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Author Miklósi, Á.; Soproni, K. doi  openurl
  Title (up) A comparative analysis of animals' understanding of the human pointing gesture Type Journal Article
  Year 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 Gácsi, M.; Miklósi, Á.; Varga, O.; Topál, J.; Csányi, V. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Are readers of our face readers of our minds? Dogs (Canis familiaris) show situation-dependent recognition of human's attention Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 7 Issue 3 Pages 144-153  
  Keywords Animals; Association Learning; *Attention; Bonding, Human-Pet; Cognition; *Concept Formation; Cues; Dogs/*psychology; *Facial Expression; Female; Humans; Male; *Nonverbal Communication; *Recognition (Psychology); Social Behavior  
  Abstract The ability of animals to use behavioral/facial cues in detection of human attention has been widely investigated. In this test series we studied the ability of dogs to recognize human attention in different experimental situations (ball-fetching game, fetching objects on command, begging from humans). The attentional state of the humans was varied along two variables: (1) facing versus not facing the dog; (2) visible versus non-visible eyes. In the first set of experiments (fetching) the owners were told to take up different body positions (facing or not facing the dog) and to either cover or not cover their eyes with a blindfold. In the second set of experiments (begging) dogs had to choose between two eating humans based on either the visibility of the eyes or direction of the face. Our results show that the efficiency of dogs to discriminate between “attentive” and “inattentive” humans depended on the context of the test, but they could rely on the orientation of the body, the orientation of the head and the visibility of the eyes. With the exception of the fetching-game situation, they brought the object to the front of the human (even if he/she turned his/her back towards the dog), and preferentially begged from the facing (or seeing) human. There were also indications that dogs were sensitive to the visibility of the eyes because they showed increased hesitative behavior when approaching a blindfolded owner, and they also preferred to beg from the person with visible eyes. We conclude that dogs are able to rely on the same set of human facial cues for detection of attention, which form the behavioral basis of understanding attention in humans. Showing the ability of recognizing human attention across different situations dogs proved to be more flexible than chimpanzees investigated in similar circumstances.  
  Address Comparative Ethology Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Pazmany P. 1/c., 1117, Budapest, Hungary. gm.art@axelero.hu  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:14669075 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2547  
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Author Tebbich, S.; Bshary, R.; Grutter, A.S. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus recognise familiar clients Type Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 5 Issue 3 Pages 139-145  
  Keywords Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; *Evolution; *Fishes; Motivation; *Recognition (Psychology); Social Behavior; Visual Perception  
  Abstract Individual recognition has been attributed a crucial role in the evolution of complex social systems such as helping behaviour and cooperation. A classical example for interspecific cooperation is the mutualism between the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus and its client reef fish species. For stable cooperation to evolve, it is generally assumed that partners interact repeatedly and remember each other's past behaviour. Repeated interactions may be achieved by site fidelity or individual recognition. However, as some cleaner fish have more than 2,300 interactions per day with various individuals per species and various species of clients, basic assumptions of cooperation theory might be violated in this mutualism. We tested the cleaner L. dimidiatus and its herbivorous client, the surgeon fish Ctenochaetus striatus, for their ability to distinguish between a familiar and an unfamiliar partner in a choice experiment. Under natural conditions, cleaners and clients have to build up their relationship, which is probably costly for both. We therefore predicted that both clients and cleaners should prefer the familiar partner in our choice experiment. We found that cleaners spent significantly more time near the familiar than the unfamiliar clients in the first 2 minutes of the experiment. This indicates the ability for individual recognition in cleaners. In contrast, the client C. striatus showed no significant preference. This could be due to a sampling artefact, possibly due to a lack of sufficient motivation. Alternatively, clients may not need to recognise their cleaners but instead remember the defined territories of L. dimidiatus to achieve repeated interactions with the same individual.  
