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Author Hare, B.; Tomasello, M. doi  openurl
  Title Human-like social skills in dogs? Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2005 Publication Trends in Cognitive Sciences Abbreviated Journal Trends. Cognit. Sci.  
  Volume 9 Issue 9 Pages 439-444  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Cognition/*physiology; Dogs; *Evolution; Humans; *Social Behavior  
  Abstract Domestic dogs are unusually skilled at reading human social and communicative behavior--even more so than our nearest primate relatives. For example, they use human social and communicative behavior (e.g. a pointing gesture) to find hidden food, and they know what the human can and cannot see in various situations. Recent comparisons between canid species suggest that these unusual social skills have a heritable component and initially evolved during domestication as a result of selection on systems mediating fear and aggression towards humans. Differences in chimpanzee and human temperament suggest that a similar process may have been an important catalyst leading to the evolution of unusual social skills in our own species. The study of convergent evolution provides an exciting opportunity to gain further insights into the evolutionary processes leading to human-like forms of cooperation and communication.  
  Address Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, Germany. hare@eva.mpg.de  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1364-6613 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16061417 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 546  
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Author Russell, J.L.; Braccini, S.; Buehler, N.; Kachin, M.J.; Schapiro, S.J.; Hopkins, W.D. doi  openurl
  Title Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) intentional communication is not contingent upon food Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 8 Issue 4 Pages 263-272  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; *Feeding Behavior; Female; Humans; Male; Pan troglodytes/*psychology  
  Abstract Studies of great apes have revealed that they use manual gestures and other signals to communicate about distal objects. There is also evidence that chimpanzees modify the types of communicative signals they use depending on the attentional state of a human communicative partner. The majority of previous studies have involved chimpanzees requesting food items from a human experimenter. Here, these same communicative behaviors are reported in chimpanzees requesting a tool from a human observer. In this study, captive chimpanzees were found to gesture, vocalize, and display more often when the experimenter had a tool than when she did not. It was also found that chimpanzees responded differentially based on the attentional state of a human experimenter, and when given the wrong tool persisted in their communicative efforts. Implications for the referential and intentional nature of chimpanzee communicative signaling are discussed.  
  Address Division of Psychobiology, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA  
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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:15742162 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2491  
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Author Palmer, M.E.; Calve, M.R.; Adamo, S.A. doi  openurl
  Title Response of female cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (Cephalopoda) to mirrors and conspecifics: evidence for signaling in female cuttlefish Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Animal cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages 151-155  
  Keywords Analysis of Variance; *Animal Communication; Animals; Bias (Epidemiology); Female; Male; Pigmentation/*physiology; Recognition (Psychology)/*physiology; Sepia/*physiology; Visual Perception/*physiology  
  Abstract Cuttlefish have a large repertoire of body patterns that are used for camouflage and interspecific signaling. Intraspecific signaling by male cuttlefish has been well documented but studies on signaling by females are lacking. We found that females displayed a newly described body pattern termed Splotch toward their mirror image and female conspecifics, but not to males, prey or inanimate objects. Female cuttlefish may use the Splotch body pattern as an intraspecific signal, possibly to reduce agonistic interactions. The ability of females to produce a consistent body pattern in response to conspecifics and mirrors suggests that they can recognize same-sex conspecifics using visual cues, despite the lack of sexual dimorphism visible to human observers.  
  Address Dorset Environmental Science Centre, Dorset, ON, Canada, P0A 1E0  
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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:16408230 Approved no  
  Call Number Admin @ knut @ Serial 16  
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Author Herrmann, E.; Melis, A.P.; Tomasello, M. doi  openurl
  Title Apes' use of iconic cues in the object-choice task Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Animal cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages 118-130  
  Keywords Animal Communication; Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; *Choice Behavior; *Cues; Female; Gorilla gorilla; Male; *Nonverbal Communication; Pan paniscus; Pan troglodytes; Pongo pygmaeus; *Problem Solving; Space Perception; Species Specificity; Statistics, Nonparametric  
  Abstract In previous studies great apes have shown little ability to locate hidden food using a physical marker placed by a human directly on the target location. In this study, we hypothesized that the perceptual similarity between an iconic cue and the hidden reward (baited container) would help apes to infer the location of the food. In the first two experiments, we found that if an iconic cue is given in addition to a spatial/indexical cue – e.g., picture or replica of a banana placed on the target location – apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gorillas) as a group performed above chance. However, we also found in two further experiments that when iconic cues were given on their own without spatial/indexical information (iconic cue held up by human with no diagnostic spatial/indexical information), the apes were back to chance performance. Our overall conclusion is that although iconic information helps apes in the process of searching hidden food, the poor performance found in the last two experiments is due to apes' lack of understanding of the informative (cooperative) communicative intention of the experimenter.  
  Address Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. eherrman@eva.mpg.de  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16395566 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 14  
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Author Gentner, T.Q.; Fenn, K.M.; Margoliash, D.; Nusbaum, H.C. doi  openurl
  Title Recursive syntactic pattern learning by songbirds Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature  
  Volume 440 Issue 7088 Pages 1204-1207  
  Keywords Acoustic Stimulation; *Animal Communication; Animals; Auditory Perception/*physiology; Humans; *Language; Learning/*physiology; Linguistics; Models, Neurological; Semantics; Starlings/*physiology; Stochastic Processes  
  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.  
