| Records |
| Author |
Miklósi, Á.; Soproni, K. |
| 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 |
Department of Ethology, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Pazmany P 1/c, H-1117, Budapest, Hungary. miklosa@ludens.elte.hu |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16235075 |
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no |
Call Number  |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
463 |
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| Author |
Johnson, D.D.P.; Stopka, P.; Knights, S. |
| Title |
Sociology: The puzzle of human cooperation |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
| Volume |
421 |
Issue |
6926 |
Pages |
911-2; discussion 912 |
| Keywords |
Altruism; *Cooperative Behavior; Evolution; Humans; *Models, Biological; Punishment; Reward; Risk |
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| Address |
Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. dominic@post.harvard.edu |
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English |
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| ISSN |
0028-0836 |
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| Notes |
PMID:12606989 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
467 |
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| Author |
Hare, B.; Tomasello, M. |
| Title |
Human-like social skills in dogs? |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Trends in Cognitive Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Trends. Cognit. Sci. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
9 |
Pages |
439-444 |
| Keywords |
*Animal Communication; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Cognition/*physiology; Dogs; *Evolution; Humans; *Social Behavior |
| Abstract |
Domestic dogs are unusually skilled at reading human social and communicative behavior--even more so than our nearest primate relatives. For example, they use human social and communicative behavior (e.g. a pointing gesture) to find hidden food, and they know what the human can and cannot see in various situations. Recent comparisons between canid species suggest that these unusual social skills have a heritable component and initially evolved during domestication as a result of selection on systems mediating fear and aggression towards humans. Differences in chimpanzee and human temperament suggest that a similar process may have been an important catalyst leading to the evolution of unusual social skills in our own species. The study of convergent evolution provides an exciting opportunity to gain further insights into the evolutionary processes leading to human-like forms of cooperation and communication. |
| Address |
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, Germany. hare@eva.mpg.de |
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English |
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1364-6613 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16061417 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
546 |
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| Author |
Zhou, W.-X.; Sornette, D.; Hill, R.A.; Dunbar, R.I.M. |
| Title |
Discrete hierarchical organization of social group sizes |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Biol Sci |
| Volume |
272 |
Issue |
1561 |
Pages |
439-444 |
| Keywords |
Anthropology, Cultural; *Group Structure; Humans; *Models, Biological; *Social Behavior; *Social Environment |
| Abstract |
The 'social brain hypothesis' for the evolution of large brains in primates has led to evidence for the coevolution of neocortical size and social group sizes, suggesting that there is a cognitive constraint on group size that depends, in some way, on the volume of neural material available for processing and synthesizing information on social relationships. More recently, work on both human and non-human primates has suggested that social groups are often hierarchically structured. We combine data on human grouping patterns in a comprehensive and systematic study. Using fractal analysis, we identify, with high statistical confidence, a discrete hierarchy of group sizes with a preferred scaling ratio close to three: rather than a single or a continuous spectrum of group sizes, humans spontaneously form groups of preferred sizes organized in a geometrical series approximating 3-5, 9-15, 30-45, etc. Such discrete scale invariance could be related to that identified in signatures of herding behaviour in financial markets and might reflect a hierarchical processing of social nearness by human brains. |
| Address |
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Reaction Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China |
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English |
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0962-8452 |
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| Notes |
PMID:15734699 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
549 |
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| Author |
Moehlman, P.D. |
| Title |
Endangered wild equids |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Scientific American |
Abbreviated Journal |
Sci Am |
| Volume |
292 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
74-81 |
| Keywords |
Africa; Americas; Animals; *Animals, Wild/physiology; Asia; *Conservation of Energy Resources; Environment; *Equidae/physiology; Food Chain; Humans; Male; Reproduction |
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| Address |
IUCN-The World Conservation Union/Species Survival Commission Equid Specialist Group |
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English |
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0036-8733 |
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| Notes |
PMID:15859216 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
551 |
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| Author |
Suzuki, Y.; Toquenaga, Y. |
| Title |
Effects of information and group structure on evolution of altruism: analysis of two-score model by covariance and contextual analyses |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Journal of theoretical biology |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Theor. Biol. |
| Volume |
