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Richard Coss

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American psychologist and academic
Richard Gerrit Coss
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Evolutionary psychologist and academic
Academic background
EducationB.S. in Architecture
M.A. in Design
PhD in Comparative psychology
Alma materUniversity of Southern California
University of California
University of Reading
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of California
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Richard Gerrit Coss is an American evolutionary psychologist and academic. He is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of California, Davis.

Coss's research interest spans the field of behavioral evolution, with a particular focus on analyzing adaptive variation in antipredator behavior in different populations, and the impact of developmental, physiological, and neurobiological constraints on behavior. He is most known for his work on dendritic spine plasticity, and early contributions to the field of evolutionary aesthetic preferences. He has also authored and co-authored more than 130 peer-reviewed journal articles and is the editor of the book Environmental Awareness: Evolutionary, Aesthetic and Social Perspectives.

Coss is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and has been a member of numerous professional societies, including the Animal Behavior Society and the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology.

Early life and education

Coss was born on January 3, 1940, in Sanger, California. He is the son of Dr. Joe Glenn and Cornelia Geraldine Coss. After completing his early education, he enrolled at the University of Southern California and graduated in 1962 with a major in Industrial Design in the School of Architecture. Later in 1966, he earned his master's degree in design from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1973, he completed his Ph.D. in Comparative psychology at the University of Reading in the UK, where Corinne Hutt was his dissertation adviser. For his dissertation, Coss conducted comparative research on the perceptual aspects of eye-like schemata in African jewelfish, mouse lemurs, and autistic and typically developing children.

Career

Coss worked at Douglas Aircraft Company from 1962 to 1966. Afterwards, in 1966 he held an appointment as Research Director at the Compagnie de l'Esthetique Industrielle in France that developed the corporate identity for the Shell Oil Corporation. Later, in 1986, he received a Fellowship by the NASA-Ames Research Center where he aided in evaluating ways to enhance space-station interiors for long-term habitation.

Coss started his academic career in 1971, as a lecturer of design at the University of California, Los Angeles. After earning his Ph.D. in psychology, he became an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis. He was later promoted to associate professor in 1978 and became a professor of psychology in 1984. Since 2014, he has been serving as Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of California, Davis.

Research

At the beginning of his career, Coss focused his research on human-factors engineering with aerospace applications at Douglas Aircraft Company. In this context, he was appointed Project Engineer for a lunar-base design proposal to NASA using, for habitation, the spherical tanks manufactured for the second stage of the Saturn 5 lunar rocket. He has studied environmental aesthetics with respect to art and design. Later, his work was aimed at analyzing the antipredator behavior of several species in both field and laboratory conditions as model systems for understanding the development of innate behavior and aesthetic preferences in the context of human evolutionary history. He has published numerous articles in scientific journals and was the recipient of a patent for creating an apparatus for measuring pupillary dilation.

Behavioral evolution and environmental aesthetics

Painting by Richard Coss (1981) derived from video showing a female California ground squirrel jumping back after being struck in the face by a rattlesnake. The low facial swelling observed afterwards prompted research on adaptive variation in ground squirrel physiological resistance to rattlesnake venom.

Coss published a monograph in 1965 that described his visual perception research based on his theory that human ancestors were the prey of predators for a sufficient evolutionary time to engender innate recognition of predator features including two-facing eyes, sharp teeth, and claws. Subsequently, he posited that recognizing such specific provocative shapes enhanced emotional arousal in a manner that have had an impact on works of art, architecture, and product design.

While working on behavioral evolution, Coss identified that, despite having relaxed natural selection from snake predation for more than 300,000 years, California ground squirrels are still capable of distinguishing their rattlesnake and gopher snake predators as compared with Arctic ground squirrels that have lost this ability over 3 million years. However, both species under prolonged relaxed selection have also lost their physiological resistance to rattlesnake venom. Following this research, he hypothesized that "evolved cognitive behavior in humans might persist for as long as 3 million years of relaxed selection" and to test this hypothesis he assessed the preschool children's selection of schematic trees as a form of refuge from predators and their overall refuge-seeking behavior on the playground, particularly by investigating whether historical sexual-size dimorphism plays a role in influencing such behavior. Subsequently, he examined the remembrances in pre-school children and adults of where "something scary" was located in their imagination relative to their beds at night producing findings which reinforced his argument that ancestral sources of natural selection might continue to bias modern aesthetic expression.

