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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 (up) English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1543-4494 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15161137 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 230
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Author Dorrance, B.R.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitation of conditional discriminations in pigeons (Columba livia) Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 116 Issue 3 Pages 277-285
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Columbidae; Conditioning (Psychology)/*physiology; Discrimination Learning/*physiology; Habituation, Psychophysiologic; *Imitative Behavior; Light; Reinforcement (Psychology)
Abstract In the present experiments, the 2-action method was used to determine whether pigeons could learn to imitate a conditional discrimination. Demonstrator pigeons (Columba livia) stepped on a treadle in the presence of 1 light and pecked at the treadle in the presence of another light. Demonstration did not seem to affect acquisition of the conditional discrimination (Experiment 1) but did facilitate its reversal of the conditional discrimination (Experiments 2 and 3). The results suggest that pigeons are not only able to learn a specific behavior by observing another pigeon, but they can also learn under which circumstances to perform that behavior. The results have implications for proposed mechanisms of imitation in animals.
Address Department of Psychology, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois 61201, USA. psdorrance@augustana.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12234078 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 240
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Author Zentall, T.R.
Title Support for a theory of memory for event duration must distinguish between test-trial ambiguity and actual memory loss Type Journal Article
Year 1999 Publication Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior Abbreviated Journal J Exp Anal Behav
Volume 72 Issue 3 Pages 467-472
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Columbidae; Conditioning, Operant/physiology; Discrimination Learning/physiology; Memory/*physiology; *Psychological Theory; Time Factors; Time Perception/physiology
Abstract Staddon and Higa's (1999) trace-strength theory of timing and memory for event duration can account for pigeons' bias to “choose short” when retention intervals are introduced and to “choose long” when, following training with a fixed retention interval, retention intervals are shortened. However, it does not account for the failure of pigeons to choose short when the intertrial interval is distinct from the retention interval. That finding suggests that stimulus generalization (or ambiguity) between the intertrial interval and the retention interval may result in an effect that has been attributed to memory loss. Such artifacts must be eliminated before a theory of memory for event duration can be adequately tested.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506, USA. zentall@pop.uky.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0022-5002 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:10605105 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 251
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Author Henning, J.M.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitation, social facilitation, and the effects of ACTH 4-10 on rats' bar-pressing behavior Type Journal Article
Year 1981 Publication The American journal of psychology Abbreviated Journal Am J Psychol
Volume 94 Issue 1 Pages 125-134
Keywords Adrenocorticotropic Hormone/*pharmacology; Animals; Conditioning, Operant/*drug effects; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Extinction, Psychological/drug effects; Imitative Behavior/*drug effects; Male; Peptide Fragments/*pharmacology; Rats; *Social Facilitation
Abstract The effects of ACTH 4-10 on rats' imitation learning was examined during the acquisition and extinction of a bar-press response for water reinforcement. Rats were exposed to either a bar-pressing conspecific (OB), an experimentally naive conspecific (ON), or an empty box (OE) during bar-press acquisition. In a factorial design, each rat was then exposed to one of the same three conditions during extinction. An 80 mcg dose of ACTH 4-10 was administered to half of the rats in each group prior to observation. Performance differences during acquisition were generally small, but significant performance differences during extinction were found. Social facilitation was indicated by the finding that rats extinguished in the presence of a conspecific exhibited significantly greater resistance to extinction than rats extinguished in the presence of an empty box. An imitation effect was also found. Rats that observed a bar-pressing conspecific during both acquisition and extinction (group OB-OB) showed significantly greater resistance top extinction than did groups OB-ON, CB-OE, or OE-OE. There were no significant effects of the hormone, however, relative to saline controls.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0002-9556 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:6263117 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 267
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Author Flack, J.C.; Girvan, M.; de Waal, F.B.M.; Krakauer, D.C.
