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Author von Fersen, L.; Delius, J.D.
Title Acquired equivalences between auditory stimuli in dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Type Journal Article
Year 2000 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (up) 3 Issue 2 Pages 79-83
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Abstract This study investigated whether dolphins would show evidence of equivalence class formation between auditory stimuli. Bottlenose dolphins were trained to press one or other of two response levers depending on which one of four auditory stimuli had been previously presented. Once they had learned the initial discriminations, the stimulus-lever contingencies was repeatedly reversed. Within any given session, however, pressing of one lever always led to reward with one set of two tones and pressing the other lever led to non-reward with an alternative set of two tones. After sufficient experience with this response reversal procedure, the dolphins spontaneously chose the same levers they had first learned to be correct with one of the across-set stimulus pairs when later in the session they were presented with the other of the across-set stimulus pairs. They thus demonstrated that they had associated the tones belonging to the two sets within two separate functional classes. It is discussed why the dolphins succeeded with auditory stimuli when they had previously failed in a similar task with visual stimuli.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3342
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Author Tomonaga, M.; Matsuzawa, T.
Title Sequential responding to arabic numerals with wild cards by the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Type Journal Article
Year 2000 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (up) 3 Issue 1 Pages 1-11
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Abstract One adult female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) was trained to respond serially to three arabic numerals between 1 and 9, presented on a cathode-ray-tube (CRT) screen. To examine the factors affecting her sequential responding behavior, wild-card items were added to the three-item sequences. When this wild-card item remained until the subject responded to the last numeral (i.e., the terminator condition), her response to the terminator at each point of the sequence was controlled by the ordinal distance between numerals. Thus, the number of responses to the terminator increased as the ordinal distance between numerals increased. When the wild-card item was eliminated by the subject's response (wild-card conditions), the probability of responses to the wild card before the first numeral increased as a function of the serial position of the first numeral. These results were consistent with previous studies of response time and suggest both serial position and symbolic distance effects. It is suggested that the subject might form the integrated 9-item linear representations by training of possible subsets of three-item sequences. Knowledge concerning the ordinal position of each numeral was established through this training.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3373
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Author McKinley, J.; Sambrook, T.D.
Title Use of human-given cues by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and horses (Equus caballus) Type Journal Article
Year 2000 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (up) 3 Issue 1 Pages 13-22
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Abstract Sixteen domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and four horses (Equus caballus) were tested for their ability to use human-given manual and facial cues in an object-choice task. Two of the four horses used touch as a cue and one horse successfully used pointing. The performance of the dogs was considerably better, with 12 subjects able to use pointing as a cue, 4 able to use head orientation and 2 able to use eye gaze alone. Group analysis showed that the dogs performed significantly better in all experimental conditions than during control trials. Dogs were able to use pointing cues even when the cuer's body was closer to the incorrect object. Working gundogs with specialised training used pointing more successfully than pet dogs and gundog breeds performed better than non-gundog breeds. The results of this experiment suggest that animals' use of human given communicative signals depends on cognitive ability, the evolutionary consequences of domestication and enculturation by humans within the individual's lifetime.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3555
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Author Snowdon, C.T.
Title Social processes in communication and cognition in callitrichid monkeys: a review Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (up) 4 Issue 3 Pages 247-257
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Abstract Studies of vocal development in nonhuman primates have found little evidence for plasticity in vocal production, somewhat more for usage of calls, with the greatest plasticity arising in response to calls of others. Generally, similar results were obtained with callitrichid monkeys, the marmosets and tamarins, but with several interesting exceptions. Infant pygmy marmosets show babbling behavior with improvement in adult call structure related to the amount and diversity of babbling. Adult marmosets alter call structure in response to changes in social partners, and wild marmosets have vocal dialects and modify call structure according to how far they are from other group members, suggesting the potential to modify call structure in different social and environmental contexts, though direct learning of novel vocalizations has not been observed. Infant cotton-top tamarins do not produce adult-like calls in appropriate contexts, at least in the first few months of life, but through food sharing from adults infants learn about appropriate foods and the appropriate contexts for food vocalizations. Tamarins modify call structure and usage with changes in social status. Tamarins, unlike other monkeys tested, can learn to avoid noxious foods through observation of other group members, and can learn about novel food locations. Recent studies provide evidence of contextual imitation in marmosets. The plasticity in vocal communication and evidence of social learning in marmosets and tamarins relative to other monkeys may be related to the cooperative breeding system of marmosets and tamarins. With a high degree of behavioral coordination among group members, there is a priority on monitoring signals and behavior of others and adjusting one's own signals and behavior. This creates the context for vocal plasticity and social learning.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3090
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Author Hare, B.
Title Can competitive paradigms increase the validity of experiments on primate social cognition? Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (up) 4 Issue 3 Pages 269-280
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Abstract Experiments vary in their ability to distinguish between competing hypotheses. In tests on primate cognition the majority of this variation is due to an experimenter's ability to test primates in valid settings while providing the adequate amount of experimental control. While experimenters studying primate cognition can use methods of control perfected in captivity, it is still very unclear how to design and then objectively evaluate the external validity of new experimental paradigms. I recommend that more effort be allocated to specify how to create relevant test settings for primates. Primate social life is highly competitive. This means that all aspects of primates themselves, including their cognitive abilities, have likely been shaped by the need to out-compete conspecifics. Based on this hypothesis, sophisticated cognitive abilities of primates might best be demonstrated in competitive contexts. Thus, it is suggested that one possible measure of validity is whether investigators integrate a competitive component into their experimental designs. To evaluate this methodological prediction I review the literature on chimpanzee perspective-taking as a case study including several recent studies that include a competitive component in their experimental designs.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3093
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Author Xitco, M.; Gory, J.; Kuczaj, S.
