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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Dna Default And Its Discontents: Establishing Modern Parenthood, Katharine K. Baker Nov 2016

The Dna Default And Its Discontents: Establishing Modern Parenthood, Katharine K. Baker

Katharine K. Baker

Most contemporary family law scholarship assumes that propriety of a DNA default for establishing parenthood - a presumption that, in the absence of marriage, whoever had the sex with the mother that resulted in the child should be the father of the child. This article problematizes that DNA default. It demonstrates how the DNA default necessarily magnifies the legal and social importance of sex, discounts the legal significance of women's reproductive labor, and marginalizes all children living outside the binary, heteronormative norm that a genetic regime necessarily edifies. When scrutinized, the DNA default looks just as moralistic and exclusionary as …


Injuries Associated With Sport Participation Amongst Australian Army Personnel, Ben Schram, Rodney Pope, Rob Orr Nov 2016

Injuries Associated With Sport Participation Amongst Australian Army Personnel, Ben Schram, Rodney Pope, Rob Orr

Rob Marc Orr

Abstract published in the Journal of Military and Veteran’s Health, 24(4), p. 29.


Injuries Associated With Sport Participation Amongst Australian Army Personnel, Ben Schram, Rodney Pope, Rob Orr Nov 2016

Injuries Associated With Sport Participation Amongst Australian Army Personnel, Ben Schram, Rodney Pope, Rob Orr

Rodney P Pope

Abstract published in the Journal of Military and Veteran’s Health, 24(4), p. 29.


Heterogeneous Immunological Landscapes And Medieval Plague : An Invitation To A New Dialogue Between Historians And Immunologists., Fabian Crespo, Matthew B. Lawrenz Nov 2016

Heterogeneous Immunological Landscapes And Medieval Plague : An Invitation To A New Dialogue Between Historians And Immunologists., Fabian Crespo, Matthew B. Lawrenz

Fabian Crespo

Efforts to understand the differential mortality caused by plague must account for many factors, including human immune responses. In this essay we are particularly interested in those people who were exposed to the Yersinia pestis pathogen during the Black Death, but who had differing fates—survival or death—that could depend on which individuals (once infected) were able to mount an appropriate immune response as a result of biological, environmental, and social factors. The proposed model suggests that historians of the medieval world could make a significant contribution to the study of human health, and especially the role of human immunology in …


Bad Hair Days And The Good Of Pamela Bone's Literary Journalism, Carolyn Rickett Oct 2016

Bad Hair Days And The Good Of Pamela Bone's Literary Journalism, Carolyn Rickett

Carolyn Rickett

“I can’t die! I haven’t finished saving the world yet!” (Bone, 2007c, p. 206).

As a recipient of the United Nations media peace prize, Pamela Bone was noted for her fearless reporting on humanitarian, gender and social justice issues. While some of her thought-provoking columns invited controversy, Michael Gawenda notes, “even when people disagreed with her, they respected and understood what she wrote came from her heart and mind and her great moral clarity” (quoted in Chandler, 2008, n.p.).

Retiring from The Age at the end of 2005, Bone accepted an invitation from Melbourne University Press to write a memoir …


Clinical Chatter: Every Nurse Informed, Carolyn Talbott, Lynn Watson, Matthew Sorenson, Joseph D. Tariman Phd Oct 2016

Clinical Chatter: Every Nurse Informed, Carolyn Talbott, Lynn Watson, Matthew Sorenson, Joseph D. Tariman Phd

Joseph D Tariman PhD, RN, ANP-BC, FAAN

Aims and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the acceptability and usability of
a standardized communication tool for nurses.
Background and Significance: Communication is key in healthcare. On a daily, if not hourly,
basis, nursing staff is inundated with new information regarding tools and resources, practice
changes and the work environment. However, there is currently no standardized messaging or
delivery method to effectively communicate new information. Even with a plethora of
communication tools such as flyers, posters, emails, unit huddles, and unit meetings there is no
means to guarantee attendance to crucial information.
Design: Descriptive, cross sectional …


2016 Research Affairs Symposium Endnote, Shanalee Tamares Oct 2016

2016 Research Affairs Symposium Endnote, Shanalee Tamares

Shanalee Tamares, MLIS

How medical researchers can partner with librarians to make literature research accurate, faster, and efficient. EndNote, a collaborative bibliographic management tool is discussed.


