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Author Hare, B.; Plyusnina, I.; Ignacio, N.; Schepina, O.; Stepika, A.; Wrangham, R.; Trut, L.
Title Social cognitive evolution in captive foxes is a correlated by-product of experimental domestication Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Current biology : CB Abbreviated Journal Curr Biol
Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 226-230
Keywords Animals; *Animals, Domestic; Cognition/*physiology; *Cues; *Evolution; Foxes/*physiology; *Selection (Genetics); Social Behavior; Species Specificity
Abstract Dogs have an unusual ability for reading human communicative gestures (e.g., pointing) in comparison to either nonhuman primates (including chimpanzees) or wolves . Although this unusual communicative ability seems to have evolved during domestication , it is unclear whether this evolution occurred as a result of direct selection for this ability, as previously hypothesized , or as a correlated by-product of selection against fear and aggression toward humans--as is the case with a number of morphological and physiological changes associated with domestication . We show here that fox kits from an experimental population selectively bred over 45 years to approach humans fearlessly and nonaggressively (i.e., experimentally domesticated) are not only as skillful as dog puppies in using human gestures but are also more skilled than fox kits from a second, control population not bred for tame behavior (critically, neither population of foxes was ever bred or tested for their ability to use human gestures) . These results suggest that sociocognitive evolution has occurred in the experimental foxes, and possibly domestic dogs, as a correlated by-product of selection on systems mediating fear and aggression, and it is likely the observed social cognitive evolution did not require direct selection for improved social cognitive ability.
Address Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. hare@eva.mpg.de
Corporate Author Thesis (up)
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0960-9822 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15694305 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 594
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Author Miklosi, A.; Pongracz, P.; Lakatos, G.; Topal, J.; Csanyi, V.
Title A Comparative Study of the Use of Visual Communicative Signals in Interactions Between Dogs (Canis familiaris) and Humans and Cats (Felis catus) and Humans Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Journal of Comparative Psychology Abbreviated Journal J. Comp. Psychol.
Volume 119 Issue 2 Pages 179-186
Keywords
Abstract Dogs' (Canis familiaris) and cats' (Felis catus) interspecific communicative behavior toward humans was investigated. In Experiment 1, the ability of dogs and cats to use human pointing gestures in an object-choice task was compared using 4 types of pointing cues differing in distance between the signaled object and the end of the fingertip and in visibility duration of the given signal. Using these gestures, both dogs and cats were able to find the hidden food; there was no significant difference in their performance. In Experiment 2, the hidden food was made inaccessible to the subjects to determine whether they could indicate the place of the hidden food to a naive owner. Cats lacked some components of attention-getting behavior compared with dogs. The results suggest that individual familiarization with pointing gestures ensures high-level performance in the presence of such gestures; however, species-specific differences could cause differences in signaling toward the human.
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Publisher Place of Publication Editor
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ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 599
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Author Quesada, J; Kintsch, W.; Gomez, E.
Title Complex problem-solving: a field in search of a definition? Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science Abbreviated Journal Theor Issues Ergon Sci
Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages 5-33
Keywords Problem solving; Dynamic decision making; Micro-worlds; Expertise
Abstract Complex problem-solving (CPS) is as an area of cognitive science that has received a good amount of attention, but theories in the field have not progressed accordingly. The reasons could be the lack of good definitions and classifications of the tasks (taxonomies). Although complexity is a term used pervasively in psychology and is operationalized in different ways, there are no psychological theories of complexity. The definition of problem-solving has been changed in the past to reflect the varied interests of the researchers and has lost its initial concreteness. These two facts together make it difficult to define CPS or make clear if CPS should reuse the theory and methods of classical problem-solving or on the contrary should build a theoretical structure starting from scratch. A taxonomy is offered of tasks using both formal features and psychological features that are theory-independent that could help compare the CPS tasks used in the literature. The adequateness is also reviewed of the most extended definitions of CPS and conclude that they are in serious need of review, since they cover tasks that are not considered problem-solving by their own authors or are not complex, but ignore others that should clearly be included.
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Publisher Taylor and Francis Ltd Place of Publication Editor
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Notes Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 604
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Author Kitchen, D.M.; Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M.
