Records |
Author |
Fiset, S.; Beaulieu, C.; Landry, F. |
Title |
Duration of dogs' (Canis familiaris) working memory in search for disappearing objects |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
6 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
1-10 |
Keywords |
Animals; Dogs/*psychology; *Exploratory Behavior; Female; Male; *Memory; Visual Perception |
Abstract |
Two experiments explored the duration of dogs' working memory in an object permanence task: a delay was introduced between the disappearance of a moving object behind a box and the beginning of the search by the animal. In experiment 1, the dogs were tested with retention intervals of 0, 10, 30, and 60 s. Results revealed that the dogs' accuracy declined as a function of the length of the retention interval but remained above chance for each retention interval. In experiment 2, with new subjects, longer retention intervals (0, 30, 60, 120, and 240 s) were presented to the dogs. Results replicated findings from experiment 1 and revealed that the dogs' accuracy remained higher than chance level with delays up to 240 s. In both experiments, the analysis of errors also showed that the dogs searched as a function of the proximity of the target box and were not subject to intertrial proactive interference. In the discussion, we explore different alternatives to explain why dogs' search behaviour for hidden objects decreased as a function of the retention intervals. |
Address |
Secteur Sciences Humaines, Universite de Moncton, Campus d'Edmundston, E3V 2S8, Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada. sfiset@umce.ca |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12658530 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2586 |
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Author |
Ray, E.D.; Heyes, C.M. |
Title |
Do rats in a two-action test encode movement egocentrically or allocentrically? |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
5 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
245-252 |
Keywords |
Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Discrimination Learning; *Imitative Behavior; Male; Random Allocation; Rats/physiology/*psychology; Smell |
Abstract |
Two-action tests of imitation compare groups that observe topographically different responses to a common manipulandum. The general aim of the two experiments reported here was to find a demonstrator-consistent responding effect in a procedure that could be elaborated to investigate aspects of what was learned about the demonstrated lever response. Experiment 1 was a pilot study with rats of a variant of the two-action method of investigating social learning about observed responses. Groups of observer rats ( Rattus norvegicus) saw a demonstrator push a lever up or down for a food reward. When these observers were subsequently given access to the lever and rewarded for responses in both directions, their directional preferences were compared with two 'screen control' groups that were unable to see their demonstrators' behaviour. Demonstrator-consistent responding was found to be restricted to observers that were able to see demonstrator performance, suggesting that scent cues alone were insufficient to cue a preference for the demonstrators' response direction and thereby that the rats learned by observation about body movements (imitation) or lever movement (emulation). Experiment 2 assessed responding on two levers, one that had been manipulated by the demonstrator, and a second, transposed lever positioned some distance away. Demonstrator-consistent responding was abolished when actions were observed and performed in different parts of the apparatus, suggesting that observed movement was encoded allocentrically with respect to the apparatus rather than egocentrically with respect to the actor's body. With particular reference to the influence of scent cues, the results are discussed in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of this and other varieties of the two-action procedure as tests of imitation in animals and human infants. |
Address |
Department of Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. e.ray@ucl.ac.uk |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12461602 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2588 |
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Author |
Fremouw, T.; Herbranson, W.T.; Shimp, C.P. |
Title |
Dynamic shifts of pigeon local/global attention |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
5 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
233-243 |
Keywords |
Animals; Attention/*physiology; *Behavior, Animal; Columbidae/*physiology; Male; Reaction Time; Visual Perception/*physiology |
Abstract |