232 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
191-201 |
| Keywords |
*Altruism; Analysis of Variance; *Communication; Cooperative Behavior; *Evolution; Game Theory; *Group Structure; Humans; Models, Genetic; Models, Psychological; Selection (Genetics); Trust |
| Abstract |
An altruistic individual has to gamble on cooperation to a stranger because it does not know whether the stranger is trustworthy before direct interaction. Nowak and Sigmund (Nature 393 (1998a) 573; J. Theor. Biol. 194 (1998b) 561) presented a new theoretical framework of indirect reciprocal altruism by image scoring game where all individuals are informed about a partner's behavior from its image score without direct interaction. Interestingly, in a simplified version of the image scoring game, the evolutionarily stability condition for altruism became a similar form of Hamilton's rule, i.e. inequality that the probability of getting correct information is more than the ratio of cost to benefit. Since the Hamilton's rule was derived by evolutionarily stable analysis, the evolutionary meaning of the probability of getting correct information has not been clearly examined in terms of kin and group selection. In this study, we applied covariance analysis to the two-score model for deriving the Hamilton's rule. We confirmed that the probability of getting correct information was proportional to the bias of altruistic interactions caused by using information about a partner's image score. The Hamilton's rule was dependent on the number of game bouts even though the information reduced the risk of cooperation to selfish one at the first encounter. In addition, we incorporated group structure to the two-score model to examine whether the probability of getting correct information affect selection for altruism by group selection. We calculated a Hamilton's rule of group selection by contextual analysis. Group selection is very effective when either the probability of getting correct information or that of future interaction, or both are low. The two Hamilton's rules derived by covariance and contextual analyses demonstrated the effects of information and group structure on the evolution of altruism. We inferred that information about a partner's behavior and group structure can produce flexible pathways for the evolution of altruism. |
| Address |
Integrative Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Ten-Nou-Dai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan. yukari@pe.ies.life.tsukuba.ac.jp |
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English |
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0022-5193 |
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| Notes |
PMID:15530489 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
556 |
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| Author |
Pepperberg, I.M. |
| Title |
In search of king Solomon's ring: cognitive and communicative studies of Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Brain, behavior and evolution |
Abbreviated Journal |
Brain Behav Evol |
| Volume |
59 |
Issue |
1-2 |
Pages |
54-67 |
| Keywords |
*Animal Communication; Animals; Attention/physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Cues; Form Perception/physiology; Humans; Intelligence; Learning/physiology; Male; Models, Psychological; Parrots/*physiology; Psychomotor Performance/physiology; Reward; Social Behavior |
| Abstract |
During the past 24 years, I have used a modeling technique (M/R procedure) to train Grey parrots to use an allospecific code (English speech) referentially; I then use the code to test their cognitive abilities. The oldest bird, Alex, labels more than 50 different objects, 7 colors, 5 shapes, quantities to 6, 3 categories (color, shape, material) and uses 'no', 'come here', wanna go X' and 'want Y' (X and Y are appropriate location or item labels). He combines labels to identify, request, comment upon or refuse more than 100 items and to alter his environment. He processes queries to judge category, relative size, quantity, presence or absence of similarity/difference in attributes, and show label comprehension. He semantically separates labeling from requesting. He thus exhibits capacities once presumed limited to humans or nonhuman primates. Studies on this and other Greys show that parrots given training that lacks some aspect of input present in M/R protocols (reference, functionality, social interaction) fail to acquire referential English speech. Examining how input affects the extent to which parrots acquire an allospecific code may elucidate mechanisms of other forms of exceptional learning: learning unlikely in the normal course of development but that can occur under certain conditions. |
| Address |
The MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, Mass. 02139, USA. impepper@media.mit.edu |
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English |
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0006-8977 |
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| Notes |
PMID:12097860 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
579 |
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| Author |
Hare, B.; Brown, M.; Williamson, C.; Tomasello, M. |
| Title |
The domestication of social cognition in dogs |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Science (New York, N.Y.) |
Abbreviated Journal |
Science |
| Volume |
298 |
Issue |
5598 |
Pages |
1634-1636 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Animals, Domestic; *Behavior, Animal; *Cognition; *Cues; *Dogs; Food; Humans; Memory; Pan troglodytes; *Social Behavior; Species Specificity; Vision; Wolves |
| Abstract |
Dogs are more skillful than great apes at a number of tasks in which they must read human communicative signals indicating the location of hidden food. In this study, we found that wolves who were raised by humans do not show these same skills, whereas domestic dog puppies only a few weeks old, even those that have had little human contact, do show these skills. These findings suggest that during the process of domestication, dogs have been selected for a set of social-cognitive abilities that enable them to communicate with humans in unique ways. |
| Address |
Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. bhare@fas.harvard.edu |
