| |
Records |
Links |
|
Author |
Piggins, D.; Phillips, C.J.C. |
|
| |
Title |
Awareness in domesticated animals--concepts and definitions |
Type |
Journal Article |
| |
Year |
1998 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
|
| |
Volume |
57 |
Issue |
3-4 |
Pages |
181-200 |
|
| |
Keywords |
Complex mind; Awareness; Humans; Domesticated animals; Conscious state |
|
| |
Abstract |
Humans will probably never experience the awareness of another species, but adopting a broad concept of awareness leads to the conclusion that other species have some awareness. The existence of a more complex mind in humans, compared with other species, leads some to suggest that awareness only exists in humans. We postulate that humans possess a significantly increased level of awareness, facilitated in particular by the acquisition of language, but that generally animals possess a level of awareness that is appropriate to their needs. Categories of awareness can be devised by identifying levels, such as are used in the identification of the conscious state in humans, or by ranking states of awareness in order of complexity. A scheme is proposed that combines these two approaches, which is considered suitable for use with domesticated animals. The advantages of identifying awareness as being sensation-, perception- or cognition-based are discussed, as well as the possibility of a scheme based on the degree and site of CNS processing. Finally, the acquisition of awareness by learning and inheritance is considered, and it is argued that in variable environments, animals will evolve increased awareness, whereas in very stable environments the energetic cost of awareness will encourage the evolution of less aware animals. |
|
| |
Address |
|
|
| |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
|
| |
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
|
| |
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
|
| |
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
|
| |
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
|
| |
ISSN |
|
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
|
| |
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
|
| |
Notes  |
|
Approved |
no |
|
| |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
4308 |
|
| Permanent link to this record |
| |
|
| |
|
Author |
Lomas, C.A.; Piggins, D.; Phillips, C.J.C. |
|
| |
Title |
Visual awareness |
Type |
Journal Article |
| |
Year |
1998 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
|
| |
Volume |
57 |
Issue |
3-4 |
Pages |
247-257 |
|
| |
Keywords |
Visual awareness; Colour vision; Rhythm |
|
| |
Abstract |
Awareness varies between different species and humans can never truly appreciate what it is like to be another individual, either of the same species or another. Visual perceptual faculties provide some evidence of the extent to which domesticated animals derive information from objects in their environment, whilst changes in behaviour resulting from different visual stimuli can also provide valuable information on the state of visual awareness. Extensive processing of potentially visual information must occur in all domesticated species, but is much less well understood than purely sensory based information. For example, sensory aspects of colour vision are reasonably well understood, but the role of wavelength variables in an animal's cognition and its colour experience is not clear. Considerable use is made of diurnal changes in photoperiod to synchronise endogenous rhythms to particular times of the day and the year. Variation in light intensity in natural images is also important for social reasons for animals to be able to discriminate between, e.g., different faces, but little is known about intensity preferences or the effects of intensity on behaviour. It appears likely that in many cases visual stimuli represent some of the most important influences on an animal's awareness, either alone or in combination with, e.g., olfactory cues. However, a much greater understanding of their processing is required before we can make useful deductions about visual awareness in domesticated animals. |
|
| |
Address |
|
|
| |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
|
| |
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
|
| |
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
|
| |
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
|
| |
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
|
| |
ISSN |
|
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
|
| |
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
|
| |
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
|
| |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
4309 |
|
| Permanent link to this record |
| |
|
| |
|
Author |
Broom, D.M.; Sena, H.; Moynihan, K.L. |
|
| |
Title |
Pigs learn what a mirror image represents and use it to obtain information |
Type |
Journal Article |
| |
Year |
2009 |
Publication |
Animal Behaviour. |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Behav. |
|
| |
Volume |
78 |
Issue |
5 |
Pages |
1037-1041 |
|
| |
Keywords |
awareness; cognition; learning; mirror; pig; Sus scrofa |
