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Author Klein, E.D.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitation and affordance learning by pigeons (Columba livia) Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 117 Issue 4 Pages 414-419
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Columbidae; Cues; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Odors; Sound
Abstract The bidirectional control procedure was used to determine whether pigeons (Columba livia) would imitate a demonstrator that pushed a sliding screen for food. One group of observers saw a trained demonstrator push a sliding screen door with its beak (imitation group), whereas 2 other groups watched the screen move independently (possibly learning how the environment works) with a conspecific either present (affordance learning with social facilitation) or absent (affordance learning alone). A 4th group could not see the screen being pushed (sound and odor control). Imitation was evidenced by the finding that pigeons that saw a demonstrator push the screen made a higher proportion of matching screen pushes than observers in 2 appropriate control conditions. Further, observers that watched a screen move without a demonstrator present made a significantly higher proportion of matching screen pushes than would be expected by chance. Thus, these pigeons were capable of affordance learning.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-004, USA
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:14717643 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 234
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Author Dorrance, B.R.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitation of conditional discriminations in pigeons (Columba livia) Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 116 Issue 3 Pages 277-285
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Columbidae; Conditioning (Psychology)/*physiology; Discrimination Learning/*physiology; Habituation, Psychophysiologic; *Imitative Behavior; Light; Reinforcement (Psychology)
Abstract In the present experiments, the 2-action method was used to determine whether pigeons could learn to imitate a conditional discrimination. Demonstrator pigeons (Columba livia) stepped on a treadle in the presence of 1 light and pecked at the treadle in the presence of another light. Demonstration did not seem to affect acquisition of the conditional discrimination (Experiment 1) but did facilitate its reversal of the conditional discrimination (Experiments 2 and 3). The results suggest that pigeons are not only able to learn a specific behavior by observing another pigeon, but they can also learn under which circumstances to perform that behavior. The results have implications for proposed mechanisms of imitation in animals.
Address Department of Psychology, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois 61201, USA. psdorrance@augustana.edu
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12234078 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 240
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Author Dorrance, B.R.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitative learning in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) depends on the motivational state of the observer quail at the time of observation Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 115 Issue 1 Pages 62-67
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Coturnix; Female; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; *Motivation; Reinforcement (Psychology); Time Factors
Abstract The 2-action method was used to examine whether imitative learning in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) depends on the motivational state of the observer quail at the time of observation of the demonstrated behavior. Two groups of observers were fed before observation (satiated groups), whereas 2 other groups of observers were deprived of food before observation (hungry groups). Quail were tested either immediately following observation or after a 30-min delay. Results indicated that quail in the hungry groups imitated, whereas those in the satiated groups did not, regardless of whether their test was immediate or delayed. The results suggest that observer quail may not learn (through observation) behavior that leads to a reinforcer for which they are unmotivated at the time of test. In addition, the results show that quail are able to delay the performance of a response acquired through observation (i.e., they show deferred imitation).
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506-0044, USA
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11334220 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 245
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Author Akins, C.K.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitative learning in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) using the two-action method Type Journal Article
Year 1996 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 110 Issue 3 Pages 316-320
Keywords Animals; Appetitive Behavior; *Attention; *Coturnix; *Imitative Behavior; Male; *Motivation; Transfer (Psychology)
Abstract The study of imitative learning in animals has suffered from the presence of a number of confounding motivational and attentional factors (e.g., social facilitation and stimulus enhancement). The two-action method avoids these problems by exposing observers to demonstrators performing a response (e.g., operating a treadle) using 1 of 2 distinctive topographies (e.g., by pecking or by stepping). Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) observers exposed to conspecific demonstrators showed a high correlation between the topography of the response they observed and the response they performed. These data provide strong evidence for the existence of true imitative learning in an active, precocious bird under conditions that control for alternative accounts.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506-0044, USA
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8858851 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 254
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Author Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M.; Silk, J.B.
Title The responses of female baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) to anomalous social interactions: evidence for causal reasoning? Type Journal Article
Year 1995 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 109 Issue 2 Pages 134-141
Keywords Animals; Attention; Auditory Perception; *Awareness; *Concept Formation; *Dominance-Subordination; Fear; Female; Hierarchy, Social; Papio/*psychology; *Social Behavior; Social Environment; Vocalization, Animal
Abstract Baboons' (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) understanding of cause-effect relations in the context of social interactions was examined through use of a playback experiment. Under natural conditions, dominant female baboons often grunt to more subordinate mothers when interacting with their infants. Mothers occasionally respond to these grunts by uttering submissive fear barks. Subjects were played causally inconsistent call sequences in which a lower ranking female apparently grunted to a higher ranking female, and the higher ranking female apparently responded with fear barks. As a control, subjects heard a sequence made causally consistent by the inclusion of grunts from a 3rd female that was dominant to both of the others. Subjects responded significantly more strongly to the causally inconsistent sequences, suggesting that they recognized the factors that cause 1 individual to give submissive vocalizations to another.
Address Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, USA
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:7758289 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 348
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Author Sutton, J.E.; Shettleworth, S.J.
