So, in my Primatology class, I had an assignment where I had to observe a primate or primates and write up a report on them. The assignment stated that we could observe humans and I thought I would be a smart ass and run with that…This class in particular has a very laid back professor and the TA is even more so which has given me a lot of leeway in my academic shannanigans. So, I decided to go to a bar and do my observational study there and take notes on what I had observed. Then, I had to write a 2-3 page report of my findings. Here’s my notes, the paper follows.
A little background: I had to pick certain individuals to place more emphasis on if I found them interesting for whatever reason. I then had to give them made up names or codes…Fred is one, ord and ord f is another…once you start reading, you’ll get the idea…
Explanation To The Professor As To Why I Didn’t Follow Instructions
In order to properly conduct this observation, using a notebook and pen/paper would not be the most effective means of reporting, nor would be bringing the sampling form as is required. The humans being observed may have been able to see the notes being taken and also, it would be out of place for an individual to be writing in a notebook in a bar for an extended period of time. Because of this, I felt it would be best to use my iPhone with a full battery on battery save mode to take notes as it is socially acceptable (mostly) to ignore individuals around you and stare at a smartphone for extended periods of time. I decided to continually update my observations to iCloud in order to make sure that none of the data could be lost in the event that there was some sort of device malfunction which was noted throughout the observation. The Primate Census form was filled out on location outside of the bar using my laptop after making some initial observations, then put my laptop back in my vehicle. My idea did work, I drew very little attention to myself, and nobody seemed to catch on to my observational study. I will copy and paste directly from my “Notes,” app everything that was documented during the study here. I can also provide screen shots from my iPhone if requested. This observational study was technically in the form of an ad-libitum observational study. However, detailed times were taken with specific instances of important events more so than a standardized list of items as would be done with other types of studies.
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The Observation Begins
Observation time begins 20:28 notes will be taken digitally unless battery dies to keep lower profile based on study conditions and location.
First observations, loud, humans are congregating around a large rectangular area where a human is bringing nourishment.
I will try and find a specific group of humans to observe or do an overall synopsis of the observational event since I am in the locale.
There are currently 16 males, 9 females including the human bringing nourishment.
The racial makeup is also mixed. Mostly white, 9 white males, 4 black males, and three Hispanic males. There are 6 white females, 3 Hispanic females.
There are no children, the age of the humans seems to vary significantly. Youngest seems to be roughly mid to early 20s to late 60s. Median age is most likely 40.
Median female age is younger 35-40.
All races seem to be interacting, no subgroups identified. No outliers. All humans are in groups of at least two. One male outlier exists. Will keep an eye on him. I will call him Fred. Time is 20:36
20:37 3 more females enter, two males enter
20:41 I estimate 40-50% of the humans partake in the smoking of cigarettes.
20:43 Fred plays pool by himself.
20:45 Fred now has a playmate 🙂
It would appear most humans here already know each other as there appear to be pre-existing social bonds with few individuals hesitant to converse with others.
20:51 military vet in wheelchair has been gathering significant attention from other males. Asking questions about war stories, offering condolences, 3rd time in last 10 minutes. Will focus on this. Regrettably.
20:54 army vet intro x2
20:57 human used communication amplification device for entertainment purposes “karaoke” observations will only be visual from now on.
21:00 Negative on observations only- humans have become increasingly loud.
21:02 several humans partaking in marijuana oil use – openly. The deviant behavior – hiding from other humans seems to be a bonding experience.
21:04 Fred is now offered marijuana oil. Yay Fred!
21:06 lost visual on vet
21:09 human “Bill” constantly complaining about not having enough peanuts. 4th time in 30 minutes.
21:12 Bill has now taken to harder fermented beverages. He has become much more vocal and louder.
21:15 Fred is still playing pool with same playmate.
21:17 I’ve noticed smaller groups have formed. More couples and not as large of a single community as earlier when the observation began.
21:20 Fred takes two shots
21:21 Bill leaves with playmates
21:23 visual on vet made. May not be able to continue observation due to location.
21:26 marijuana users exit – make point to say goodbye to vet
21:27 3 older “rough,” females enter. They appear to be matriarchs. They know most in the social gathering and then go straight to “their spot.”
21:30 note – matriarchs have bleached blonde hair with purple streaks
21:30 NOTE: MATRIARCHS BROUGHT THEIR OWN LIQUOR AND BOUGHT SODA AT BAR
21:32 human mistook me for another human. Thought study was over.
21:33 Matriarch 3 – will call her M3 is a karaoke fiend. She seems to own the mic. 4th time she has sang. Two humans have sung other than DJ.
General observation time: most of the humans at this social gathering are overweight and smokers. They are also short in stature and those who tend to weigh less do not seem to be less socially active or are outliers socially. Most attention has been drawn to the army vet and to the marijuana dispenser. May not be a causal issue has he was very socially outgoing and was intentionally going to different people and introducing himself throughout the evening.