|
| |
Abstract |
Mirror usage has been taken to indicate some degree of awareness in animals. Can pigs, Sus scrofa, obtain information from a mirror? When put in a pen with a mirror in it, young pigs made movements while apparently looking at their image. After 5 h spent with a mirror, the pigs were shown a familiar food bowl, visible in the mirror but hidden behind a solid barrier. Seven out of eight pigs found the food bowl in a mean of 23 s by going away from the mirror and around the barrier. Naïve pigs shown the same looked behind the mirror. The pigs were not locating the food bowl by odour, did not have a preference for the area where the food bowl was and did not go to that area when the food bowl was visible elsewhere. To use information from a mirror and find a food bowl, each pig must have observed features of its surroundings, remembered these and its own actions, deduced relationships among observed and remembered features and acted accordingly. This ability indicates assessment awareness in pigs. The results may have some effects on the design of housing conditions for pigs and may lead to better pig welfare. |
|
| |
Address |
|
|
| |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
|
| |
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
|
| |
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
|
| |
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
|
| |
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
|
| |
ISSN |
0003-3472 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
|
| |
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
|
| |
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
|
| |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5053 |
|
| Permanent link to this record |
| |
|
| |
|
Author |
Broom, D.M. |
|
| |
Title |
Cognitive ability and awareness in domestic animals and decisions about obligations to animals |
Type |
Journal Article |
| |
Year |
2010 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
|
| |
Volume |
126 |
Issue |
1-2 |
Pages |
1-11 |
|
| |
Keywords |
Cognition; Awareness; Self-awareness; Feelings; Emotions; Cognitive bias; Sentience; Welfare; Domestic animals |
|
| |
Abstract |
Observation of behaviour, especially social behaviour, and experimental studies of learning and brain function give us information about the complexity of concepts that animals have. In order to learn to obtain a resource or carry out an action, domestic animals may: relate stimuli such as human words to the reward, perform sequences of actions including navigation or detours, discriminate amongst other individuals, copy the actions of other individuals, distinguish between individuals who do or do not have information, or communicate so as to cause humans or other animals to carry out actions. Some parrots, that are accustomed to humans but not domesticated, can use words to have specific meanings. In some cases, stimuli, individuals or actions are remembered for days, weeks or years. Events likely to occur in the future may be predicted and changes over time taken into account. Scientific evidence for the needs of animals depends, in part, on studies assessing motivational strength whose methodology depends on the cognitive ability of the animals. Recognition and learning may be associated with changes in physiology, behaviour and positive or negative feelings. Learning and other complex behaviour can result in affect and affect can alter cognition. The demonstration of cognitive bias gives indications about affect and welfare but should be interpreted in the light of other information. All of the information mentioned so far helps to provide evidence about sentience and the level of awareness. The term sentience implies a range of abilities, not just the capacity to have some feelings. The reluctance of scientists to attribute complex abilities and feelings to non-humans has slowed the development of this area of science. Most people consider that they have obligations to some animals. However, they might protect animals because they consider that an animal has an intrinsic value, or because of their concern for its welfare. In social species, there has been selection promoting moral systems that might result in behaviours such as attempts to avoid harm to others, collaboration and other altruistic behaviour. An evaluation of such behaviour may provide one of the criteria for decisions about whether or not to protect animals of a particular species. Other criteria may be: whether or not the animal is known as an individual, similarity to humans, level of awareness, extent of feelings, being large, being rare, being useful or having aesthetic quality for humans. Cognitive ability should also be considered when designing methods of enriching the environments of captive animals. |
|
| |
Address |
|
|
| |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
|
| |
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
|
| |
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
|
| |
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
|
| |
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
|
| |
ISSN |
