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
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.[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
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
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
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
Books
Coss, Richard G. (1965). Mood Provoking Visual Stimuli: Their Origins and Applications (Thesis). Los Angeles: University of California. OCLC5332767.
Coss, Richard G. (June 1968). "The ethological command in art". Leonardo. 1 (3): 273–287. doi:10.2307/1571871. JSTOR1571871.
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. PMID2415102.
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. ISBN978-0-19-508295-1.
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. ISBN978-3-662-07142-7.
↑ 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. ISBN978-3-030-46189-8.
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