Innate pattern recognition

Coss has been acknowledged for his substantial work on the innate pattern-recognition ability of different species. He elucidated that the salient effects of glossy and sparkling surface finishes attract infants and toddlers, increasing the possibilities of endangering their life by drowning or suffocation from plastic bags and described that viewing water has calming effects on adults. Furthermore, he discovered that wild California ground squirrels, white-faced capuchin monkeys, and bonnet macaques are capable of recognizing their snake predators by their size and scale patterns and, for bonnet macaques, their leopard predators by the spots on their coat. He later documented that young human infants are visually attracted reliably to snake-scale and leopard-spot patterns.

Dendritic spine plasticity

Coss evaluated the provocative effects of two-facing eyes in humans and worked on the brain development and behavior of jewel fish which led him to a cover article in Science. His joint study with A. Globus revealed that, due to social deprivation, the formation of dendritic branches in the optic tectum was arrested as was the experience-based shortening of dendritic spine stems. Moreover, a single threatening experience shortened dendritic spine stems in the optic tectum, and enhanced fish behavioral excitability in a manner analogous to PTSD in humans. In related research, he examined developing honeybees and observed the shortening of dendritic spine stems on calycal interneurons with progressive nursing and foraging experiences and also during their first orientation flight.

Evolutionary constraints

Coss also conducted a research series to explore the sources of natural selection mediating human brain evolution. This led to experiments measuring flight distances of wild horses in Arizona and African zebras to an approaching human. The lower fear of wild horses compared with zebras led to his hypothesis that extensive human hunting in Africa might have led to an arm's race for more competent hunting by humans to counter the increasingly evasive ability of wary prey. Such an arm's race for enhanced visual and spatial competence in hunting might explain the enlargement of the human parietal cortex for accurate spear throwing as well the ability of modern humans to translate mental images into figurative art with significant cultural impact. In contrast, the lack of figurative art among European Neanderthals, who likely hunted less wary game with thrusting spears during the Middle Paleolithic, might account for the smaller size of the Neanderthal parietal cortex that limited their artistic expression.

Animal welfare

Apart from working on environmental aesthetics and behavioral evolution, Coss has contributed to animal welfare by examining the impacts of human intrusions in wildlife habitats. He advised graduate students studying African wild dogs and found that black-tailed deer in coastal California unaccustomed to humans were highly cautious when a human approached. While working in India, he studied the sleeping-site selection of bonnet macaques living near human settlements, and also examined the decline in tigers caused by the loss of palatable vegetation for large tiger prey. Also in India, he studied crop-raiding by Asian Elephants, and found that crop-raiding could be thwarted when elephant-activated tiger growls were played back to them. Another facet of his research on animal welfare involved the effects of crowding on brain development. Jewel fish crowded during development continue to school like younger fish and their tectal interneurons look like those of younger fish, an indication that crowding restricts behavioral flexibility similar to that of developmental deprivation.