It has previously been shown that pigeons can shift attention between parts and wholes of complex stimuli composed of larger, “global” characters constructed from smaller, “local” characters. The base-rate procedure used biased target level within any condition at either the local or global level; targets were more likely at one level than at the other. Biasing of target level in this manner demonstrated shifts of local/global attention over a time span consisting of several days with a fixed base rate. Experiment 1 examined the possibility that pigeons can shift attention between local and global levels of perceptual analysis in seconds rather than days. The experiment used priming cues the color of which predicted on a trial-by-trial basis targets at different perceptual levels. The results confirmed that pigeons, like humans, can display highly dynamic stimulus-driven shifts of local/global attention. Experiment 2 changed spatial relations between features of priming cues and features of targets within a task otherwise similar to that used in experiment 1. It was predicted that this change in cues might affect asymmetry but not the occurrence of a priming effect. A priming effect was again obtained, thereby providing generality to the claim that pigeons can learn that trial-by-trial primes predict targets at different levels of perceptual analysis. Pigeons can display perceptual, stimulus-driven priming of a highly dynamic nature. |
Address |
Department of Psychology, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1650, USA |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12461601 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2589 |
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Author |
Reichmuth Kastak, C.; Schusterman, R.J. |
Title |
Long-term memory for concepts in a California sea lion ( Zalophus californianus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
5 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
225-232 |
Keywords |
Animals; Concept Formation; Female; Memory/*physiology; Mental Processes; Sea Lions/physiology/*psychology; Time Factors |
Abstract |
An adult California sea lion ( Zalophus californianus) with extensive experience in performing discrimination learning tasks was tested to evaluate her long-term memory for two previously learned concepts. An associative concept, that of equivalence classification, was retested after a retention interval of approximately 1 year. The sea lion had originally shown emergent equivalence classification with nonsimilarity-based classes of stimuli in a simple discrimination repeated-reversal procedure as well as in a matching-to-sample procedure. The 1-year memory test revealed no decrement in classification performance in either procedure. A relational concept, that of generalized identity matching, was retested after approximately 10 years. The sea lion had originally received trial-and-error exemplar training with identity matching-to-sample problems prior to transferring the concept to novel stimulus configurations. In the 10-year memory test, the sea lion immediately and reliably applied the previously established identity concept to familiar and novel sets of matching problems. These are the first reports of long-term conceptual memory in a nonprimate species. The experimental findings are consistent with a variety of observations of sea lions in natural settings, which indicate that natal sites, feeding areas, and individuals may be remembered over long periods of time. |
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Long Marine Laboratory, University of California at Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA. coll@cats.ucsc.edu |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12461600 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2590 |
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Author |
Jackson, R.R.; Pollard, S.D.; Li, D.; Fijn, N. |
Title |
Interpopulation variation in the risk-related decisions of Portia labiata, an araneophagic jumping spider (Araneae, Salticidae), during predatory sequences with spitting spiders |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
5 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
215-223 |
Keywords |
Animals; Female; Male; Mental Processes; *Predatory Behavior; Risk Factors; *Spiders |
Abstract |
The extent to which decision-making processes are constrained in animals with small brains is poorly understood. Arthropods have brains much smaller and simpler than those of birds and mammals. This raises questions concerning limitations on how intricate the decision-making processes might be in arthropods. At Los Banos in the Philippines, Scytodes pallidus is a spitting spider that specialises in preying on jumping spiders, and Portia labiata is a jumping spider that preys on S. pallidus. Scytodid spit comes from the mouth, and egg-carrying females are less dangerous than eggless scytodids because the female uses her chelicerae to hold her eggs. Held eggs block her mouth, and she has to release them before she can spit. The Los Banos P. labiata sometimes adjusts its tactics depending on whether the scytodid encountered is carrying eggs or not. When pursuing eggless scytodids, the Los Banos P. labiata usually takes detour routes that enable it to close in from behind (away from the scytodid's line of fire). However, when pursuing egg-carrying scytodids, the Los Banos P. labiata sometimes takes faster direct routes to reach these safer prey. The Los Banos P. labiata apparently makes risk-related adjustments specific to whether scytodids are carrying eggs, but P. labiata from Sagada in the Philippines (allopatric to Scytodes) fails to make comparable risk-related adjustments. |
Address |
Department of Zoology, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12461599 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2591 |
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Author |
Waite, T.A. |
Title |
Interruptions improve choice performance in gray jays: prolonged information processing versus minimization of costly errors |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