0168-1591 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
|
| |
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
|
| |
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
|
| |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5135 |
|
| Permanent link to this record |
| |
|
| |
|
Author |
Baragli, P.; Demuru, E.; Palagi, E. |
|
| |
Title |
Mirror on the wall, who is the horsest of our all? Self-recognition in Equus caballus |
Type |
Conference Article |
| |
Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the 3. International Equine Science Meeting |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 3. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg |
|
| |
Volume |
|
Issue |
|
Pages |
|
|
| |
Keywords |
Domestic horse • Mark test • Socio-cognitive skills • Self-awareness |
|
| |
Abstract |
Mirror Self-Recognition (MSR) is an extremely rare capacity in the animal kingdom that reveals the emergence of complex cognitive capacities (de Waal 2008). So far, MSR has been reported only in humans, chimpanzees (Gallup, 1970), bottlenose dolphins (Reiss and Marino, 2001) and Asian elephants (Plotnik et al, 2006), all species characterized by a highly developed cognition. There is growing evidence that domestic horses posses high cognitive abilities, such as cross-modal individual recognition (Proops et al, 2009), triadic post-conflict reunion to maintain social homeostasis (Cozzi et al, 2010), complex communicative systems (Whatan and McComb, 2014), flexibility in problem-solving (Lovrovich et al, 2015), and long-term memory (Hanggi and Ingersoll, 2009). All these capacities make horses a good candidate to test the ability of MSR in a domestic species. Through a classical MSR experimental paradigm (de Waal 2008) we tested eight horses living in social groups under semi-natural conditions (from the Italian Horse Protection rescue centre). Animals showing MSR typically go through four stages (Plotnik et al, 2006): (i) social response, (ii) physical mirror inspection (e.g., looking behind the mirror), (iii) repetitive mirror-testing behaviour (i.e., the beginning of mirror understanding), and (iv) self-directed behaviour (i.e., recognition of the mirror image as self). The final stage, known as the “mark-test”, is verified when a subject spontaneously uses the mirror to check for a coloured artificial mark on its own body which it cannot perceive otherwise. The horses underwent a three-phase “mark-test”: 1) with sham mark (transparent ultrasound water gel) positioned on both side at jaw level, 2) mark (yellow eye shadow mixed with ultrasound water gel) positioned on left side of jaw (with sham mark on the right), 3) mark (yellow eye shadow mixed with ultrasound water gel) positioned on right side of jaw (with sham mark on the left)
The mirror was one 0.5-cm-thick piece of 140x220-cm plexiglass glue on wood. Each test lasted one hour, horses were tested once a day, in consecutive days and at the same time. Our preliminary result on 1 horse shows some changes in self-directed behaviours which can be attributed to presence of the coloured mark. Firstly, the presence of the coloured mark significantly increased the frequency of scratching on both sides of the muzzle (p < 0.0001). The most intriguing result (p < 0.0001) comes from the comparison of the scratching rates directed towards the coloured mark side (N = 41) and the sham mark side (N = 23). Under the control condition (i.e. sham mark on both sides) no statistical difference was found for the scratching rates directed to the muzzle sides (dx N = 8; sx N = 5). Although further analyses are needed to confirm these preliminary results, our finding opens new scenarios about the evolution of Mirror Self-Recognition. The capacity of horses to recognize themselves in a mirror may be the outcome of an evolutionary convergence process driven by the cognitive pressures imposed by a complex social system and maintained despite thousands years of domestication.
Keywords:
Domestic horse · Mark test · Socio-cognitive skills · Self-awareness
References
De Waal FBM (2008) The thief in the mirror. PloS Biol 6(8):e201
Gallup GG Jr (1970) Chimpanzees: Self-recognition. Science 167: 86-87.
Reiss D, Marino L (2001). Mirror self-recognition in the bottlenose dolphin: A case of cognitive convergence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98:5937-5942.
Plotnik J, de Waal FBM, Reiss D (2006) Self-recognition in an Asian elephant. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103: 17053-17057.
Proops L, McComb K, Reby D. (2009) Cross-modal individual recognition in domestic horses (Equus caballus). Proc Nat Acad Sci USA;106:947-951.
Cozzi A, Sighieri C, Gazzano A, Nicol CJ, Baragli P. Post-conflict friendly reunion in a permanent group of horses (Equus caballus). Behav Process 2010;85:185-190.
Wathan J, McComb K. The eyes and ears are visual indicators of attention in domestic horses. Curr Biol 2014;24(15): R677-R679.
Lovrovich P, Sighieri C, Baragli P (2015) Following human-given cues or not? Horses (Equus caballus) get smarter and change strategy in a delayed three choice task. Appl Anim Behav Sci, in press.
