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Author Shepherd, S.V.; Platt, M.L. doi  openurl
  Title Spontaneous social orienting and gaze following in ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta) Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
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  Abstract Both human and nonhuman primates preferentially orient toward other individuals and follow gaze in controlled environments. Precisely where any animal looks during natural behavior, however, remains unknown. We used a novel telemetric gaze-tracking system to record orienting behavior of ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta) interacting with a naturalistic environment. We here provide the first evidence that ringtailed lemurs, group-living prosimian primates, preferentially gaze towards other individuals and, moreover, follow other lemurs' gaze while freely moving and interacting in naturalistic social and ecological environments. Our results support the hypothesis that stem primates were capable of orienting toward and following the attention of other individuals. Such abilities may have enabled the evolution of more complex social behavior and cognition, including theory of mind and language, which require spontaneous attention sharing. This is the first study to use telemetric eye-tracking to quantitatively monitor gaze in any nonhuman animal during locomotion, feeding, and social interaction. Moreover, this is the first demonstration of gaze following by a prosimian primate and the first to report gaze following during spontaneous interaction in naturalistic social environments.  
  Address Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA, svs@duke.edu  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:17492318 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2399  
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Author Suda-King, C. doi  openurl
  Title Do orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) know when they do not remember? Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
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  Abstract Metacognition refers to the ability to monitor and control one's own cognitive activities such as memory. Although recent studies have raised an interesting possibility that some species of nonhuman animals might possess such skills, subjects often required a numerous number of training trials to acquire the effective use of metacognitive responses. Here, five orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) were tested whether they were able to escape spatial memory tests when they did not remember the location of preferred reward in a relatively small number of trials. The apes were presented with two identical cups, under one of which the experimenter hid a preferred reward (e.g., two grapes). The subjects were then presented with a third container, “escape response”, with which they could receive a less preferred but secure reward (e.g., one grape). The orangutans as a group significantly more likely selected the escape response when the baiting of the preferred reward was invisible (as compared to when it was visible) and when the hiding locations of the preferred reward were switched (as compared to when they remained unchanged). Even when the escape response was presented before the final presentation of the memory test, one orangutan successfully avoided the test in which she would likely err. These findings indicate that some orangutans appear to tell when they do not remember correct answers in memory tests.  
  Address Think Tank at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Animal Programs Office, Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 20008-2598, USA, chimpkako@hotmail.com  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:17437141 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2403  
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Author Stevens, J.R.; Wood, J.N.; Hauser, M.D. doi  openurl
  Title When quantity trumps number: discrimination experiments in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) and common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
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  Abstract The capacity for non-linguistic, numerical discrimination has been well characterized in non-human animals, with recent studies providing careful controls for non-numerical confounds such as continuous extent, density, and quantity. More poorly understood are the conditions under which animals use numerical versus non-numerical quantification, and the nature of the relation between these two systems. Here we test whether cotton-top tamarins and common marmosets can discriminate between two quantities on the basis of the amount of food rather than on number. In three experiments, we show that when choosing between arrays containing different numbers and sizes of food objects, both species based their decisions on the amount of food with only minor influences of numerical information. Further, we find that subjects successfully discriminated between two quantities differing by a 2:3 or greater ratio, which is consistent with the ratio limits found for numerical discrimination with this species. These studies demonstrate that non-human primates possess mechanisms that enable quantification of total amount, in addition to the numerical representations demonstrated in previous studies, with both types of quantification subject to similar processing limits.  
  Address Cognitive Evolution Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:17354004 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2414  
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Author Cunningham, E.; Janson, C. doi  openurl
  Title A socioecological perspective on primate cognition, past and present Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
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  Abstract The papers in this special issue examine the relationship between social and ecological cognition in primates. We refer to the intersection of these two domains as socioecological cognition. Examples of socioecological cognition include socially learned predator alarm calls and socially sensitive foraging decisions. In this review we consider how primate cognition may have been shaped by the interaction of social and ecological influences in their evolutionary history. The ability to remember distant, out-of-sight locations is an ancient one, shared by many mammals and widespread among primates. It seems some monkeys and apes have evolved the ability to form more complex representations of resources, integrating “what-where-how much” information. This ability allowed anthropoids to live in larger, more cohesive groups by minimizing competition for limited resources between group members. As group size increased, however, competition for resources also increased, selecting for enhanced social skills. Enhanced social skills in turn made a more sophisticated relationship to the environment possible. The interaction of social and ecological influences created a spiraling effect in the evolution of primate intelligence. In contrast, lemurs may not have evolved the ability to form complex representations which would allow them to consider the size and location of resources. This lack in lemur ecological cognition may restrict the size of frugivorous lemur social groups, thereby limiting the complexity of lemur social life. In this special issue, we have brought together two review papers, five field studies, and one laboratory study to investigate the interaction of social and ecological factors in relation to foraging. Our goal is to stimulate research that considers social and ecological factors acting together on cognitive evolution, rather than in isolation. Cross fertilization of experimental and observational studies from captivity and the field is important for increasing our understanding of this relationship.  
