Teresa Dzieweczynski publishes article in‘Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology'

Teresa Dzieweczynski, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychology, has published an article in the September issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. The article, "I know you: familiarity with an audience influences male-male interactions in Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens," features a student co-author, Christina Perazio (PBO '11).

This study determined that, in Siamese fighting fish, male-male interactions in the presence of an audience fish differed based on whether or not the interacting individuals had been previously exposed to that audience fish. In addition, this effect differed as a result of the sex of the audience fish.

This work is the first to examine how a prior encounter with an audience affects communication within a network of individuals and emphasizes the importance of examining individual identity and the context in which interactions occur to gain a more accurate understanding of how communication works.