Profiling Work Health And Safety Incidents And Injuries In Australian Army Personnel: An Investigation Of Injuries And Other Incidents Suffered By Army Reserve Personnel, Rob Marc Orr, Rodney Pope, Ben Schram, Dylan Macdonald, Wayne Hing Oct 2016

Profiling Work Health And Safety Incidents And Injuries In Australian Army Personnel: An Investigation Of Injuries And Other Incidents Suffered By Army Reserve Personnel, Rob Marc Orr, Rodney Pope, Ben Schram, Dylan Macdonald, Wayne Hing

Ben Schram

The Army reserve soldier is an integral part of overall Army capability and functioning. Although only becoming full-time when participating in training exercises or when called on for operations, these personnel are generally expected to perform at a level commensurate with full-time soldiers of the same rank and trade. Due to their transitions between civilian and military employments, they are typically exposed to less chronic military physical conditioning than their full-time counterparts. This reduced chronic conditioning, but requirement to perform the same tasks at the same level as full-time soldiers, may leave the reserve soldier at a higher risk of …


Profiling Work Health And Safety Incidents And Injuries In Australian Army Personnel: An Investigation Of Injuries And Other Incidents Suffered By Army Reserve Personnel, Rob Marc Orr, Rodney Pope, Ben Schram, Dylan Macdonald, Wayne Hing Oct 2016

Profiling Work Health And Safety Incidents And Injuries In Australian Army Personnel: An Investigation Of Injuries And Other Incidents Suffered By Army Reserve Personnel, Rob Marc Orr, Rodney Pope, Ben Schram, Dylan Macdonald, Wayne Hing

Wayne Hing

The Army reserve soldier is an integral part of overall Army capability and functioning. Although only becoming full-time when participating in training exercises or when called on for operations, these personnel are generally expected to perform at a level commensurate with full-time soldiers of the same rank and trade. Due to their transitions between civilian and military employments, they are typically exposed to less chronic military physical conditioning than their full-time counterparts. This reduced chronic conditioning, but requirement to perform the same tasks at the same level as full-time soldiers, may leave the reserve soldier at a higher risk of …


Measuring Your Research Impact: Citation And Altmetrics Tools, Amanda Izenstark, Julia Lovett, Andrée Rathemacher Oct 2016

Measuring Your Research Impact: Citation And Altmetrics Tools, Amanda Izenstark, Julia Lovett, Andrée Rathemacher

Julia Lovett

Slides from a presentation, "Measuring Your Research Impact: Citation and Altmetrics Tools," offered at the Association of Rhode Island Health Sciences Libraries (ARIHSL) Business Meeting on March 16, 2016. The meeting took place at the Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island.


Oncology Nursing And Shared Decision Making For Cancer Treatment, Joseph D. Tariman Phd, Enisa Mehmeti Msn, Nadia Spawn Msn, Sarah P. Mccarter Msn, Jessica Bishop-Royse Phd, Ima Garcia Msn, Np, Lisa Hartle Ms, Cns, Rn, Katharine Szubski Bsn, Rn Sep 2016

Oncology Nursing And Shared Decision Making For Cancer Treatment, Joseph D. Tariman Phd, Enisa Mehmeti Msn, Nadia Spawn Msn, Sarah P. Mccarter Msn, Jessica Bishop-Royse Phd, Ima Garcia Msn, Np, Lisa Hartle Ms, Cns, Rn, Katharine Szubski Bsn, Rn

Joseph D Tariman PhD, RN, ANP-BC, FAAN

This study aimed to describe the contemporary role of the oncology nurse throughout
the entire cancer shared decision-making (SDM) process. Study participants consisted
of 30 nurses and nurse practitioners who are actively involved in direct care
of patients with cancer in the inpatient or outpatient setting. The major themes that
emerged from the content analysis are: oncology nurses have various roles at different
time points and settings of cancer SDM processes; patient education, advocacy, and
treatment side effects management are among the top nursing roles; oncology nurses
value their participation in the cancer SDM process; oncology nurses believe they have …


Genomic Variants Associated With Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Systematic Review, Joseph D. Tariman Phd, Sadaf Dhorajiwala Msn Sep 2016