  Address Department of Basic Sciences and Craniofacial Biology, New York University College of Dentistry, 345 East 24th Street, New York, NY, 10010-4086, USA, ec46@nyu.edu  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:17387529 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2410  
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Author Albiach-Serrano, A.; Guillen-Salazar, F.; Call, J. doi  openurl
  Title Mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus lunulatus) solve the reverse contingency task without a modified procedure Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
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  Abstract Problem solving often relies on generating new responses while inhibiting others, particularly prepotent ones. A paradigm to study inhibitory abilities is the reverse contingency task (Boysen and Berntson in J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process 21:82-86, 1995), in which two different quantities of food are offered to an individual who receives the array he did not choose. Therefore, mastery of the task demands selecting the smaller quantity to obtain the larger one. Several non-human primates have been tested in the reverse contingency task. To date, only great apes and rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) have succeeded in the original task, with no need of procedural modifications as the large-or-none contingency, correction trials or symbolic stimuli substituting for actual food quantities. Here, four mangabeys were presented with two stimulus arrays of one and four raisins in the context of the reverse contingency task. Three of them learned to perform the task well above chance without a modified procedure. They also reached above-chance performance when presented with two stimulus arrays of zero and four raisins, despite the initial difficulty of choosing a null quantity. After a period of 7-10 months, in which the animals were not tested on any task, all three subjects continued to perform well, even when presented with novel quantity pairs.  
  Address Unidad de Etologia y Bienestar Animal, Universidad Cardenal Herrera, 46113, Moncada (Valencia), Spain, analse@alumni.uv.es  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:17318622 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2418  
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Author Thomsen, L.R.; Campbell, R.D.; Rosell, F. doi  openurl
  Title Tool-use in a display behaviour by Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
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  Abstract Tool use is rare amongst rodents and has never been recorded in connection with agonistic displays. We witnessed a behaviour, stick display (StD), involving tool use in free-living Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) that we conclude is a display behaviour. Two beavers were the main performers of the signal that was observed in at least six beavers from three families. Beavers reacted to displays by increased evasive and agonistic behaviours compared with their usual behavioural patterns when at territory borders. The behaviour was almost exclusively seen between rivals at territory borders. We suggest that the display is used in agonistic encounters, mainly in a territorial context.  
  Address Department of Ecology and Genetics, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark, liat.thomsen@nf.au.dk  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:17318623 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2417  
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Author Mauck, B.; Dehnhardt, G. doi  openurl
  Title Spatial multiple-choice matching in a harbour seal (Phoca vitulina): differential encoding of landscape versus local feature information? Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
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  Abstract The nature of spatial information used for memorizing and recalling places is largely unclear. Earlier studies tested integration of geometric and feature information mostly during reorientation in artificial environments without including time as a memory-critical component. Here, we tested a harbour seal in a delayed matching-to-sample task (DMTS) in a familiar environment under two spatial multiple-choice conditions. The feature condition consisted of a DMTS task with four comparison stimuli presented on fixed positions in a classic matching apparatus and was designed to make stimulus features the most prominent information. The landscape condition consisted of a DMTS task in a familiar environment with four places marked by comparison stimuli and allowed the use of all available spatial information including geometrical and feature information. The seal's performance was impaired by delays of 3, 6, 9 or 12 s only in the feature condition; a delay of 12 s resulted in chance level performance. Replacing the comparison stimuli at the apparatus with identical spheres resulted in impaired performance. Performance in the landscape condition was impaired neither by delays nor by replacing comparison stimuli with spheres. Landscape information obviously was encoded redundantly and could be recalled more reliably and longer than feature information, which reveals feature information to be a less valuable type of spatial information for memorizing and recalling places.  
