International Journal of Comparative Psychology

Articles

• Naturalistic Approaches to Orangutan Intelligence and the Question of Enculturation

  • Russon, Anne E

  Field studies have been, and continue to be, important contributors to the

  understanding of great ape cognition-especially with regard to questions of cognitive

  ecology or the key cognitive challenges in the evolution of primate intelligence. They

  are also critical to resolving a current debate, whether human enculturation boosts great

  apes' cognition, because only studies of problem-solving in feral contexts can resolve

  the question of whether abilities are higher in enculturated than non-enculturated great

  apes. To this debate, this paper offers findings from observational field studies on freeranging

  rehabilitant orangutans' cognitive capabilities, as revealed in their food

  processing and arboreal positioning, and on the possible social transmission of that

  expertise. These findings are combined with published findings on wild and

  enculturated great apes as a basis for assessing the effects of human enculturation on

  great ape cognition. This assessment joins several others in showing that free-ranging

  great apes independently achieve cognition of the same order of complexity as

  enculturated great apes, in concluding that claims for the effects of human enculturation

  are likely inflated, and in suggesting that the basis for the effectiveness of human

  enculturation is that great apes normally "enculturate" themselves.

• Studies of Temperament in Simian primates with Implications for Socially Mediated Learning

  • Box, Hilary

  The functions of social learning concern the acquisition of skills and

  information that enable individuals to adjust competently to their environments.

  However, individuals differ in the extents to which they cope with, maintain and create

  social and other environmental opportunities. Hence, it is relevant to consider

  dispositions of individuals interactively - as with emotion, attention and activity; to

  emphasise self regulatory behaviour, as with selective attention towards or away from

  environmental conditions. These propensities facilitate positive and negative responses

  that are associated with the uptake and use of skill and information from other

  individuals. In these regards, the study of temperament has fertile but mainly

  unexplored potential. Examples are given from studies of simian primates in which

  differences in temperament have predictive implications for social learning. When

  relatively fearful animals confront challenging situations, they are likely to avoid them

  and become physiologically disturbed. Less fearful and active animals interact more,

  and in emotionally more positive ways with other individuals. They are more likely to

  maintain closer physical proximity to others, to attend more to what they are doing and

  where. Hence, they have greater chances of facilitating advantageous responses - as in

  feeding strategies. In the acquisition of social skills, less fearful animals engage in play

  activities more than relatively fearful animals. Such interactions facilitate the

  development of information about other individuals, and the quality of social behaviour

  that is developed. These examples show the value of an integrative approach to

  behavioural studies - in which behaviour is considered with other biological systems.

• Song Structure and Function of Mimicry in the Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen): Compared to Lyrebird (Menura ssp.)

  • Kaplan, Gisela

  This paper compares two species of songbird with the aim of elucidating

  the function of song and also of mimicry. It attempts to understand why some birds

  mimic and takes as examples the lyrebird (Menura sp.) and the Australian magpie

  {Gymnorhina tibicen). Mimicry by the magpie and its development has been recorded

  and analysed. The results show that magpies mimic in the wild and they do so

  mimicking species permanently settled in their own territory. So far 15 types of

  mimicry have been identified. One handraised Australian magpie even developed the

  ability to vocalise human language sounds, words and phrases. Results show that

  mimicry is interspersed into their own song at variable rates, not in fixed sequences as

  in lyrebirds. In one case it was possible to show an extremely high retention rate of

  learned material and a high plasticity for learning. Spectrogram comparisons of

  sequences of mimicry with the calls of the original species, and comparison of magpie

  mimicry with lyrebird mimicry is made. Both species may justifiably vie for the

  position of the foremost songbirds of Australia, and both are territorial, yet the function,

  structure and development of song are different in the two species. It is argued that

  possible functions of mimicry are related not only to social organisation but also to the

  niche each species occupies. Territoriality may go some way to explaining the

  complexity of song but not necessarily the different functions of mimicry or the varying

  degrees of complexity of communication. We need to ask what conditions may foster

  development of complex communication patterns in avian species.

• Failure to Find Proboscis Conditioning in One-Day Old Africanized Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera L,) and in Adult Uru§u. Honey bees (Melipona Scutellaris)

  • Abramson, Charles I;
  • Aquino, Italo S;
  • Stone, Sherrill M

  The proboscis extension reflex was used to investigate behavior

  modification in one day old Africanized honey bees and in adult Uru^u honey bees.

  Experiments were designed to investigate classical conditioning, pseudoconditioning,

  and central excitatory state. Additional experiments examined the suitability of the

  proboscis extension reflex to serve as a feeding assay were carried out on Urugu. The

  results indicated no classical conditioning and no pseudoconditioning in young

  Africanized bees or in the adult Uru9u. A large central excitatory effect was observed in

  young Africanized bees, but only a small effect was observed in Urugu. The proboscis

  extension reflex could be used as an assay to test the suitability of artificial diets in

  Uru§u.