Genomic Variants Associated With Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Systematic Review, Joseph D. Tariman Phd, Sadaf Dhorajiwala Msn

Joseph D Tariman PhD, RN, ANP-BC, FAAN

Background: Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is the most common stressful side effect caused by cancer and cancer treatments. Although CRF causes a significant burden to quality of life, no pharmacologic interventions are available because the mechanism remains unknown.
Objectives: This systematic review analyzed the genomic variants that have been found to
be associated with CRF.
Methods: A search for peer-reviewed articles through PubMed, EBSCOhost, and DePaul
WorldCat Libraries Worldwide yielded 16 published studies.
Findings: The majority of genomic variants demonstrated that the inflammatory and immune response pathways, including the neuro-proinflammatory cytokine pathway, have statistically significant associations with CRF. Additional genomic studies …


Barriers And Promoters To Participation In The Era Of Shared Treatment Decision-Making, Sarah P. Mccarter Msn, Joseph D. Tariman Phd, Enisa Mehmeti Msn, Nadia Spawn Msn, Jessica Bishop-Royse Phd, Ima Garcia Msn, Np, Lisa Hartle Ms, Cns, Rn, Katharine Szubski Bsn, Rn Sep 2016

Barriers And Promoters To Participation In The Era Of Shared Treatment Decision-Making, Sarah P. Mccarter Msn, Joseph D. Tariman Phd, Enisa Mehmeti Msn, Nadia Spawn Msn, Jessica Bishop-Royse Phd, Ima Garcia Msn, Np, Lisa Hartle Ms, Cns, Rn, Katharine Szubski Bsn, Rn

Joseph D Tariman PhD, RN, ANP-BC, FAAN

This study aimed to identify the barriers and promoters for participation
in cancer treatment decision in the era of shared decision-making (SDM)
process. A qualitative design was utilized. Nineteen nurses and 11 nurse
practitioners from oncology inpatient and outpatient settings participated
in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using directed content
analysis. The findings include practice barrier, patient barrier, institutional
policy barrier, professional barrier, scope of practice barrier, insurance
coverage barrier, and administrative barrier. Multidisciplinary team approach,
having a nursing voice during SDM, high level of knowledge of the disease
and treatment, and personal valuation of SDM participation were perceived
as …


Cascading Losses: A Case Study Of Suffering From Head And Neck Cancer Sep 2016

Cascading Losses: A Case Study Of Suffering From Head And Neck Cancer

Linda A. Treiber


In this case study, we analyzed an online illness narrative written by a middle-aged man living with HIV/AIDS who received a diagnosis of squamous cell cancer of the tongue.  We found that the onset of a second illness initiated a series of cascading losses that became increasingly problematic, severe, and interconnected.  In response to these losses, the author developed several coping strategies, including sharing his story with others and engaging in magical thinking.  The findings of this case study broaden our understanding of what it means to live with a complex and unusual combination of illnesses.  We conclude with implications …


Microhabitat Use Affects Goby (Gobiidae) Cue Choice In Spatial Learning Task, G. E. White, C. Brown Sep 2016

Microhabitat Use Affects Goby (Gobiidae) Cue Choice In Spatial Learning Task, G. E. White, C. Brown

Culum Brown, PhD

This study investigated whether spatial learning ability and cue use of gobies (Gobiidae) from two contrasting habitats differed in a spatial task. Gobies were collected from the spatially complex rock pools and dynamic, homogenous sandy shores. Fishes were trained to locate a shelter under the simulated threat of predation and it was determined whether they used local or extra-maze (global) and geometric cues to do so. It was hypothesized that fishes from rock pools would outperform fishes from sandy shores in their ability to relocate shelter and the two groups would differ in their cue use. It was found that …


Predator Recognition And Responses In The Endangered Macquarie Perch (Macquaria Australasica), Culum Brown, Jennifer Morgan Sep 2016

Predator Recognition And Responses In The Endangered Macquarie Perch (Macquaria Australasica), Culum Brown, Jennifer Morgan

Culum Brown, PhD

Macquarie perch, Macquaria austalasica, is an endangered species endemic to southern Australia whose distribution is highly fragmented and continues to decline. Key threatening processes include habitat destruction, dams and weirs, overfishing and interactions with introduced species. Here, we examined the responses of small and large Macquarie perch to two native predators and to the introduced redfin perch, Perca fluviatilis. Our results showed that Macquarie perch generally avoided large-bodied native predators but was attracted to small-bodied native predators. Responses to large and small redfin perch lay between these two extremes, suggesting that the Macquarie perch does treat these foreign fish as …


