Presenting and mounting in non-human primates: Theoretical developments (1989)

Chadwick-Jones, J. K.

Abstract

Studies of presenting and mounting in non-human primates, mainly in Old World monkeys, are reviewed with particular emphasis on studies undertaken in the last two decades. The significance of presenting/mounting as social signals has been increasingly recognized in recent studies. The aim of this review is, first, to summarize current interpretations of presenting/mounting and, second, to provide a source of explanations from social psychology. Reports of postural variations in presenting, the situations where they occur and the effects of presenting on relationships, are discussed. Attention is given to reversed-rank presenting, by dominant animals. How presenting occurs in sequences of interactions is examined by means of social contingency models; the advantages of these models are illustrated.