Title Internal sense of direction and landmark use in pigeons (Columba livia) Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 119 Issue 3 Pages 273-284
Keywords Animals; *Columbidae; Conflict (Psychology); *Cues; Discrimination Learning; Homing Behavior; *Intuition; *Orientation; *Space Perception; Transfer (Psychology); *Visual Perception
Abstract The relative importance of an internal sense of direction based on inertial cues and landmark piloting for small-scale navigation by White King pigeons (Columba livia) was investigated in an arena search task. Two groups of pigeons differed in whether they had access to visual cues outside the arena. In Experiment 1, pigeons were given experience with 2 different entrances and all pigeons transferred accurate searching to novel entrances. Explicit disorientation before entering did not affect accuracy. In Experiments 2-4, landmarks and inertial cues were put in conflict or tested 1 at a time. Pigeons tended to follow the landmarks in a conflict situation but could use an internal sense of direction to search when landmarks were unavailable.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, ON, Canada. jsutton7@uwo.ca
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:16131256 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 360
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Author Jones, J.E.; Antoniadis, E.; Shettleworth, S.J.; Kamil, A.C.
Title A comparative study of geometric rule learning by nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana), pigeons (Columba livia), and jackdaws (Corvus monedula) Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 116 Issue 4 Pages 350-356
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Birds; Feeding Behavior/physiology; Learning/*physiology; *Mathematics; Random Allocation; Spatial Behavior/*physiology
Abstract Three avian species, a seed-caching corvid (Clark's nutcrackers; Nucifraga columbiana), a non-seed-caching corvid (jackdaws; Corvus monedula), and a non-seed-caching columbid (pigeons; Columba livia), were tested for ability to learn to find a goal halfway between 2 landmarks when distance between the landmarks varied during training. All 3 species learned, but jackdaws took much longer than either pigeons or nutcrackers. The nutcrackers searched more accurately than either pigeons or jackdaws. Both nutcrackers and pigeons showed good transfer to novel landmark arrays in which interlandmark distances were novel, but inconclusive results were obtained from jackdaws. Species differences in this spatial task appear quantitative rather than qualitative and are associated with differences in natural history rather than phylogeny.
Address School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 68588-0118, USA
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:12539930 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 369
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Author Rendall, D.; Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M.
Title Proximate factors mediating “contact” calls in adult female baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) and their infants Type Journal Article
Year 2000 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 114 Issue 1 Pages 36-46
Keywords Animals; Animals, Wild; Botswana; Female; *Maternal Behavior; Motivation; Orientation; Papio/*psychology; Social Environment; Sound Spectrography; *Vocalization, Animal
Abstract “Contact” calls are widespread in social mammals and birds, but the proximate factors that motivate call production and mediate their contact function remain poorly specified. Field study of chacma baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) revealed that contact barks in adult females were motivated by separation both from the group at large and from their dependent infants. A variety of social and ecological factors affect the probability of separation from either one or both. Results of simultaneous observations and a playback experiment indicate that the contact function of calling between mothers and infants was mediated by occasional maternal retrieval rather than coordinated call exchange. Mothers recognized the contact barks of their own infants and often were strongly motivated to locate them. However, mothers did not produce contact barks in reply unless they themselves were at risk of becoming separated from the group.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, USA. d.rendall@uleth.ca
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:10739310 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 695
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Author Stoinski, T.S.; Whiten, A.
Title Social learning by orangutans (Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus) in a simulated food-processing task Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 117 Issue 3 Pages 272-282
Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; *Feeding Behavior; Female; *Imitative Behavior; Male; Pongo pygmaeus/*psychology; Problem Solving; Psychomotor Performance; Social Environment; Species Specificity; *Transfer (Psychology)
Abstract Increasing evidence for behavioral differences between populations of primates has created a resurgence of interest in examining mechanisms of information transfer between individuals. The authors examined the social transmission of information in 15 captive orangutans (Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus) using a simulated food-processing task. Experimental subjects were shown 1 of 2 methods for removing a suite of defenses on an “artificial fruit.” Control subjects were given no prior exposure before interacting with the fruit. Observing a model provided a functional advantage in the task, as significantly more experimental than control subjects opened the fruit. Within the experimental groups, the authors found a trend toward differences in the actual behaviors used to remove 1 of the defenses. Results support observations from the wild implying horizontal transfer of information in orangutans and show that a number of social learning processes are likely to be involved in the transfer of knowledge in this species.
Address Department of Primate Research, Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30315, USA. tstoinski@zooatlanta.org
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:14498803 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 737
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Author Stoinski, T.S.; Wrate, J.L.; Ure, N.; Whiten, A.
Title Imitative learning by captive western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in a simulated food-processing task Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 115 Issue 3 Pages 272-281
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; *Discrimination Learning; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; Gorilla gorilla; *Imitative Behavior; Social Behavior
Abstract Although field studies have suggested the existence of cultural transmission of foraging techniques in primates, identification of transmission mechanisms has remained elusive. To test experimentally for evidence of imitation in the current study, we exposed gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) to an artificial fruit foraging task designed by A. Whiten and D. M. Custance (1996). Gorillas (n=6) watched a human model remove a series of 3 defenses around a fruit. Each of the defenses was removed using 1 of 2 alternative techniques. Subsequent video analysis of gorillas' behavior showed a significant tendency to copy the observed technique on 1 of the individual defenses and the direction of removal on another defense. This is the first statistically reliable evidence of imitation in gorillas. Sequence of defense removal was not replicated. The gorillas' responses were most similar to those of chimpanzees.
Address TECHlab, Zoo Atlanta, Georgia 30315, USA. stoinskit@mindspring.com
Corporate Author Thesis
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor (up) Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11594496 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 738
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