Hanggi EB, Ingersoll JF. (2009) Long-term memory for categories and concepts in horses (Equus caballus). Anim Cogn; 12:451-462. |
|
| |
Address |
|
|
| |
Corporate Author |
Baragli, P. |
Thesis |
|
|
| |
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
|
| |
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
|
| |
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
|
| |
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
|
| |
ISSN |
|
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
|
| |
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
|
| |
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
|
| |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5874 |
|
| Permanent link to this record |
| |
|
| |
|
Author |
Mitchell, D.; Kirschbaum, E.H.; Perry, R.L. |
|
| |
Title |
Effects of neophobia and habituation on the poison-induced avoidance of exteroceptive stimuli in the rat |
Type |
Journal Article |
| |
Year |
1975 |
Publication |
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
|
| |
Volume |
1 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
47-55 |
|
| |
Keywords |
Animals; Avoidance Learning/*drug effects; *Awareness; *Cognition; Conditioning, Operant; Feeding Behavior/drug effects; *Habituation, Psychophysiologic; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Lithium/administration & dosage/poisoning; Male; Rats; *Taste; Time Factors; *Visual Perception |
|
| |
Abstract |
Two experiments on the role of neophobia in poison-induced aversions to exteroceptive stimuli are reported. In Experiment 1, rats were given either 10 or 25 days of habituation to the test situation prior to conditioning. Those animals with the longer habituation period avoided a complex of novel exteroceptive stimuli while those with the shorter habituation period did not. In Experiment 2 rats initially avoided the more novel of two containers, but gradually came to eat equal amounts from both. A single pairing of toxicosis with consumption from either the novel or the familiar container reinstated the avoidance of the novel container in both cases. The results were discussed in terms of an interaction between habituation and conditioning procedures. It was suggested that previously reported differences between interoceptive and exteroceptive conditioning effects may have been influenced by the differential novelty of the two classes of stimuli in the test situation. It was further suggested that non-contingently poisoned control groups should routinely be included in poison avoidance conditioning studies. |
|
| |
Address |
|
|
| |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
|
| |
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
|
| |
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:1151289 |
Approved |
no |
|
| |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2791 |
|
| Permanent link to this record |
| |
|
| |
|
Author |
Manns, J.R.; Clark, R.E.; Squire, L.R. |
|
| |
Title |
Standard delay eyeblink classical conditioning is independent of awareness |
Type |
Journal Article |
| |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
|
| |
Volume |
28 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
32-37 |
|
| |
Keywords |
Aged; *Awareness; *Blinking; *Conditioning, Classical; Humans |
|
| |
Abstract |
P. F. Lovibond and D. R. Shanks (2002) suggested that all forms of classical conditioning depend on awareness of the stimulus contingencies. This article considers the available data for eyeblink classical conditioning, including data from 2 studies (R. E. Clark, J. R. Manns, & L. R. Squire, 2001; J. R. Manns, R. E. Clark, & L. R. Squire, 2001) that were completed too recently to have been considered in their review. In addition, in response to questions raised by P. F. Lovibond and D. R. Shanks, 2 new analyses of data are presented from studies published previously. The available data from humans and experimental animals provide strong evidence that delay eyeblink classical conditioning (but not trace eyeblink classical conditioning) can be acquired and retained independently of the forebrain and independently of awareness. This conclusion applies to standard conditioning paradigms; for example, to single-cue delay conditioning when a tone is used as the conditioned stimulus (CS) and to differential delay conditioning when the positive and negative conditioned stimuli (CS+ and CS-) are a tone and white noise. |
|
| |
Address |
Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, USA |
|
| |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
|
| |
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
|
| |
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:11868232 |
Approved |
no |
|
| |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2769 |
|
| Permanent link to this record |
| |
|
| |
|
Author |
Domjan, M. |
|
| |
Title |
Determinants of the enhancement of flavored-water intake by prior exposure |
Type |
Journal Article |
| |
Year |
1976 |
Publication |
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
|
| |
Volume |
2 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
17-27 |
|
| |
Keywords |
Animals; Arousal; *Awareness; Behavior, Animal; *Cognition; *Drinking Behavior; Environment; Escape Reaction; Fear; Male; Rats; Saccharin/administration & dosage; *Taste; Thirst; Time Factors; Water Deprivation |
|
| |
Abstract |
The intake of a 2.0% sodium saccharin solution in rats was observed to increase as a function of both the number (Experiment 1) and the duration (Experiment 3) of prior periods of access to the saccharin flavor, but did not increase when subjects were maintained on a fluid deprivation procedure in the absence of saccharin exposure (Experiment 2). The enhancement of intake was further influenced by the schedule of saccharin preexposures in the absence of variations in the amount of solution tasted (Experiment 4). The effect was not a function of the opportunity for subjects to determine their own pattern of contact with the saccharin flavor, the opportunity for association of the flavor with hunger and thirst reduction, or the amount of saccharin swallowed during preexposure (Experiment 5). These results suggest that mere exposure to a flavored solution is sufficient to increase subsequent intakes. The phenomenon is discussed in terms of the attenuation of neophobia elicited by the novelty of flavored solutions. |