Bibliography

Books

Selected articles

References

  1. ^ "Richard Coss — People in the Social Science Departments at UC Davis". psychology.ucdavis.edu. 16 April 2024. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  2. Coss, Richard G.; Towers, Steven R. (1990). "Provocative Aspects of Pictures of Animals in Confined Settings". Anthrozoös. 3 (3): 162–170. doi:10.2752/089279390787057586.
  3. Clearwater, Yvonne A.; Coss, Richard G. (1991). "Functional Esthetics to Enhance Weil-Being in Isolated and Confined Settings". From Antarctica to Outer Space. pp. 331–348. doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-3012-0_31. ISBN 978-1-4612-7759-0.
  4. "Richard Coss". scholar.google.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  5. Coss, Richard G. (2005). Environmental Awareness: Evolutionary, Aesthetic, and Social Perspectives. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-7575-2011-2.
  6. "APS Fellows". member.psychologicalscience.org. Archived from the original on 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  7. "Richard Coss". Archived from the original on 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  8. Coss, Richard G. (1978). "Perceptual Determinants of Gaze Aversion By the Lesser Mouse Lemur (Microcebus Murinus), the Role of Two Facing Eyes". Behaviour. 64 (3–4): 248–269. doi:10.1163/156853978X00053. JSTOR 4533873.
  9. Coss, Richard G. (1979). "Perceptual Determinants of Gaze Aversion By Normal and Psychotic Children: the Role of Two Facing Eyes". Behaviour. 69 (3–4): 228–253. doi:10.1163/156853979X00494. JSTOR 4533974. PMID 508240.
  10. Paccoud, Didier (2022). "The Shell project of the Compagnie de l'Esthétique Industrielle in 1968: review and lessons from the unsuccessful project Didier Pacoud". Entreprises et Histoire. 108 (3): 37–51.
  11. Barbour, Christopher G.; Coss, Richard G. (December 1988). "Differential Color Brightness as a Body Orientation Cue". Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. 30 (6): 713–717. doi:10.1177/001872088803000607. PMID 3235088. S2CID 219975551.
  12. "Apparatus for measuring the dilation of the pupil". Archived from the original on 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  13. "Mood Provoking Visual Stimuli: Their Origins and Applications".
  14. Coss, Richard G. (1968). "The Ethological Command in Art". Leonardo. 1 (3): 273–287. doi:10.2307/1571871. JSTOR 1571871. S2CID 191393295.
  15. ^ Coss, Richard G. (2003). "The Role of Evolved Perceptual Biases in Art and Design". Evolutionary Aesthetics. pp. 69–130. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-07142-7_4. ISBN 978-3-642-07822-4.
  16. Coss, Richard G. (2020). "The Influence of Image Salience on the Artistic Renditions of Cave Lions in the Early Upper Paleolithic". Evolutionary Perspectives on Imaginative Culture. pp. 185–212. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-46190-4_10. ISBN 978-3-030-46189-8.
  17. Thompson, N. S. (May 31, 1995). Perspectives in Ethology: Volume 11: Behavioral Design. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9780306449062. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Google Books.
  18. Coss, R. G.; Biardi, J. E. (21 May 1997). "Individual Variation in the Antisnake Behavior of California Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi)". Journal of Mammalogy. 78 (2): 294–310. doi:10.2307/1382883. JSTOR 1382883.
  19. Goldthwaite, Ronald O.; Coss, Richard G.; Owings, Donald H. (1990). "Evolutionary Dissipation of an Antisnake System: Differential Behavior By California and Arctic Ground Squirrels in Above- and Below-Ground Contexts". Behaviour. 112 (3–4): 246–268. doi:10.1163/156853990X00220. JSTOR 4534840.
  20. Poran, Naomie S.; Coss, Richard G.; Benjamini, Eli (January 1987). "Resistance of California ground squirrels (Spermophilus Beecheyi) to the venom of the northern Pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus Viridis Oreganus): A study of adaptive variation". Toxicon. 25 (7): 767–777. Bibcode:1987Txcn...25..767P. doi:10.1016/0041-0101(87)90127-9. PMID 3672545.
  21. Coss, Richard G.; Kevin L. Gusé; Poran, Naomie S.; Smith, David G. (1993). "Development of Antisnake Defenses in California Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi): II. Microevolutionary Effects of Relaxed Selection from Rattlesnakes". Behaviour. 124 (1/2): 137–164. doi:10.1163/156853993X00542. JSTOR 4535086 – via JSTOR.
  22. Coss, Richard G.; Moore, Michael (October 1, 2002). "Precocious Knowledge of Trees as Antipredator Refuge in Preschool Children: An Examination of Aesthetics, Attributive Judgments, and Relic Sexual Dinichism". Ecological Psychology. 14 (4): 181–222. doi:10.1207/S15326969ECO1404_1. S2CID 145653776. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
  23. Coss, Richard G. (July 1, 2016). "Sex difference in choice of concealed or exposed refuge sites by preschool children viewing a model leopard in a playground simulation of antipredator behavior". International Journal of Psychological Research. 9 (2): 8–19. doi:10.21500/20112084.2325. S2CID 67792831. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via revistas.usb.edu.co.
