toggle visibility Search & Display Options

Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print
  Records Links
Author Ratcliffe, J.M.; Fenton, M.B.; Shettleworth, S.J. doi  openurl
  Title Behavioral flexibility positively correlated with relative brain volume in predatory bats Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Brain, behavior and evolution Abbreviated Journal Brain Behav Evol  
  Volume 67 Issue 3 Pages 165-176  
  Keywords Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Brain/*anatomy & histology/physiology; Chiroptera/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; Organ Size; Predatory Behavior/*physiology  
  Abstract We investigated the potential relationships between foraging strategies and relative brain and brain region volumes in predatory (animal-eating) echolocating bats. The species we considered represent the ancestral state for the order and approximately 70% of living bat species. The two dominant foraging strategies used by echolocating predatory bats are substrate-gleaning (taking prey from surfaces) and aerial hawking (taking airborne prey). We used species-specific behavioral, morphological, and ecological data to classify each of 59 predatory species as one of the following: (1) ground gleaning, (2) behaviorally flexible (i.e., known to both glean and hawk prey), (3) clutter tolerant aerial hawking, or (4) open-space aerial hawking. In analyses using both species level data and phylogenetically independent contrasts, relative brain size was larger in behaviorally flexible species. Further, relative neocortex volume was significantly reduced in bats that aerially hawk prey primarily in open spaces. Conversely, our foraging behavior index did not account for variability in hippocampus and inferior colliculus volume and we discuss these results in the context of past research.  
  Address Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. jmr247@cornell.edu  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title (down) Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0006-8977 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16415571 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 358  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Shettleworth, S.J. doi  openurl
  Title Cognitive science: rank inferred by reason Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature  
  Volume 430 Issue 7001 Pages 732-733  
  Keywords Animals; Cognition/*physiology; Group Structure; Male; *Social Dominance; Songbirds/*physiology  
  Abstract  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title (down) Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1476-4687 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15306792 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 365  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Shettleworth, S.J. doi  openurl
  Title Memory and hippocampal specialization in food-storing birds: challenges for research on comparative cognition Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication Brain, behavior and evolution Abbreviated Journal Brain Behav Evol  
  Volume 62 Issue 2 Pages 108-116  
  Keywords Animals; Birds/*physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Color Perception/physiology; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; Hippocampus/*physiology; Memory/*physiology; Species Specificity  
  Abstract The three-way association among food-storing behavior, spatial memory, and hippocampal enlargement in some species of birds is widely cited as an example of a new 'cognitive ecology' or 'neuroecology.' Whether this relationship is as strong as it first appears and whether it might be evidence for an adaptive specialization of memory and hippocampus in food-storers have recently been the subject of some controversy [Bolhuis and Macphail, 2001; Macphail and Bolhuis, 2001]. These critiques are based on misconceptions about the nature of adaptive specializations in cognition, misconceptions about the uniformity of results to be expected from applying the comparative method to data from a wide range of species, and a narrow view of what kinds of cognitive adaptations are theoretically interesting. New analyses of why food-storers (black-capped chickadees, Poecile Atricapilla) respond preferentially to spatial over color cues when both are relevant in a memory task show that this reflects a relative superiority of spatial memory as compared to memory for color rather than exceptional spatial attention or spatial discrimination ability. New studies of chickadees from more or less harsh winter climates also support the adaptive specialization hypothesis and suggest that within-species comparisons may be especially valuable for unraveling details of the relationships among ecology, memory, and brain in food-storing species.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., M5S 3G3, Canada. shettle@psych.utoronto.ca  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title (down) Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0006-8977 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:12937349 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 367  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Hampton, R.R.; Healy, S.D.; Shettleworth, S.J.; Kamil, A.C. doi  openurl
  Title Neuroecologists' are not made of straw Type Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication Trends in Cognitive Sciences Abbreviated Journal Trends. Cognit. Sci.  
  Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages 6-7  
  Keywords  
  Abstract  
  Address Laboratory of Neuropsychology, NIH--NIMH, Building 49, Room 1B-80, 20892-4415, Bethesda, MD, USA  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title (down) Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1364-6613 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:11849608 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 371  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Shettleworth, S.J. doi  openurl
  Title Cognitive ecology: field or label? Type Journal Article
  Year 2000 Publication Trends in Ecology & Evolution Abbreviated Journal Trends. Ecol. Evol  
  Volume 15 Issue 4 Pages 161  
  Keywords  
  Abstract  
  Address Depts of Psychology and Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G3  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title (down) Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0169-5347 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:10717686 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 373  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Sara J. Shettleworth doi  openurl
  Title Female mate choice in swordtails and mollies: symmetry assessment or Weber's law? Type Journal Article
  Year 1999 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.  
