|   | 
Details
   web
Records
Author Zentall, T.R.
Title Action imitation in birds Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Learning & behavior : a Psychonomic Society publication Abbreviated Journal Learn Behav
Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 15-23
Keywords Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; *Birds; *Imitative Behavior; Imprinting (Psychology); *Learning; Motivation; Psychological Theory; *Social Environment; *Social Facilitation; Vocalization, Animal
Abstract Action imitation, once thought to be a behavior almost exclusively limited to humans and the great apes, surprisingly also has been found in a number of bird species. Because imitation has been viewed by some psychologists as a form of intelligent behavior, there has been interest in how it is distributed among animal species. Although the mechanisms responsible for action imitation are not clear, we are now at least beginning to understand the conditions under which it occurs. In this article, I try to identify and differentiate the various forms of socially influenced behavior (species-typical social reactions, social effects on motivation, social effects on perception, socially influenced learning, and action imitation) and explain why it is important to differentiate imitation from other forms of social influence. I also examine some of the variables that appear to be involved in the occurrence of imitation. Finally, I speculate about why a number of bird species, but few mammal species, appear to imitate.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA. zentall@uky.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 1543-4494 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15161137 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 230
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitation: definitions, evidence, and mechanisms Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Animal cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 9 Issue 4 Pages 335-353
Keywords Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Motivation; *Social Environment; Transfer (Psychology)
Abstract Imitation can be defined as the copying of behavior. To a biologist, interest in imitation is focused on its adaptive value for the survival of the organism, but to a psychologist, the mechanisms responsible for imitation are the most interesting. For psychologists, the most important cases of imitation are those that involve demonstrated behavior that the imitator cannot see when it performs the behavior (e.g., scratching one's head). Such examples of imitation are sometimes referred to as opaque imitation because they are difficult to account for without positing cognitive mechanisms, such as perspective taking, that most animals have not been acknowledged to have. The present review first identifies various forms of social influence and social learning that do not qualify as opaque imitation, including species-typical mechanisms (e.g., mimicry and contagion), motivational mechanisms (e.g., social facilitation, incentive motivation, transfer of fear), attentional mechanisms (e.g., local enhancement, stimulus enhancement), imprinting, following, observational conditioning, and learning how the environment works (affordance learning). It then presents evidence for different forms of opaque imitation in animals, and identifies characteristics of human imitation that have been proposed to distinguish it from animal imitation. Finally, it examines the role played in opaque imitation by demonstrator reinforcement and observer motivation. Although accounts of imitation have been proposed that vary in their level of analysis from neural to cognitive, at present no theory of imitation appears to be adequate to account for the varied results that have been found.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA. Zentall@uky.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17024510 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 217
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Weatherly, J.N.; Arthur, E.I.L.; Tischart, L.M.
Title Altering “motivational” variables alters induction produced by upcoming food-pellet reinforcement Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages 17-26
Keywords Animals; *Conditioning, Operant; Food Deprivation; Male; *Motivation; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Abstract Previous research has demonstrated that rats will increase their rates of lever pressing for sucrose rewards in the first half of an experimental session when food pellets, rather than the same sucrose, continually serve as the reward in the second half of the session. This effect has been coined induction, and the present study investigated whether it could be altered by altering “motivational” variables. Experiment 1 manipulated subjects' motivation by altering, across conditions, their level of food deprivation. Predictably, the size of induction varied directly with level of deprivation. Experiments 2 and 3 manipulated subjects' motivation by feeding them food pellets and sucrose, respectively, prior to their responding in the experimental session. These pre-session feedings decreased the size of the observed induction in both experiments. The results from the present study indicate that the size of induction is correlated with subjects' motivation to respond for the available reinforcers. They are also consistent with the idea that operant processes underlie the effect. The notion that induction might encompass the concept of “anticipation” is also discussed.
Address Department of Psychology, University of North Dakota, ND 58202-8380, Grand Forks, USA. jeffrey_weatherly@und.nodak.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12658532 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2584
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Waite, T.A.