5 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
209-214 |
Keywords |
Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Choice Behavior; Female; Learning; Male; Models, Biological; Motivation; Reinforcement Schedule; Songbirds/*physiology; Time Factors |
Abstract |
Under the assumption that selection favors minimization of costly errors, erroneous choice may be common when its fitness cost is low. According to an adaptive-choice model, this cost depends on the rate at which an animal encounters the choice: the higher this rate, the smaller the cost of choosing a less valuable option. Errors should thus be more common when interruptions to foraging are shorter. A previous experiment supported this prediction: gray jays, Perisoreus canadensis, were more error prone when subjected to shorter delays to access to food rewards. This pattern, though, is also predicted by an attentional-constraints model. Because the subjects were able to inspect the rewards during delays, their improved performance when subjected to longer delays could have been a byproduct of the experimentally prolonged opportunity for information processing. To evaluate this possibility, a follow-up experiment manipulated both delay to access and whether rewards could be inspected during delays. Depriving jays of the opportunity to inspect rewards (using opaque lids) induced only a small, nonsignificant increase in error rate. This effect was independent of length of delay and so the jays' improved performance when subjected to longer delays was not simply a byproduct of prolonged information processing. More definitively, even when the jays were prevented from inspecting rewards during delays, their performance improved when subjected to longer delays. The findings are thus consistent with the adaptive-choice model. |
Address |
Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, 1735 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1293, USA. waite.1@osu.edu |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12461598 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2592 |
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Author |
West, R.E.; Young, R.J. |
Title |
Do domestic dogs show any evidence of being able to count? |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
5 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
183-186 |
Keywords |
Animal Feed; Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Cognition; *Dogs; Female; Male; *Mathematics; Reinforcement (Psychology); Visual Perception |
Abstract |
Numerical competence has been demonstrated in a wide range of animal species. The level of numerical abilities shown ranges from simple relative numerousness judgements to true counting. In this study we used the preferential looking technique to test whether 11 pet dogs could count. The dogs were presented with three simple calculations: “1+1=2”; “1+1=1”; and “1+1=3”. These calculations were performed by presenting the dogs with treats that were placed behind a screen that allowed manipulation of the outcome of the calculation. When the dogs expected the outcome they spent the same amount of time looking at the result of the calculation as they did on the initial presentation. However, when the result was unexpected dogs spent significantly longer looking at the outcome of the calculation. The results suggest that the dogs were anticipating the outcome of the calculations they observed, thus suggesting that dogs may have a rudimentary ability to count. |
Address |
De Montfort University-Lincoln, Caythorpe, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG32 3EP, UK |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12357291 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2594 |
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Author |
Funk, M.S. |
Title |
Problem solving skills in young yellow-crowned parakeets (Cyanoramphus auriceps) |
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Journal Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
5 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
167-176 |
Keywords |
Animals; *Cognition; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Motor Skills; *Parakeets; Play and Playthings; *Problem Solving; Social Behavior |
Abstract |
Despite the long divergent evolutionary history of birds and mammals, early avian and primate cognitive development have many convergent features. Some of these features were investigated with a series of tasks designed to assess human infant development. The tasks were presented to young parakeets to assess their means-end problem solving abilities. Examples of these early skills are: attaining and playing with objects, retrieving rewards through use of a stick or rake, or by pulling in rewards on supports or on the ends of strings. Twelve such tasks were presented to 11 young yellow-crowned parakeets ( Cyanoramphus auriceps) to investigate their natural abilities; there was no attempt to train them to do those tasks that they did not spontaneously perform. Six of the birds were parent-raised and five were hand-raised. The birds completed 9 of the 12 tasks, demonstrating all the Piagetian sensorimotor circular reactions, but they failed to hand-watch (“claw-watch”), to stack objects, or to fill a container. Their ordinality on the tasks differed from that of human infants in that locomotion to obtain objects occurred earlier in the avian sequence of development and the mid-level tasks were performed by the two groups of avian subjects in a mixed order perhaps indicating that these abilities may not emerge in any particular order for these birds as they supposedly do for human infants. The hand-raised group needed fewer sessions to complete these means-end tasks. |
