| Records |
| 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 |
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| ISSN |
1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:17024510 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial  |
217 |
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| Author |
Zentall, T.R. |
| Title |
Mental time travel in animals: a challenging question |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Behavioural processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
Behav. Process. |
| Volume |
72 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
173-183 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Columbidae; Concept Formation; Conditioning, Operant; *Imagination; *Memory; Mental Recall; Planning Techniques; Rats; *Time Perception; Transfer (Psychology) |
| Abstract |
Humans have the ability to mentally recreate past events (using episodic memory) and imagine future events (by planning). The best evidence for such mental time travel is personal and thus subjective. For this reason, it is particularly difficult to study such behavior in animals. There is some indirect evidence, however, that animals have both episodic memory and the ability to plan for the future. When unexpectedly asked to do so, animals can report about their recent past experiences (episodic memory) and they also appear to be able to use the anticipation of a future event as the basis for a present action (planning). Thus, the ability to imagine past and future events may not be uniquely human. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA. zentall@uky.edu |
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0376-6357 |
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PMID:16466863 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
218 |
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| Author |
Zentall, T.R.; Kaiser, D.H. |
| Title |
Interval timing with gaps: gap ambiguity as an alternative to temporal decay |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
| Volume |
31 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
484-486 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Behavior, Animal; Discrimination (Psychology)/*physiology; Memory/*physiology; Rats; Time Perception/*physiology |
| Abstract |
C. V. Buhusi, D. Perera, and W. H. Meck (2005) proposed a hypothesis of timing in rats to account for the results of experiments that have used the peak procedure with gaps. According to this hypothesis, the introduction of a gap causes the animal's memory for the pregap interval to passively decay (subjectively shorten) in direct proportion to the duration and salience of the gap. Thus, animals should pause with short, nonsalient gaps but should reset their clock with longer, salient gaps. The present authors suggest that the ambiguity of the gap (i.e., the similarity between the gap and the intertrial interval in both appearance and relative duration) causes the animal to actively reset the clock and prevents adequate assessments of the fate of timed intervals prior to the gap. Furthermore, when the intertrial interval is discriminable from the gap, the evidence suggests that timed intervals prior to the gap are not lost but are retained in memory. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA. zentall@uky.edu |
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0097-7403 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16248734 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
220 |
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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 |
2005 |
Publication |
Behavioural processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
Behav. Process. |
| Volume |
70 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
209-222 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Attention; Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; *Memory, Short-Term; Practice (Psychology); Reinforcement Schedule; *Retention (Psychology); *Time Perception |
| 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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| Notes |
PMID:16095851 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
222 |
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| Author |
Klein, E.D.; Bhatt, R.S.; Zentall, T.R. |
| Title |
Contrast and the justification of effort |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Psychonomic bulletin & review |
Abbreviated Journal |
Psychon Bull Rev |
| Volume |
12 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
335-339 |
| Keywords |
Awareness; *Cognition; *Discrimination (Psychology); Female; Humans; Male; Questionnaires; *Visual Perception |
| Abstract |
When humans are asked to evaluate rewards or outcomes that follow unpleasant (e.g., high-effort) events, they often assign higher value to that reward. This phenomenon has been referred to as cognitive dissonance or justification of effort. There is now evidence that a similar phenomenon can be found in nonhuman animals. When demonstrated in animals, however, it has been attributed to contrast between the unpleasant high effort and the conditioned stimulus for food. In the present experiment, we asked whether an analogous effect could be found in humans under conditions similar to those found in animals. Adult humans were trained to discriminate between shapes that followed a high-effort versus a low-effort response. In test, participants were found to prefer shapes that followed the high-effort response in training. These results suggest the possibility that contrast effects of the sort extensively studied in animals may play a role in cognitive dissonance and other related phenomena in humans. |
| Address |
University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA |
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1069-9384 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16082815 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
223 |
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| Author |
Zentall, T.R. |
| Title |
Selective and divided attention in animals |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Behavioural processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
Behav. Process. |
| Volume |
69 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
1-15 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Attention; *Behavior, Animal; *Discrimination (Psychology); *Field Dependence-Independence; *Psychological Theory |
| Abstract |
