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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Sparking A Dolphin's Curiosity: Individual Differences In Dolphins' Reactions To Surprising And Expectation-Violating Events, Malin Katarina Lilley
Sparking A Dolphin's Curiosity: Individual Differences In Dolphins' Reactions To Surprising And Expectation-Violating Events, Malin Katarina Lilley
Master's Theses
Non-scientific literature consistently describes dolphins as “curious animals,” but there has been little systematic research on curiosity in dolphins. Curiosity in humans and certain non-human animal species, including birds and non-human primates, has been studied by examining individual differences in exploration and reactions to novel stimuli. Additionally, research has explored how human infants and non-human animals react when an event violates their expectations. The present study explored dolphins’ reactions to spontaneously surprising and expectation-violating stimuli. The reactions of dolphins, 15 bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) and 6 rough-toothed (Steno bredanensis), at Gulf World Marine Park were analyzed in …
Personality Assessment In African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana), Kristina Marie Horback
Personality Assessment In African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana), Kristina Marie Horback
Dissertations
The following study assessed personality in twelve African elephants using both observational behavior coding and standardized trait rating methods, thus demonstrating consistent individual differences across time and contexts. During the summer of 2010 and 2011, over 640 hours of behavioral data were collected onsite at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, CA. Four coding-based personality traits were determined after analysis: PLAYFUL, CURIOUS, TOLERANT, and, AGGRESSIVE. This data was then compared to survey ratings completed by the animal keeper staff during both summers. Four rating-based personality traits resulted from this analysis: PLAYFUL, CURIOUS, TIMID, and, AGGRESSIVE. All eight composite …