| 1. |
- Laska, Matthias, 1960-, et al.
(author)
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Sex-Specific Differences in Olfactory Sensitivity for Putative Human Pheromones in Nonhuman Primates
- 2006
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In: Journal of comparative psychology (1983). - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 0735-7036 .- 1939-2087. ; 120:2, s. 106-112
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In humans, the volatile C19-steroids androsta-4,16-dien-3-one (AND) and estra-1,3,5(10),16-tetraen-3-ol (EST) have been shown to modulate autonomic nervous system responses, and to cause hypothalamic activation in a gender-specific manner. Using two conditioning paradigms, the authors here show that pigtail macaques and squirrel monkeys of both sexes were able to detect AND and EST at concentrations in the micromolar and mM range, respectively. Male and female spider monkeys, in contrast, differed markedly in their sensitivity to these two odorous steroids, with males not showing any behavioral responses to the highest concentrations of AND tested and females not responding to the highest concentrations of EST. These data provide the first examples of sex-specific bimodal distributions of olfactory sensitivity in a nonhuman primate species.
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| 2. |
- Congdon, Jenna V., et al.
(author)
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Hear them roar: A comparison of black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) and human (Homo sapiens) perception of arousal in vocalizations across all classes of terrestrial vertebrates
- 2019
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In: Journal of Comparative Psychology. - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 1939-2087 .- 0735-7036.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recently, evidence for acoustic universals in vocal communication was found by demonstrating that humans can identify levels of arousal in vocalizations produced by species across three biological classes (Filippi et al., 2017). Here, we extend this work by testing whether two vocal learning species, humans and chickadees, can discriminate vocalizations of high and low arousal using operant discrimination go/no-go tasks. Stimuli included vocalizations from nine species: giant panda, American alligator, common raven, hourglass treefrog, African elephant, Barbary macaque, domestic pig, black-capped chickadee, and human. Subjects were trained to respond to high or low arousal vocalizations, then tested with additional high and low arousal vocalizations produced by each species. Chickadees (Experiment 1) and humans (Experiment 2) learned to discriminate between high and low arousal stimuli and significantly transferred the discrimination to additional panda, human, and chickadee vocalizations. Finally, we conducted discriminant function analyses using four acoustic measures, finding evidence suggesting that fundamental frequency played a role in responding during the task. However, these analyses also suggest roles for other acoustic factors as well as familiarity. In sum, the results from these studies provide evidence that chickadees and humans are capable of perceiving arousal in vocalizations produced by multiple species.
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| 3. |
- Jacobs, Ivo, et al.
(author)
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The string-pulling paradigm in comparative psychology.
- 2015
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In: Journal of Comparative Psychology. - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 1939-2087 .- 0735-7036. ; 129:2, s. 89-120
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- String pulling is one of the most widely used paradigms in comparative psychology. First documented 2 millennia ago, it has been a well-established scientific paradigm for a century. More than 160 bird and mammal species have been tested in over 200 studies with countless methodological variations. The paradigm can be used to address a wide variety of issues on animal cognition; for example, what animals understand about contact and connection as well as whether they rely on perceptual feedback, grasp the functionality of strings, generalize across conditions, apply their knowledge flexibly, and possess insight. Mammals are typically tested on a horizontal configuration, birds on a vertical one, making the studies difficult to compare; in particular, pulling a string vertically requires better coordination and attention. A species' performance on the paradigm is often influenced by its ecology, especially concerning whether limbs are used for foraging. Many other factors can be of importance and should be considered. The string-pulling paradigm is easy to administer, vary, and apply to investigate a wide array of cognitive abilities. Although it can be and has been used to compare species, divergent methods and unclear reporting have limited its comparative utility. With increasing research standards, the paradigm is expected to become an even more fundamental tool in comparative psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record
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| 4. |
- Laska, Matthias, et al.
