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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
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11594496 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial (up) 738
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Author Whiten, A.
Title Imitation of the sequential structure of actions by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Type Journal Article
Year 1998 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 112 Issue 3 Pages 270-281
Keywords Animals; Appetitive Behavior/physiology; *Ceremonial Behavior; Exploratory Behavior/physiology; Female; Fruit; Imitative Behavior/*physiology; Learning/*physiology; Male; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; Practice (Psychology); Problem Solving/*physiology
Abstract Imitation was studied experimentally by allowing chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) to observe alternative patterns of actions for opening a specially designed “artificial fruit.” Like problematic foods primates deal with naturally, with the test fruit several defenses had to be removed to gain access to an edible core, but the sequential order and method of defense removal could be systematically varied. Each subject repeatedly observed 1 of 2 alternative techniques for removing each defense and 1 of 2 alternative sequential patterns of defense removal. Imitation of sequential organization emerged after repeated cycles of demonstration and attempts at opening the fruit. Imitation in chimpanzees may thus have some power to produce cultural convergence, counter to the supposition that individual learning processes corrupt copied actions. Imitation of sequential organization was accompanied by imitation of some aspects of the techniques that made up the sequence.
Address Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. a.whiten@st-andrews.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
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Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:9770315 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial (up) 743
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Author Whiten, A.; Custance, D.M.; Gomez, J.C.; Teixidor, P.; Bard, K.A.
Title Imitative learning of artificial fruit processing in children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Type Journal Article
Year 1996 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 110 Issue 1 Pages 3-14
Keywords Animals; Child, Preschool; Discrimination Learning; Female; Food Preferences/*psychology; *Fruit; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; Male; Mental Recall; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; Social Environment
Abstract Observational learning in chimpanzees and young children was investigated using an artificial fruit designed as an analog of natural foraging problems faced by primates. Each of 3 principal components could be removed in 2 alternative ways, demonstration of only one of which was watched by each subject. This permitted subsequent imitation by subjects to be distinguished from stimulus enhancement. Children aged 2-4 years evidenced imitation for 2 components, but also achieved demonstrated outcomes through their own techniques. Chimpanzees relied even more on their own techniques, but they did imitate elements of 1 component of the task. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence of chimpanzee imitation in a functional task designed to simulate foraging behavior hypothesized to be transmitted culturally in the wild.
Address Scottish Primate Research Group, University of St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. aw2@st-andrews.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
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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:8851548 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial (up) 744
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Author Hall, C.A.; Cassaday, H.J.; Vincent, C.J.; Derrington, A.M.
Title Cone excitation ratios correlate with color discrimination performance in the horse (Equus caballus) Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 120 Issue 4 Pages 438-448
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Color Perception; *Discrimination (Psychology); Discrimination Learning; Horses; Photoreceptors, Vertebrate/*physiology
Abstract Six horses (Equus caballus) were trained to discriminate color from grays in a counterbalanced sequence in which lightness cues were irrelevant. Subsequently, the pretrained colors were presented in a different sequence. Two sets of novel colors paired with novel grays were also tested. Performance was just as good in these transfer tests. Once the horse had learned to select the chromatic from the achromatic stimulus, regardless of the specific color, they were immediately able to apply this rule to novel stimuli. In terms of the underlying visual mechanisms, the present study showed for the first time that the spectral sensitivity of horse cone photopigments, measured as cone excitation ratios, was correlated with color discrimination performance, measured as accuracy, repeated errors, and latency of approach.
Address School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Southwell, United Kingdom. carol.hall@ntu.ac.uk
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ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17115866 Approved no
Call Number Serial (up) 1780
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Author Schwab, C.; Huber, L.
Title Obey or not obey? Dogs (Canis familiaris) behave differently in response to attentional states of their owners Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 120 Issue 3 Pages 169-175
Keywords Animals; *Attention; Awareness; *Bonding, Human-Pet; *Cooperative Behavior; Cues; Dogs/*psychology; Humans; Motivation; *Nonverbal Communication; Social Perception; *Speech Perception; *Verbal Behavior
Abstract Sixteen domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) were tested in a familiar context in a series of 1-min trials on how well they obeyed after being told by their owner to lie down. Food was used in 1/3 of all trials, and during the trial the owner engaged in 1 of 5 activities. The dogs behaved differently depending on the owner's attention to them. When being watched by the owner, the dogs stayed lying down most often and/or for the longest time compared with when the owner read a book, watched TV, turned his or her back on them, or left the room. These results indicate that the dogs sensed the attentional state of their owners by judging observable behavioral cues such as eye contact and eye, head, and body orientation.
Address Department for Behavior, Neurobiology and Cognition, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. cpriberskyschwab@yahoo.de
Corporate Author Thesis
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
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Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16893253 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (up) 4961
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Author Soproni, K.; Miklósi, Á.; Topál, J.; Csányi, V.
Title Dogs' (Canis familiaris) responsiveness to human pointing gestures Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 116 Issue 1 Pages 27-34
Keywords Analysis of Variance; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Choice Behavior; Dogs/*psychology; Female; Gestures; Male; *Recognition (Psychology); Species Specificity
Abstract In a series of 3 experiments, dogs (Canis familiaris) were presented with variations of the human pointing gesture: gestures with reversed direction of movement, cross-pointing, and different arm extensions. Dogs performed at above chance level if they could see the hand (and index finger) protruding from the human body contour. If these minimum requirements were not accessible, dogs still could rely on the body position of the signaler. The direction of movement of the pointing arm did not influence the performance. In summary, these observations suggest that dogs are able to rely on relatively novel gestural forms of the human communicative pointing gesture and that they are able to comprehend to some extent the referential nature of human pointing.
Address Department of Ethology, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary. krisztinasoproni@hotmail.com
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Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11926681 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (up) 4962
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Author Soproni, K.; Miklósi, A.; Topál, J.; Csányi, V.
Title 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
Corporate Author Thesis
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
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Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11459158 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (up) 4963
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Author Gosling, S.D.
Title Personality dimensions in spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) Type Journal Article
Year 1998 Publication Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 112 Issue 2 Pages 107-118
Keywords Animals; Carnivora/*psychology; Female; Humans; Male; *Personality; Personality Assessment/statistics & numerical data; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; Species Specificity; Temperament
Abstract Personality ratings of 34 spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) were made by 4 observers who knew the animals well. Analyses suggest that (a) hyena personality traits were rated with generally high reliability; (b) 5 broad dimensions (Assertiveness, Excitability, Human-Directed Agreeableness, Sociability, and Curiosity) captured about 75% of the total variance; (c) this dimensional structure could not be explained in terms of dominance status, sex, age, or appearance; and (d) as expected, female hyenas were more assertive than male hyenas. Comparisons with previous research provide evidence for the cross-species generality of Excitability, Sociability, and especially Assertiveness. Discussion focuses on methodological issues in research on animal personality and on the potential contributions this research can make for understanding the biological and environmental bases of personality.
Address Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley 94720-1650, USA. samiam@uclink.berkeley.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
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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:9642781 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (up) 5019
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