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Author Bard, K.A. doi  openurl
  Title Neonatal imitation in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) tested with two paradigms Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 233-242  
  Keywords Animal Communication; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Imitative Behavior/*physiology; Pan troglodytes/*physiology/*psychology; Problem Solving/physiology  
  Abstract Primate species differ in their imitative performance, perhaps reflecting differences in imitative capacity. The developmentally earliest form of imitation in humans, neonatal imitation, occurs in early interactions with social partners, and may be a more accurate index of innate capacity than imitation of actions on objects, which requires more cognitive ability. This study assessed imitative capacity in five neonatal chimpanzees, within a narrow age range (7-15 days of age), by testing responses to facial and vocal actions with two different test paradigms (structured and communicative). Imitation of mouth opening was found in both paradigms. In the communicative paradigm, significant agreement was found between infant actions and demonstrations. Additionally, chimpanzees matched the sequence of three actions of the TC model, but only on the second demonstration. Newborn chimpanzees matched more modeled actions in the communicative test than in the structured paradigm. These performances of chimpanzees, at birth, are in agreement with the literature, supporting a conclusion that imitative capacity is not unique to the human species. Developmental histories must be more fully considered in the cross-species study of imitation, as there is a greater degree of innate imitative capacity than previously known. Socialization practices interact with innate and developing competencies to determine the outcome of imitation tests later in life.  
  Address (up) Centre for the Study of Emotion, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, King Henry Building, Portsmouth, PO1 2DY, UK. kim.bard@port.ac.uk  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:17180698 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2427  
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Author Griffin, D.R.; Speck, G.B. doi  openurl
  Title New evidence of animal consciousness Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 7 Issue 1 Pages 5-18  
  Keywords Animal Communication; Animals; Awareness; *Behavior, Animal; *Consciousness  
  Abstract This paper reviews evidence that increases the probability that many animals experience at least simple levels of consciousness. First, the search for neural correlates of consciousness has not found any consciousness-producing structure or process that is limited to human brains. Second, appropriate responses to novel challenges for which the animal has not been prepared by genetic programming or previous experience provide suggestive evidence of animal consciousness because such versatility is most effectively organized by conscious thinking. For example, certain types of classical conditioning require awareness of the learned contingency in human subjects, suggesting comparable awareness in similarly conditioned animals. Other significant examples of versatile behavior suggestive of conscious thinking are scrub jays that exhibit all the objective attributes of episodic memory, evidence that monkeys sometimes know what they know, creative tool-making by crows, and recent interpretation of goal-directed behavior of rats as requiring simple nonreflexive consciousness. Third, animal communication often reports subjective experiences. Apes have demonstrated increased ability to use gestures or keyboard symbols to make requests and answer questions; and parrots have refined their ability to use the imitation of human words to ask for things they want and answer moderately complex questions. New data have demonstrated increased flexibility in the gestural communication of swarming honey bees that leads to vitally important group decisions as to which cavity a swarm should select as its new home. Although no single piece of evidence provides absolute proof of consciousness, this accumulation of strongly suggestive evidence increases significantly the likelihood that some animals experience at least simple conscious thoughts and feelings. The next challenge for cognitive ethologists is to investigate for particular animals the content of their awareness and what life is actually like, for them.  
  Address (up) Concord Field Station, Harvard University, Old Causeway Road, Bedford, MA 01730, USA  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:14658059 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2549  
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Author Gajdon, G.K.; Fijn, N.; Huber, L. doi  openurl
  Title Limited spread of innovation in a wild parrot, the kea (Nestor notabilis) Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 3 Pages 173-181  
  Keywords Animal Communication; Animals; Diffusion of Innovation; Feeding Behavior; Female; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; *Motor Skills; *Parrots; *Problem Solving; Sex Factors; Social Dominance; Social Environment; Statistics, Nonparametric  
  Abstract In the local population of kea in Mount Cook Village, New Zealand, some keas open the lids of rubbish bins with their bill to obtain food scraps within. We investigated the extent to which this innovation has spread in the local population, and what factors limit the acquisition of bin opening. Only five males of 36 individually recognised birds were observed to have performed successful bin opening. With one exception there were always other keas present, watching successful bin opening. Seventeen additional individuals were seen to have benefitted from lid opening. Their foraging success was less than that of the bin openers. Social status of bin openers did not differ from scrounging males. Among the individuals that were regularly seen at the site of the bins but were not successful in bin opening, social status and the ratio of feeding directly from open bins correlated with the amount of opening attempts. We conclude that scrounging facilitated certain behavioural aspects of bin opening rather than inhibiting them. The fact that only 9% of opening attempts were successful, and the long period of time required to increase efficiency in lid opening shows that mainly individual experience, and to a lesser extent insight and social learning, play key roles in acquisition of the opening technique. The results indicate that the spread of innovative solutions of challenging mechanical problems in animals may be restricted to only a few individuals.  
