Draft:Richard Coss
 | Review waiting, please be patient.
This may take 3 months or more, since drafts are reviewed in no specific order. There are 2,801 pending submissions waiting for review.
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
Reviewer tools
|
Comment: In accordance with the Wikimedia Foundation's Terms of Use, I disclose that I have been paid by my employer for my contributions to this article.HRShami (talk) 08:15, 14 May 2025 (UTC)
Richard Gerrit Coss | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Evolutionary psychologist and academic |
| Academic background | |
| Education | B.S. in Architecture M.A. in Design PhD in Comparative psychology |
| Alma mater | University of Southern California University of California University of Reading |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | University of California |
Richard Gerrit Coss is an American evolutionary psychologist and academic. He is a professor emeritus of Psychology at the University of California, Davis.[1]
Coss is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.[2]
Education and career
[edit]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.[1]
Coss is a professor emeritus of Psychology at the University of California, Davis.[1]
Research
[edit]Coss' work analyzed the antipredator behavior of different 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.
Behavioral evolution and environmental aesthetics
[edit]
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.[3] Subsequently, he posited that recognizing such specific provocative shapes enhanced emotional arousal in a manner that have had an impact on works of art,[4] architecture, and product design.[5][6]
Innate pattern recognition
[edit]Coss elucidated that the salient effects of glossy and sparkling surface finishes attract infants and toddlers,[7] increasing the possibilities of endangering their life by drowning or suffocation from plastic bags[8] and described that viewing water has calming effects on adults.[9] Furthermore, he discovered that wild California ground squirrels,[10] white-faced capuchin monkeys,[11] and bonnet macaques are capable of recognizing their snake predators[12] by their size and scale patterns and, for bonnet macaques, their leopard predators by the spots on their coat.[13][14] He later documented that young human infants are visually attracted reliably to snake-scale and leopard-spot patterns.[15]
Dendritic spine plasticity
[edit]Coss evaluated the provocative effects of two-facing eyes in humans and worked on the brain development[16] and behavior[17] of jewel fish which led his work to a cover article in Science.[18] 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.[19]
Evolutionary constraints
[edit]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.[20] 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.[21]
Bibliography
[edit]Books
[edit]- Coss, Richard G. (1965). Mood Provoking Visual Stimuli: Their Origins and Applications (Thesis). Los Angeles: University of California. OCLC 5332767.
- Coss, Richard G., ed. (2005). Environmental Awareness: Evolutionary, Aesthetic & Social Perspectives. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt. ISBN 0-7575-2011-1.
Selected articles
[edit]- Coss, Richard G. (June 1968). "The ethological command in art". Leonardo. 1 (3): 273–287. doi:10.2307/1571871. JSTOR 1571871.
- 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.
- Coss, Richard G. (1999). "Effects of relaxed natural selection on the evolution of behavior". In Foster, Susan A.; Endler, John A. (eds.). Geographic Variation in Behavior: Perspectives on Evolutionary Mechanisms. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 180–208. doi:10.1093/oso/9780195082951.003.0013. ISBN 978-0-19-508295-1.
- Coss, Richard G. (2003). "The role of evolved perceptual biases in art and design". In Voland, Eckart; Grammer, Karl (eds.). Evolutionary Aesthetics. Springer. pp. 69–130. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-07142-7_4. ISBN 978-3-662-07142-7.
- 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.
- Coss, Richard G.; Keller, Craig M. (June 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.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Richard Coss - Professor Emeritus". University of California, Davis. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
- ^ "APS Fellows". member.psychologicalscience.org. Archived from the original on 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ^ "Mood Provoking Visual Stimuli: Their Origins and Applications".
- ^ Coss, Richard G. (1968). "The Ethological Command in Art". Leonardo. 1 (3): 273–287. doi:10.2307/1571871. JSTOR 1571871. S2CID 191393295.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
External links
[edit]Richard Coss publications indexed by Google Scholar