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Author |
Funk, M.S. |
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Title |
Problem solving skills in young yellow-crowned parakeets (Cyanoramphus auriceps) |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
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Volume |
5 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
167-176 |
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Keywords |
Animals; *Cognition; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Motor Skills; *Parakeets; Play and Playthings; *Problem Solving; Social Behavior |
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Abstract |
Despite the long divergent evolutionary history of birds and mammals, early avian and primate cognitive development have many convergent features. Some of these features were investigated with a series of tasks designed to assess human infant development. The tasks were presented to young parakeets to assess their means-end problem solving abilities. Examples of these early skills are: attaining and playing with objects, retrieving rewards through use of a stick or rake, or by pulling in rewards on supports or on the ends of strings. Twelve such tasks were presented to 11 young yellow-crowned parakeets ( Cyanoramphus auriceps) to investigate their natural abilities; there was no attempt to train them to do those tasks that they did not spontaneously perform. Six of the birds were parent-raised and five were hand-raised. The birds completed 9 of the 12 tasks, demonstrating all the Piagetian sensorimotor circular reactions, but they failed to hand-watch (“claw-watch”), to stack objects, or to fill a container. Their ordinality on the tasks differed from that of human infants in that locomotion to obtain objects occurred earlier in the avian sequence of development and the mid-level tasks were performed by the two groups of avian subjects in a mixed order perhaps indicating that these abilities may not emerge in any particular order for these birds as they supposedly do for human infants. The hand-raised group needed fewer sessions to complete these means-end tasks. |
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Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA. mdfunk@northwestern.edu |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12357289 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2596 |
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Author |
Neuringer, A. |
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Title |
Reinforced variability in animals and people: implications for adaptive action |
Type |
Journal Article |
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Year |
2004 |
Publication |
The American Psychologist |
Abbreviated Journal |
Am Psychol |
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Volume |
59 |
Issue |
9 |
Pages |
891-906 |
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Keywords |
Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Choice Behavior; Conditioning, Operant; Creativeness; Discrimination (Psychology); Humans; Memory; Problem Solving; *Reinforcement (Psychology) |
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Abstract |
Although reinforcement often leads to repetitive, even stereotyped responding, that is not a necessary outcome. When it depends on variations, reinforcement results in responding that is diverse, novel, indeed unpredictable, with distributions sometimes approaching those of a random process. This article reviews evidence for the powerful and precise control by reinforcement over behavioral variability, evidence obtained from human and animal-model studies, and implications of such control. For example, reinforcement of variability facilitates learning of complex new responses, aids problem solving, and may contribute to creativity. Depression and autism are characterized by abnormally repetitive behaviors, but individuals afflicted with such psychopathologies can learn to vary their behaviors when reinforced for so doing. And reinforced variability may help to solve a basic puzzle concerning the nature of voluntary action. |
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Department of Psychology, Reed College, Portland, OR 97202, USA. allen.neuringer@reed.edu |
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0003-066X |
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PMID:15584823 |
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no |
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Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4106 |
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Author |
Benson-Amram, S.; Weldele, M.L.; Holekamp, K.E. |
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Title |
A comparison of innovative problem-solving abilities between wild and captive spotted hyaenas, Crocuta crocuta |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2013 |
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Animal Behaviour |
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85 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
349-356 |
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Keywords |
Crocuta crocuta; innovation; neophobia; problem solving; spotted hyaena |
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Abstract |
Innovative problem solving enables individuals to deal with novel social and ecological challenges. However, our understanding of the importance of innovation for animals in their natural habitat is limited because experimental investigations of innovation have historically focused on captive animals. To determine how captivity affects innovation, and whether captive studies of animal innovation suffer from low external validity, we need experimental investigations of innovation in both wild and captive populations of the same species in diverse taxa. Here we inquired whether wild and captive spotted hyaenas differ in their ability to solve the same novel technical problem, and in the diversity of exploratory behaviours they exhibit when first interacting with the problem. Our results suggest that wild and captive populations show important differences in their innovative problem-solving abilities. Captive hyaenas were significantly more successful at solving the novel problem, and significantly more diverse in their initial exploratory behaviour, than were wild hyaenas. We were able to rule out hypotheses suggesting that these differences result from excess energy or time available to captive animals. We conclude that captive hyaenas were more successful because captive individuals were less neophobic and more exploratory than their wild counterparts. These results have important implications for our interpretation of studies on innovative problem solving in captive animals and aid our attempts to gain a broader understanding of the importance of innovation for animals in their natural habitat. |
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0003-3472 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5657 |
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