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English |
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1095-9203 |
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| Notes |
PMID:12446914 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
595 |
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| Author |
Acuna, B.D.; Sanes, J.N.; Donoghue, J.P. |
| Title |
Cognitive mechanisms of transitive inference |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Experimentation cerebrale |
Abbreviated Journal |
Exp Brain Res |
| Volume |
146 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
1-10 |
| Keywords |
Adolescent; Adult; Attention/*physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Female; Humans; Learning/physiology; Linear Models; Male; Photic Stimulation; Psychomotor Performance/physiology; Reaction Time/physiology |
| Abstract |
We examined how the brain organizes interrelated facts during learning and how the facts are subsequently manipulated in a transitive inference (TI) paradigm (e.g., if A<B and B<C, then A<C). This task determined features such as learned facts and behavioral goals, but the learned facts could be organized in any of several ways. For example, if one learns a list by operating on paired items, the pairs may be stored individually as separate facts and reaction time (RT) should decrease with learning. Alternatively, the pairs may be stored as a single, unified list, which may yield a different RT pattern. We characterized RT patterns that occurred as participants learned, by trial and error, the predetermined order of 11 shapes. The task goal was to choose the shape occurring closer to the end of the list, and feedback about correctness was provided during this phase. RT increased even as its variance decreased during learning, suggesting that the learnt knowledge became progressively unified into a single representation, requiring more time to manipulate as participants acquired relational knowledge. After learning, non-adjacent (NA) list items were presented to examine how participants reasoned in a TI task. The task goal also required choosing from each presented pair the item occurring closer to the list end, but without feedback. Participants could solve the TI problems by applying formal logic to the previously learnt pairs of adjacent items; alternatively, they could manipulate a single, unified representation of the list. Shorter RT occurred for NA pairs having more intervening items, supporting the hypothesis that humans employ unified mental representations during TI. The response pattern does not support mental logic solutions of applying inference rules sequentially, which would predict longer RT with more intervening items. We conclude that the brain organizes information in such a way that reflects the relations among the items, even if the facts were learned in an arbitrary order, and that this representation is subsequently used to make inferences. |
| Address |
Department of Neuroscience, Box 1953, Brown Medical School, Providence, RI 02912, USA |
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English |
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0014-4819 |
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| Notes |
PMID:12192572 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
602 |
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| Author |
Keay, J.M.; Singh, J.; Gaunt, M.C.; Kaur, T. |
| Title |
Fecal glucocorticoids and their metabolites as indicators of stress in various mammalian species: a literature review |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Journal of zoo and wildlife medicine : official publication of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Zoo Wildl Med |
| Volume |
37 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
234-244 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Animals, Wild/metabolism; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods/veterinary; Circadian Rhythm; Conservation of Natural Resources; *Ecosystem; Feces/*chemistry; Glucocorticoids/*analysis/metabolism; Humans; Seasons; Species Specificity; Specimen Handling/methods/veterinary; Stress, Psychological/*metabolism |
| Abstract |
Conservation medicine is a discipline in which researchers and conservationists study and respond to the dynamic interplay between animals, humans, and the environment. From a wildlife perspective, animal species are encountering stressors from numerous sources. With the rapidly increasing human population, a corresponding increased demand for food, fuel, and shelter; habitat destruction; and increased competition for natural resources, the health and well-being of wild animal populations is increasingly at risk of disease and endangerment. Scientific data are needed to measure the impact that human encroachment is having on wildlife. Nonbiased biometric data provide a means to measure the amount of stress being imposed on animals from humans, the environment, and other animals. The stress response in animals functions via glucocorticoid metabolism and is regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Fecal glucocorticoids, in particular, may be an extremely useful biometric test, since sample collection is noninvasive to subjects and, therefore, does not introduce other variables that may alter assay results. For this reason, many researchers and conservationists have begun to use fecal glucocorticoids as a means to measure stress in various animal species. This review article summarizes the literature on many studies in which fecal glucocorticoids and their metabolites have been used to assess stress levels in various mammalian species. Variations between studies are the main focus of this review. Collection methods, storage conditions, shipping procedures, and laboratory techniques utilized by different researchers are discussed. |
| Address |
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, 0442 Duck Pond Drive, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA |
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1042-7260 |
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| Notes |
PMID:17319120 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
616 |
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