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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 (up) *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
Corporate Author Thesis
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0006-8977 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12097860 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 579
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Author Watanabe, S.; Huber, L.
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 (up) *Animal Communication; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Brain/physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Decision Making/*physiology; Evolution; Humans; *Language; *Logic; Problem Solving/physiology
Abstract Without Abstract
Address Department of Psychology, Keio University, Mita 2-15-45, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108, Japan. swat@flet.keio.ac.jp
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 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16909231 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2453
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Author Fischer, J.; Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M.
Title Development of infant baboons' responses to graded bark variants Type Journal Article
Year 2000 Publication Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci
Volume 267 Issue 1459 Pages 2317-2321
Keywords (up) *Animal Communication; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Female; Male; Models, Psychological; Papio/growth & development/*physiology; *Vocalization, Animal
Abstract We studied the development of infant baboons' (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) responses to conspecific 'barks' in a free-ranging population in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. These barks grade from tonal, harmonically rich calls into calls with a more noisy, harsh structure. Typically, tonal variants are given when the signaller is at risk of losing contact with the group or a particular individual ('contact barks'), whereas harsh variants are given in response to predators ('alarm barks'). We conducted focal observations and playback experiments in which we presented variants of barks recorded from resident adult females. By six months of age, infants reliably discriminated between typical alarm and contact barks and they responded more strongly to intermediate alarm calls than to typical contact barks. Infants of six months and older also recognized their mothers by voice. The ability to discriminate between different call variants developed with increasing age. At two and a half months of age, infants failed to respond at all, whereas at four months they responded irrespective of the call type that was presented. At six months, infants showed adult-like responses by responding strongly to alarm barks but ignoring contact barks. We concluded that infants gradually learn to attach the appropriate meaning to alarm and contact barks.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 3815 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. fischerj@eva.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 0962-8452 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11413649 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 694
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Author Brilot, B.O.; Johnstone, R.A.
Title The limits to cost-free signalling of need between relatives Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci
Volume 270 Issue 1519 Pages 1055-1060
Keywords (up) *Animal Communication; Animals; Birds/physiology; Models, Biological; *Social Behavior
Abstract Theoretical models have demonstrated the possibility of stable cost-free signalling of need between relatives. The stability of these cost-free equilibria depends on the indirect fitness cost of cheating and deceiving a donor into giving away resources. We show that this stability is highly sensitive to the distribution of need among signallers and receivers. In particular, cost-free signalling is likely to prove stable only if there is very large variation in need (such that the least-needy individuals stand to gain much less than the most-needy individuals from additional resources). We discuss whether these conditions are likely to be found in altricial avian breeding systems--the most intensively studied instance of signalling of need between relatives. We suggest that cost-free signalling is more likely to prove stable and will provide parents with more information during the earlier phases of chick growth, when parents can more easily meet the demands of a brood (and chicks are more likely to reach satiation). Later, informative yet cost-free signalling is unlikely to persist.
Address Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. bob21@cam.ac.uk
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12803895 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 558
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Author Wilson, R.T.
Title Biodiversity of Domestic Livestock in the Republic of Yemen Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Tropical Animal Health and Production Abbreviated Journal
Volume 35 Issue 1 Pages 27-46
Keywords (up) Abstract This paper describes the domestic livestock of the Republic of Yemen and aspires to complement earlier sources listing or partially describing `breeds'. It attempts to cover all species and provide indications of production parameters through a literature review and via field observations made by the author in 1999. Information is provided on livestock numbers and the economic importance of animal production. Most animals are kept in sedentary mixed crop-livestock production systems; transhumant systems have the next greatest number of stock; with nomadic systems being of least and declining importance. Yemen's livestock appear to comprise at least 11 breeds of sheep, 5 breeds of goat, 2 breeds of cattle, 4 breeds of camel, 2 breeds of donkey and 1 breed of horse. There are no data on breeds of poultry but domestic fowl (where clearly considerable diversity exists) and pigeons are kept. There is little formal information on the history and relationships of most breeds. Some appear to be of ancient local origin, whereas others show affinities with those of neighbouring and other countries. None of the identified types is considered endangered, so conservation would be premature. A more formal and detailed genetic characterization, to add to the largely morphological and traditional classification, may, however, reveal such a need.