Laterality Enhances Numerical Skills In The Guppy, Poecilia Reticulata, Marco Dadda, Christian Agrillo, Angelo Bisazza, Culum Brown Sep 2016

Laterality Enhances Numerical Skills In The Guppy, Poecilia Reticulata, Marco Dadda, Christian Agrillo, Angelo Bisazza, Culum Brown

Culum Brown, PhD

It has been hypothesized that cerebral lateralization can significantly enhance cognition and that this was one of the primary selective forces shaping its wide-spread evolution amongst vertebrate taxa. Here, we tested this hypothesis by examining the link between cerebral lateralization and numerical discrimination. Guppies, Poecilia reticulata, were sorted into left, right and non-lateralized groups using a standard mirror test and their numerical discrimination abilities tested in both natural shoal choice and abstract contexts. Our results show that strongly lateralized guppies have enhanced numerical abilities compared to non-lateralized guppies irrespective of context. These data provide further credence to the notion that …


Training For Tactical Operations In Tropical Environments: Challenges, Risks, & Strategies For Risk Management, Rodney Pope, Rob Orr, Anthony Walker, Shane D. Irving, Ralph P. Jones, Richard J. Gorey, Scott D. Gayton, Joseph Knapik Sep 2016

Training For Tactical Operations In Tropical Environments: Challenges, Risks, & Strategies For Risk Management, Rodney Pope, Rob Orr, Anthony Walker, Shane D. Irving, Ralph P. Jones, Richard J. Gorey, Scott D. Gayton, Joseph Knapik

Rob Marc Orr

Tactical operators, encompassing military, law enforcement, fire and other emergency personnel, can be found in all climatic zones. These tactical operators may be deployed at short notice to tropical environments, often with limited time to acclimatise if based in more temperate zones. They are then expected to undertake arduous tactical tasks, often repeatedly and for extended periods in the tropical area. These demands combine with harsh environments, personal protective equipment (PPE), tactical loads, threats to life, and responsibility for the safety and survival of others to place immense physical and mental stresses on tactical operators. Managing the resulting risks is …


Goats Favour Personal Over Social Information In An Experimental Foraging Task, Luigi Baciadonna, Alan G. Mcelligott, Elodie F. Briefer Sep 2016

Goats Favour Personal Over Social Information In An Experimental Foraging Task, Luigi Baciadonna, Alan G. Mcelligott, Elodie F. Briefer

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Animals can use their environments more efficiently by selecting particular sources of information (personal or social), according to specific situations. Group-living animals may benefit from gaining information based on the behaviour of other individuals. Indeed, social information is assumed to be faster and less costly to use than personal information, thus increasing foraging efficiency. However, when food sources change seasonally or are randomly distributed, individual information may become more reliable than social information. The aim of this study was to test the use of conflicting personal versus social information in goats (Capra hircus), in a foraging task.We found that goats …


Rescued Goats At A Sanctuary Display Positive Mood After Former Neglect, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott Sep 2016

Rescued Goats At A Sanctuary Display Positive Mood After Former Neglect, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Moods influence cognitive processes in that people in positive moods expect more positive events to occur and less negative ones (“optimistic bias”), whereas the opposite happens for people in negative moods (“pessimistic bias”). The evidence for an effect of mood on cognitive bias is also increasing in animals, suggesting that measures of optimism and pessimism could provide useful indicators of animal welfare. For obvious ethical reasons, serious poor treatments cannot be easily replicated in large mammals in order to study their long-term effects on moods. In this study, we tested the long-term effects (>2 years) of prior poor welfare …


Artificial Neural Network Approach For Revealing Individuality, Group Membership And Age Information In Goat Kid Contact Calls, Livio Favaro, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott Sep 2016

