[tips] First use of the term "alpha"
Recently I posted concerning Kathy Morgan's request for the earliest date for use of the term "alpha" to indicate the dominant individual in a group, as in "alpha male". As I seem to be the only responder to this query, I continue my lonely quest. I pointed out that the OED cites as earliest use its occurrence in an article in _Science_ in 1954. But (for shame, OED) their citation is incorrect. I then noted the use of "alpha male" in an article by U. Cowgill in _Science_ in 1964, and an earlier one in a magazine called "Magnum Photos" in 1960. I can now go farther back, even before the OED's spurious 1954 claim. The new source is this: Greenberg, B. and G. Noble (1944). Social Behavior of the American Chameleon (Anolis carolinensis Voigt). Physiological Zoology, 17, No. 4 pp. 392-439. They use the term "alpha male" on three occasions, the first being this: "Later this same male mated with a smaller male, put into the cage to test the ability of the alpha male to distinguish sex" (p. 409). As once again they do not define the term, presumably it had already entered general use by this time. Further browsing suggests the term originated with the primatologist Clarence Ray Carpenter when working as a fellow of the Yerkes Primate Laboratories. He studied rhesus monkeys on the island of Cayo Santiago in the late 1930's, and the term "alpha male" occurs frequently in discussions of his work. For example, see Harding and Hintikka (2003), _Discovering Reality_ (2nd ed), p. 170 [available by searching in Google Books]. Montgomery (2005) has a recent review of Carpenter's work. While I'm confident that "alpha male" originated with Carpenter, I haven't been able to retrieve any of his papers to verify this. One place I think it might appear is in his 1942 article cited below. Assuming I'm right about this, there's still the question how a term which originated in a specialized, even obscure scientific field made its way into popular culture. One explanation is that Carpenter's work on Cayo Santiago was featured in Life Magazine, and this may have introduced the term to a wider readership (see p. 7 of Dolores Flamiano, Meaning, Memory, and Misogyny: Life Photographer Hansel Mieth's Monkey Portrait (2005) available at http://tinyurl.com/nkal3u ). Carpenter, C.R. (1942). Sexual Behavior of Free Ranging Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta). I.Specimens, Procedures and Behavioral Characteristics of Estrus. Journal of Comparative Psychology 33(1): 113-143. Montgomery, G. (2005). Place, Practice and Primatology: Clarence Ray Carpenter, Primate Communication and the Development of Field Methodology, 1931-1945. _Journal of the History of Biology_, 38: 495-533. Stephen - Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: sbl...@ubishops.ca 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ --- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
Re: [tips] First use of the term "alpha"
Stephen, first the good news. I was able to access the full text of Carpenter (1942). The bad news: no use of the term "alpha male." David Kreiner Professor of Psychology University of Central Missouri Lovinger Warrensburg MO 64093 krei...@ucmo.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
Re: [tips] First use of the term "alpha"
The use of "alpha" and "omega" to describe the animals at the extremes of dominance hierarchies was common in describing bird and rodent social structures in 1942. Here's an article by Allee in 1942 describing social hierarchies based on decades of previous research, much of it his own. Group Organization among Vertebrates, W. C. Allee , Science, Vol. 95, No. 2464 (Mar. 20, 1942), pp. 289-293 ���the alpha cock ��� would charge [the other cock] and drive him to the roosts whenever [the other cock] approached.��� The same article refers to a description of an alpha mouse. Before 1942, Yerkes studied dominance and sexual relations in chimpanzees and one of the animals was named "Alpha" (a female who was not consistently dominant), although I don't think Yerkes used the term alpha to describe the dominant animal. In fact, I believe both Yerkes and Carpenter were of the mind that primate social structures rarely had a single consistent "alpha" animal. On the other hand, Yerkes believed that evolution had handed the dominant role largely to the male gender. Bill Scott >>> "David Kreiner" 08/28/09 10:47 AM >>> Stephen, first the good news. I was able to access the full text of Carpenter (1942). The bad news: no use of the term "alpha male." David Kreiner Professor of Psychology University of Central Missouri Lovinger Warrensburg MO 64093 krei...@ucmo.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
Re: [tips] First use of the term "alpha"
In response to Kathy Morgan's query, I had rashly asserted that the term "alpha" to indicate the dominant animal in a group must have originated with the primate studies of C.R. Carpenter. I suggested that Carpenter might have used the term as early as 1942 in an article in the Journal of Comparative Psychology. To which David Kreiner helpfully replied: > Stephen, first the good news. I was able to access the full text of Carpenter > (1942). The > bad news: no use of the term "alpha male." Uh-oh. Another case of a beautiful theory slain by an ugly fact. I was led astray by comments such as those by Haraway (1978), on Carpenter removing the "alpha male" from his group and then observing the remaining animals. But after David's bad news, I was able to get to a book of Carpenter's published and unpublished papers dating from the 1930's.