This article reviews some of the research on attentional processes in animals. In the traditional approach to selective attention, it is proposed that in addition to specific response attachments, animals also learn something about the dimension along which the stimuli fall (e.g., hue, brightness, or line orientation). More recently, there has been an attempt to find animal analogs to methodologies originally applied to research with humans. One line of research has been directed to the question of whether animals can locate a target among distracters faster if they are prepared for the presentation of the target (search image and priming). In the study of search image, the target is typically a food item and the cue consists of previous trials on which the same target is presented. In research on priming effects, the cue is typically different from the target but is a good predictor of its occurrence. The study of preattentive processes shows that perceptually, certain stimuli stand out from distracters better than others, depending not only on characteristics of the target relative to the distracters, but also on relations among the distracters. Research on divided attention is examined with the goal of determining whether an animal can process two elements of a compound sample with the same efficiency as one. Taken together, the reviewed research indicates that animals are capable of centrally (not just peripherally) attending to selective aspects of a stimulus display. |
| 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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| Notes |
PMID:15795066 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
224 |
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| Author |
DiGian, K.A.; Friedrich, A.M.; Zentall, T.R. |
| Title |
Discriminative stimuli that follow a delay have added value for pigeons |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Psychonomic bulletin & review |
Abbreviated Journal |
Psychon Bull Rev |
| Volume |
11 |
Issue |
5 |
Pages |
889-895 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Behavior, Animal; Choice Behavior; Columbidae; *Cues; *Discrimination (Psychology) |
| Abstract |
Clement, Feltus, Kaiser, and Zentall (2000) reported that pigeons prefer discriminative stimuli that require greater effort (more pecks) to obtain over those that require less effort. In the present experiment, we examined two variables associated with this phenomenon. First, we asked whether delay of reinforcement, presumably a relatively aversive event similar to effort, would produce similar effects. Second, we asked whether the stimulus preference produced by a prior relatively aversive event depends on its anticipation. Anticipation of delay was accomplished by signaling its occurrence. Results indicated that delays can produce preferences similar to those produced by increased effort, but only if the delays are signaled. |
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University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0044, USA |
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1069-9384 |
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| Notes |
PMID:15732699 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
226 |
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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. |
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Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA. zentall@uky.edu |
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1543-4494 |
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PMID:15161137 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
230 |
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| Author |
Zentall, T.R.; Weaver, J.E.; Clement, T.S. |
| Title |
Pigeons group time intervals according to their relative duration |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Psychonomic bulletin & review |
Abbreviated Journal |
Psychon Bull Rev |
| Volume |
11 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
113-117 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Columbidae; *Discrimination (Psychology); Reinforcement (Psychology); Time Factors; Time Perception |
| Abstract |
In the present research, we asked whether pigeons tended to judge time intervals not only in terms of their absolute value but also relative to a duration from which they must be discriminated (i.e., longer or shorter). Pigeons were trained on two independent temporal discriminations. In one discrimination, sample durations of 2 and 8 sec were associated with, for example, red and green hue comparisons, respectively, and in the other discrimination, sample durations of 4 and 16 sec were associated with vertical and horizontal line comparisons, respectively. If pigeons are trained on a temporal discrimination and tested with intermediate durations, the subjective midpoint typically occurs close to the geometric mean of the two trained values. The 4- and 8-sec values were selected to be the geometric mean of the two values in the other discrimination. When a 4-sec test sample was presented with the comparisons from the 2- and 8-sec discrimination, the pigeons preferred the comparison associated with the shorter sample. Similarly, when an 8-sec test sample was presented with the comparisons from the 4- and 16-sec discrimination, the pigeons preferred the comparison associated with the longer sample. Thus, a relative grouping effect was found. That is, durations that should have produced indifferent choice were influenced by their relative durations (shorter than or longer than the alternative) during training. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0044, USA. zentall@pop.uky.edu |
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1069-9384 |
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| Notes |
PMID:15116995 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
231 |
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| Author |
Zentall, T.R.; Klein, E.D.; Singer, R.A. |
| Title |
Evidence for detection of one duration sample and default responding to other duration samples by pigeons may result from an artifact of retention-test ambiguity |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
| Volume |
30 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
129-134 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Artifacts; Association Learning; Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; *Recognition (Psychology); *Retention (Psychology); *Time Perception; *Transfer (Psychology) |
| Abstract |
S. C. Gaitan and J. T. Wixted (2000) proposed that when pigeons are trained on a conditional discrimination to associate 1 duration sample with 1 comparison and 2 other duration samples with a 2nd comparison, they detect only the single duration, and on trials involving either of the 2 other duration samples, they respond to the other comparison by default. In 2 experiments, the authors show instead that pigeons lend to treat the retention intervals (such as those used by Gaitan and Wixted) as intertrial intervals, and thus, they tend to treat all trials with a delay as 0-s sample trials. The authors tested this hypothesis by showing that divergent retention functions do not appear when the retention interval is discriminably different from the intertrial interval. |
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Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA. zentall@uky.edu |
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0097-7403 |
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PMID:15078122 |
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refbase @ user @ |
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232 |
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