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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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2000

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Psychology

Sentience Collection

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Possible Levels Of Animal Consciousness With Reference To Grey Parrots (Psittacus Erithacus), Irene M. Pepperberg, Spencer K. Lynn Dec 2000

Possible Levels Of Animal Consciousness With Reference To Grey Parrots (Psittacus Erithacus), Irene M. Pepperberg, Spencer K. Lynn

Sentience Collection

Researchers often study nonhuman abilities by assuming their subjects form representations about perceived stimuli and then process such information; why then would consciousness be required, and, if required, at what level? Arguments about nonhuman consciousness range from claims of levels comparable to humans to refutation of any need to study such phenomena. We suggest that (a) species exhibit different levels attuned to their ecological niches, and (b) animals, within their maximum possible level, exhibit different extents of awareness appropriate to particular situations, much like humans (presumably conscious) who often act without conscious awareness of factors controlling their behavior. We propose …


Spontaneous Discrimination Of Natural Stimuli By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), David A. Brown, Sarah T. Boysen Dec 2000

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

Sentience Collection

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 …


Animal Emotions: Exploring Passionate Natures, Marc Bekoff Oct 2000

Animal Emotions: Exploring Passionate Natures, Marc Bekoff

Sentience Collection

No abstract provided.


Primate Numerical Competence: Contributions Toward Understanding Nonhuman Cognition, Sarah T. Boysen, Karen I. Hallberg Jul 2000

Primate Numerical Competence: Contributions Toward Understanding Nonhuman Cognition, Sarah T. Boysen, Karen I. Hallberg

Sentience Collection

Nonhuman primates represent the most significant extant species for comparative studies of cognition, including such complex phenomena as numerical competence, among others. Studies of numerical skills in monkeys and apes have a long, though somewhat sparse history, although questions for current empirical studies remain of great interest to several fields, including comparative, developmental, and cognitive psychology; anthropology; ethology; and philosophy, to name a few. In addition to demonstrated similarities in complex information processing, empirical studies of a variety of potential cognitive limitations or constraints have provided insights into similarities and differences across the primate order, and continue to offer theoretical …


Bubble Ring Play Of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus): Implications For Cognition, Brenda Mccowan, Lori Marino, Erik Vance, Leah Walke, Diana Reiss Mar 2000

Bubble Ring Play Of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus): Implications For Cognition, Brenda Mccowan, Lori Marino, Erik Vance, Leah Walke, Diana Reiss

Sentience Collection

Research on the cognitive capacities of dolphins and other cetaceans (whales and porpoises) has importance for the study of comparative cognition, particularly with other large-brained social mammals, such as primates. One of the areas in which cetaceans can be compared with primates is that of object manipulation and physical causality, for which there is an abundant body of literature in primates. The authors supplemented qualitative observations with statistical methods to examine playful bouts of underwater bubble ring production and manipulation in 4 juvenile male captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). The results are consistent with the hypothesis that dolphins monitor the …