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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1435-9448 |
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PMID:16235075 |
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no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
463 |
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Author |
Crosby, M.B.; Zhang, J.; Nowling, T.M.; Svenson, J.L.; Nicol, C.J.; Gonzalez, F.J.; Gilkeson, G.S. |
Title |
Inflammatory modulation of PPAR gamma expression and activity |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Clinical immunology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Clin Immunol |
Volume |
118 |
Issue |
2-3 |
Pages |
276-283 |
Keywords |
Age Factors; Animals; Cell Line, Transformed; Cells, Cultured; Female; Inflammation Mediators/*physiology; Kidney/metabolism; Mesangial Cells/metabolism; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Inbred MRL lpr; Mice, Knockout; Nitric Oxide/biosynthesis; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II/biosynthesis/genetics; PPAR gamma/*biosynthesis/*genetics/metabolism; Up-Regulation/immunology |
Abstract |
Nitric oxide (NO) production increases with age in the lupus-prone MRL/lpr mouse, paralleling disease activity. One mechanism for excess NO production in MRL/lpr mice may be a defect in down-regulatory mechanisms of the iNOS pathway. A potential modulator of NO is the nuclear hormone receptor peroxisome proliferation activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma). We demonstrate that renal PPARgamma protein expression was altered as disease progressed in MRL/lpr mice, which paralleled increased iNOS protein expression. Additionally, MRL/lpr-derived primary mesangial cells expressed less PPARgamma than BALB/c mesangial cells and produced more NO in response to LPS and IFNgamma. Furthermore, PPARgamma activity was reduced in mesangial cells following exposure to inflammatory mediators. This activity was restored with the addition of a NOS enzyme inhibitor. These results indicate that the activation of inflammatory pathways may lead to reduced activity and expression of PPARgamma, further exacerbating the disease state. |
Address |
Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA |
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ISSN |
1521-6616 |
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Notes |
PMID:16303334 |
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no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
67 |
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Author |
Santos, L.R.; Pearson, H.M.; Spaepen, G.M.; Tsao, F.; Hauser, M.D. |
Title |
Probing the limits of tool competence: experiments with two non-tool-using species (Cercopithecus aethiops and Saguinus oedipus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
94-109 |
Keywords |
Animals; *Association Learning; Cercopithecus aethiops; *Cognition; Female; *Intelligence; Male; *Motor Skills; *Problem Solving; Saguinus; Species Specificity |
Abstract |
Non-human animals vary in their ability to make and use tools. The goal of the present study was to further explore what, if anything, differs between tool-users and non-tool-users, and whether these differences lie in the conceptual or motor domain. We tested two species that typically do not use tools-cotton top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) and vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops)-on problems that mirrored those designed for prolific tool users such as chimpanzees. We trained subjects on a task in which they could choose one of two canes to obtain an out-of-reach food reward. After training, subjects received several variations on the original task, each designed to examine a specific conceptual aspect of the pulling problem previously studied in other tool-using species. Both species recognized that effective pulling tools must be made of rigid materials. Subsequent conditions revealed significant species differences, with vervets outperforming tamarins across many conditions. Vervets, but not tamarins, had some recognition of the relationship between a tool's orientation and the position of the food reward, the relationship between a tool's trajectory and the substance that it moves on, and that tools must be connected in order to work properly. These results provide further evidence that tool-use may derive from domain-general, rather than domain-specific cognitive capacities that evolved for tool use per se. |
Address |
Department of Psychology, Yale University, Box 208205, New Haven, CT, USA. laurie.santos@yale.edu |
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ISSN |
1435-9448 |
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Notes |
PMID:16341524 |
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no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2478 |
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Author |
Cheng, K.; Wignall, A.E. |
Title |
Honeybees (Apis mellifera) holding on to memories: response competition causes retroactive interference effects |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
141-150 |
Keywords |
Animals; Bees/*physiology; Choice Behavior/physiology; *Cues; Memory/*physiology; Perceptual Masking/physiology; Space Perception/*physiology; Spatial Behavior/*physiology |
Abstract |
