| Records |
| Author |
Blaisdell, A.P.; Sawa, K.; Leising, K.J.; Waldmann, M.R. |
| Title |
Causal reasoning in rats |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year  |
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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| ISSN |
1095-9203 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16484500 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
154 |
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| Author |
Beckers, T.; Miller, R.R.; De Houwer, J.; Urushihara, K. |
| Title |
Reasoning rats: forward blocking in Pavlovian animal conditioning is sensitive to constraints of causal inference |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
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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English |
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| ISSN |
0096-3445 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16478318 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
155 |
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| Author |
Mulcahy, N.J.; Call, J. |
| Title |
Apes save tools for future use |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
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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1095-9203 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16709782 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
466 |
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| Author |
Chiesa, A.D.; Pecchia, T.; Tommasi, L.; Vallortigara, G. |
| Title |
Multiple landmarks, the encoding of environmental geometry and the spatial logics of a dual brain |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
281-293 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Association Learning/*physiology; Chickens; *Cues; Dominance, Cerebral/*physiology; *Environment; Exploratory Behavior/*physiology; Logic; Space Perception/*physiology; Spatial Behavior/physiology |
| Abstract |
A series of place learning experiments was carried out in young chicks (Gallus gallus) in order to investigate how the geometry of a landmark array and that of a walled enclosure compete when disoriented animals could rely on both of them to re-orient towards the centre of the enclosure. A square-shaped array (four wooden sticks) was placed in the middle of a square-shaped enclosure, the two structures being concentric. Chicks were trained to ground-scratch to search for food hidden in the centre of the enclosure (and the array). To check for effects of array degradation, one, two, three or all landmarks were removed during test trials. Chicks concentrated their searching activity in the central area of the enclosure, but their accuracy was inversely contingent on the number of landmarks removed; moreover, the landmarks still present within the enclosure appeared to influence the shape of the searching patterns. The reduction in the number of landmarks affected the searching strategy of chicks, suggesting that they had focussed mainly on local cues when landmarks were present within the enclosure. When all the landmarks were removed, chicks searched over a larger area, suggesting an absolute encoding of distances from the local cues and less reliance on the relationships provided by the geometry of the enclosure. Under conditions of monocular vision, chicks tended to rely on different strategies to localize the centre on the basis of the eye (and thus the hemisphere) in use, the left hemisphere attending to details of the environment and the right hemisphere attending to the global shape. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology and B.R.A.I.N. Centre for Neuroscience, University of Trieste, via S. Anastasio 12, 34100, Trieste, Italy |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16941155 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2443 |
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| Author |
Call, J. |
| Title |
Inferences by exclusion in the great apes: the effect of age and species |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
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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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16924458 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2444 |
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| Author |
Wallace, D.G.; Hamilton, D.A.; Whishaw, I.Q. |
| Title |
Movement characteristics support a role for dead reckoning in organizing exploratory behavior |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
219-228 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Association Learning; *Exploratory Behavior; Female; *Motor Activity; *Orientation; Problem Solving; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans; Space Perception; *Spatial Behavior |
| Abstract |
Rat exploration is an organized series of trips. Each exploratory trip involves an outward tour from the refuge followed by a return to the refuge. A tour consists of a sequence of progressions with variable direction and speed concatenated by stops, whereas the return consists of a single direct progression. We have argued that processing self-movement information generated on the tour allows a rat to plot the return to the refuge. This claim has been supported by observing consistent differences between tour and return segments independent of ambient cue availability; however, this distinction was based on differences in movement characteristics derived from multiple progressions and stops on the tour and the single progression on the return. The present study examines movement characteristics of the tour and return progressions under novel-dark and light conditions. Three novel characteristics of progressions were identified: (1) linear speeds and path curvature of exploratory trips are negatively correlated, (2) tour progression maximum linear speed and temporal pacing varies as a function of travel distance, and (3) return progression movement characteristics are qualitatively different from tour progressions of comparable length. These observations support a role for dead reckoning in organizing exploratory behavior. |
| Address |
Psychology Department, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115-2892, USA. dwallace@niu.edu |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16767471 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2463 |
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| Author |
Sturz, B.R.; Bodily, K.D.; Katz, J.S. |