Title Interruptions improve choice performance in gray jays: prolonged information processing versus minimization of costly errors Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 5 Issue 4 Pages 209-214
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Choice Behavior; Female; Learning; Male; Models, Biological; Motivation; Reinforcement Schedule; Songbirds/*physiology; Time Factors
Abstract Under the assumption that selection favors minimization of costly errors, erroneous choice may be common when its fitness cost is low. According to an adaptive-choice model, this cost depends on the rate at which an animal encounters the choice: the higher this rate, the smaller the cost of choosing a less valuable option. Errors should thus be more common when interruptions to foraging are shorter. A previous experiment supported this prediction: gray jays, Perisoreus canadensis, were more error prone when subjected to shorter delays to access to food rewards. This pattern, though, is also predicted by an attentional-constraints model. Because the subjects were able to inspect the rewards during delays, their improved performance when subjected to longer delays could have been a byproduct of the experimentally prolonged opportunity for information processing. To evaluate this possibility, a follow-up experiment manipulated both delay to access and whether rewards could be inspected during delays. Depriving jays of the opportunity to inspect rewards (using opaque lids) induced only a small, nonsignificant increase in error rate. This effect was independent of length of delay and so the jays' improved performance when subjected to longer delays was not simply a byproduct of prolonged information processing. More definitively, even when the jays were prevented from inspecting rewards during delays, their performance improved when subjected to longer delays. The findings are thus consistent with the adaptive-choice model.
Address Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, 1735 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1293, USA. waite.1@osu.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12461598 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2592
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Tebbich, S.; Bshary, R.; Grutter, A.S.
Title Cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus recognise familiar clients Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 5 Issue 3 Pages 139-145
Keywords Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; *Evolution; *Fishes; Motivation; *Recognition (Psychology); Social Behavior; Visual Perception
Abstract Individual recognition has been attributed a crucial role in the evolution of complex social systems such as helping behaviour and cooperation. A classical example for interspecific cooperation is the mutualism between the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus and its client reef fish species. For stable cooperation to evolve, it is generally assumed that partners interact repeatedly and remember each other's past behaviour. Repeated interactions may be achieved by site fidelity or individual recognition. However, as some cleaner fish have more than 2,300 interactions per day with various individuals per species and various species of clients, basic assumptions of cooperation theory might be violated in this mutualism. We tested the cleaner L. dimidiatus and its herbivorous client, the surgeon fish Ctenochaetus striatus, for their ability to distinguish between a familiar and an unfamiliar partner in a choice experiment. Under natural conditions, cleaners and clients have to build up their relationship, which is probably costly for both. We therefore predicted that both clients and cleaners should prefer the familiar partner in our choice experiment. We found that cleaners spent significantly more time near the familiar than the unfamiliar clients in the first 2 minutes of the experiment. This indicates the ability for individual recognition in cleaners. In contrast, the client C. striatus showed no significant preference. This could be due to a sampling artefact, possibly due to a lack of sufficient motivation. Alternatively, clients may not need to recognise their cleaners but instead remember the defined territories of L. dimidiatus to achieve repeated interactions with the same individual.
Address Max Planck Institute for Behaviour and Physiology, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany. tebbich@ss20.mpi-seewiesen.mpg.de
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12357286 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2599
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Miller, G.
Title Animal behavior. Signs of empathy seen in mice Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Science (New York, N.Y.) Abbreviated Journal Science
Volume 312 Issue 5782 Pages 1860-1861
Keywords Altruism; Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Empathy; Formaldehyde/administration & dosage; Mice/*psychology; Motivation; Pain/*psychology; *Social Behavior
Abstract
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 1095-9203 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16809499 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 461
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author McCoy, D.E.; Schiestl, M.; Neilands, P.; Hassall, R.; Gray, R.D.; Taylor, A.H.