(author)
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Olfactory Discrimination of Aliphatic Odorants in South African Fur Seals (Arctocephalus pusillus)
- 2010
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In: JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY. - : American Psychological Association. - 0735-7036 .- 1939-2087. ; 124:2, s. 187-193
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using a food-rewarded, two-choice, instrumental conditioning paradigm we assessed the ability of South African fur seals, Arctocephalus pusillus, to discriminate between members of five chemical classes of aliphatic odorants presumed to differ in their abundance in the marine chemical environment. We found that the fur seals were able to distinguish between 24 of the 25 odor pairs presented and thus have a well-developed ability to discriminate between structurally related odorants, that aliphatic n-acetic esters were significantly more poorly discriminated by the fur seals than aliphatic n-aldehydes and n-carboxylic acids, and a lack of correlations between discrimination performance and structural similarity of odorants in terms of differences in carbon chain length. These results suggest that the sense of smell may play an important and hitherto underestimated role in regulating the behavior of fur seals. Further, they support the notion that regular connections between the perceived quality of odorants and their molecular structural properties are not a general phenomenon but appear to be odorant class- and species-specific. Our data support the hypothesis that a species chemical environment may affect its olfactory capabilities.
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| 5. |
- Rodrigo, Alba Motes, et al.
(author)
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Hand Preferences in Two Unimanual and Two Bimanual Coordinated Tasks in the Black-Handed Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)
- 2018
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In: Journal of comparative psychology (1983). - : AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC. - 0735-7036 .- 1939-2087. ; 132:2, s. 220-229
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Spider monkeys are interesting to study with regard to hand preferences, as they are one of the few primate species that lack a thumb and, thus, are unable to perform a precision grip. Further, being platyrrhine primates, they also largely lack independent motor control of the digits and, thus, have only limited manual dexterity. It was therefore the aim of the present study to assess hand preferences in black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in 4 tasks differing in task demand: simple unimanual reaching for food and 3 versions of the widely used tube task, including 2 bimanual versions that differ from each other in the degree of fine motor control needed and a unimanual version that does not require coordinated action of the hands. We found that black-handed spider monkeys display significant hand preferences at the individual, but not at the population, level. This was true both in the 2 bimanual coordinated tasks and in the 2 unimanual tasks. Further, our results show that the majority of animals were consistent in the hand they preferred in these 4 tasks. Our findings only partially support the notion that task demand positively correlates with strength of hand preference. Finally, we found that the index finger was the most frequently used digit in all 3 tube tasks, although the animals also used other digits and 2- and 3-finger combinations to extract food from a tube. We conclude that limited manual dexterity does not prevent spider monkeys from displaying strong and consistent hand preferences at the individual level.
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| 6. |
- Wheat, Christina Hansen, et al.
(author)
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Wolf (Canis lupus) Hybrids Highlight the Importance of Human-Directed Play Behavior During Domestication of Dogs (Canis familiaris)
- 2018
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In: Journal of comparative psychology (1983). - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 0735-7036 .- 1939-2087. ; 132:4, s. 373-381
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The domestication of animals and plants offers an exceptional opportunity to study evolutionary adaptations. In particular, domesticated animals display several behavioral alterations, including increased sociability and decreased fearfulness and aggression, when compared with their wild ancestors. However, studies quantifying simultaneous changes in multiple behaviors during domestication are lacking. Moreover, the role of human-directed play behavior has been largely neglected when studying the domestication process. Here we address these issues by examining behavioral changes during the domestication of the dog (Canis familiaris) from the gray wolf (Canis lupus) using a standardized behavioral test applied to wolf hybrids and several dog breeds. Contrary to expectations, our study provides little support for collective behavioral alterations. Specifically, although we found that wolf hybrids were less playful and overall more fearful than dogs, we did not detect any differences in sociability or aggression between wolf hybrids and dog breeds. Instead, our results suggest that behavioral alterations during domestication do not necessarily occur in concert and point to an important, but previously overlooked, role of selection on play behavior directed at humans during the domestication of dogs.
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