  24. Coss, Richard G. (September 1, 2021). "Something Scary Is Out There: Remembrances of Where the Threat Was Located by Preschool Children and Adults with Nighttime Fear". Evolutionary Psychological Science. 7 (3): 239–253. doi:10.1007/s40806-021-00279-9. S2CID 233619325.
  25. Coss, Richard G.; Blozis, Shelley A. (December 1, 2021). "Something Scary is Out There II: the Interplay of Childhood Experiences, Relict Sexual Dinichism, and Cross-cultural Differences in Spatial Fears". Evolutionary Psychological Science. 7 (4): 359–379. doi:10.1007/s40806-021-00289-7. S2CID 237851872.
  26. Coss, Richard G. (December 1, 1990). "All that Glistens: Water Connotations in Surface Finishes". Ecological Psychology. 2 (4): 367–380. doi:10.1207/s15326969eco0204_3. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
  27. Coss, Richard G.; Ruff, Saralyn; Simms, Tara (July 1, 2003). "All That Glistens: II. The Effects of Reflective Surface Finishes on the Mouthing Activity of Infants and Toddlers". Ecological Psychology. 15 (3): 197–213. doi:10.1207/S15326969ECO1503_1. S2CID 144073989. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
  28. Coss, Richard G.; Keller, Craig M. (June 1, 2022). "Transient decreases in blood pressure and heart rate with increased subjective level of relaxation while viewing water compared with adjacent ground". Journal of Environmental Psychology. 81: 101794. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101794. S2CID 247490489.
  29. Coss, Richard G. (December 1, 1991). "Context and Animal Behavior III: The Relationship Between Early Development and Evolutionary Persistence of Ground Squirrel Antisnake Behavior". Ecological Psychology. 3 (4): 277–315. doi:10.1207/s15326969eco0304_1. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
  30. Coss, Richard G.; Cavanaugh, Cailey; Brennan, Whitney (March 9, 2019). "Development of snake-directed antipredator behavior by wild white-faced capuchin monkeys: III. the signaling properties of alarm-call tonality". American Journal of Primatology. 81 (3): e22950. doi:10.1002/ajp.22950. PMID 30664280. S2CID 58643631. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  31. Ramakrishnan, Uma; Coss, Richard G.; Schank, Jeffrey; Dharawat, Amita; Kim, Susan (April 9, 2005). "Snake Species Discrimination by Wild Bonnet Macaques (Macaca radiata)". Ethology. 111 (4): 337–356. Bibcode:2005Ethol.111..337R. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2004.01063.x. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  32. Ramakrishnan, Uma; Coss, Richard (January 1, 2000). "Perceptual Aspects of Leopard Recognition by Wild Bonnet Macaques (Macaca Radiata)". Behaviour. 137 (3): 315–335. doi:10.1163/156853900502105. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via brill.com.
  33. Coss, Richard G.; Ramakrishnan, Uma; Schank, Jeffrey (February 2005). "Recognition of partially concealed leopards by wild bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata)". Behavioural Processes. 68 (2): 145–163. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2004.12.004. PMID 15686825. S2CID 2256424.
  34. Coss, Richard G.; Charles, Eric P. (March 9, 2021). "The Saliency of Snake Scales and Leopard Rosettes to Infants: Its Relevance to Graphical Patterns Portrayed in Prehistoric Art". Frontiers in Psychology. 12: 763436. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.763436. PMC 8645795. PMID 34880813.
  35. Coss, Richard G. (April 26, 2010). "Development of Face Aversion by the Jewel Fish (Hemichromis bimaculatus, Gill 1862)". Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie. 48 (1): 28–46. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1978.tb00246.x. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  36. Coss, Richard G. (July 9, 1979). "Delayed plasticity of an instinct: Recognition and avoidance of 2 facing eyes by the jewel fish". Developmental Psychobiology. 12 (4): 335–345. doi:10.1002/dev.420120408. PMID 456760. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  37. Coss, Richard G.; Globus, Albert (1978). "Spine Stems on Tectal Interneurons in Jewel Fish Are Shortened by Social Stimulation". Science. 200 (4343): 787–790. Bibcode:1978Sci...200..787C. doi:10.1126/science.644322. JSTOR 1746636. PMID 644322 – via JSTOR.
  38. Coss, Richard G.; Globus, Albert (July 9, 1979). "Social experience affects the development of dendritic spines and branches on tectal interneurons in the jewel fish". Developmental Psychobiology. 12 (4): 347–358. doi:10.1002/dev.420120409. PMID 456761. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  39. Wesley Burgess, J.; Coss, Richard G. (May 1983). "Rapid effect of biologically relevant stimulation on tectal neurons: changes in dendritic spine morphology after nine minutes are retained for twenty-four hours". Brain Research. 266 (2): 217–223. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(83)90652-2. PMID 6871659. S2CID 24718525.