Title New Caledonian Crows Behave Optimistically after Using Tools Type Journal Article
Year 2019 Publication Current Biology Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages
Keywords tool use; New Caledonian crows; optimism; cognitive bias; animal emotion; intrinsic motivation; comparative cognition
Abstract Summary Are complex, species-specific behaviors in animals reinforced by material reward alone or do they also induce positive emotions? Many adaptive human behaviors are intrinsically motivated: they not only improve our material outcomes, but improve our affect as well [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. Work to date on animal optimism, as an indicator of positive affect, has generally focused on how animals react to change in their circumstances, such as when their environment is enriched [9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14] or they are manipulated by humans [15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23], rather than whether complex actions improve emotional state. Here, we show that wild New Caledonian crows are optimistic after tool use, a complex, species-specific behavior. We further demonstrate that this finding cannot be explained by the crows needing to put more effort into gaining food. Our findings therefore raise the possibility that intrinsic motivation (enjoyment) may be a fundamental proximate cause in the evolution of tool use and other complex behaviors. Video Abstract
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 0960-9822 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6581
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author de Waal, F.B.
Title Food transfers through mesh in brown capuchins Type Journal Article
Year 1997 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 111 Issue 4 Pages 370-378
Keywords Animals; Cebus/*psychology; *Feeding Behavior; Female; Food Preferences/psychology; Male; *Motivation; Sex Factors; *Social Behavior; Social Environment
Abstract Capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) share food even if their partner is behind a mesh restraint. Pairs of adult capuchins were moved into a test chamber in which 1 monkey received cucumber pieces for 20 min and the other received apple slices during the following 20 min. Tolerant transfers of food occurred reciprocally among females: The rate of transfer from Female B to A in the second test phase varied with the rate from Female A to B in the first test phase. Several social mechanisms may explain this reciprocity. Whereas this study does not contradict cognitively complex explanations (e.g., mental record keeping of given and received food), the results are consistent with a rather simple explanation: that food sharing reflects a combination of affiliative tendency and high tolerance. The study suggests that sharing mechanisms may be different for adult male capuchins, with males sharing food more readily and less discriminatingly than females.
Address Yerkes Primate Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30329, USA. dewaal@emory.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:9419882 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 198
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Dorrance, B.R.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitative learning in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) depends on the motivational state of the observer quail at the time of observation Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 115 Issue 1 Pages 62-67
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Coturnix; Female; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; *Motivation; Reinforcement (Psychology); Time Factors
Abstract The 2-action method was used to examine whether imitative learning in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) depends on the motivational state of the observer quail at the time of observation of the demonstrated behavior. Two groups of observers were fed before observation (satiated groups), whereas 2 other groups of observers were deprived of food before observation (hungry groups). Quail were tested either immediately following observation or after a 30-min delay. Results indicated that quail in the hungry groups imitated, whereas those in the satiated groups did not, regardless of whether their test was immediate or delayed. The results suggest that observer quail may not learn (through observation) behavior that leads to a reinforcer for which they are unmotivated at the time of test. In addition, the results show that quail are able to delay the performance of a response acquired through observation (i.e., they show deferred imitation).
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506-0044, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11334220 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 245
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Akins, C.K.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitative learning in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) using the two-action method Type Journal Article
Year 1996 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 110 Issue 3 Pages 316-320
Keywords Animals; Appetitive Behavior; *Attention; *Coturnix; *Imitative Behavior; Male; *Motivation; Transfer (Psychology)
Abstract The study of imitative learning in animals has suffered from the presence of a number of confounding motivational and attentional factors (e.g., social facilitation and stimulus enhancement). The two-action method avoids these problems by exposing observers to demonstrators performing a response (e.g., operating a treadle) using 1 of 2 distinctive topographies (e.g., by pecking or by stepping). Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) observers exposed to conspecific demonstrators showed a high correlation between the topography of the response they observed and the response they performed. These data provide strong evidence for the existence of true imitative learning in an active, precocious bird under conditions that control for alternative accounts.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506-0044, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8858851 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 254
Permanent link to this record