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Author |
Gentner, T.Q.; Fenn, K.M.; Margoliash, D.; Nusbaum, H.C. |
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Title |
Recursive syntactic pattern learning by songbirds |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
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Volume |
440 |
Issue |
7088 |
Pages |
1204-1207 |
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Keywords |
Acoustic Stimulation; *Animal Communication; Animals; Auditory Perception/*physiology; Humans; *Language; Learning/*physiology; Linguistics; Models, Neurological; Semantics; Starlings/*physiology; Stochastic Processes |
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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. |
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Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. tgentner@ucsd.edu |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:16641998 |
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refbase @ user @ |
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353 |
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Author |
Arnold, K.; Zuberbuhler, K. |
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Title |
Language evolution: semantic combinations in primate calls |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
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Volume |
441 |
Issue |
7091 |
Pages |
303 |
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Keywords |
Animal Migration; Animals; Eagles/physiology; *Evolution; Female; Haplorhini/*physiology; Male; Predatory Behavior; *Semantics; *Vocalization, Animal |
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Abstract |
Syntax sets human language apart from other natural communication systems, although its evolutionary origins are obscure. Here we show that free-ranging putty-nosed monkeys combine two vocalizations into different call sequences that are linked to specific external events, such as the presence of a predator and the imminent movement of the group. Our findings indicate that non-human primates can combine calls into higher-order sequences that have a particular meaning. |
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School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9JP, UK |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:16710411 |
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refbase @ user @ |
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354 |
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Author |
Ottoni, E.B.; de Resende, B.D.; Izar, P. |
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Title |
Watching the best nutcrackers: what capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) know about others' tool-using skills |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Animal cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
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8 |
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4 |
Pages |
215-219 |
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Animals; *Association Learning; Cebus/*psychology; *Feeding Behavior; Female; Male; Nuts; *Problem Solving |
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The present work is part of a decade-long study on the spontaneous use of stones for cracking hard-shelled nuts by a semi-free-ranging group of brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Nutcracking events are frequently watched by other individuals--usually younger, less proficient, and that are well tolerated to the point of some scrounging being allowed by the nutcracker. Here we report findings showing that the choice of observational targets is an active, non-random process, and that observers seem to have some understanding of the relative proficiency of their group mates, preferentially watching the more skilled nutcrackers, which enhances not only scrounging payoffs, but also social learning opportunities. |
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Laboratory of Cognitive Ethology, Department of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. ebottoni@usp.br |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:15719240 |
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no |
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Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
355 |
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Author |
Shettleworth, S.J. |
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Title |
Animal behaviour: planning for breakfast |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
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Volume |
445 |
Issue |
7130 |
Pages |
825-826 |
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Keywords |
Animals; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; *Food; Haplorhini/physiology; Memory/physiology; Songbirds/*physiology; Thinking/*physiology |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:17314961 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
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356 |
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Author |
Ratcliffe, J.M.; Fenton, M.B.; Shettleworth, S.J. |
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Title |
Behavioral flexibility positively correlated with relative brain volume in predatory bats |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Brain, behavior and evolution |
Abbreviated Journal |
Brain Behav Evol |
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Volume |
67 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
165-176 |
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Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Brain/*anatomy & histology/physiology; Chiroptera/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; Organ Size; Predatory Behavior/*physiology |
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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. |
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Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. jmr247@cornell.edu |
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0006-8977 |
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PMID:16415571 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
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358 |
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Author |
Shettleworth, S.J. |
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Title |
Cognitive science: rank inferred by reason |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
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Volume |
430 |
Issue |
7001 |
Pages |
732-733 |
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Animals; Cognition/*physiology; Group Structure; Male; *Social Dominance; Songbirds/*physiology |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:15306792 |
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refbase @ user @ |
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365 |
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Author |
Shettleworth, S.J. |
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Title |
Memory and hippocampal specialization in food-storing birds: challenges for research on comparative cognition |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Brain, behavior and evolution |
Abbreviated Journal |
Brain Behav Evol |
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62 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
108-116 |
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Keywords |
Animals; Birds/*physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Color Perception/physiology; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; Hippocampus/*physiology; Memory/*physiology; Species Specificity |