| Title |
Evidence against integration of spatial maps in humans |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
207-217 |
| Keywords |
Adult; *Association Learning; Computer Graphics; Humans; Male; *Orientation; *Problem Solving; Reference Values; *Space Perception; *Spatial Behavior; User-Computer Interface |
| Abstract |
A dynamic 3-D virtual environment was constructed for humans as an open-field analogue of Blaisdell and Cook's (2005) pigeon foraging task to determine if humans, like pigeons, were capable of integrating separate spatial maps. Participants used keyboard keys and a mouse to search for a hidden goal in a 4x4 grid of raised cups. During Phase 1 training, a goal was consistently located between two landmarks (Map 1: blue T and red L). During Phase 2 training, a goal was consistently located down and left of a single landmark (Map 2: blue T). Transfer trials were then conducted in which participants were required to make choices in the presence of the red L alone. Cup choices during transfer assessed participants' strategies: association (from Map 1), generalization (from Map 2), or integration (combining Map 1 and 2). During transfer, cup choices increased to a location which suggested an integration strategy and was consistent with results obtained with pigeons. However, additional analyses of the human data suggested participants initially used a generalization strategy followed by a progressive shift in search behavior away from the red L. This shift in search behavior during transfer was responsible for the changes in cup choices across transfer trials and was confirmed by a control condition. These new analyses offer an alternative explanation to the spatial integration account proposed for pigeons. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA. sturzbr@auburn.edu |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16767470 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2464 |
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| Author |
Henderson, J.; Hurly, T.A.; Healy, S.D. |
| Title |
Spatial relational learning in rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
201-205 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Association Learning; *Birds; *Concept Formation; Flowers; Form Perception; Male; *Orientation; Reward; Size Perception; *Space Perception; Spatial Behavior |
| Abstract |
There is increasing evidence that animals can learn abstract spatial relationships, and successfully transfer this knowledge to novel situations. In this study, rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) were trained to feed from either the lower or the higher of two flowers. When presented with a test pair of flowers, one of which was at a novel height, they chose the flower in the appropriate spatial position rather than the flower at the correct height. This response may also have been influenced by a preference for taller flowers as acquisition of the task during experimental training occurred more readily when the reward flower was the taller of the pair. Thus, it appears that although learning abstract relationships may be a general phenomenon across contexts, and perhaps across species, the ease with which they are learned and the context in which they are subsequently used may not be the same. |
| Address |
Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16767469 |
Approved |
no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2465 |
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| Author |
Church, D.L.; Plowright, C.M.S. |
| Title |
Spatial encoding by bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) of a reward within an artificial flower array |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
131-140 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Appetitive Behavior/physiology; Association Learning/*physiology; Bees/*physiology; Chi-Square Distribution; *Cues; Female; Memory/physiology; Reward; Space Perception/*physiology; Spatial Behavior/*physiology |
| Abstract |
We presented bumblebees a spatial memory task similar to that used with other species (e.g., cats, dogs, and pigeons). In some conditions we allowed for presence of scent marks in addition to placing local and global spatial cues in conflict. Bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) were presented an array of artificial flowers within a flight cage, one flower offering reward (S+), while the others were empty (S-). Bees were tested with empty flowers. In Experiment 1, flowers were either moved at the time of testing or not. Bees returned to the flower in the same absolute position of the S+ (the flower-array-independent (FAI) position), even if it was in the wrong position relative to the S- and even when new flower covers prevented the use of possible scent marks. New flower covers (i.e., without possible scent marks) had the effect of lowering the frequency of probing behavior. In Experiment 2, the colony was moved between training and testing. Again, bees chose the flower in the FAI position of the S+, and not the flower that would be chosen using strictly memory for a flight vector. Together, these experiments show that to locate the S+ bees did not rely on scent marks nor the positions of the S-, though the S- were prominent objects close to the goal. Also, bees selected environmental features to remember the position of the S+ instead of relying upon a purely egocentric point of view. Similarities with honeybees and vertebrates are discussed, as well as possible encoding mechanisms. |
| Address |
Psychology Department, Bag Service #45444, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, E3B 6E4, Canada. dchurchl@unb.ca |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16416106 |
Approved |
no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2474 |
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| Author |
Santos, L.R.; Pearson, H.M.; Spaepen, G.M.; Tsao, F.; Hauser, M.D. |
| Title |
Probing the limits of tool competence: experiments with two non-tool-using species (Cercopithecus aethiops and Saguinus oedipus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
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. |
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Department of Psychology, Yale University, Box 208205, New Haven, CT, USA. laurie.santos@yale.edu |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16341524 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2478 |
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