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Author Griffin, A.S.; Guez, D. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Innovation and problem solving: A review of common mechanisms Type Journal Article
  Year 2014 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.  
  Volume 109 Issue Pages 121-134  
  Keywords Behavioural flexibility; Cognition; Innovation; Problem solving  
  Abstract Behavioural innovations have become central to our thinking about how animals adjust to changing environments. It is now well established that animals vary in their ability to innovate, but understanding why remains a challenge. This is because innovations are rare, so studying innovation requires alternative experimental assays that create opportunities for animals to express their ability to invent new behaviours, or use pre-existing ones in new contexts. Problem solving of extractive foraging tasks has been put forward as a suitable experimental assay. We review the rapidly expanding literature on problem solving of extractive foraging tasks in order to better understand to what extent the processes underpinning problem solving, and the factors influencing problem solving, are in line with those predicted, and found, to underpin and influence innovation in the wild. Our aim is to determine whether problem solving can be used as an experimental proxy of innovation. We find that in most respects, problem solving is determined by the same underpinning mechanisms, and is influenced by the same factors, as those predicted to underpin, and to influence, innovation. We conclude that problem solving is a valid experimental assay for studying innovation, propose a conceptual model of problem solving in which motor diversity plays a more central role than has been considered to date, and provide recommendations for future research using problem solving to investigate innovation. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cognition in the wild.  
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  ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6556  
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Author Benson-Amram, S.; Weldele, M.L.; Holekamp, K.E. url  doi
openurl 
  Title A comparison of innovative problem-solving abilities between wild and captive spotted hyaenas, Crocuta crocuta Type Journal Article
  Year 2013 Publication Animal Behaviour Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 85 Issue 2 Pages 349-356  
  Keywords Crocuta crocuta; innovation; neophobia; problem solving; spotted hyaena  
  Abstract Innovative problem solving enables individuals to deal with novel social and ecological challenges. However, our understanding of the importance of innovation for animals in their natural habitat is limited because experimental investigations of innovation have historically focused on captive animals. To determine how captivity affects innovation, and whether captive studies of animal innovation suffer from low external validity, we need experimental investigations of innovation in both wild and captive populations of the same species in diverse taxa. Here we inquired whether wild and captive spotted hyaenas differ in their ability to solve the same novel technical problem, and in the diversity of exploratory behaviours they exhibit when first interacting with the problem. Our results suggest that wild and captive populations show important differences in their innovative problem-solving abilities. Captive hyaenas were significantly more successful at solving the novel problem, and significantly more diverse in their initial exploratory behaviour, than were wild hyaenas. We were able to rule out hypotheses suggesting that these differences result from excess energy or time available to captive animals. We conclude that captive hyaenas were more successful because captive individuals were less neophobic and more exploratory than their wild counterparts. These results have important implications for our interpretation of studies on innovative problem solving in captive animals and aid our attempts to gain a broader understanding of the importance of innovation for animals in their natural habitat.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5657  
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Author Meehan, C.L.; Mench, J.A. url  openurl
  Title The challenge of challenge: Can problem solving opportunities enhance animal welfare? Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 102 Issue 3-4 Pages 246-261  
  Keywords Cognition; Environmental enrichment; Challenge; Eustress; Problem solving; Intrinsic motivation  
  Abstract Cognitive mechanisms are an important part of the organization of the behavior systems of animals. In the wild, animals regularly face problems that they must overcome in order to survive and thrive. Solving such problems often requires animals to process, store, retrieve, and act upon information from the environment--in other words, to use their cognitive skills. For example, animals may have to use navigational, tool-making or cooperative social skills in order to procure their food. However, many enrichment programs for captive animals do not include the integration of these types of cognitive challenges. Thus, foraging enrichments typically are designed to facilitate the physical expression of feeding behaviors such as food-searching and food consumption, but not to facilitate complex problem solving behaviors related to food acquisition. Challenging animals by presenting them with problems is almost certainly a source of frustration and stress. However, we suggest here that this is an important, and even necessary, feature of an enrichment program, as long as animals also possess the skills and resources to effectively solve the problems with which they are presented. We discuss this with reference to theories about the emotional consequences of coping with challenge, the association between lack of challenge and the development of abnormal behavior, and the benefits of stress (arousal) in facilitating learning and memory of relevant skills. Much remains to be done to provide empirical support for these theories. However, they do point the way to a practical approach to improving animal welfare--to design enrichments to facilitate the cognitive mechanisms which underlie the performance of complex behaviors that cannot be performed due to the restrictions inherent to the captive environment.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2890  
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Author Birch, H.G. url  openurl
  Title The relation of previous experience to insightful problem-solving Type Journal Article
  Year 1945 Publication Journal of Comparative Psychology Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol  
  Volume 38 Issue Pages 367-383  
  Keywords Humans; *Problem Solving; *Psychology, Comparative; *PSYCHOLOGY/comparative  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0021-9940 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:21010765 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6554  
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Author Levin, L.E. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Passage order through different pathways in groups of schooling fish, and the diversified leadership hypothesis Type Journal Article
  Year 1996 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.  