Artificial Neural Network Approach For Revealing Individuality, Group Membership And Age Information In Goat Kid Contact Calls, Livio Favaro, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Machine learning techniques are becoming an important tool for studying animal vocal communication. The goat (Capra hircus) is a very social species, in which vocal communication and recognition are important. We tested the reliability of a Multi-Layer Perceptron (feed-forward Artificial Neural Network, ANN) to automate the process of classification of calls according to individual identity, group membership and maturation in this species. Vocalisations were obtained from 10 half-sibling (same father but different mothers) goat kids, belonging to 3 distinct social groups. We recorded 157 contact calls emitted during first week, and 164 additional calls recorded from the same individuals at …


Emotions In Goats: Mapping Physiological, Behavioural And Vocal Profiles, Elodie F. Briefer, Federico Tettamanti, Alan G. Mcelligott Sep 2016

Emotions In Goats: Mapping Physiological, Behavioural And Vocal Profiles, Elodie F. Briefer, Federico Tettamanti, Alan G. Mcelligott

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Emotions are important because they enable the selection of appropriate behavioural decisions in response to external or internal events. Techniques for understanding and assessing animal emotions, and particularly positive ones, are lacking. Emotions can be characterized by two dimensions: their arousal (bodily excitation) and their valence (negative or positive). Both dimensions can affect emotions in different ways. It is thus crucial to assess their effects on biological parameters simultaneously, so that accurate indicators of arousal and valence can be identified. To find convenient and noninvasive tools to assess emotions in goats, Capra hircus, we measured physiological, behavioural and vocal responses …


Fallow Bucks Attend To Vocal Cues Of Motivation And Fatigue, Benjamin J. Pitcher, Elodie F. Briefer, Elisabetta Vannoni, Alan G. Mcelligott Sep 2016

Fallow Bucks Attend To Vocal Cues Of Motivation And Fatigue, Benjamin J. Pitcher, Elodie F. Briefer, Elisabetta Vannoni, Alan G. Mcelligott

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Vocalizations encode a range of information about the caller, and variation in calling behavior and vocal structure may provide listeners with information about the motivation and condition of the caller. Fallow bucks only vocalize during the breeding season and can produce more than 3000 groans per hour. Males modulate their calling rates, calling faster when other calling males and/or females are nearby. Groans also reveal caller fatigue, becoming shorter and higher pitched toward the end of the rut. Thus, fallow deer groans vary both over very short (minute to minute) and longer timescales (the rut). However, no studies have investigated …


Mother Goats Do Not Forget Their Kids’ Calls, Elodie F. Briefer, Mónica Padilla De La Torre, Alan G. Mcelligott Sep 2016

Mother Goats Do Not Forget Their Kids’ Calls, Elodie F. Briefer, Mónica Padilla De La Torre, Alan G. Mcelligott

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Parent–offspring recognition is crucial for offspring survival. At long distances, this recognition is mainly based on vocalizations. Because of maturation-related changes to the structure of vocalizations, parents have to learn successive call versions produced by their offspring throughout ontogeny in order to maintain recognition. However, because of the difficulties involved in following the same individuals over years, it is not clear how long this vocal memory persists. Here, we investigated long-term vocal recognition in goats. We tested responses of mothers to their kids’ calls 7–13 months after weaning. We then compared mothers’ responses to calls of their previous kids with …


Semi-Wild Chimpanzees Open Hard-Shelled Fruits Differently Across Communities, Bruce Rawlings, Marina Davilla-Ross, Sarah T. Boysen Sep 2016

Semi-Wild Chimpanzees Open Hard-Shelled Fruits Differently Across Communities, Bruce Rawlings, Marina Davilla-Ross, Sarah T. Boysen

Sarah Boysen, PhD

Researchers investigating the evolutionary roots of human culture have turned to comparing behaviours across nonhuman primate communities, with tool-based foraging in particular receiving much attention. This study examined whether natural extractive foraging behaviours other than tool selection differed across nonhuman primate colonies that had the same foods available. Specifically, the behaviours applied to open the hard-shelled fruits of Strychnos spp. were examined in three socially separate, semi-wild colonies of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) that lived under shared ecological conditions at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, and were comparable in their genetic makeup. The chimpanzees (N = 56) consistently applied six techniques to open …


Mother--Offspring Recognition Via Contact Calls In Cattle, Bos Taurus, Mónica Padilla De La Torre, Elodie F. Briefer, Brad M. Ochocki, Alan G. Mcelligott, Tom Reader Sep 2016