Address |
Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA. mdfunk@northwestern.edu |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12357289 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2596 |
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Author |
Drapier, M.; Chauvin, C.; Thierry, B. |
Title |
Tonkean macaques ( Macaca tonkeana) find food sources from cues conveyed by group-mates |
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Journal Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
5 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
159-165 |
Keywords |
*Animal Communication; Animals; *Cognition; *Feeding Behavior; Food; *Macaca; Male; Smell; *Social Behavior; Visual Perception |
Abstract |
It is possible that non-specialised cues transmitted by conspecifics guide animals' food search provided they have the cognitive abilities needed to read these cues. Macaques often check the mouth of their group-mates by olfactory and/or visual inspection. We investigated whether Tonkean macaques ( Macaca tonkeana) can find the location of distant food on the basis of cues conveyed by group-mates. The subjects of the study were two 6-year-old males, who belonged to a social group of Tonkean macaques raised in semi-free-ranging conditions. In a first experiment, we tested whether the subject can choose between two sites after having sniffed a partner who has just eaten food corresponding to one of the sites. We found that both subjects were able to choose the matching site significantly above the chance level. This demonstrated that Tonkean macaques are capable of delayed olfactory matching. They could associate a food location with an odour conveyed by a partner. In a second experiment, the same subjects were allowed to see their partner through a Plexiglas window. Both subjects were still able to choose the matching site, demonstrating they could rely on visual cues alone. Passive recruitment of partners appears possible in macaques. They can improve their foraging performances by finding the location of environmental resources from olfactory or visual cues conveyed by group-mates. |
Address |
Equipe d'Ethologie et Ecologie Comportementale des Primates, Centre d'Ecologie et Physiologie Energetiques, CNRS UPR 9010, 7 rue de l'Universite, 67000 Strasbourg, France |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12357288 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2597 |
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Author |
Hauber, M.E.; Pearson, H.E.; Reh, A.; Merges, A. |
Title |
Discrimination between host songs by brood parasitic brown-headed cowbirds ( Molothrus ater) |
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Journal Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
5 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
129-137 |
Keywords |
Animals; *Auditory Perception; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Male; Sexual Behavior; *Songbirds; *Vocalization, Animal |
Abstract |
Songbirds can learn both to produce and to discriminate between different classes of acoustic stimuli. Varying levels of auditory discrimination may improve the fitness of individuals in certain ecological and social contexts and, thus, selection is expected to mold the cognitive abilities of different species according to the potential benefits of acoustic processing. Although fine-scale auditory discrimination of conspecific songs and calls has been frequently reported for brood parasitic brown-headed cowbirds ( Molothrus ater), it remains unclear why and how they perceive differently the songs of their many host species. Using habituation-dishabituation paradigms and measuring behavioral and physiological (heart-rate) responses, we found that captive female cowbirds consistently discriminated between songs of two host species, the song sparrow ( Melospiza melodia) and the red-winged blackbird ( Agelaius phoeniceus). Playback experiments with stimuli composed of con-specific followed by heterospecific vocalizations in the field also demonstrated discrimination between these heterospecific songs even though cowbirds were not attracted to playbacks of either host species' songs alone. Our results do not directly support a nest-searching function of heterospecific song discrimination by cowbirds and are most consistent with a function of the parasites' avoidance of attacks by their aggressive hosts. These data demonstrate discrimination between heterospecific vocalizations by brown-headed cowbirds and add a novel dimension to the already expansive auditory perceptual abilities of brood parasitic species and other songbirds. |
Address |
Field Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell, University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. hauberm@socrates.berkeley.edu |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12357285 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2600 |
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