Five experiments on honeybees examined how the learning of a second task interferes with what was previously learned. Free flying bees were tested for landmark-based memory in variations on a paradigm of retroactive interference. Bees first learned Task 1, were tested on Task 1 (Test 1), then learned Task 2, and were tested again on Task 1 (Test 2). A 60-min delay (waiting in a box) before Test 2 caused no performance decrements. If the two tasks had conflicting response requirements, (e.g., target right of a green landmark in Task 1 and left of a blue landmark in Task 2), then a strong decrement on Test 2 was found (retroactive interference effect). When response competition was minimised during training or testing, however, the decrement on Test 2 was small or nonexistent. The results implicate response competition as a major contributor to the retroactive interference effect. The honeybee seems to hold on to memories; new memories do not wipe out old ones. |
Address |
Centre for the Integrative Study of Animal Behaviour and Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia. ken@galliform.bhs.mq.edu.au |
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1435-9448 |
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Notes |
PMID:16374626 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2477 |
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Author |
Herrmann, E.; Melis, A.P.; Tomasello, M. |
Title |
Apes' use of iconic cues in the object-choice task |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
118-130 |
Keywords |
Animal Communication; Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; *Choice Behavior; *Cues; Female; Gorilla gorilla; Male; *Nonverbal Communication; Pan paniscus; Pan troglodytes; Pongo pygmaeus; *Problem Solving; Space Perception; Species Specificity; Statistics, Nonparametric |
Abstract |
In previous studies great apes have shown little ability to locate hidden food using a physical marker placed by a human directly on the target location. In this study, we hypothesized that the perceptual similarity between an iconic cue and the hidden reward (baited container) would help apes to infer the location of the food. In the first two experiments, we found that if an iconic cue is given in addition to a spatial/indexical cue – e.g., picture or replica of a banana placed on the target location – apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gorillas) as a group performed above chance. However, we also found in two further experiments that when iconic cues were given on their own without spatial/indexical information (iconic cue held up by human with no diagnostic spatial/indexical information), the apes were back to chance performance. Our overall conclusion is that although iconic information helps apes in the process of searching hidden food, the poor performance found in the last two experiments is due to apes' lack of understanding of the informative (cooperative) communicative intention of the experimenter. |
Address |
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. eherrman@eva.mpg.de |
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1435-9448 |
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Notes |
PMID:16395566 |
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no |
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Serial |
14 |
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Author |
Amdam, G.V.; Csondes, A.; Fondrk, M.K.; Page, R.E.J. |
Title |
Complex social behaviour derived from maternal reproductive traits |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
Volume |
439 |
Issue |
7072 |
Pages |
76-78 |
Keywords |
Aging/physiology; Animals; Bees/*physiology; *Evolution; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; Female; Infertility, Female; Maternal Behavior/*physiology; Ovary/physiology; Pollen/metabolism; Reproduction/*physiology; *Social Behavior |
Abstract |
A fundamental goal of sociobiology is to explain how complex social behaviour evolves, especially in social insects, the exemplars of social living. Although still the subject of much controversy, recent theoretical explanations have focused on the evolutionary origins of worker behaviour (assistance from daughters that remain in the nest and help their mother to reproduce) through expression of maternal care behaviour towards siblings. A key prediction of this evolutionary model is that traits involved in maternal care have been co-opted through heterochronous expression of maternal genes to result in sib-care, the hallmark of highly evolved social life in insects. A coupling of maternal behaviour to reproductive status evolved in solitary insects, and was a ready substrate for the evolution of worker-containing societies. Here we show that division of foraging labour among worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) is linked to the reproductive status of facultatively sterile females. We thereby identify the evolutionary origin of a widely expressed social-insect behavioural syndrome, and provide a direct demonstration of how variation in maternal reproductive traits gives rise to complex social behaviour in non-reproductive helpers. |
Address |
Arizona State University, School of Life Sciences, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA. Gro.Amdam@asu.edu |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:16397498 |
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no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
531 |
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Author |
Zentall, T.R. |
Title |
Timing, memory for intervals, and memory for untimed stimuli: The role of instructional ambiguity |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Behavioural processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
Behav. Process. |
Volume |
71 |
Issue |
2-3 |
Pages |
88-97 |
Keywords |
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Abstract |