Title Male chacma baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) discriminate loud call contests between rivals of different relative ranks Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages 1-6
Keywords Acoustic Stimulation; Animals; *Discrimination Learning; *Hierarchy, Social; Male; Papio hamadryas/*psychology; *Social Dominance; *Vocalization, Animal
Abstract Males in multi-male groups of chacma baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) in Botswana compete for positions in a linear dominance hierarchy. Previous research suggests that males treat different categories of rivals differently; competitive displays between males of similar rank are more frequent and intense than those between disparately ranked males. Here we test whether males also respond differently to male-male interactions in which they are not directly involved, using playbacks of the loud 'wahoo' calls exchanged between competing males in aggressive displays. We played paired sequences of vocal contests between two adjacently ranked and two disparately ranked males to ten subjects, half ranking below the signalers in the call sequences and half above. Subjects who ranked above the two signalers showed stronger responses than lower-ranking subjects. Higher-ranking subjects also responded more strongly to sequences involving disparately ranked, as opposed to adjacently ranked opponents, suggesting that they recognized those individuals' relative ranks. Strong responses to sequences between disparately ranked opponents might have occurred either because such contests typically involve resources of high fitness value (defense of meat, estrous females or infants vulnerable to infanticide) or because they indicate a sudden change in one contestant's condition. In contrast, subjects who ranked lower than the signalers responded equally strongly to both types of sequences. These subjects may have been able to distinguish between the two categories of opponents but did not respond differently to them because they had little to lose or gain by a rank reversal between males that already ranked higher than they did.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. dkitchen@psych.upenn.edu
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
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ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15164259 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 687
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Author Kavaliers, M.; Colwell, D.D.; Choleris, E.
Title Kinship, familiarity and social status modulate social learning about “micropredators” (biting flies) in deer mice Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 58 Issue 1 Pages 60-71
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Notes Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 710
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Author Whiten, A.
Title The second inheritance system of chimpanzees and humans Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature
Volume 437 Issue 7055 Pages 52-55
Keywords Animals; Animals, Wild/physiology/psychology; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; *Culture; Female; Humans; Imitative Behavior; Learning/*physiology; Pan troglodytes/*physiology/psychology; *Social Behavior; Technology
Abstract Half a century of dedicated field research has brought us from ignorance of our closest relatives to the discovery that chimpanzee communities resemble human cultures in possessing suites of local traditions that uniquely identify them. The collaborative effort required to establish this picture parallels the one set up to sequence the chimpanzee genome, and has revealed a complex social inheritance system that complements the genetic picture we are now developing.
Address Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, and Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9JP, UK. a.whiten@st-and.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis (up)
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1476-4687 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16136127 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 730
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Author Horner, V.; Whiten, A.
Title Causal knowledge and imitation/emulation switching in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and children (Homo sapiens) Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 164-181
Keywords Animals; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; *Concept Formation; Female; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; Pan troglodytes; *Problem Solving; Psychomotor Performance; *Social Environment; Species Specificity
Abstract This study explored whether the tendency of chimpanzees and children to use emulation or imitation to solve a tool-using task was a response to the availability of causal information. Young wild-born chimpanzees from an African sanctuary and 3- to 4-year-old children observed a human demonstrator use a tool to retrieve a reward from a puzzle-box. The demonstration involved both causally relevant and irrelevant actions, and the box was presented in each of two conditions: opaque and clear. In the opaque condition, causal information about the effect of the tool inside the box was not available, and hence it was impossible to differentiate between the relevant and irrelevant parts of the demonstration. However, in the clear condition causal information was available, and subjects could potentially determine which actions were necessary. When chimpanzees were presented with the opaque box, they reproduced both the relevant and irrelevant actions, thus imitating the overall structure of the task. When the box was presented in the clear condition they instead ignored the irrelevant actions in favour of a more efficient, emulative technique. These results suggest that emulation is the favoured strategy of chimpanzees when sufficient causal information is available. However, if such information is not available, chimpanzees are prone to employ a more comprehensive copy of an observed action. In contrast to the chimpanzees, children employed imitation to solve the task in both conditions, at the expense of efficiency. We suggest that the difference in performance of chimpanzees and children may be due to a greater susceptibility of children to cultural conventions, perhaps combined with a differential focus on the results, actions and goals of the demonstrator.
