Rueger, T. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2024

Reading Outside the Lines: A Systematic Approach for Detecting Bias in Scientific Communication

Consciousness of the social impact of science and the potential biases of its authors is critical to understanding, interpreting, and using scientific findings responsibly. This is especially true for sciences concerned with human health and behavior, where societal and unconscious biases may reinforce existing inequities and discriminatory practices. Considering backgrounds and biases, we may notice bias influencing scientists methodological choices and conclusions, even when a work is otherwise scientifically sound. To this end, we created the pedagogical tool Finding inEquity in LIterature and eXperimentation (FELIX). FELIX is a tool that systematizes the detection of bias and subjectivity in scientific communications by using a three-phase progression of (i) Annotation, (ii) Analysis and (iii) Synthesis, where students form a unified argument about the text with a focus on its relationship to social or ethical context. Results from a mixed methods approach indicated the efficacy of our approach in supporting student learning related to reading comprehension, critical thinking skills, and in understanding the social and ethical implications of the research they were reading. We put forward FELIX as a universal method for training students in the reading of scientific communications and as a tool for addressing systemic inequities in science and science education.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2021

Cooperative and aggressive behaviours vary between ranks in anemonefish social hierarchies

Many animal groups consist of individuals organised in dominance hierarchies, based on age, size or fighting ability. Lower ranked individuals often do not reproduce themselves but perform cooperative behaviours to help the reproductive output of dominant individuals or the group as a whole. Theoretical models suggest that individuals of higher rank should show increased amounts of aggressive behaviours, such as aggressions towards other group members, but should decrease the amount of cooperative behaviours, such as brood care or territory maintenance. Most empirical tests of these models focus on insect or mammalian systems where kin selection plays a large role, rather than animals that live in groups of unrelated individuals. Here we use two anemonefish species to test hypotheses of variation in cooperation and aggression with respect to social rank and species, for social systems where group members are unrelated. We assessed the behaviours of each rank in 20 groups of Amphiprion percula and 12 groups of A. perideraion in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea. We also performed a removal experiment to test if cooperative and aggressive behaviours are likely adaptive, i.e., if they change as an individual ascends in rank. Our results show differences between the two species, with A. percula showing more cooperative behaviours and A. perideraion showing more aggressive behaviours, despite them being closely related and sharing a very similar ecology. With respect to both cooperation and aggression we found consistent differences between ranks in both species, with higher ranks performing more aggressive as well as more cooperative behaviours. When we experimentally provided lower ranked individuals (rank 4) an opportunity to ascend in the hierarchy, they showed more aggression and more cooperation in line with our observations for rank 3 individuals. Thus, we show that rank specific behavioural patterns are likely adaptive in anemonefishes and that some model predictions do not hold in systems where kin selection benefits are absent. Rather, future fitness benefits through territory inheritance and group augmentation likely motivate cooperative and aggressive behaviours by subordinates in groups of unrelated vertebrates.

animal behavior and cognition↗