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Author Poti, P. doi  openurl
  Title Chimpanzees' constructional praxis (Pan paniscus, P. troglodytes) Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2005 Publication Primates Abbreviated Journal Primates  
  Volume 46 Issue 2 Pages 103-113  
  Keywords Animals; *Cognition; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Male; Pan troglodytes/*physiology; Psychomotor Performance/*physiology; Spatial Behavior/*physiology; Species Specificity  
  Abstract This study investigated chimpanzees' spontaneous spatial constructions with objects and especially their ability to repeat inter-object spatial relations, which is basic to understanding spatial relations at a higher level than perception or recognition. Subjects were six chimpanzees-four chimpanzees and two bonobos-aged 6-21 years, all raised in a human environment from an early age. Only minor species differences, but considerable individual differences were found. The effect of different object samples was assessed through a comparison with a previous study. A common overall chimpanzee pattern was also found. Chimpanzees repeated different types of inter-object spatial relations such as insertion (I), or vertical (V), or next-to (H) relations. However chimpanzees repeated I or V relations with more advanced procedures than when repeating H relations. Moreover, chimpanzees never repeated combined HV relations. Compared with children, chimpanzees showed a specific difficulty in repeating H relations. Repeating H relations is crucial for representing and understanding multiple reciprocal spatial relations between detached elements and for coordinating independent positions in space. Therefore, the chimpanzees' difficulty indicates a fundamental difference in constructive space in comparison to humans. The findings are discussed in relation to issues of spatial cognition and tool use.  
  Address Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, CNR, via U. Aldrovandi 16b, 00197, Rome, Italy. p.poti@istc.cnr.it  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0032-8332 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15378424 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2811  
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Author Moses, S.N.; Villate, C.; Ryan, J.D. doi  openurl
  Title An investigation of learning strategy supporting transitive inference performance in humans compared to other species Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Neuropsychologia Abbreviated Journal Neuropsychologia  
  Volume 44 Issue 8 Pages 1370-1387  
  Keywords Adult; Analysis of Variance; Association Learning/*physiology; *Cognition; *Concept Formation; Female; Humans; *Logic; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual/physiology; Photic Stimulation/methods; Reaction Time/physiology  
  Abstract Generalizations about neural function are often drawn from non-human animal models to human cognition, however, the assumption of cross-species conservation may sometimes be invalid. Humans may use different strategies mediated by alternative structures, or similar structures may operate differently within the context of the human brain. The transitive inference problem, considered a hallmark of logical reasoning, can be solved by non-human species via associative learning rather than logic. We tested whether humans use similar strategies to other species for transitive inference. Results are crucial for evaluating the validity of widely accepted assumptions of similar neural substrates underlying performance in humans and other animals. Here we show that successful transitive inference in humans is unrelated to use of associative learning strategies and is associated with ability to report the hierarchical relationship among stimuli. Our work stipulates that cross-species generalizations must be interpreted cautiously, since performance on the same task may be mediated by different strategies and/or neural systems.  
  Address Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, Canada. smoses@rotman-baycrest.on.ca  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0028-3932 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16503340 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 153  
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Author Blaisdell, A.P.; Sawa, K.; Leising, K.J.; Waldmann, M.R. doi  openurl
  Title Causal reasoning in rats Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Science (New York, N.Y.) Abbreviated Journal Science  
  Volume 311 Issue 5763 Pages 1020-1022  
  Keywords Animals; *Association Learning; Bayes Theorem; *Cognition; Comprehension; Forecasting; Male; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans  
  Abstract Empirical research with nonhuman primates appears to support the view that causal reasoning is a key cognitive faculty that divides humans from animals. The claim is that animals approximate causal learning using associative processes. The present results cast doubt on that conclusion. Rats made causal inferences in a basic task that taps into core features of causal reasoning without requiring complex physical knowledge. They derived predictions of the outcomes of interventions after passive observational learning of different kinds of causal models. These competencies cannot be explained by current associative theories but are consistent with causal Bayes net theories.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. blaisdell@psych.ucla.edu  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1095-9203 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16484500 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 154  
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Author Beckers, T.; Miller, R.R.; De Houwer, J.; Urushihara, K. doi  openurl
  Title Reasoning rats: forward blocking in Pavlovian animal conditioning is sensitive to constraints of causal inference Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Journal of experimental psychology. General Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Gen  
  Volume 135 Issue 1 Pages 92-102  
  Keywords Animals; *Association Learning; *Cognition; *Conditioning, Classical; Cues; Fear; Female; Inhibition (Psychology); Male; Motivation; *Problem Solving; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley  
  Abstract Forward blocking is one of the best-documented phenomena in Pavlovian animal conditioning. According to contemporary associative learning theories, forward blocking arises directly from the hardwired basic learning rules that govern the acquisition or expression of associations. Contrary to this view, here the authors demonstrate that blocking in rats is flexible and sensitive to constraints of causal inference, such as violation of additivity and ceiling considerations. This suggests that complex cognitive processes akin to causal inferential reasoning are involved in a well-established Pavlovian animal conditioning phenomenon commonly attributed to the operation of basic associative processes.  
