Cotton-top Tamarins, a cooperatively breeding species in which fathers and older brothers are responsible for most of the caregiving. Currently, I am pursuing questions relating to mutualistic interspecific communication. As ecological thought increasingly stresses the ubiquity and significance of mutualistic interactions, studies into communication between such interacting species are increasingly important. Sheep herding, a triadic interaction between sheep, dog and human herder, is a particularly interesting and accessible model system for posing questions of interspecific communication in a cooperative context. I am utilizing this system to:
* document folkloric traditions of vastly different herding systems and explore how these traditions reflect variation in herding demands and influence interspecific communication.
* explore the ontogeny of communication between individuals of different species.
* study changes in the production of linguistic signals as training of a dog progresses.
* examine variation in production of vocal and visual signals during competitive herding trials. Hopefully, these studies will add to the general knowledge in the growing field of mutualistic interspecific communication. Specifically, I intend to expand information on the role of developmental and environmental conditions on interspecific communication.
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Publications
Kostan, Karen M. 2002. The evolution of mutualistic interspecific communication: Assessment and management across species. Journal of Comparative Psychology. 116(2): 206-209.
Kostan, Karen M. and Snowdon, Charles T. 2002. Attachment and social preferences in cooperatively-reared cotton-top tamarins. American Journal of Primatology. 57(3): 131-139. http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/0275-2565/
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