Address Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9JU, UK. vkh1@st-andrews.ac.uk
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Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15549502 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 732
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Author Devenport, J.A.; Patterson, M.R.; Devenport, L.D.
Title Dynamic averaging and foraging decisions in horses (Equus callabus) Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Journal of Comparative psychology Abbreviated Journal J. Comp. Psychol.
Volume 119 Issue 3 Pages 352-358
Keywords Animals; *Decision Making; *Feeding Behavior; Female; Horses/*psychology; Male; *Memory, Short-Term; Motivation; Orientation; *Social Environment
Abstract The variability of most environments taxes foraging decisions by increasing the uncertainty of the information available. One solution to the problem is to use dynamic averaging, as do some granivores and carnivores. Arguably, the same strategy could be useful for grazing herbivores, even though their food renews and is more homogeneously distributed. Horses (Equus callabus) were given choices between variable patches after short or long delays. When patch information was current, horses returned to the patch that was recently best, whereas those without current information matched choices to the long-term average values of the patches. These results demonstrate that a grazing species uses dynamic averaging and indicate that, like granivores and carnivores, they can use temporal weighting to optimize foraging decisions.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Central Oklahoma, 73034, USA. jdevenport@ucok.edu
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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:16131264 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 752
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Author Cant, M.A.; Field, J.
Title Helping effort in a dominance hierarchy Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Behavioral Ecology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol.
Volume 16 Issue 4 Pages 708-715
Keywords
Abstract In many cooperatively breeding species, group members form a dominance hierarchy or queue to inherit the position of breeder. Models aimed at understanding individual variation in helping behavior, however, rarely take into account the effect of dominance rank on expected future reproductive success and thus the potential direct fitness costs of helping. Here we develop a kin-selection model of helping behavior in multimember groups in which only the highest ranking individual breeds. Each group member can invest in the dominant's offspring at a cost to its own survivorship. The model predicts that lower ranked subordinates, who have a smaller probability of inheriting the group, should work harder than higher ranked subordinates. This prediction holds regardless of whether the intrinsic mortality rate of subordinates increases or decreases with rank. The prediction does not necessarily hold, however, where the costs of helping are higher for lower ranked individuals: a situation that may be common in vertebrates. The model makes two further testable predictions: that the helping effort of an individual of given rank should be lower in larger groups, and the reproductive success of dominants should be greater where group members are more closely related. Empirical evidence for these predictions is discussed. We argue that the effects of rank on stable helping effort may explain why attempts to correlate individual helping effort with relatedness in cooperatively breeding species have met with limited success.
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Notes 10.1093/beheco/ari051 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 760
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Author Vahl, W.K.; Lok, T.; van der Meer, J.; Piersma, T.; Weissing, F.J.
Title Spatial clumping of food and social dominance affect interference competition among ruddy turnstones Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Behavioral Ecology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol.
Volume 16 Issue 5 Pages 834-844
Keywords
Abstract In studying the success of foraging animals, studies of interference competition have put emphasis on effects of competitor density, whereas studies of resource defense have focused on the effects of the spatial distribution of food within patches. Very few studies have looked at both factors simultaneously, that is, determined whether the effects of competitor density on foraging success depend on the spatial distribution of food. We studied the behavior and the foraging success of ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres) using an experiment in which we varied both the presence of a competitor and the food distribution. Because turnstones may differ strongly in their relative dominance status, we also experimentally varied the foragers' relative dominance status. We found that the presence of a competitor only reduced the foraging success of subordinate birds foraging at the clumped food distribution. At this condition, dominant and subordinate birds differed markedly in their foraging success. Contrary to our expectations, we did not observe more agonistic behavior at the clumped food distribution. This indicates that the amount of agonistic behavior observed may be a bad indicator of interference effects. These findings have specific implications for models of interference competition. Most notably they show that the effects of competitor density on agonistic behavior and foraging success may well depend on the spatial distribution of food and the foragers' relative dominance status. Additionally, our results suggest that social dominance will not be fully understood without considering long-term processes such as the formation and maintenance of social dominance hierarchies.
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ISSN ISBN Medium
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Notes 10.1093/beheco/ari067 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 761
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