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Author  |
Griffin, A.S. | ||||
| Title | Socially acquired predator avoidance: Is it just classical conditioning? | Type | Journal Article | ||
| Year | 2008 | Publication | Brain Research Bulletin | Abbreviated Journal | Special Issue:Brain Mechanisms, Cognition and Behaviour in Birds |
| Volume | 76 | Issue | 3 | Pages | 264-271 |
| Keywords | Learning; Classical (Pavlovian) conditioning; Social learning; Ecological specialization; General process theory; Ecology; Predation; Backward conditioning | ||||
| Abstract | Associative learning theories presume the existence of a general purpose learning process, the structure of which does not mirror the demands of any particular learning problem. In contrast, learning scientists working within an Evolutionary Biology tradition believe that learning processes have been shaped by ecological demands. One potential means of exploring how ecology may have modified properties of acquisition is to use associative learning theory as a framework within which to analyse a particular learning phenomenon. Recent work has used this approach to examine whether socially transmitted predator avoidance can be conceptualised as a classical conditioning process in which a novel predator stimulus acts as a conditioned stimulus (CS) and acquires control over an avoidance response after it has become associated with alarm signals of social companions, the unconditioned stimulus (US). I review here a series of studies examining the effect of CS/US presentation timing on the likelihood of acquisition. Results suggest that socially acquired predator avoidance may be less sensitive to forward relationships than traditional classical conditioning paradigms. I make the case that socially acquired predator avoidance is an exciting novel one-trial learning paradigm that could be studied along side fear conditioning. Comparisons between social and non-social learning of danger at both the behavioural and neural level may yield a better understanding of how ecology might shape properties and mechanisms of learning. | ||||
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| ISSN | 0361-9230 | ISBN | Medium | ||
| Area | Expedition | Conference | |||
| Notes | Approved | no | |||
| Call Number | Equine Behaviour @ team @ | Serial | 4697 | ||
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| Author |
Shoshani, J.; Kupsky, W.J.; Marchant, G.H. | ||||
| Title | Elephant brain. Part I: gross morphology, functions, comparative anatomy, and evolution | Type | Journal Article | ||
| Year | 2006 | Publication | Brain Research Bulletin | Abbreviated Journal | Brain Res Bull |
| Volume | 70 | Issue | 2 | Pages | 124-157 |
| Keywords | Animals; Brain/*anatomy & histology/blood supply/*physiology; Cats; Chinchilla; Elephants/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; Equidae; *Evolution; Female; Guinea Pigs; Haplorhini; Humans; Hyraxes; Male; Pan troglodytes; Sheep; Wolves | ||||
| Abstract | We report morphological data on brains of four African, Loxodonta africana, and three Asian elephants, Elephas maximus, and compare findings to literature. Brains exhibit a gyral pattern more complex and with more numerous gyri than in primates, humans included, and in carnivores, but less complex than in cetaceans. Cerebral frontal, parietal, temporal, limbic, and insular lobes are well developed, whereas the occipital lobe is relatively small. The insula is not as opercularized as in man. The temporal lobe is disproportionately large and expands laterally. Humans and elephants have three parallel temporal gyri: superior, middle, and inferior. Hippocampal sizes in elephants and humans are comparable, but proportionally smaller in elephant. A possible carotid rete was observed at the base of the brain. Brain size appears to be related to body size, ecology, sociality, and longevity. Elephant adult brain averages 4783 g, the largest among living and extinct terrestrial mammals; elephant neonate brain averages 50% of its adult brain weight (25% in humans). Cerebellar weight averages 18.6% of brain (1.8 times larger than in humans). During evolution, encephalization quotient has increased by 10-fold (0.2 for extinct Moeritherium, approximately 2.0 for extant elephants). We present 20 figures of the elephant brain, 16 of which contain new material. Similarities between human and elephant brains could be due to convergent evolution; both display mosaic characters and are highly derived mammals. Humans and elephants use and make tools and show a range of complex learning skills and behaviors. In elephants, the large amount of cerebral cortex, especially in the temporal lobe, and the well-developed olfactory system, structures associated with complex learning and behavioral functions in humans, may provide the substrate for such complex skills and behavior. | ||||
| Address | Department of Biology, University of Asmara, P.O. Box 1220, Asmara, Eritrea (Horn of Africa). hezy@bio.uoa.edu.er | ||||
| 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 | 0361-9230 | ISBN | Medium | ||
| Area | Expedition | Conference | |||
| Notes | PMID:16782503 | Approved | no | ||
| Call Number | Equine Behaviour @ team @ | Serial | 2623 | ||
| Permanent link to this record | |||||