21:39 Fred is again playing pool, the matriarchs (the ms) are dominating the dart boards.
21:40 army vet x2
21:43 Fred takes another shot, beer
21:45 Fred resumes playing pool
21:47 :::saved data to cloud:::
21:50 observation note (never trust yelp, this place sucks)
21:51 getting concerns locals think I’m a narc – might do karaoke so blend in with fellow humans
21:53 matriarchs still controlling dart board grounds. Fred still playing pool. New humans have arrived, very active, loud, outgoing. Black males, lots of gold jewelry, not typical for rest of the “humans.” Interesting.
21:56 MUCH older male and younger female enter. Will watch dynamic. “Ord” “ord f” (old rich dude/old rich dude female)
21:56 ord leaves ord f alone immediately after getting drink at bar
21:57 young male asks ord f for light of cigarette. Tries to continue conversation
21:58 young male is shot down
21:59 young male tells army vet, army vet gets a laugh out of it
22:00 several other females are looking at ord f. So are all males. :::finally it’s getting interesting:::
22:01 ord left immediately upon arrival, finally comes back
22:03 young black humans are playing pool with other humans who have been here since beginning of observation
22:04 DJ and matriarchs are using marijuana oil
22:04 Fred takes another shot, beer, random male human who came in alone asks to play pool with Fred. Looks awkward. Fred obliges.
22:08 m3 is singing again, now with female playmate
22:10 Fred shakes hands with stranger he’s playing pool with. Has new playmate. Yay Fred!
22:15 Fred takes another shot, beer. Closes tab.
22:16 ord does karaoke
22:16 ord f gets hit on by young male.
22:18 ord songs kid rock, alpha male?
Observers note…this is painful…
22:18 two young males male contact with ord f while he is singing
:::I might blow my cover. I can’t do this…it’s too funny. I should’ve stuck with chimps.:::
::photo taken::
22:21 song ends, young male leaves as ord comes back
22:23 one male who made contact with ord is in trouble with mate. He seems to be “smoothing things over.”
22:24 4 males from lawn care co enter (lcm)
22:25 lcm play darts, matriarchs leave their territory
:::data saved to cloud:::
22:29 Fred comes out of nowhere! Where ya been Fred! Makes contact with female nerdy girl (ng) who has been alone for some time.
22:30 Fred seems to be using body language that suggests interest in (ng). Godspeed Fred.
22:32 Fred gets (ng) napkins from the bar…altruism? A gift? Overture? One will see.
22:33 older male hugs Fred’s (ng). Sits down next to her. Seems to know her.
22:34 matriarchs leave
22:35 ord continually leaves ord f. She never looks happy.
22:37 Fred gives (ng) glass of water. He waited for a long time at the bar (annoyingly) for it.
22:38 Fred and ng are eating together. They must know each other.
22:38 vet left without paying his tab. Friends are confused and worried.
22:40 Fred May not have known ng…it was a quick bite.
22:45 (went to bathroom and came back to group sitting in my seat…my soda in place)
22:45 said they were leaving, apologized. Left
22:48 m3 just finished another song
Observer note::: do real primatologists take stimulants in the field? I’m dying here. But I’ll stay until 02:00 or until my phone died. Whatever comes first.:::
22:53 the humans are now dancing, some of them at least
22:54 Fred left after looking depressed and sat alone since leaving ng
:::data saved to cloud @22:56:::
22:57 ord f has been yelling at ord…he has left but not left the premises. She is on the phone.
22:58 FREAKING MY BOY FRED IS BACK!
23:01 was asked to play darts by another human. I cordially declined
23:06 ord and ord f relocated
23:06 mutual friend shows up – let’s see if he noticed me doing my observational study
Took 10 minute break to catch up with my buddy. Told him about study but not to interfere or I would include him and his date.
23:17 ord and ord f left
23:18 Fred is back in action at the pool table. Beginning to think Fred is a pool shark…Machiavelli style.
23:20 3 black males enter and go directly to other young black males, they all know each other apparently. Other group of white males look “…bothered” based on my observations. It’s covert, almost like an intrusion. Earlier this was not a problem.
23:25 tensions seem to have calmed. Body language is back to normal. Facial expressions have also normalized. However, two groups have definitely formed, most likely unintentional.
23:27 there is one who has been an intermediary since they arrived however – the one wearing the most gold jewelry. He has been socially more “aware,” and has brought multiple social groups together more than anybody maybe = to the earlier marijuana guy.
:::photo taken::: (Faces blurred for anonymity)
23:31 Fred is now alone and chain smoking. He’s no longer drinking – broke? He’s not too drunk.
23:34 I question if maybe the tall one who came in alone and made friends with Fred is the actual pool shark. He seems to be having a great time still. Longitudinal studies would be required – if these humans congregate here on a regular basis.
23:27 my vape battery has just died…things are getting desperate
23:40 the level of intoxication may be slowing down the overall atmosphere of the study. There is less interaction between groups, less movement, less “excitement,” and so forth. Ergo, less to report.