  Address Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York, NY, USA. tom.beckers@psy.kuleuven.be  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0096-3445 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16478318 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 155  
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Author Mulcahy, N.J.; Call, J. doi  openurl
  Title Apes save tools for future use Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Science (New York, N.Y.) Abbreviated Journal Science  
  Volume 312 Issue 5776 Pages 1038-1040  
  Keywords Animals; Association Learning; *Cognition; *Evolution; *Mental Processes; *Pan paniscus; Pan troglodytes; *Pongo pygmaeus  
  Abstract Planning for future needs, not just current ones, is one of the most formidable human cognitive achievements. Whether this skill is a uniquely human adaptation is a controversial issue. In a study we conducted, bonobos and orangutans selected, transported, and saved appropriate tools above baseline levels to use them 1 hour later (experiment 1). Experiment 2 extended these results to a 14-hour delay between collecting and using the tools. Experiment 3 showed that seeing the apparatus during tool selection was not necessary to succeed. These findings suggest that the precursor skills for planning for the future evolved in great apes before 14 million years ago, when all extant great ape species shared a common ancestor.  
  Address Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1095-9203 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16709782 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 466  
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Author Call, J. doi  openurl
  Title Inferences by exclusion in the great apes: the effect of age and species Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 4 Pages 393-403  
  Keywords Age Factors; Animals; Association Learning; *Cognition; *Concept Formation; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Gorilla gorilla; Hominidae/classification/*psychology; Male; Pan paniscus; Pan troglodytes; Pongo pygmaeus; *Problem Solving; Species Specificity  
  Abstract This study investigated the ability of chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and bonobos to make inferences by exclusion using the procedure pioneered by Premack and Premack (Cognition 50:347-362, 1994) with chimpanzees. Thirty apes were presented with two different food items (banana vs. grape) on a platform and covered with identical containers. One of the items was removed from the container and placed between the two containers so that subjects could see it. After discarding this item, subjects could select between the two containers. In Experiment 1, apes preferentially selected the container that held the item that the experimenter had not discarded, especially if subjects saw the experimenter remove the item from the container (but without seeing the container empty). Experiment 3 in which the food was removed from one of the containers behind a barrier confirmed these results. In contrast, subjects performed at chance levels when a stimulus (colored plastic chip: Exp. 1; food item: Exp. 2 and Exp. 3) designated the item that had been removed. These results indicated that apes made inferences, not just learned to use a discriminative cue to avoid the empty container. Apes perceived and treated the item discarded by the experimenter as if it were the very one that had been hidden under the container. Results suggested a positive relationship between age and inferential ability independent of memory ability but no species differences.  
  Address Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. call@eva.mpg.de  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16924458 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2444  
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Author Halsey, L.G.; Bezerra, B.M.; Souto, A.S. doi  openurl
  Title Can wild common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) solve the parallel strings task? Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 3 Pages 229-233  
  Keywords Animals; Animals, Laboratory; Animals, Wild; Attention; Callithrix/*psychology; *Cognition; *Concept Formation; Female; Male; *Pattern Recognition, Visual; *Problem Solving  
  Abstract Patterned string tasks are a test of perceptual capacity and the understanding of means-end connections. Primates can solve complex forms of this task in laboratories. However, this may not indicate the level of such cognition that is commonly employed in the wild, where decision-making time is often short and distractions such as predator avoidance and competition between conspecifics are often prevalent. The current study tests whether wild common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) can successfully complete the simplest form of the patterned string task, parallel strings, while in their natural environment. Although 12 out of 13 marmosets could successfully complete the task, in previous laboratory-based studies on primates, the errors at this task by all primate species tested were consistently lower than in the present study. This is probably explained by the added difficulties imposed by the natural setting of the task in the present study, exemplified by a significant increase in observed vigilance behaviour by subject animals prior to attempts at the task that were unsuccessful. The undertaking of such tasks by common marmosets in situ probably provides a more reasonable representation of the levels of cognitive capacity expressed by this species in the wild than do laboratory-based studies of the task.  