  Address Max Planck Institute for Behaviour and Physiology, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany. tebbich@ss20.mpi-seewiesen.mpg.de  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:12357286 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2599  
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Author Soproni, K.; Miklósi, A.; Topál, J.; Csányi, V. url  doi
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  Title (up) Comprehension of human communicative signs in pet dogs (Canis familiaris) Type Journal Article
  Year 2001 Publication Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol  
  Volume 115 Issue 2 Pages 122-126  
  Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Choice Behavior; Dogs/*psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Nonverbal Communication/*psychology; *Recognition (Psychology); *Social Behavior  
  Abstract On the basis of a study by D. J. Povinelli, D. T. Bierschwale, and C. G. Cech (1999), the performance of family dogs (Canis familiaris) was examined in a 2-way food choice task in which 4 types of directional cues were given by the experimenter: pointing and gazing, head-nodding (“at target”), head turning above the correct container (“above target”), and glancing only (“eyes only”). The results showed that the performance of the dogs resembled more closely that of the children in D. J. Povinelli et al.'s study, in contrast to the chimpanzees' performance in the same study. It seems that dogs, like children, interpret the test situation as being a form of communication. The hypothesis is that this similarity is attributable to the social experience and acquired social routines in dogs because they spend more time in close contact with humans than apes do, and as a result dogs are probably more experienced in the recognition of human gestures.  
  Address Department of Ethology, Budapest, Hungary. lavina@ludens.elte.hu  
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  ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:11459158 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4963  
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Author Hauber, M.E.; Sherman, P.W. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Designing and interpreting experimental tests of self-referent phenotype matching Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages 69-71  
  Keywords Animals; Birds; Body Constitution; Color; Humans; Pedigree; *Perception; Phenotype; *Recognition (Psychology); Research Design; *Self Psychology  
  Abstract  
  Address Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-2702, USA  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:12658536 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2580  
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Author Evans, T.A.; Westergaard, G.C. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Discrimination of functionally appropriate and inappropriate throwing tools by captive tufted capuchins (Cebus apella) Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 7 Issue 4 Pages 255-262  
  Keywords Animals; Appetitive Behavior; Cebus/*psychology; Choice Behavior; *Concept Formation; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Male; *Problem Solving; *Psychomotor Performance; Recognition (Psychology)  
  Abstract A tool-throwing task was used to test whether capuchin monkeys understand the difference between functionally appropriate and functionally inappropriate tools. A group of monkeys was trained to obtain a sticky treat from a container outside their enclosure using a projectile attached to one end of an anchored line. Subsequently, these monkeys were given choice tests between functional and nonfunctional versions of tools used in training. A different feature of the tool was varied between alternatives in each choice test. The monkeys chose to use functional tools significantly more often than nonfunctional tools in early exposures to each choice test. A second experiment tested whether these subjects, as well as a second group of minimally trained participants, could distinguish between functional and nonfunctional tools that appeared different from those used in training. A new set of design features was varied between tools in these choice tests. All participants continued to choose functional tools significantly more often than nonfunctional tools, regardless of their tool-throwing experience or the novel appearance of the tools. These results suggest that capuchin monkeys, like chimpanzees studied in similar experiments, are sensitive to a variety of functionally relevant tool features.  
  Address Alpha Genesis Inc., 95 Castle Hall Road, P.O. Box 557, Yemassee, SC 29945, USA. teprimate@islc.net  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:15138849 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2523  
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Author Goto, K.; Lea, S.E.G.; Dittrich, W.H. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Discrimination of intentional and random motion paths by pigeons Type Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 5 Issue 3 Pages 119-127  
  Keywords Animals; *Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; *Motion Perception; Recognition (Psychology)  
  Abstract Twelve pigeons ( Columba livia) were trained on a go/no-go schedule to discriminate between two kinds of movement patterns of dots, which to human observers appear to be “intentional” and “non-intentional” movements. In experiment 1, the intentional motion stimulus contained one dot (a “wolf”) that moved systematically towards another dot as though stalking it, and three distractors (“sheep”). The non-intentional motion stimulus consisted of four distractors but no stalker. Birds showed some improvement of discrimination as the sessions progressed, but high levels of discrimination were not reached. In experiment 2, the same birds were tested with different stimuli. The same parameters were used but the number of intentionally moving dots in the intentional motion stimulus was altered, so that three wolves stalked one sheep. Despite the enhanced difference of movement patterns, the birds did not show any further improvement in discrimination. However, birds for which the non-intentional stimulus was associated with reward showed a decline in discrimination. These results indicated that pigeons can discriminate between stimuli that do and do not contain an element that human observer see as moving intentionally. However, as no feature-positive effect was found in experiment 1, it is assumed that pigeons did not perceive or discriminate these stimuli on the basis that the intentional stimuli contained a feature that the non-intentional stimuli lacked, though the convergence seen in experiment 2 may have been an effective feature for the pigeons. Pigeons seem to be able to recognise some form of multiple simultaneously goal-directed motions, compared to random motions, as a distinctive feature, but do not seem to use simple “intentional” motion paths of two geometrical figures, embedded in random motions, as a feature whose presence or absence differentiates motion displays.  