  Address (up) Department for Behavior, Neurobiology and Cognition, University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria. gyula.gajdon@univie.ac.at  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16568276 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2472  
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Author Peake, T.M.; Terry, A.M.R.; McGregor, P.K.; Dabelsteen, T. doi  openurl
  Title Do great tits assess rivals by combining direct experience with information gathered by eavesdropping? Type Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci  
  Volume 269 Issue 1503 Pages 1925-1929  
  Keywords Aggression; *Animal Communication; Animals; Male; Songbirds/*physiology; Territoriality; *Vocalization, Animal  
  Abstract Animals frequently use signals that travel further than the spacing between individuals. For every intended recipient of a given signal there are likely to be many other individuals that receive information. Eavesdropping on signalling interactions between other individuals provides a relatively cost-free method of assessing future opponents or mates. Male great tits (Parus major) extract relative information from such interactions between individuals unknown to them. Here, we show that male great tits can take information gathering a stage further and obtain more information about a previously unencountered intruder, by the hitherto unknown capability of combining information gathered by eavesdropping with that derived from their own direct interaction with an individual. Prior experience with an intruder (A) was achieved by subjecting a focal male to different levels of intrusion simulated using interactive playback. This intruder (A) then took part in a simulated interaction with an unknown male (B) outside the territorial boundary of the focal males. In response to subsequent intrusion by the second male (B), focal males showed low song output in response to males that had lost to a male that the subject was able to beat. Males of known high quality, or those about which information was ambiguous, elicited a high level of song output by focal males. We discuss the implications of this finding for the evolution of communication and social behaviour.  
  Address (up) Department of Animal Behaviour, Zoological Institute, Copenhagen University, Tagensvej 16, DK 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark. tmpeake@zi.ku.uk  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:12350255 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 501  
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Author Barry, K.L.; Goth, A. doi  openurl
  Title Call recognition in chicks of the Australian brush-turkey (Alectura lathami) Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 1 Pages 47-54  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; Australia; Cues; Galliformes/*physiology; Robotics; *Social Behavior; Species Specificity; Visual Perception  
  Abstract Most birds rely on imprinting and experience with conspecifics to learn species-specific recognition cues. Australian brush-turkeys (Alectura lathami) do not imprint and form no bonds with parents. They hatch asynchronously, disperse widely and meet juvenile conspecifics at an unpredictable age. Nevertheless, in captivity, hatchlings respond to other chicks. A recent study, which involved the use of robotic models, found that chicks prefer to approach robots that emit specific visual cues. Here, we evaluated their response to acoustic cues, which usually play an important role in avian social cognition. However, in simultaneous choice tests, neither 2-day-old nor 9-day-old chicks preferred the choice arm with playback of either chick or adult conspecific calls over the arm containing a silent loudspeaker. Chicks of both age classes, however, scanned their surroundings more during chick playback, and the response was thus consistent in younger and older chicks. We also presented the chicks with robotic models, either with or without playback of chick calls. They did not approach the calling robot more than they did the silent robot, indicating that the combination of visual and acoustic cues does not evoke a stronger response. These results will allow further comparison with species that face similar cognitive demands in the wild, such as brood parasites. Such a comparative approach, which is the focus of cognitive ecology, will enable us to further analyse the evolution and adaptive value of species recognition abilities.  
  Address (up) Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16160818 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2484  
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Author Bergstrom, C.T.; Lachmann, M. openurl 
  Title Signaling among relatives. III. Talk is cheap Type Journal Article
  Year 1998 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Abbreviated Journal Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.  
  Volume 95 Issue 9 Pages 5100-5105  
  Keywords Animal Communication; Animals; Costs and Cost Analysis; *Evolution; Interpersonal Relations; Models, Biological  
  Abstract The Sir Philip Sidney game has been used by numerous authors to show how signal cost can facilitate honest signaling among relatives. Here, we demonstrate that, in this game, honest cost-free signals are possible as well, under very general conditions. Moreover, these cost-free signals are better for all participants than the previously explored alternatives. Recent empirical evidence suggests that begging is energetically inexpensive for nestling birds; this finding led some researchers to question the applicability of the costly signaling framework to nestling begging. Our results show that cost-free or inexpensive signals, as observed empirically, fall within the framework of signaling theory.  