  Address School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK. l.g.halsey@bham.ac.uk  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16541239 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2473  
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Author Santos, L.R.; Pearson, H.M.; Spaepen, G.M.; Tsao, F.; Hauser, M.D. doi  openurl
  Title Probing the limits of tool competence: experiments with two non-tool-using species (Cercopithecus aethiops and Saguinus oedipus) Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages 94-109  
  Keywords Animals; *Association Learning; Cercopithecus aethiops; *Cognition; Female; *Intelligence; Male; *Motor Skills; *Problem Solving; Saguinus; Species Specificity  
  Abstract Non-human animals vary in their ability to make and use tools. The goal of the present study was to further explore what, if anything, differs between tool-users and non-tool-users, and whether these differences lie in the conceptual or motor domain. We tested two species that typically do not use tools-cotton top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) and vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops)-on problems that mirrored those designed for prolific tool users such as chimpanzees. We trained subjects on a task in which they could choose one of two canes to obtain an out-of-reach food reward. After training, subjects received several variations on the original task, each designed to examine a specific conceptual aspect of the pulling problem previously studied in other tool-using species. Both species recognized that effective pulling tools must be made of rigid materials. Subsequent conditions revealed significant species differences, with vervets outperforming tamarins across many conditions. Vervets, but not tamarins, had some recognition of the relationship between a tool's orientation and the position of the food reward, the relationship between a tool's trajectory and the substance that it moves on, and that tools must be connected in order to work properly. These results provide further evidence that tool-use may derive from domain-general, rather than domain-specific cognitive capacities that evolved for tool use per se.  
  Address Department of Psychology, Yale University, Box 208205, New Haven, CT, USA. laurie.santos@yale.edu  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16341524 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2478  
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Author Collier-Baker, E.; Davis, J.M.; Nielsen, M.; Suddendorf, T. doi  openurl
  Title Do chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) understand single invisible displacement? Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 1 Pages 55-61  
  Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Cognition; Male; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; *Space Perception; *Spatial Behavior; Task Performance and Analysis; *Visual Perception  
  Abstract Previous research suggests that chimpanzees understand single invisible displacement. However, this Piagetian task may be solvable through the use of simple search strategies rather than through mentally representing the past trajectory of an object. Four control conditions were thus administered to two chimpanzees in order to separate associative search strategies from performance based on mental representation. Strategies involving experimenter cue-use, search at the last or first box visited by the displacement device, and search at boxes adjacent to the displacement device were systematically controlled for. Chimpanzees showed no indications of utilizing these simple strategies, suggesting that their capacity to mentally represent single invisible displacements is comparable to that of 18-24-month-old children.  
  Address Early Cognitive Development Unit, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia. e.collier-baker@psy.uq.edu.au  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16163481 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2482  
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Author Aust, U.; Huber, L. doi  openurl
  Title Picture-object recognition in pigeons: evidence of representational insight in a visual categorization task using a complementary information procedure Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process  
  Volume 32 Issue 2 Pages 190-195  
  Keywords Animals; Classification; *Cognition; Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; *Form Perception; *Generalization (Psychology); Humans; Perceptual Closure; Photic Stimulation; Photography; *Recognition (Psychology)  
  Abstract Success in tasks requiring categorization of pictorial stimuli does not prove that a subject understands what the pictures stand for. The ability to achieve representational insight is by no means a trivial one because it exceeds mere detection of 2-D features present in both the pictorial images and their referents. So far, evidence for such an ability in nonhuman species is weak and inconclusive. Here, the authors report evidence of representational insight in pigeons. After being trained on pictures of incomplete human figures, the birds responded significantly more to pictures of the previously missing parts than to nonrepresentative stimuli, which demonstrates that they actually recognized the pictures' representational content.  
  Address Department for Behavior, Neurobiology and Cognition, University of Vienna, Austria. ulrike.aust@univie.ac.at  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0097-7403 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16634663 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2759  
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