This proposal derives from several interrelated concepts, in particular, that primate social behavior, including that of man, has been strongly influenced by the nature of the foraging requirements of the environments within which they have evolved and currently function. Both in modern and more primitive societies, the parental unit seems especially sensitive to the competing demands created by various environments which may result in alterred maternal patterns and less capable offspring. One aspect of the environmental demand which has been viewed as crucial in influencing the capacity of subjects to cope effectively and thereby to reduce potential stress, is the stability or predictability of the demand and their capacity to exert some control over survival requirements. Similarly, it has been proposed that the nature of the predictability/control experiences (and hence the effectiveness of coping) early in life may influence subsequent capacity for coping with stressful life event, and leave individuals either relative sensitive to, or immunized against subsequent social and physical demands of the environment. We propose to determine the behavioral and neuroendocrine effects of stable high and low demand conditions in bonnet and pigtail macaques and to determine the effects of variable demands in bonnets in the presence or absence of cues designed to increase predictability and behavioral control. Adult behavior, cortisol, growth hormone and endorphin responses and patterns of maternal and infant response will be studied under each condition. In addition, in order to assess the effects of added experience with control over the physical environment, half the infants under each foraging demand condition will be offered opportunities to modulate their affective state and receive rewards through their actions on the environment throughout early life. In addition to observations of their development and coping skills while with mother, infants will also be assessed in terms of their response to subsequent loss, their capacity to cope with new learning problems, fear and frustration, and their ability to form new social relationships in adolescence.