Abstract Abstract This paper describes the domestic livestock of the Republic of Yemen and aspires to complement earlier sources listing or partially describing `breeds'. It attempts to cover all species and provide indications of production parameters through a literature review and via field observations made by the author in 1999. Information is provided on livestock numbers and the economic importance of animal production. Most animals are kept in sedentary mixed crop-livestock production systems; transhumant systems have the next greatest number of stock; with nomadic systems being of least and declining importance. Yemen's livestock appear to comprise at least 11 breeds of sheep, 5 breeds of goat, 2 breeds of cattle, 4 breeds of camel, 2 breeds of donkey and 1 breed of horse. There are no data on breeds of poultry but domestic fowl (where clearly considerable diversity exists) and pigeons are kept. There is little formal information on the history and relationships of most breeds. Some appear to be of ancient local origin, whereas others show affinities with those of neighbouring and other countries. None of the identified types is considered endangered, so conservation would be premature. A more formal and detailed genetic characterization, to add to the largely morphological and traditional classification, may, however, reveal such a need.
Address
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ISSN ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4389
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Author Gentner, T.Q.; Fenn, K.M.; Margoliash, D.; Nusbaum, H.C.
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 (up) 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 Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. tgentner@ucsd.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 1476-4687 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16641998 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 353
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Author Boray, J.C.
Title Experimental fascioliasis in Australia Type Journal Article
Year 1969 Publication Advances in Parasitology Abbreviated Journal Adv Parasitol
Volume 7 Issue Pages 95-210
Keywords (up) Adaptation, Biological; Adaptation, Physiological; Animal Nutrition Physiology; Animals; Animals, Laboratory; Australia; Cattle; *Cattle Diseases/pathology; Climate; *Disease Vectors; Ecology; Electron Transport; Estivation; Fasciola hepatica/enzymology/*growth & development/metabolism/physiology; Fascioliasis/epidemiology/immunology/*prevention & control/veterinary; Glycolysis; Guinea Pigs; Horses; Humans; Larva/growth & development/physiology; Marsupialia; Metamorphosis, Biological; Mice; New Guinea; New Zealand; Parasite Egg Count; Rats; Seasons; Sheep; *Sheep Diseases/pathology
Abstract
Address
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0065-308X ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:4935272 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2744
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Author Zhang, T.-Y.; Parent, C.; Weaver, I.; Meaney, M.J.
Title Maternal programming of individual differences in defensive responses in the rat Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Abbreviated Journal Ann N Y Acad Sci
Volume 1032 Issue Pages 85-103
Keywords (up) Adaptation, Biological; Aggression/*physiology; Animals; Evolution; Female; Gene Expression/physiology; Humans; Individuality; *Maternal Behavior; Phenotype; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Rats; Stress, Psychological/physiopathology
Abstract This paper describes the results of a series of studies showing that variations in mother-pup interactions program the development of individual differences in behavioral and endocrine stress responses in the rat. These effects are associated with altered expression of genes in brain regions, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus, that regulate the expression of stress responses. Studies from evolutionary biology suggest that such “maternal effects” are common and often associated with variations in the quality of the maternal environment. Together these findings suggest an epigenetic process whereby the experience of the mother alters the nature of the parent-offspring interactions and thus the phenotype of the offspring.
Address McGill Program for the Study of Behavior, Genes and Environment, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 6875 boul. LaSalle, Montreal (Quebec), Canada H4H 1R3
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0077-8923 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15677397 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4132
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Author Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.
Title Cognitive strategies and the representation of social relations by monkeys Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation Abbreviated Journal Nebr Symp Motiv
Volume 47 Issue Pages 145-177
Keywords (up) Adaptation, Biological; Animals; *Evolution; Family; Female; Haplorhini; Male; Memory; Primates; *Selection (Genetics); *Social Behavior; Social Dominance; *Social Perception
Abstract
Address University of Pennsylvania, USA
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0146-7875 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11759347 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 345
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Author Lafferty, K.D.
Title Look what the cat dragged in: do parasites contribute to human cultural diversity? Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume 68 Issue 3 Pages 279-282
Keywords (up) Adaptation, Physiological/physiology; Adaptation, Psychological/physiology; Animals; Behavior/physiology; *Behavior Control; Cats/*parasitology; Cultural Diversity; Host-Parasite Relations; Humans; Personality/*physiology; Toxoplasma/*physiology; Toxoplasmosis/parasitology/*psychology
Abstract
Address Western Ecological Research Center, United States Geological Survey, c/o Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA. lafferty@lifesci.ucsb.edu
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Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15792708 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4148
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