Title Policing stabilizes construction of social niches in primates Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature
Volume 439 Issue 7075 Pages 426-429
Keywords Animals; Conflict (Psychology); Female; Macaca nemestrina/*physiology/*psychology; Male; Models, Biological; *Social Behavior
Abstract All organisms interact with their environment, and in doing so shape it, modifying resource availability. Termed niche construction, this process has been studied primarily at the ecological level with an emphasis on the consequences of construction across generations. We focus on the behavioural process of construction within a single generation, identifying the role a robustness mechanism--conflict management--has in promoting interactions that build social resource networks or social niches. Using 'knockout' experiments on a large, captive group of pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina), we show that a policing function, performed infrequently by a small subset of individuals, significantly contributes to maintaining stable resource networks in the face of chronic perturbations that arise through conflict. When policing is absent, social niches destabilize, with group members building smaller, less diverse, and less integrated grooming, play, proximity and contact-sitting networks. Instability is quantified in terms of reduced mean degree, increased clustering, reduced reach, and increased assortativity. Policing not only controls conflict, we find it significantly influences the structure of networks that constitute essential social resources in gregarious primate societies. The structure of such networks plays a critical role in infant survivorship, emergence and spread of cooperative behaviour, social learning and cultural traditions.
Address Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA. jflack@santafe.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language (up) 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:16437106 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 298
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Author Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.; Bergman, T.J.
Title Primate social cognition and the origins of language Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Trends in Cognitive Sciences Abbreviated Journal Trends. Cognit. Sci.
Volume 9 Issue 6 Pages 264-266
Keywords Animals; *Cognition; Humans; *Language; Papio; Psychological Theory; Social Behavior; *Social Perception
Abstract Are the cognitive mechanisms underlying language unique, or can similar mechanisms be found in other domains? Recent field experiments demonstrate that baboons' knowledge of their companions' social relationships is based on discrete-valued traits (identity, rank, kinship) that are combined to create a representation of social relations that is hierarchically structured, open-ended, rule-governed, and independent of sensory modality. The mechanisms underlying language might have evolved from the social knowledge of our pre-linguistic primate ancestors.
Address Departments of Biology and Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. seyfarth@psych.upenn.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1364-6613 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15925802 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 343
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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 Adaptation, Biological; Animals; *Evolution; Family; Female; Haplorhini; Male; Memory; Primates; *Selection (Genetics); *Social Behavior; Social Dominance; *Social Perception
Abstract
Address University of Pennsylvania, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language (up) 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 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 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 (up) 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 Ratcliffe, J.M.; Fenton, M.B.; Shettleworth, S.J.
Title Behavioral flexibility positively correlated with relative brain volume in predatory bats Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Brain, behavior and evolution Abbreviated Journal Brain Behav Evol
Volume 67 Issue 3 Pages 165-176
Keywords Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Brain/*anatomy & histology/physiology; Chiroptera/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; Organ Size; Predatory Behavior/*physiology
Abstract We investigated the potential relationships between foraging strategies and relative brain and brain region volumes in predatory (animal-eating) echolocating bats. The species we considered represent the ancestral state for the order and approximately 70% of living bat species. The two dominant foraging strategies used by echolocating predatory bats are substrate-gleaning (taking prey from surfaces) and aerial hawking (taking airborne prey). We used species-specific behavioral, morphological, and ecological data to classify each of 59 predatory species as one of the following: (1) ground gleaning, (2) behaviorally flexible (i.e., known to both glean and hawk prey), (3) clutter tolerant aerial hawking, or (4) open-space aerial hawking. In analyses using both species level data and phylogenetically independent contrasts, relative brain size was larger in behaviorally flexible species. Further, relative neocortex volume was significantly reduced in bats that aerially hawk prey primarily in open spaces. Conversely, our foraging behavior index did not account for variability in hippocampus and inferior colliculus volume and we discuss these results in the context of past research.
Address Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. jmr247@cornell.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language (up) 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:16415571 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 358
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Author Skov-Rackette, S.I.; Shettleworth, S.J.
Title What do rats learn about the geometry of object arrays? Tests with exploratory behavior Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume 31 Issue 2 Pages 142-154
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Discrimination Learning; *Exploratory Behavior; Female; *Form Perception; Habituation, Psychophysiologic; Male; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans
Abstract Six experiments using habituation of exploratory behavior tested whether disoriented rats foraging in a large arena encode the shapes of arrays of objects. Rats did not respond to changes in position of a single object, but they responded to a change in object color and to a change in position of 1 object in a square array, as in previous research (e.g., C. Thinus-Blanc et al., 1987). Rats also responded to an expansion of a square array, suggesting that they encoded sets of interobject distances rather than overall shape. In Experiments 4-6, rats did not respond to changes in sense of a triangular array that maintained interobject distances and angles. Shapes of object arrays are encoded differently from shapes of enclosures.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada. shannon.skov.rackette@utoronto.ca
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15839772 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 363
Permanent link to this record