Theories of animal timing have had to account for findings that the memory for the duration of a timed interval appears to be dramatically shorted within a short time of its termination. This finding has led to the subjective shortening hypothesis and it has been proposed to account for the poor memory that animals appear to have for the initial portion of a timed interval when a gap is inserted in the to-be-timed signal. It has also been proposed to account for the poor memory for a relatively long interval that has been discriminated from a shorter interval. I suggest here a simpler account in which ambiguity between the gap or retention interval and the intertrial interval results in resetting the clock, rather than forgetting the interval. The ambiguity hypothesis, together with a signal salience mechanism that determines how quickly the clock is reset at the start of the intertrial interval can account for the results of the reported timing experiments that have used the peak procedure. Furthermore, instructional ambiguity rather than memory loss may account for the results of many animal memory experiments that do not involve memory for time. |
Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 202B Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA. zentall@uky.edu |
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0376-6357 |
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PMID:16406373 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
219 |
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Author |
Boughner, R.L.; Papini, M.R. |
Title |
Appetitive latent inhibition in rats: preexposure performance does not predict conditioned performance |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Behavioural Processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
Behav. Process. |
Volume |
72 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
42-51 |
Keywords |
Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; Association Learning; *Conditioning, Classical; *Habituation, Psychophysiologic; Individuality; *Inhibition (Psychology); Male; Motivation; Rats; Rats, Wistar; *Reaction Time |
Abstract |
Nonreinforced preexposure to a conditioned stimulus impairs subsequent conditioning with that stimulus. The goal of these studies was to assess the extent to which acquisition performance could be predicted from preexposure performance using a correlational approach. For both preexposure and autoshaping, four measures of performance were computed, including overall average lever pressing, lever pressing in the initial session, percentage change in lever pressing, and slopes. These measures were correlated in a large sample of rats trained in an autoshaping situation. None of the three measures of autoshaping performance was consistently predicted by any of the three measures of preexposure performance. These results are consistent with the view that latent inhibition is not reducible to long-term habituation. |
Address |
Department of Psychology, Texas Christian University, TX 76129, United States |
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0376-6357 |
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PMID:16406375 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4147 |
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Author |
Franks, N.R.; Richardson, T. |
Title |
Teaching in tandem-running ants |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
Volume |
439 |
Issue |
7073 |
Pages |
153 |
Keywords |
*Animal Communication; Animals; Ants/*physiology; Feedback/physiology; Learning/*physiology; *Teaching |
Abstract |
The ant Temnothorax albipennis uses a technique known as tandem running to lead another ant from the nest to food--with signals between the two ants controlling both the speed and course of the run. Here we analyse the results of this communication and show that tandem running is an example of teaching, to our knowledge the first in a non-human animal, that involves bidirectional feedback between teacher and pupil. This behaviour indicates that it could be the value of information, rather than the constraint of brain size, that has influenced the evolution of teaching. |
Address |
School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 IUG, UK. nigel.franks@bristol.ac.uk |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:16407943 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
4651 |
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Author |
Palmer, M.E.; Calve, M.R.; Adamo, S.A. |
Title |
Response of female cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (Cephalopoda) to mirrors and conspecifics: evidence for signaling in female cuttlefish |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
151-155 |
Keywords |
Analysis of Variance; *Animal Communication; Animals; Bias (Epidemiology); Female; Male; Pigmentation/*physiology; Recognition (Psychology)/*physiology; Sepia/*physiology; Visual Perception/*physiology |
Abstract |
Cuttlefish have a large repertoire of body patterns that are used for camouflage and interspecific signaling. Intraspecific signaling by male cuttlefish has been well documented but studies on signaling by females are lacking. We found that females displayed a newly described body pattern termed Splotch toward their mirror image and female conspecifics, but not to males, prey or inanimate objects. Female cuttlefish may use the Splotch body pattern as an intraspecific signal, possibly to reduce agonistic interactions. The ability of females to produce a consistent body pattern in response to conspecifics and mirrors suggests that they can recognize same-sex conspecifics using visual cues, despite the lack of sexual dimorphism visible to human observers. |
Address |
Dorset Environmental Science Centre, Dorset, ON, Canada, P0A 1E0 |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:16408230 |
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Admin @ knut @ |
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16 |
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