23:45 Fred is back in action at the pool tables. The karaoke has been essentially owned by a small group of individuals for about an hour.
23:51 the humans have descended into boring anarchy. Some are making out, some are playing pool (still) singing ear screeching music, or males are still striking out with females.
23:56 :::Observers note::: I’ve decided to do karaoke I can’t take it anymore. I must mix in or I will fall asleep.
23:58. ::uploaded data to cloud::
00:03 observational experiment concluded
00:10 post hoc – Fred is going home with ng
The Paper
Christopher Brooks
Lab #8 Primate Ad-Libitum Sampling Final Report
3/29/19
Originally, when I decided to do my observation on humans at a bar, I expected that there would not be a lot of surprises in the study. I am a thirty-four-year-old male and I have spent my time as an adult people watching occasionally and especially as a psychology major it has always interested me anyways. I found that in the roughly three and a half hours of observing humans in a drinking establishment as an outsider looking in on human behavior as actual primates, I could not have been anymore wrong. The commonalities I found between humans and other non-human primates was beyond anything I could ever have imagined and look forward to disseminating the information from the observational study here.
Regarding social and non-social behavior, humans in this particular location were incredibly complex. There were four specific individuals whose behaviors specifically drew my attention more so than any other humans in the study. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of the word count of this assignment, I will only focus on a specific pair/couple that made the biggest impact on me during the observational process. The rest can be found in my ad-libitum sampling notes which I personally find hilarious if you so desire to read through them.
At 21:56 hours, a much older gentleman and a younger, very attractive female entered the establishment. I named them “ord” and “ord f” for “old rich dude and old rich dude female.” There was an immediate response from both males and females. Everybody seemed to recognize their presence in the bar. Old rich dude seemed to have no problem leaving old rich dude female alone for significant periods of time to socialize with others, do karaoke, and so forth and whenever he left, another young male would almost immediately walk over to old rich dude female and make contact with her. It was like clockwork. There was not one instance when this did not happen. Specifically, four instances that I was able to count but at times more than one male approached her as a group. It was reminiscent of NHP mating structures where less dominant males make attempts to “swoop in,” and mate with or create relations with a higher-ranking female. However, as soon as old rich dude returned, the younger male(s) immediately retreated. It was almost instinctive as well. They left immediately before he returned, as if they had a sixth sense of his upcoming arrival. Or maybe the song ended.
From an evolutionary perspective, one could assume that the younger males would simply hope that since she was with an older male, it was her father or an uncle, maybe a good friend and that there was not a romantic relationship. It would then be worth the risk to make contact with her. Plus, he most likely posed no physical threat due to his age. Additionally, he spent more time away from her than he spent time with her, maybe an indication that there was an issue in the relationship (if there was one as they were never affectionate towards each other) which younger males might have felt they could take advantage of. One reason to visit a drinking establishment is to make social connections, especially sexual in nature, so for a young male, it would make sense to at least attempt to make contact with this female as she was really the only attractive female in the bar as well. It is possible that due to her young age and attractiveness, younger males saw her as a more suitable mate for child bearing (instinctively) but on a societal level, could also be drawn to a more attractive female in a humanistic form of sexual dimorphism. The above describes how this could increase the fitness of future offspring. The male would prefer a younger, more vivacious female for breeding purposes, would attempt to remove an older male is currently her mate from his place of authority and when the young males attempts were ignored, each one of them went to their friends and told the story to which they all got a good laugh at. This could possibly create stronger social bonds with each other as a single male group.
I gained more insights than I wished during this observation which was also the best and worst part of the assignment. Humans are absolutely horrible when under the influence of alcohol. They are loud, obnoxious creatures who can end up showing their most primal urges and instincts openly and without any remorse whatsoever. During the observational process, I continued to remind myself that I was not there to have fun, drink or socialize. I was there strictly to observe as if I were an alien from another planet; only to take notes to bring back home so my kind could better understand Homo sapiens species. Unfortunately, once I fell down that rabbit hole, I began to notice too many similarities between humans and NHPs. We are not very far removed in our behaviors from primates that we keep locked up in cages, use for biological experiments, kill for sport or food and it was at that moment that I began to think about not how alike we are to them but how alike they are to us. This realization was disheartening in and of itself, let alone the pure disappointment in seeing the decline of the human’s ability to use self-control, rational thought and reason when the intake of alcohol increased over the course of the evening. I suppose however that judging the humans from the observation would be the near equivalent of judging NHPs behaviors that can seem so brutal in the wild. How could a baboon commit infanticide? How could a chimpanzee kill a colobus monkey in order to eat it? These judgements are withheld due to humans’ feelings of intellectual superiority. I think last night I learned I may need to feel a bit less superior over other humans as well. Especially since alcohol suppresses regions of the brain that control executive functioning which for all intents and purposes may have actually caused me to do an observation on what would be the equivalent of NHPs. They just happened to look a lot like humans.
psych_undergrad 