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The three-way association among food-storing behavior, spatial memory, and hippocampal enlargement in some species of birds is widely cited as an example of a new 'cognitive ecology' or 'neuroecology.' Whether this relationship is as strong as it first appears and whether it might be evidence for an adaptive specialization of memory and hippocampus in food-storers have recently been the subject of some controversy [Bolhuis and Macphail, 2001; Macphail and Bolhuis, 2001]. These critiques are based on misconceptions about the nature of adaptive specializations in cognition, misconceptions about the uniformity of results to be expected from applying the comparative method to data from a wide range of species, and a narrow view of what kinds of cognitive adaptations are theoretically interesting. New analyses of why food-storers (black-capped chickadees, Poecile Atricapilla) respond preferentially to spatial over color cues when both are relevant in a memory task show that this reflects a relative superiority of spatial memory as compared to memory for color rather than exceptional spatial attention or spatial discrimination ability. New studies of chickadees from more or less harsh winter climates also support the adaptive specialization hypothesis and suggest that within-species comparisons may be especially valuable for unraveling details of the relationships among ecology, memory, and brain in food-storing species. |
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Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., M5S 3G3, Canada. shettle@psych.utoronto.ca |
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0006-8977 |
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PMID:12937349 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
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367 |
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Author |
Griffiths, D.P.; Clayton, N.S. |
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Title |
Testing episodic memory in animals: A new approach |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2001 |
Publication |
Physiology & Behavior |
Abbreviated Journal |
Physiol. Behav. |
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73 |
Issue |
5 |
Pages |
755-762 |
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Keywords |
Episodic memory; Food-caching; Animal models |
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Episodic memory involves the encoding and storage of memories concerned with unique personal experiences and their subsequent recall, and it has long been the subject of intensive investigation in humans. According to Tulving's classical definition, episodic memory “receives and stores information about temporally dated episodes or events and temporal-spatial relations among these events.” Thus, episodic memory provides information about the `what' and `when' of events (`temporally dated experiences') and about `where' they happened (`temporal-spatial relations'). The storage and subsequent recall of this episodic information was thought to be beyond the memory capabilities of nonhuman animals. Although there are many laboratory procedures for investigating memory for discrete past episodes, until recently there were no previous studies that fully satisfied the criteria of Tulving's definition: they can all be explained in much simpler terms than episodic memory. However, current studies of memory for cache sites in food-storing jays provide an ethologically valid model for testing episodic-like memory in animals, thereby bridging the gap between human and animal studies memory. There is now a pressing need to adapt these experimental tests of episodic memory for other animals. Given the potential power of transgenic and knock-out procedures for investigating the genetic and molecular bases of learning and memory in laboratory rodents, not to mention the wealth of knowledge about the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of the rodent hippocampus (a brain area heavily implicated in episodic memory), an obvious next step is to develop a rodent model of episodic-like memory based on the food-storing bird paradigm. The development of a rodent model system could make an important contribution to our understanding of the neural, molecular, and behavioral mechanisms of mammalian episodic memory. |
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refbase @ user @ |
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401 |
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Author |
McLean, A.N. |
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Title |
Short-term spatial memory in the domestic horse |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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Volume |
85 |
Issue |
1-2 |
Pages |
93-105 |
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Animal cognition; Delayed response; Equine memory; Horse; Object permanence; Temporal cognition |
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This study investigates the ability of horses to recall a feeding event in a two-point choice apparatus. Twelve horses were individually tested whereby they were maintained immobile in a test arena and visually and aurally experienced the delivery of food into one of two feed goals. The horses were then released to make their choice in two experimental contexts: immediate release after experiencing the delivery of food, and release 10 s after food delivery. Each horse performed 40 immediate-release (IR) trials, followed by forty 10-s release trials over a 3-day period. In addition, the same horses were tested 3 months later in the spring with the same number and sequence of trials. Results were analysed by log-linear analysis of frequencies. Results showed that while horses were able to achieve the correct feed goal choice in the immediate-release trials, they were unsuccessful with the 10-s release trials. This suggests that there are limitations in recall abilities in horses, in that they may not possess a prospective type of memory. There are welfare and training implications in these findings concerning the effects of overestimating the mental abilities of horses during training and the effects of delays in reinforcements. |
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refbase @ user @ |
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403 |
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Author |
Plotnik, J.M.; de Waal, F.B.M.; Reiss, D. |
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Title |
Self-recognition in an Asian elephant |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |
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Volume |
103 |
Issue |
45 |
Pages |
17053-17057 |
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Animals; Asia; *Behavior, Animal; Cognition; Elephants/*psychology; Female; Photic Stimulation |
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Considered an indicator of self-awareness, mirror self-recognition (MSR) has long seemed limited to humans and apes. In both phylogeny and human ontogeny, MSR is thought to correlate with higher forms of empathy and altruistic behavior. Apart from humans and apes, dolphins and elephants are also known for such capacities. After the recent discovery of MSR in dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), elephants thus were the next logical candidate species. We exposed three Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) to a large mirror to investigate their responses. Animals that possess MSR typically progress through four stages of behavior when facing a mirror: (i) social responses, (ii) physical inspection (e.g., looking behind the mirror), (iii) repetitive mirror-testing behavior, and (iv) realization of seeing themselves. Visible marks and invisible sham-marks were applied to the elephants' heads to test whether they would pass the litmus “mark test” for MSR in which an individual spontaneously uses a mirror to touch an otherwise imperceptible mark on its own body. Here, we report a successful MSR elephant study and report striking parallels in the progression of responses to mirrors among apes, dolphins, and elephants. These parallels suggest convergent cognitive evolution most likely related to complex sociality and cooperation. |
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Living Links, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, and Department of Psychology, Emory University, 532 North Kligo Circle, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA |
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0027-8424 |
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PMID:17075063 |
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refbase @ user @ |
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408 |
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