  Address (up) Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. carl@charles.stanford.edu  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0027-8424 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:9560235 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 561  
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Author Miklósi, Á.; Soproni, K. doi  openurl
  Title A comparative analysis of animals' understanding of the human pointing gesture Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Animal cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages 81-93  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Child; Child, Preschool; Dogs; Fixation, Ocular; *Gestures; Hand; Humans; *Nonverbal Communication; Pinnipedia; Primates; Problem Solving; *Recognition (Psychology); Species Specificity  
  Abstract We review studies demonstrating the ability of some animals to understand the human pointing gesture. We present a 3-step analysis of the topic. (1) We compare and evaluate current experimental methods (2) We compare available experimental results on performance of different species and investigate the interaction of species differences and other independent variables (3) We evaluate how our present understanding of pointing comprehension answers questions about function, evolution and mechanisms. Recently, a number of different hypotheses have been put forward to account for the presence of this ability in some species and for the lack of such comprehension in others. In our view, there is no convincing evidence for the assumption that the competitive lifestyles of apes would inhibit the utilization of this human gesture. Similarly, domestication as a special evolutionary factor in the case of some species falls short in explaining high levels of pointing comprehension in some non-domestic species. We also disagree with the simplistic view of describing the phenomenon as a simple form of conditioning. We suggest that a more systematic comparative research is needed to understand the emerging communicative representational abilities in animals that provide the background for comprehending the human pointing gesture.  
  Address (up) Department of Ethology, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Pazmany P 1/c, H-1117, Budapest, Hungary. miklosa@ludens.elte.hu  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16235075 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 463  
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Author Gentner, T.Q.; Fenn, K.M.; Margoliash, D.; Nusbaum, H.C. doi  openurl
  Title Recursive syntactic pattern learning by songbirds Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature  
  Volume 440 Issue 7088 Pages 1204-1207  
  Keywords Acoustic Stimulation; *Animal Communication; Animals; Auditory Perception/*physiology; Humans; *Language; Learning/*physiology; Linguistics; Models, Neurological; Semantics; Starlings/*physiology; Stochastic Processes  
  Abstract Humans regularly produce new utterances that are understood by other members of the same language community. Linguistic theories account for this ability through the use of syntactic rules (or generative grammars) that describe the acceptable structure of utterances. The recursive, hierarchical embedding of language units (for example, words or phrases within shorter sentences) that is part of the ability to construct new utterances minimally requires a 'context-free' grammar that is more complex than the 'finite-state' grammars thought sufficient to specify the structure of all non-human communication signals. Recent hypotheses make the central claim that the capacity for syntactic recursion forms the computational core of a uniquely human language faculty. Here we show that European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) accurately recognize acoustic patterns defined by a recursive, self-embedding, context-free grammar. They are also able to classify new patterns defined by the grammar and reliably exclude agrammatical patterns. Thus, the capacity to classify sequences from recursive, centre-embedded grammars is not uniquely human. This finding opens a new range of complex syntactic processing mechanisms to physiological investigation.  
  Address (up) Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. tgentner@ucsd.edu  
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  ISSN 1476-4687 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16641998 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 353  
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Author Stoinski, T.S.; Whiten, A. doi  openurl
  Title Social learning by orangutans (Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus) in a simulated food-processing task Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol  
  Volume 117 Issue 3 Pages 272-282  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; *Feeding Behavior; Female; *Imitative Behavior; Male; Pongo pygmaeus/*psychology; Problem Solving; Psychomotor Performance; Social Environment; Species Specificity; *Transfer (Psychology)  
  Abstract Increasing evidence for behavioral differences between populations of primates has created a resurgence of interest in examining mechanisms of information transfer between individuals. The authors examined the social transmission of information in 15 captive orangutans (Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus) using a simulated food-processing task. Experimental subjects were shown 1 of 2 methods for removing a suite of defenses on an “artificial fruit.” Control subjects were given no prior exposure before interacting with the fruit. Observing a model provided a functional advantage in the task, as significantly more experimental than control subjects opened the fruit. Within the experimental groups, the authors found a trend toward differences in the actual behaviors used to remove 1 of the defenses. Results support observations from the wild implying horizontal transfer of information in orangutans and show that a number of social learning processes are likely to be involved in the transfer of knowledge in this species.  
  Address (up) Department of Primate Research, Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30315, USA. tstoinski@zooatlanta.org  
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  ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:14498803 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 737  
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Author Watanabe, S.; Huber, L. doi  openurl
  Title Animal logics: decisions in the absence of human language Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 4 Pages 235-245  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Brain/physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Decision Making/*physiology; Evolution; Humans; *Language; *Logic; Problem Solving/physiology  
  Abstract Without Abstract  
  Address (up) Department of Psychology, Keio University, Mita 2-15-45, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108, Japan. swat@flet.keio.ac.jp  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16909231 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2453  
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