  Address Allgemeine Zoologie and Neurobiologie, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, ND6/33, 44780, Bochum, Germany, Bjoern.Mauck@rub.de  
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  Notes PMID:17377825 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2412  
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Author Yaski, O.; Eilam, D. doi  openurl
  Title The impact of landmark properties in shaping exploration and navigation Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
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  Abstract This study was aimed at uncovering physical and geometric properties that make a particular landmark a target of exploration and navigation. Rats were tested in a square open-field arena with additional portable corners featuring the same properties as the arena corners. It was found that the routes of progression converged upon the added corners, whether located at the arena wall or the arena center. Route convergence upon the added corners involved numerous visits to these corners. However, time spent at the added corners was relatively short compared with the arena corners, including that from which rats were introduced into the arena. There was no differential effect of testing rats in light or dark, or with a low versus a high portable corner. It is suggested that the added corners were distinct against the background of the arena enclosure, whereas the four arena corners and walls were encoded by the rats as one geometric module. This distinctness, together with the greater accessibility of the added corners, made them salient landmarks and a target of exploration. Thus, the impact of a landmark extended beyond its specific self-geometry to include accessibility and distinctness, which are contextual properties. In addition to the contextual impact on locomotor behavior there was also a temporal effect, with security initially dominating the rats' behavior but then declining along with an increased attraction to salient landmarks. These spatiotemporal patterns characterized behavior in both lit and dark arenas, indicating that distal cues were secondary to local proximal cues in shaping routes.  
  Address Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, 69978, Israel, eilam@post.tau.ac.il  
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  Notes PMID:17318624 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2416  
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Author Westergaard, G.C.; Evans, T.A.; Howell, S. doi  openurl
  Title Token mediated tool exchange between tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
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  Abstract Three experiments were conducted to test whether a pair of tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) could generalize their ability to exchange tokens and tool objects with a human experimenter to similar exchanges with a conspecific partner. Monkeys were tested in side-by-side enclosures, one enclosure containing a tool-use apparatus and one or more token(s), and the other enclosure containing one or more tool object(s). The monkeys willingly transferred tokens and tools to a conspecific with little practice. Following a small amount of training, we also found that the monkeys would select situation-appropriate tokens to exchange for specific tools, but did not select appropriate tool objects in response to another monkey's token transfers. Implications regarding role reversal are discussed.  
  Address Alpha Genesis, Inc., 95 Castle Hall Road, P.O. Box 557, Yemassee, SC, 29945, USA  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:17345056 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2415  
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Author Moskat, C.; Hauber, M.E. doi  openurl
  Title Conflict between egg recognition and egg rejection decisions in common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) hosts Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
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  Abstract Common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) are obligate brood parasites, laying eggs into nests of small songbirds. The cuckoo hatchling evicts all eggs and young from a nest, eliminating hosts' breeding success. Despite the consistently high costs of parasitism by common cuckoos, great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) hosts sometime accept and other times reject parasitic eggs. To explore the cognitive basis of this seemingly maladaptive variation in host responses, we documented differences in egg rejection rates within 1-day periods just before and during the egg-laying cycle across host nests. Hosts rejected cuckoo eggs at 28% of nests during the pre-egg-laying stage, but when cuckoos exchanged the first host egg with the parasite egg, rejections increased to 75%. Even later, when several host eggs remained in a nest after parasitism, rejection rate fell to 37.5%. Experimental parasitism with conspecific eggs on the first and second day of host laying showed a similar directional change in relative rejection rates, dropping from 35 to 0%. Mistakes in egg discrimination (ejection error and ejection cost) were observed mostly in the latter part of the laying cycle, mainly when nests contained 5-6 eggs. These correlational and experimental patterns of egg rejection support a cognitive process of egg discrimination through several shifts in hosts' optimal acceptance thresholds of foreign eggs. The results are also consistent with the evolution of foreign egg rejection in the context of nest-sanitation (i.e. the removal of foreign objects). Our results suggest that common cuckoo hosts may recognize more eggs than they reject. This implies that the experience of the host with one or more of its own eggs in the clutch is a key factor in rejecting parasite eggs by allowing inspection and learning about their own clutch.  
  Address Animal Ecology Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, c/o Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Ludovika ter 2., 1083, Hungary, moskat@nhmus.hu  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:17279422 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2421  
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