Title Spontaneous pointing by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (up) 4 Issue 2 Pages 115-123
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Abstract Two bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) participating in a symbolic communication project spontaneously developed behaviors that resembled pointing and gaze alternation. The dolphins' behavior demonstrated several features reminiscent of referential communicative behavior. It was triadic, involving a signaler, receiver, and referent. It was also indicative, specifying a focus of attention. The dolphins' points were distinct from the act of attending to or acting on objects. Spontaneous dolphin pointing was influenced by the presence of a potential receiver, and the distance between that receiver and the dolphin. These findings suggest that dolphins are capable of producing referential gestures.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3111
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Author Brown, C.
Title Familiarity with the test environment improves escape responses in the crimson spotted rainbowfish, Melanotaenia duboulayi Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (up) 4 Issue 2 Pages 109-113
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Abstract Animals that are familiar with their environment have been reported to have greater survivorship for a number of reasons related to their knowledge of the terrain, which they recall from memory. In an initial experiment rainbowfish significantly improved their escape response towards a novel trawl apparatus over a sequence of five runs. Escape latencies were still low during a subsequent exposure 11 months after the initial exposure. While part of the improvement in escape success was certainly due to learning associated with the location of the escape route, it is likely that this was aided by habituation to the tank environment and the experimental protocol. In a follow-up experiment, fish that had been kept in the experimental tank for 3 weeks prior to testing, and had become familiar with the test tank, showed significantly lower escape latencies and escaped more often than fish that were not familiar with the test environment. It is suspected that familiarity with the testing arena decreased stress and enabled individuals to detect novel stimuli and devote more attention to them. These findings have significant implications for experimenters studying aspects of animal cognition, such as learning and memory, in laboratory situations.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3113
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Author Tanaka, M.
Title Discrimination and categorization of photographs of natural objects by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (up) 4 Issue 3 Pages 201-211
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Abstract Two experiments assessed the ability of four adult female chimpanzees to categorize natural objects. Chimpanzees were initially trained to match different color photographs of familiar objects from four possible categories. In training, all the comparison stimuli were from the same category in one condition, and from different categories in another condition. For all subjects, training performance was consistently better for the “different category” than for the “same category” trials. Probe trials were shown after training. In probe trials, the sample and positive comparison stimuli were different items from the same category, and the foils were selected from among the three other test categories. Individual performance was above chance in probe trials, suggesting that categorization by chimpanzees may transcend perceptual resemblance. These results were later replicated with novel stimulus items from the same four categories (experiment 2). Altogether, this research demonstrates that chimpanzees grouped perceptually different exemplars within the same category, and further suggests that these animals formed conceptual representations of the categories.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3128
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Author Cook, R.G.; Shaw, R.; Blaisdell, A.P.
Title Dynamic object perception by pigeons: discrimination of action in video presentations Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (up) 4 Issue 3 Pages 137-146
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Abstract Two experiments examined the discrimination by pigeons of relative motion using computer-generated video stimuli. Using a go/no-go procedure, pigeons were tested with video stimuli in which the camera's perspective went either “around” or “through” an approaching object in a semi-realistic context. Experiment 1 found that pigeons could learn this discrimination and transfer it to videos composed from novel objects. Experiment 2 found that the order of the video's frames was critical to the discrimination of the videos. We hypothesize that the pigeons perceived a three-dimensional representation of the objects and the camera's relative motion and used this as the primary basis for discrimination. It is proposed that the pigeons might be able to form generalized natural categories for the different kinds of motions portrayed in the videos.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3142
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Author De Lillo,; C. De Lillo; Floreano,; D. Floreano; Antinucci,; F. Antinucci
Title Transitive choices by a simple, fully connected, backpropagation neural network: implications for the comparative study of transitive inference Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (up) 4 Issue 1 Pages 61-68
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Abstract In search of the minimal requirements for transitive reasoning, a simple neural network was trained and tested on the non-verbal version of the conventional “five-term-series task” – a paradigm used with human adults, children and a variety of non-human species. The transitive performance of the network was analogous in several aspects to that reported for children and animals. The three effects usually associated with transitive choices i.e. “symbolic distance”, “lexical marking” and “end-anchor”, were also clearly shown by the neural network. In a second experiment, where the training conditions were manipulated, the network failed to match the behavioural pattern reported for human adults in the test following an ordered presentation of the premises. However, it mimicked young children's performance when tested with a novel comparison term. Although we do not intend to suggest a new model of transitive inference, we conclude, in line with other authors, that a simple error-correcting rule can generate transitive behaviour similar to the choice pattern of children and animals in the binary form of the five-term-series task without requiring high-order logical or paralogical abilities. The analysis of the training history and of the final internal structure of the network reveals the associative strategy employed. However, our results indicate that the scope of the associative strategy used by the network might be limited. The extent to which the conventional five-term-series task, in absence of appropriate manipulations of training and testing conditions, is suitable to detect cognitive differences across species is also discussed on the basis of our results.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3145
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