Mother--Offspring Recognition Via Contact Calls In Cattle, Bos Taurus, Mónica Padilla De La Torre, Elodie F. Briefer, Brad M. Ochocki, Alan G. Mcelligott, Tom Reader

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Individual recognition in gregarious species is fundamental in order to avoid misdirected parental investment. In ungulates, two very different parental care strategies have been identified: ‘hider’ offspring usually lie concealed in vegetation whereas offspring of ‘follower’ species remain with their mothers while they forage. These two strategies have been suggested to impact on mother--offspring vocal recognition, with unidirectional recognition of the mother by offspring occurring in hiders and bidirectional recognition in followers. In domestic cattle, Bos taurus, a facultative hider species, vocal communication and recognition have not been studied in detail under free-ranging conditions, where cows and calves can graze …


Acoustic Analysis Of Cattle (Bos Taurus) Mother–Offspring Contact Calls From A Source–Filter Theory Perspective, Mónica Padilla De La Torre, Elodie F. Briefer, Tom Reader, Alan G. Mcelligott Sep 2016

Acoustic Analysis Of Cattle (Bos Taurus) Mother–Offspring Contact Calls From A Source–Filter Theory Perspective, Mónica Padilla De La Torre, Elodie F. Briefer, Tom Reader, Alan G. Mcelligott

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Cattle vocalisations have been proposed as potential indicators of animal welfare. How-ever, very few studies have investigated the acoustic structure and information encoded in these vocalisations using advanced analysis techniques. Vocalisations play key roles in a wide range of communication contexts; e.g. for individual recognition and to help coordinate social behaviours. Two factors have greatly assisted our progress in developing an understanding of animal vocal communication. Firstly, more rigorous call analysis methods allow us to describe the variation in the vocal parameters in unprecedented detail. Secondly, the adoption of the “source–filter theory” of call production links the acoustic structure of …


Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity In A Free-Ranging Mammal: Effects Of Dominance Rank And Personality, Elodie F. Briefer, James A. Oxley, Alan G. Mcelligott Sep 2016

Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity In A Free-Ranging Mammal: Effects Of Dominance Rank And Personality, Elodie F. Briefer, James A. Oxley, Alan G. Mcelligott

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Modulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity allows animals to effectively respond to internal and external stimuli in everyday challenges via changes in, for example, heart and respiration rate. Various factors, ranging from social such as dominance rank to internal such as personality or affective states can impact animal physiology. Our knowledge of the combinatory effects of social and internal factors on ANS basal activity and reactivity, and of the importance that each factor has in determining physiological parameters, is limited, particularly in nonhuman, free-ranging animals. In this study, we tested the effects of dominance rank and personality (assessed …


Overcoming Response Bias Using Symbolic Representations Of Number By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), Sarah T. Boysen, Kimberly L. Mukobi, Gary G. Berntson Sep 2016

Overcoming Response Bias Using Symbolic Representations Of Number By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), Sarah T. Boysen, Kimberly L. Mukobi, Gary G. Berntson

Sarah Boysen, PhD

We previously reported that chimpanzees were unable to optimally select the smaller of two candy arrays in order to receive a larger reward. When Arabic numerals were substituted for the candy arrays, animals who had had prior training with numerical symbols showed an immediate and significant improvement in performance and were able to select reliably the smaller numeric representation in order to obtain a larger reward. Poor performance with candy arrays was interpreted as reflecting a response bias toward the intrinsic incentive and/or perceptual features of the larger array. In contrast, the Arabic numerals represent numerosity symbolically and appear to …


Spontaneous Discrimination Of Natural Stimuli By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), David A. Brown, Sarah T. Boysen Sep 2016

Spontaneous Discrimination Of Natural Stimuli By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), David A. Brown, Sarah T. Boysen

Sarah Boysen, PhD

Six chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) were presented with pairs of color photographic images of 5 different categories of animals (cat, chimp, gorilla, tiger, fish). The subjects responded to each pair using symbols for "same" and "different." Both within- and between-category discriminations were tested, and all chimpanzees classified the image pairs in accordance with the 5 experimenter-defined categories under conditions of nondifferential reinforcement. Although previous studies have demonstrated identification or discrimination of natural categories by nonhuman animals, subjects were typically differentially reinforced for their responses. The present findings demonstrate that chimpanzees can classify natural objects spontaneously and that such classifications may be …