|
| |
Address |
|
|
| |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
|
| |
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
|
| |
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:1249524 |
Approved |
no |
|
| |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2790 |
|
| Permanent link to this record |
| |
|
| |
|
Author |
Griffin, D.R.; Speck, G.B. |
|
| |
Title |
New evidence of animal consciousness |
Type |
Journal Article |
| |
Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
|
| |
Volume |
7 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
5-18 |
|
| |
Keywords |
Animal Communication; Animals; Awareness; *Behavior, Animal; *Consciousness |
|
| |
Abstract |
This paper reviews evidence that increases the probability that many animals experience at least simple levels of consciousness. First, the search for neural correlates of consciousness has not found any consciousness-producing structure or process that is limited to human brains. Second, appropriate responses to novel challenges for which the animal has not been prepared by genetic programming or previous experience provide suggestive evidence of animal consciousness because such versatility is most effectively organized by conscious thinking. For example, certain types of classical conditioning require awareness of the learned contingency in human subjects, suggesting comparable awareness in similarly conditioned animals. Other significant examples of versatile behavior suggestive of conscious thinking are scrub jays that exhibit all the objective attributes of episodic memory, evidence that monkeys sometimes know what they know, creative tool-making by crows, and recent interpretation of goal-directed behavior of rats as requiring simple nonreflexive consciousness. Third, animal communication often reports subjective experiences. Apes have demonstrated increased ability to use gestures or keyboard symbols to make requests and answer questions; and parrots have refined their ability to use the imitation of human words to ask for things they want and answer moderately complex questions. New data have demonstrated increased flexibility in the gestural communication of swarming honey bees that leads to vitally important group decisions as to which cavity a swarm should select as its new home. Although no single piece of evidence provides absolute proof of consciousness, this accumulation of strongly suggestive evidence increases significantly the likelihood that some animals experience at least simple conscious thoughts and feelings. The next challenge for cognitive ethologists is to investigate for particular animals the content of their awareness and what life is actually like, for them. |
|
| |
Address |
Concord Field Station, Harvard University, Old Causeway Road, Bedford, MA 01730, USA |
|
| |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
|
| |
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
|
| |
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:14658059 |
Approved |
no |
|
| |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2549 |
|
| Permanent link to this record |
| |
|
| |
|
Author |
Hampton, R.R.; Zivin, A.; Murray, E.A. |
|
| |
Title |
Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) discriminate between knowing and not knowing and collect information as needed before acting |
Type |
Journal Article |
| |
Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
|
| |
Volume |
7 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
239-246 |
|
| |
Keywords |
Animals; Association Learning; *Awareness; Choice Behavior; *Concept Formation; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Macaca mulatta/*psychology; Male; *Memory, Short-Term; Observation |
|
| |
Abstract |
Humans use memory awareness to determine whether relevant knowledge is available before acting, as when we determine whether we know a phone number before dialing. Such metacognition, or thinking about thinking, can improve selection of appropriate behavior. We investigated whether rhesus monkeys ( Macaca mulatta) are capable of a simple form of metacognitive access to the contents of short-term memory. Monkeys chose among four opaque tubes, one of which concealed food. The tube containing the reward varied randomly from trial to trial. On half the trials the monkeys observed the experimenter baiting the tube, whereas on the remaining trials their view of the baiting was blocked. On each trial, monkeys were allowed a single chance to select the tube containing the reward. During the choice period the monkeys had the opportunity to look down the length of each tube, to determine if it contained food. When they knew the location of the reward, most monkeys chose without looking. In contrast, when ignorant, monkeys often made the effort required to look, thereby learning the location of the reward before choosing. Looking improved accuracy on trials on which monkeys had not observed the baiting. The difference in looking behavior between trials on which the monkeys knew, and trials on which they were ignorant, suggests that rhesus monkeys discriminate between knowing and not knowing. This result extends similar observations made of children and apes to a species of Old World monkey, suggesting that the underlying cognitive capacities may be widely distributed among primates. |
|
| |
Address |
Section on the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892-4415, USA. robert@ln.nimh.nih.gov |
|
| |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
|
| |
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
|
| |
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:15105996 |
Approved |
no |
|
| |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2525 |
|
| Permanent link to this record |