(Carpenter, 1964). He never said "alpha male" there or elsewhere in his writings, instead using such phrases as "most dominant male", "no. 1 dominant male", and "supremely dominant male". Clearly, Carpenter needed but was unaware of the succinct and memorable term "alpha male". On the other hand, William Scott set me on the right track by noting the use of the term "alpha cock" and "alpha mouse" by the zoologist W.C. Allee as early as 1942. The phrase appears even earlier in Allee's book, _The Social Live of Animals_ (1938), where it seems to be close to a definition, namely "A hen which is otherwise the _alpha_ [italics in the original] bird in the pen may be pecked with impunity by some low-ranking member, although the latter is in turn pecked by many birds over which the _alpha_ hen has a clearly established social superiority (p. 179). " So my current candidate for the originator of the phrase is W.C. Allee. Interestingly, Allee does not use the phrase in an even earlier paper (Masure and Allee, 1934), instead referring to the "despot" of the flock, an unsatisfactory and anthropomorphic term. Two final points: In searching the web, I came across an essay by Robert Ardrey on "The alpha fish" in his book _The Social Contract_ (1970) [ http://www.ditext.com/ardrey/4.html ], where he discusses the history of research on the alpha animal. He suggests, although "not sure", that it was G.K. Noble who originated the term as "the alpha fish". In my second post, I did cite a 1944 paper by Noble using this term, but nothing earlier. So I'm sticking with Allee in 1938. Second, I was already familiar with Allee through his delightful, brilliant, and disgusting (1933) study providing an early demonstration of the social facilitation effect, that things go better when performed in front of an audience. If I recall correctly, he showed that cockroaches, when in the presence of a bleacher section of enthusiastic roach supporters chanting, "Go, roach, go!", performed better on a simple maze than did solitary cockroaches. I am not making this up (ok, maybe just the chanting). Stephen Haraway, D. (1978). Animal sociology and a natural economy of the body politic, part I: A political physiology of dominance. Signs, v. 4, p. 21-- Carpenter, C.R. (1964). Naturalistic behavior of nonhuman primates. Pennsylvania State University Press. Masure, R., and Allee, W. (1934). The social order in flocks of the common chicken and the pigeon. Auk, 51, 306-327 Gates, M. F., & Allee, W. C. (1933). Conditioned behavior of isolated and grouped cockroaches on a simple maze: Journal of Comparative Psychology Vol 15(2),331-358. - Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: sbl...@ubishops.ca 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada --- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
Re: [tips] First use of the term "alpha"
The first use was made by a gorilla pounding on his chest uttering" Allppph."Reference available upon request. Michael --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
Re: [tips] First use of the term "alpha"
"Alpha" was the leading caste of people in Aldous Huxley's _Brave New World_ of 1932. He probably took this usage from naturalists of his day (being a Huxley, after all). Or, even more interestingly, perhaps naturalists adopted the usagefrom his (then very popular) book. Chris Green York U. Toronto sbl...@ubishops.ca wrote: > In response to Kathy Morgan's query, I had rashly asserted that the term > "alpha" to indicate > the dominant animal in a group must have originated with the primate studies > of C.R. > Carpenter. I suggested that Carpenter might have used the term as early as > 1942 in an > article in the Journal of Comparative Psychology. To which David Kreiner > helpfully replied: > > >> Stephen, first the good news. I was able to access the full text of >> Carpenter (1942). The >> bad news: no use of the term "alpha male." >> > > Uh-oh. Another case of a beautiful theory slain by an ugly fact. I was led > astray by comments > such as those by Haraway (1978), on Carpenter removing the "alpha male" from > his group > and then observing the remaining animals. But after David's bad news, I was > able to get to a > book of Carpenter's published and unpublished papers dating from the > 1930's.(Carpenter, > 1964). He never said "alpha male" there or elsewhere in his writings, instead > using such > phrases as "most dominant male", "no. 1 dominant male", and "supremely > dominant male". > Clearly, Carpenter needed but was unaware of the succinct and memorable term > "alpha > male". > > On the other hand, William Scott set me on the right track by noting the use > of the term > "alpha cock" and "alpha mouse" by the zoologist W.C. Allee as early as 1942. > The phrase > appears even earlier in Allee's book, _The Social Live of Animals_ (1938), > where it seems to > be close to a definition, namely "A hen which is otherwise the _alpha_ > [italics in the original] > bird in the pen may be pecked with impunity by some low-ranking member, > although the > latter is in turn pecked by many birds over which the _alpha_ hen has a > clearly established > social superiority (p. 179). " > > So my current candidate for the originator of the phrase is W.C. Allee. > Interestingly, Allee > does not use the phrase in an even earlier paper (Masure and Allee, 1934), > instead referring > to the "despot" of the flock, an unsatisfactory and anthropomorphic term. > > Two final points: In searching the web, I came across an essay by Robert > Ardrey on "The > alpha fish" in his book _The Social Contract_ (1970) [ > http://www.ditext.com/ardrey/4.html ], > where he discusses the history of research on the alpha animal. He suggests, > although "not > sure", that it was G.K. Noble who originated the term as "the alpha fish". > In my second post, I > did cite a 1944 paper by Noble using this term, but nothing earlier. So I'm > sticking with Allee > in 1938. > > Second, I was already familiar with Allee through his delightful, brilliant, > and disgusting (1933) > study providing an early demonstration of the social facilitation effect, > that things go better > when performed in front of an audience. If I recall correctly, he showed that > cockroaches, > when in the presence of a bleacher section of enthusiastic roach supporters > chanting, "Go, > roach, go!", performed better on a simple maze than did solitary cockroaches. > I am not > making this up (ok, maybe just the chanting). > > Stephen > > > Haraway, D. (1978). Animal sociology and a natural economy of the body > politic, part I: A > political physiology of dominance. Signs, v. 4, p. 21-- > > Carpenter, C.R. (1964). Naturalistic behavior of nonhuman primates. > Pennsylvania State > University Press. > > Masure, R., and Allee, W. (1934). The social order in flocks of the common > chicken and the > pigeon. Auk, 51, 306-327 > > Gates, M. F., & Allee, W. C. (1933). Conditioned behavior of isolated and > grouped > cockroaches on a simple maze: Journal of Comparative Psychology Vol > 15(2),331-358. > > > - > Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology, Emeritus > Bishop's University > e-mail: sbl...@ubishops.ca > 2600 College St. > Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 > Canada > --- > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) > > -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 chri...@yorku.ca http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ == --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
