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Author Zentall, T.R. openurl 
  Title A cognitive behaviorist approach to the study of animal behavior Type Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication The Journal of general psychology Abbreviated Journal J Gen Psychol  
  Volume 129 Issue 4 Pages 328-363  
  Keywords Animals; *Attention; *Behavior, Animal; *Cognition; Learning; *Memory; Social Behavior  
  Abstract Traditional psychological approaches to animal learning and behavior have involved either the atheoretical behaviorist approach proposed by B. F. Skinner (1938), in which input-output relations are described in response to environmental manipulations, or the theoretical behaviorist approach offered by C. L Hull (1943), in which associations mediated by several hypothetical constructs and intervening variables are formed between stimuli and responses. Recently, the application of a cognitive behaviorist approach to animal learning and behavior has been found to have considerable value as a research tool. This perspective has grown out of E. C. Tolman's cognitive approach to learning in which behavior is mediated by mechanisms that are not directly observable but can be inferred from the results of critical experiments. In the present article, the author presents several examples of the successful application of the cognitive behaviorist approach. In each case, the experiments have been designed to distinguish between more traditional mechanisms and those mediated by hypothesized internal representations. These examples were selected because the evidence suggests that some form of active cognitive organization is needed to account for the behavioral results.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506, USA. Zentall@uky.edu  
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  ISSN (down) 0022-1309 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:12494989 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 214  
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Author Zentall, T.R.; Riley, D.A. openurl 
  Title Selective attention in animal discrimination learning Type Journal Article
  Year 2000 Publication The Journal of general psychology Abbreviated Journal J Gen Psychol  
  Volume 127 Issue 1 Pages 45-66  
  Keywords Animals; Attention/*physiology; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Conditioning (Psychology)/physiology; Cues; Discrimination Learning/*physiology; Generalization, Response; Rats  
  Abstract The traditional approach to the study of selective attention in animal discrimination learning has been to ask if animals are capable of the central selective processing of stimuli, such that certain aspects of the discriminative stimuli are partially or wholly ignored while their relationships to each other, or other relevant stimuli, are processed. A notable characteristic of this research has been that procedures involve the acquisition of discriminations, and the issue of concern is whether learning is selectively determined by the stimulus dimension defined by the discriminative stimuli. Although there is support for this kind of selective attention, in many cases, simpler nonattentional accounts are sufficient to explain the results. An alternative approach involves procedures more similar to those used in human information-processing research. When selective attention is studied in humans, it generally involves the steady state performance of tasks for which there is limited time allowed for stimulus input and a relatively large amount of relevant information to be processed; thus, attention must be selective or divided. When this approach is applied to animals and alternative accounts have been ruled out, stronger evidence for selective or divided attention in animals has been found. Similar processes are thought to be involved when animals search more natural environments for targets. Finally, an attempt is made to distinguish these top-down attentional processes from more automatic preattentional processes that have been studied in humans and other animals.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506, USA. Zentall@pop.uky.edu  
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  ISSN (down) 0022-1309 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:10695951 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 250  
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Author Acuna, B.D.; Sanes, J.N.; Donoghue, J.P. doi  openurl
  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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  ISSN (down) 0014-4819 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:12192572 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 602  
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Author Pepperberg, I.M. doi  openurl
  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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  ISSN (down) 0006-8977 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:12097860 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 579  
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Author Mendl, M. url  openurl
  Title Performing under pressure: stress and cognitive function Type Journal Article
  Year 1999 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 65 Issue 3 Pages 221-244  
  Keywords Stress; Cognition; Attention; Learning; Memory; Welfare  
  Abstract The way in which cognitive functioning is affected by stressors is an important area of research for applied ethologists because stress caused by captive conditions may disrupt cognitive processes and lead to welfare and husbandry problems. Such problems may be minimised through an understanding of the links between stress and cognition. The effects of stress on cognitive function have been studied in disciplines ranging from human perceptual psychology to animal neuroscience. The aim of this paper is to provide an introduction to this research, focusing on the effects of stressors on attention, memory formation and memory recall. Findings from such a diverse literature with little apparent inter-disciplinary communication are inevitably complex and often contradictory. Nevertheless, some generalities do emerge. The idea that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between an individual's state of stress or arousal and its ability to perform a cognitive task effectively, the so-called Yerkes-Dodson law, is commonly encountered. The law has limited explanatory value because it is unlikely that different stressors act on cognitive function via the same intervening, non-specific state. Furthermore, the law only provides a very general description of the relationship between stress and cognitive function. Empirical research on attention and memory processes reveals more specific findings. Stressors appear to cause shifts, lapses and narrowing of attention, and can also influence decision speed. These processes may be viewed as serving an adaptive role helping the animal to search for and scrutinise a source of danger. There is conflicting evidence as to whether hormones involved in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress response play a part in these processes. These hormones and those involved in the sympathetic-adrenomedullary stress response do appear to play an important role in memory formation. Low or moderate concentrations of circulating glucocorticoids and catecholamines can enhance memory formation, while excessively high or prolonged elevations of these hormones can lead to memory disruption. The effects of stressors on memory recall are less clear. There is evidence for disruptive effects, and for facilitatory effects indicating state-dependent memory recall; events experienced under conditions of high arousal may be best recalled under similar conditions. Applied ethologists have the opportunity to extend work in this area, which often involves studies of single stressors/stress hormones acting in isolation and limited measures of cognitive function, by focusing on real-life husbandry stressors encountered by captive animals. This will yield fundamental information which also has direct relevance to animal welfare and management issues.  