  Address Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. tgentner@ucsd.edu  
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  ISSN 1476-4687 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16641998 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 353  
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Author Miklósi, Á.; Soproni, K. doi  openurl
  Title A comparative analysis of animals' understanding of the human pointing gesture Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Animal cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages 81-93  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Child; Child, Preschool; Dogs; Fixation, Ocular; *Gestures; Hand; Humans; *Nonverbal Communication; Pinnipedia; Primates; Problem Solving; *Recognition (Psychology); Species Specificity  
  Abstract We review studies demonstrating the ability of some animals to understand the human pointing gesture. We present a 3-step analysis of the topic. (1) We compare and evaluate current experimental methods (2) We compare available experimental results on performance of different species and investigate the interaction of species differences and other independent variables (3) We evaluate how our present understanding of pointing comprehension answers questions about function, evolution and mechanisms. Recently, a number of different hypotheses have been put forward to account for the presence of this ability in some species and for the lack of such comprehension in others. In our view, there is no convincing evidence for the assumption that the competitive lifestyles of apes would inhibit the utilization of this human gesture. Similarly, domestication as a special evolutionary factor in the case of some species falls short in explaining high levels of pointing comprehension in some non-domestic species. We also disagree with the simplistic view of describing the phenomenon as a simple form of conditioning. We suggest that a more systematic comparative research is needed to understand the emerging communicative representational abilities in animals that provide the background for comprehending the human pointing gesture.  
  Address Department of Ethology, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Pazmany P 1/c, H-1117, Budapest, Hungary. miklosa@ludens.elte.hu  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16235075 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 463  
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Author Watanabe, S.; Huber, L. doi  openurl
  Title Animal logics: decisions in the absence of human language Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 4 Pages 235-245  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Brain/physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Decision Making/*physiology; Evolution; Humans; *Language; *Logic; Problem Solving/physiology  
  Abstract Without Abstract  
  Address Department of Psychology, Keio University, Mita 2-15-45, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108, Japan. swat@flet.keio.ac.jp  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16909231 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2453  
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Author Gajdon, G.K.; Fijn, N.; Huber, L. doi  openurl
  Title Limited spread of innovation in a wild parrot, the kea (Nestor notabilis) Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 3 Pages 173-181  
  Keywords Animal Communication; Animals; Diffusion of Innovation; Feeding Behavior; Female; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; *Motor Skills; *Parrots; *Problem Solving; Sex Factors; Social Dominance; Social Environment; Statistics, Nonparametric  
  Abstract In the local population of kea in Mount Cook Village, New Zealand, some keas open the lids of rubbish bins with their bill to obtain food scraps within. We investigated the extent to which this innovation has spread in the local population, and what factors limit the acquisition of bin opening. Only five males of 36 individually recognised birds were observed to have performed successful bin opening. With one exception there were always other keas present, watching successful bin opening. Seventeen additional individuals were seen to have benefitted from lid opening. Their foraging success was less than that of the bin openers. Social status of bin openers did not differ from scrounging males. Among the individuals that were regularly seen at the site of the bins but were not successful in bin opening, social status and the ratio of feeding directly from open bins correlated with the amount of opening attempts. We conclude that scrounging facilitated certain behavioural aspects of bin opening rather than inhibiting them. The fact that only 9% of opening attempts were successful, and the long period of time required to increase efficiency in lid opening shows that mainly individual experience, and to a lesser extent insight and social learning, play key roles in acquisition of the opening technique. The results indicate that the spread of innovative solutions of challenging mechanical problems in animals may be restricted to only a few individuals.  
  Address Department for Behavior, Neurobiology and Cognition, University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria. gyula.gajdon@univie.ac.at  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16568276 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2472  
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Author Barry, K.L.; Goth, A. doi  openurl
  Title Call recognition in chicks of the Australian brush-turkey (Alectura lathami) Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 1 Pages 47-54  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; Australia; Cues; Galliformes/*physiology; Robotics; *Social Behavior; Species Specificity; Visual Perception  
  Abstract Most birds rely on imprinting and experience with conspecifics to learn species-specific recognition cues. Australian brush-turkeys (Alectura lathami) do not imprint and form no bonds with parents. They hatch asynchronously, disperse widely and meet juvenile conspecifics at an unpredictable age. Nevertheless, in captivity, hatchlings respond to other chicks. A recent study, which involved the use of robotic models, found that chicks prefer to approach robots that emit specific visual cues. Here, we evaluated their response to acoustic cues, which usually play an important role in avian social cognition. However, in simultaneous choice tests, neither 2-day-old nor 9-day-old chicks preferred the choice arm with playback of either chick or adult conspecific calls over the arm containing a silent loudspeaker. Chicks of both age classes, however, scanned their surroundings more during chick playback, and the response was thus consistent in younger and older chicks. We also presented the chicks with robotic models, either with or without playback of chick calls. They did not approach the calling robot more than they did the silent robot, indicating that the combination of visual and acoustic cues does not evoke a stronger response. These results will allow further comparison with species that face similar cognitive demands in the wild, such as brood parasites. Such a comparative approach, which is the focus of cognitive ecology, will enable us to further analyse the evolution and adaptive value of species recognition abilities.  
  Address Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16160818 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2484  
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Author Franks, N.R.; Richardson, T. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Teaching in tandem-running ants Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2006 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature  
  Volume 439 Issue 7073 Pages 153  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; Ants/*physiology; Feedback/physiology; Learning/*physiology; *Teaching  
  Abstract The ant Temnothorax albipennis uses a technique known as tandem running to lead another ant from the nest to food--with signals between the two ants controlling both the speed and course of the run. Here we analyse the results of this communication and show that tandem running is an example of teaching, to our knowledge the first in a non-human animal, that involves bidirectional feedback between teacher and pupil. This behaviour indicates that it could be the value of information, rather than the constraint of brain size, that has influenced the evolution of teaching.  
  Address School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 IUG, UK. nigel.franks@bristol.ac.uk  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1476-4687 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16407943 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4651  
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