Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2025

Boldness, Aggression, and Shoaling Assays for Zebrafish Behavioral Syndromes
Published on: August 29, 2016
Sex affects the network of covariances between cognitive, behavioral, and physiological traits in guppies
Gaia De Russi1, Elia Gatto1,2, Cristiano Bertolucci1
1Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
Abstract:
Cognitive variance has been documented across many species. It may stem from constraints imposed by the covariation among different traits. We hypothesized that sex could contribute to cognitive variance by affecting the traits' covariation. By applying a network analysis in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a fish with marked sexual dimorphism, we found that males and females differed along a fast-slow continuum, with males exhibiting higher metabolism, higher activity levels, faster learning, and lower cognitive flexibility. Moreover, we found more covarying traits in males compared to females (12 versus 7). Pairwise associations involving cognitive traits significantly differed in the covariance networks of the two sexes and were stronger in males. Various traits, including learning and cognitive flexibility, had different influences in the covariation network between males and females. Cognitive traits are embedded in a complex, sex-dependent web of covariation, which may be important for the evolution and maintenance of cognitive variance.
Related Concept Videos
Testing a Claim about Population Proportion
There are two methods of testing a claim about a population proportion: (1) Using the sample proportion from the data where a binomial distribution is approximated to the normal distribution and (2) Using the binomial probabilities calculated from the data.
The first method uses normal distribution as an approximation to the binomial distribution. The requirements are as follows: sample size is large...
Relationship Formation
Behavioral Genetics and Its Designs
The primary methodologies used in behavior genetics include family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies, each providing unique...
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing,...
Evolutionary Psychology