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  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 393  
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Author Itakura, S. doi  openurl
  Title Gaze Following and Joint Visual Attention in Nonhuman Animals Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Japanese Psychological Research Abbreviated Journal Jpn. Psychol. Res.  
  Volume 3 Issue Pages 216-226  
  Keywords gaze-following; joint visual attention; theory of mind; nonhuman animal  
  Abstract n this paper, studies of gaze-following and joint visual attention in nonhuman animals are reviewed from the theoretical perspective of Emery (2000). There are many studies of gaze-following and joint visual attention in nonhuman primates. The reports concern not only adult individuals but also the development of these abilities. Studies to date suggest that monkeys and apes are able to follow the gaze of others, but only apes can understand the seeing-knowing relationship with regards to conspecifics in competitive situations. Also, there have recently been some reports of ability to follow the gaze of humans in domestic animals, such as dogs or horses, interacting with humans. These domestic animals are considered to have acquired this ability during their long history of selective breeding by humans. However, we need to clarify social gaze parameters in various species to improve our knowledge of the evolution of how we process others gazing, attention, and mental states.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 545  
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Author Dawson, B.V.; Foss, B.M. doi  openurl
  Title Observational learning in budgerigars Type Journal Article
  Year 1965 Publication Animal Behaviour Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.  
  Volume 13 Issue 4 Pages 470-474  
  Keywords Animals; *Attention; *Behavior, Animal; Birds; *Learning  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2991  
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Author Lejeune, H.; Macar, F.; Zakay, D. url  openurl
  Title Attention and timing: dual-task performance in pigeons Type Journal Article
  Year 1999 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.  
  Volume 45 Issue 1-3 Pages 141-157  
  Keywords Timing; Dual task; Attention; Pigeons  
  Abstract Pigeons were exposed to an analog of a `dual-task' procedure used to test attentional models of timing in humans. After separate training on an auditory duration discrimination and on a variable ratio (VR) schedule, VR episodes lasting for 5 s were superimposed on the stimuli to be timed, either early (E) or late (L) during the trial. Trials with VR yielded underestimation of the target durations (increased % of `short' choices), relative to trials without VR, and this effect was stronger under the L than under the E condition. Data were similar to those collected with humans and support attentional models of timing according to which the simultaneous non-timing task uses processing resources which are diverted from the timing mechanisms.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3582  
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Author Range, F.; Huber, L. url  doi
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  Title Attention in common marmosets: implications for social-learning experiments Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.  
  Volume 73 Issue 6 Pages 1033-1041  
  Keywords attention; Callithrix jacchus; common marmoset; imitation; social learning  
  Abstract The question whether a certain species is or is not able to imitate has received much recent attention. However, the ability to copy a demonstrated action might depend not only on the imitative ability of the observer but also on its attention, a factor widely neglected in discussions and experiments. Since attention differs between species as well as between individuals, it is likely to influence the amount and type of information different species and/or observers may extract from a given demonstration. We studied attention in common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus. In a series of experimental sessions, individual marmosets watched different conspecific models that were searching, manipulating an object and feeding. The observers could see the demonstration through two observation holes, which allowed us to measure exactly how often and for how long they watched the model. Marmosets were more attentive towards conspecifics engaged in a problem-solving task than an exploring model. Individual variation in attention was large, ranging from less than 10% to over 49%. Attention also depended on the identity of the model with an increase in attention if it was of the opposite sex. Overall, attention of marmosets was short with a median duration of 6 s while the model manipulated an object. This study measured the real interest of the observer towards a model, which could be an important variable in social-learning experiments.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4208  
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Author Hattori, Y.; Kuroshima, H.; Fujita, K. url  doi
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  Title I know you are not looking at me: capuchin monkeys` ? (Cebus apella) sensitivity to human attentional states Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 141-148  
  Keywords Capuchin monkeys – Attentional state – Gaze – Social cognition  
  Abstract Abstract&nbsp;&nbsp;The present study asked whether capuchin monkeys recognize human attentional states. The monkeys requested food from the experimenter by extending an arm (pointing) toward the baited one of two transparent cups. On regular trials the experimenter gave the food immediately to the monkeys upon pointing but on randomly inserted test trials she ignored the pointing for 5&nbsp;s during which she displayed different attentional states. The monkeys looked at the experimenter's face longer when she looked at the monkeys than when she looked at the ceiling in Experiment 1, and longer when she oriented her head midway between the two cups with eyes open than when she did so with eyes closed in Experiment 2. However, the monkeys showed no differential pointing in these conditions. These results suggest that capuchins are sensitive to eye direction but this sensitivity does not lead to differential pointing trained in laboratory experiments. Furthermore, to our knowledge, this is the first firm behavioral evidence that non-human primates attend to the subtle states of eyes in a food requesting task.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Admin @ knut @ Serial 4219  
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