  Volume 58 Issue 5 Pages 1139-1142  
  Keywords  
  Abstract  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of Toronto  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title (down) Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:10564618 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 374  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Shettleworth, S.J. doi  openurl
  Title Handling time and choice in pigeons Type Journal Article
  Year 1985 Publication Abbreviated Journal J Exp Anal Behav  
  Volume 44 Issue 2 Pages 139-155  
  Keywords  
  Abstract According to optimal foraging theory, animals should prefer food items with the highest ratios of energy intake to handling time. When single items have negligible handling times, one large item should be preferred to a collection of small ones of equivalent total weight. However, when pigeons were offered such a choice on equal concurrent variable-interval schedules in a shuttlebox, they preferred the side offering many small items per reinforcement to that offering one or a few relatively large items. This preference was still evident on concurrent fixed-cumulative-duration schedules in which choosing the alternative with longer handling time substantially lowered the rate of food intake.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title (down) Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0022-5002 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16812429 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 383  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Anderson , M.C.; Shettleworth, S.J. doi  openurl
  Title Behavioral adaptation to fixed-interval and fixed-time food delivery in golden hamsters Type Journal Article
  Year 1977 Publication Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) Abbreviated Journal J Exp Anal Behav  
  Volume 27 Issue 1 Pages 33-49  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Food-deprived golden hamsters in a large enclosure received food every 30 sec contingent on lever pressing, or free while their behavior was continuously recorded in terms of an exhaustive classification of motor patterns. As with other species in other situations, behavior became organized into two main classes. One (terminal behaviors) increased in probability throughout interfood intervals; the other (interim behaviors) peaked earlier in interfood intervals. Which class an activity belonged to was independent of whether food was contingent on lever pressing. When food was omitted on some of the intervals (thwarting), the terminal activities began sooner in the next interval, and different interim activities changed in different ways. The interim activities did not appear to be schedule-induced in the usual sense. Rather, the hamsters left the area of the feeder when food was not due and engaged in activities they would normally perform in the experimental environment.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title (down) Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0022-5002 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16811980 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 388  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Mendl, M. url  openurl
  Title Performing under pressure: stress and cognitive function Type Journal Article
  Year 1999 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 65 Issue 3 Pages 221-244  
  Keywords Stress; Cognition; Attention; Learning; Memory; Welfare  
  Abstract The way in which cognitive functioning is affected by stressors is an important area of research for applied ethologists because stress caused by captive conditions may disrupt cognitive processes and lead to welfare and husbandry problems. Such problems may be minimised through an understanding of the links between stress and cognition. The effects of stress on cognitive function have been studied in disciplines ranging from human perceptual psychology to animal neuroscience. The aim of this paper is to provide an introduction to this research, focusing on the effects of stressors on attention, memory formation and memory recall. Findings from such a diverse literature with little apparent inter-disciplinary communication are inevitably complex and often contradictory. Nevertheless, some generalities do emerge. The idea that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between an individual's state of stress or arousal and its ability to perform a cognitive task effectively, the so-called Yerkes-Dodson law, is commonly encountered. The law has limited explanatory value because it is unlikely that different stressors act on cognitive function via the same intervening, non-specific state. Furthermore, the law only provides a very general description of the relationship between stress and cognitive function. Empirical research on attention and memory processes reveals more specific findings. Stressors appear to cause shifts, lapses and narrowing of attention, and can also influence decision speed. These processes may be viewed as serving an adaptive role helping the animal to search for and scrutinise a source of danger. There is conflicting evidence as to whether hormones involved in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress response play a part in these processes. These hormones and those involved in the sympathetic-adrenomedullary stress response do appear to play an important role in memory formation. Low or moderate concentrations of circulating glucocorticoids and catecholamines can enhance memory formation, while excessively high or prolonged elevations of these hormones can lead to memory disruption. The effects of stressors on memory recall are less clear. There is evidence for disruptive effects, and for facilitatory effects indicating state-dependent memory recall; events experienced under conditions of high arousal may be best recalled under similar conditions. Applied ethologists have the opportunity to extend work in this area, which often involves studies of single stressors/stress hormones acting in isolation and limited measures of cognitive function, by focusing on real-life husbandry stressors encountered by captive animals. This will yield fundamental information which also has direct relevance to animal welfare and management issues.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title (down) Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 393  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Earley, R.L.; Druen, M.; Alan Dugatkin, L. doi  openurl
  Title Watching fights does not alter a bystander's response towards naive conspecifics in male green swordtail fish, Xiphophorus helleri Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.  
  Volume 69 Issue 5 Pages 1139-1145  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Bystanders are capable of extracting cues from signalling interactions between others and appear to use information gained via eavesdropping when confronted with the watched individuals. A question that has gained little attention is whether observing fights affects bystander behaviour outside the context of interacting with the watched individuals. Our aim was to determine whether watching fights elicits general changes in bystander aggression levels in Xiphophorus helleri. We manipulated the bystanders' ability to witness encounters using clear, one-way-mirror and opaque partitions. After watching (or not watching) an initial contest, the bystanders were pitted against naive conspecifics instead of the animals they had seen fight. Observing fights did not alter the bystanders' propensity to initiate aggression, escalate, or win against naive individuals, indicating that bystanders do not experience general changes in aggressive behaviour after watching a fight. Earlier work in this species, however, has shown that bystanders respond in predictable ways to individuals they have witnessed winning or losing a fight. Taken together, these data support the notion that bystanders consistently modify their behaviour towards previously watched winners or losers in response to information gained via eavesdropping. We discuss our results in light of some recent work on the behavioural and endocrinological responses triggered by watching fights and suggest that comparative approaches to understanding networking phenomena may be productive.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title (down) Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 394  
Permanent link to this record
Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print