  40. Coss, Richard G.; Perkel, Donald H. (September 1985). "The function of dendritic spines: A review of theoretical issues". Behavioral and Neural Biology. 44 (2): 151–185. doi:10.1016/S0163-1047(85)90170-0. PMID 2415102.
  41. Coss, Richard G.; Brandon, John G.; Globus, Albert (June 1980). "Changes in morphology of dendritic spines on honeybee calycal interneurons associated with cumulative nursing and foraging experiences". Brain Research. 192 (1): 49–59. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(80)91007-0. PMID 7378790. S2CID 26089375.
  42. Brandon, John G.; Coss, Richard G. (December 1982). "Rapid dendritic spine stem shortening during one-trial learning: The honeybee's first orientation flight". Brain Research. 252 (1): 51–61. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(82)90977-5. PMID 7172021. S2CID 7847851.
  43. Brubaker, Alexali S.; Coss, Richard G. (March 9, 2015). "Evolutionary constraints on equid domestication: Comparison of flight initiation distances of wild horses (Equus caballus ferus) and plains zebras (Equus quagga)". Journal of Comparative Psychology. 129 (4): 366–376. doi:10.1037/a0039677. PMID 26348970. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  44. Brubaker, Alexali S.; Coss, Richard G. (July 9, 2016). Ebensperger, L. (ed.). "Effects of Single- and Mixed-Species Group Composition on the Flight Initiation Distances of Plains and Grevy's Zebras". Ethology. 122 (7): 531–541. Bibcode:2016Ethol.122..531B. doi:10.1111/eth.12500. S2CID 87346253. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  45. Coss, Richard G. (2017). "Drawings of Representational Images by Upper Paleolithic Humans and their Absence in Neanderthals Reflect Historical Differences in Hunting Wary Game". Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture. 1 (2): 15–38. doi:10.26613/esic.1.2.46. JSTOR 10.26613/esic.1.2.46. S2CID 134391188. Archived from the original on 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  46. "Effects of predator behavior and proximity on risk assessment by Columbian black-tailed deer". Archived from the original on 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  47. "Effects of risk assessment, predator behavior, and habitat on escape behavior in Columbian black-tailed deer". Archived from the original on 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  48. Ramakrishnan, Uma; Coss, Richard G. (July 1, 2001). "Strategies used by bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata) to reduce predation risk while sleeping". Primates. 42 (3): 193–206. doi:10.1007/BF02629636. S2CID 34596783 – via Springer Link.
  49. "A Comparison of the Sleeping Behavior of Three Sympatric Primates".
  50. Ramakrishnan, Uma; Coss, Richard G.; Pelkey, Neil W. (July 1999). "Tiger decline caused by the reduction of large ungulate prey: evidence from a study of leopard diets in southern India". Biological Conservation. 89 (2): 113–120. Bibcode:1999BCons..89..113R. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(98)00159-1.
  51. Thuppil, Vivek; Coss, Richard G. (April 9, 2016). "Playback of felid growls mitigates crop-raiding by elephants Elephas maximus in southern India". Oryx. 50 (2): 329–335. doi:10.1017/S0030605314000635. S2CID 86369635.
  52. Thuppil, Vivek; Coss, Richard G. (April 1, 2012). "Using Threatening Sounds as a Conservation Tool: Evolutionary Bases for Managing Human–Elephant Conflict in India". Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy. 15 (2): 167–185. doi:10.1080/13880292.2012.678794. S2CID 85122785 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
  53. Thuppil, Vivek; Coss, Richard G. (October 23, 2013). "Wild Asian elephants distinguish aggressive tiger and leopard growls according to perceived danger". Biology Letters. 9 (5): 20130518. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0518. PMC 3971691. PMID 24026347.
  54. Coss, R. G.; Burgess, J. W. (September 28, 1981). "Jewel fish retain juvenile schooling pattern after crowded development". Developmental Psychobiology. 14 (5): 451–457. doi:10.1002/dev.420140507. PMID 7196851. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2023 – via PubMed.
  55. Burgess, J. W.; Coss, R. G. (July 28, 1981). "Short-term juvenile crowding arrests the developmental formation of dendritic spines on tectal interneurons in jewel fish". Developmental Psychobiology. 14 (4): 389–396. doi:10.1002/dev.420140412. PMID 7250527 – via PubMed.
  56. Burgess, J. W.; Coss, R. G. (1982). "Effects of chronic crowding stress on midbrain development: Changes in dendritic spine density and morphology in jewel fish optic tectum". Developmental Psychobiology. 15 (5): 461–470. doi:10.1002/dev.420150508. PMID 6890000. Archived from the original on 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
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