  Volume 37 Issue 1 Pages 1-8  
  Keywords Animal sociality; Inter-individual variability; Aggregation-dispersion; Group problem solving  
  Abstract The diversified leadership hypothesis proposes that different individuals within a school of fish act as leaders in different circumstances. This `circumstantial leadership' results from inter-individual behavioral variability and a `cohesion-dispersion' tendency modulated by `failure-success' contingencies. The hypothesis predicts that when offered different pathways to escape the restriction of their swimming space, individuals within a group of fish will show 1. (a) consistent passage orders in each pathway, but2. (b) different passage orders in different pathways. Using an avoidance paddle and three different groups of fish (Aphyocharax erithrurus) the results confirmed prediction 1. (a) while prediction2. (b) was verified only in one group.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ room B 3.029 Serial 2069  
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Author Quesada, J; Kintsch, W.; Gomez, E. doi  openurl
  Title Complex problem-solving: a field in search of a definition? Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science Abbreviated Journal Theor Issues Ergon Sci  
  Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages 5-33  
  Keywords Problem solving; Dynamic decision making; Micro-worlds; Expertise  
  Abstract Complex problem-solving (CPS) is as an area of cognitive science that has received a good amount of attention, but theories in the field have not progressed accordingly. The reasons could be the lack of good definitions and classifications of the tasks (taxonomies). Although complexity is a term used pervasively in psychology and is operationalized in different ways, there are no psychological theories of complexity. The definition of problem-solving has been changed in the past to reflect the varied interests of the researchers and has lost its initial concreteness. These two facts together make it difficult to define CPS or make clear if CPS should reuse the theory and methods of classical problem-solving or on the contrary should build a theoretical structure starting from scratch. A taxonomy is offered of tasks using both formal features and psychological features that are theory-independent that could help compare the CPS tasks used in the literature. The adequateness is also reviewed of the most extended definitions of CPS and conclude that they are in serious need of review, since they cover tasks that are not considered problem-solving by their own authors or are not complex, but ignore others that should clearly be included.  
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  Publisher Taylor and Francis Ltd Place of Publication Editor  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 604  
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Author Horowitz, A.C. doi  openurl
  Title Do humans ape? Or do apes human? Imitation and intention in humans (Homo sapiens) and other animals Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication Journal of comparative psychology Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol  
  Volume 117 Issue 3 Pages 325-336  
  Keywords Adolescent; Adult; Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; Attention; Child, Preschool; Concept Formation; Female; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; Male; Motivation; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; *Problem Solving; *Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Species Specificity  
  Abstract A. Whiten, D. M. Custance, J.-C. Gomez, P. Teixidor, and K. A. Bard (1996) tested chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes) and human children's (Homo sapiens) skills at imitation with a 2-action test on an “artificial fruit.” Chimpanzees imitated to a restricted degree; children were more thoroughly imitative. Such results prompted some to assert that the difference in imitation indicates a difference in the subjects' understanding of the intentions of the demonstrator (M. Tomasello, 1996). In this experiment, 37 adult human subjects were tested with the artificial fruit. Far from being perfect imitators, the adults were less imitative than the children. These results cast doubt on the inference from imitative performance to an ability to understand others' intentions. The results also demonstrate how any test of imitation requires a control group and attention to the level of behavioral analysis.  
  Address Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA. ahorowitz@crl.ucsd.edu  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Washington, D.C. : 1983 Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:14498809 Approved yes  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 736  
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Author Call, J.; Tomasello, M. doi  openurl
  Title Use of social information in the problem solving of orangutans (<em>Pongo pygmaeus</em>) and human children (<em>Homo sapiens</em>) Type Journal Article
  Year 1995 Publication Journal of Comparative Psychology Abbreviated Journal J. Comp. Psychol.  
  Volume 109 Issue 3 Pages 308-320  
  Keywords cross species imitative learning in problem solving, human 3–4 yr olds vs orangutans  
  Abstract Fourteen juvenile and adult orangutans and 24 3- and 4-yr-old children participated in 4 studies on imitative learning in a problem-solving situation. In all studies a simple to operate apparatus was used, but its internal mechanism was hidden from subjects to prevent individual learning. In the 1st study, orangutans observed a human demonstrator perform 1 of 4 actions on the apparatus and obtain a reward; they subsequently showed no signs of imitative learning. Similar results were obtained in a 2nd study in which orangutan demonstrators were used. Similar results were also obtained in a 3rd study in which a human encouraged imitation from an orangutan that had previously been taught to mimic arbitrary human actions. In a 4th study, human 3- and 4-yr-old children learned the task by means of imitation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)  
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  Publisher US: American Psychological Association Place of Publication Editor  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1939-2087 (Electronic); 0735-7036 (Print) ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved yes  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ 1995-42883-001 Serial 5448  
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Author Bouchard, J.; Goodyer, W.; Lefebvre, L. doi  openurl
  Title Social learning and innovation are positively correlated in pigeons (Columba livia) Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 259-266  
  Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Columbidae/*physiology; *Learning; *Problem Solving  
  Abstract When animals show both frequent innovation and fast social learning, new behaviours can spread more rapidly through populations and potentially increase rates of natural selection and speciation, as proposed by A.C. Wilson in his behavioural drive hypothesis. Comparative work on primates suggests that more innovative species also show more social learning. In this study, we look at intra-specific variation in innovation and social learning in captive wild-caught pigeons. Performances on an innovative problem-solving task and a social learning task are positively correlated in 42 individuals. The correlation remains significant when the effects of neophobia on the two abilities are removed. Neither sex nor dominance rank are associated with performance on the two tasks. Free-flying flocks of urban pigeons are able to solve the innovative food-finding problem used on captive birds, demonstrating it is within the range of their natural capacities. Taken together with the comparative literature, the positive correlation between innovation and social learning suggests that the two abilities are not traded-off.  
  Address Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205, Avenue Docteur Penfield, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1B1, Canada  
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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:17205290 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2425  
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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 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  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16909231 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2453  
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