  Address School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Washington Singer Laboratories, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK. K.Goto@exeter.ac.uk  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:12357284 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2601  
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Author Uller, C. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Disposition to recognize goals in infant chimpanzees Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 7 Issue 3 Pages 154-161  
  Keywords Analysis of Variance; Animals; Female; Fixation, Ocular; *Goals; *Intention; Male; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; Pattern Recognition, Visual; *Problem Solving; *Recognition (Psychology)  
  Abstract Do nonhuman primates attribute goals to others? Traditional studies with chimpanzees provide equivocal evidence for “mind reading” in nonhuman primates. Here we adopt looking time, a methodology commonly used with human infants to test infant chimpanzees. In this experiment, four infant chimpanzees saw computer-generated stimuli that mimicked a goal-directed behavior. The baby chimps performed as well as human infants, namely, they were sensitive to the trajectories of the objects, thus suggesting that chimpanzees may be endowed with a disposition to understand goal-directed behaviors. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, C04 3SQ, Colchester, UK. uller40@yahoo.com  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:14685823 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2546  
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Author Palleroni, A.; Hauser, M.; Marler, P. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Do responses of galliform birds vary adaptively with predator size? Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 200-210  
  Keywords Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; *Avoidance Learning; *Behavior, Animal; Body Size; Chickens; Female; Food Chain; Male; *Pattern Recognition, Visual; *Predatory Behavior; *Recognition (Psychology); Risk Assessment  
  Abstract Past studies of galliform anti-predator behavior show that they discriminate between aerial and ground predators, producing distinctive, functionally referential vocalizations to each class. Within the category of aerial predators, however, studies using overhead models, video images and observations of natural encounters with birds of prey report little evidence that galliforms discriminate between different raptor species. This pattern suggests that the aerial alarm response may be triggered by general features of objects moving in the air. To test whether these birds are also sensitive to more detailed differences between raptor species, adult chickens with young were presented with variously sized trained raptors (small, intermediate, large) under controlled conditions. In response to the small hawk, there was a decline in anti-predator aggression and in aerial alarm calling as the young grew older and less vulnerable to attack by a hawk of this size. During the same developmental period, responses to the largest hawk, which posed the smallest threat to the young at all stages, did not change; there were intermediate changes at this time in response to the middle-sized hawk. Thus the anti-predator behavior of the adult birds varied in an adaptive fashion, changing as a function of both chick age and risk. We discuss these results in light of current issues concerning the cognitive mechanisms underlying alarm calling behavior in animals.  
  Address Primate Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland St., Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA. aliparti@wjh.harvard.edu  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15660209 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2496  
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Author Anderson, J.R.; Kuroshima, H.; Kuwahata, H.; Fujita, K. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Do squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) and capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) predict that looking leads to touching? Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 7 Issue 3 Pages 185-192  
  Keywords Animals; Association Learning; *Attention; Cebus/*psychology; Cognition; *Concept Formation; Cues; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; *Nonverbal Communication; Recognition (Psychology); Saimiri/*psychology; Social Behavior; Species Specificity  
  Abstract Squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) and capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were tested using an expectancy violation procedure to assess whether they use an actor's gaze direction, signaled by congruent head and eye orientation, to predict subsequent behavior. The monkeys visually habituated to a repeated sequence in which the actor (a familiar human or a puppet) looked at an object and then picked it up, but they did not react strongly when the actor looked at an object but then picked up another object. Capuchin monkeys' responses in the puppet condition were slightly more suggestive of expectancy. There was no differential responding to congruent versus incongruent look-touch sequences when familiarization trials were omitted. The weak findings contrast with a strongly positive result previously reported for tamarin monkeys. Additional evidence is required before concluding that behavior prediction based on gaze cues typifies primates; other approaches for studying how they process attention cues are indicated.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, Stirling, Scotland. jra1@stir.ac.uk  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15022054 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2540  
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