Comparative Cognition

1. Describe the delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) procedure. 

A memory task in which the animals is first shown a sample stimulus and then, following a delta, is required to select that stimulus out of a group if alternative stimuli.  

2. How is the DMTS procedure modified to study directed forgetting? What happens when pigeons are directed to forget? 

In a directed forgetting task, the pigeon is shown a cue during the delay period, which signals whether the s sample stimulus should be remembered or forgotten, on directed forgetting tasks pigeons are less likely to select the correct stimulus following exposure to the forget cue.  

When pigeons are “told” that they need to not remember a particular stimulus, they do in fact display poorer memory for that stimulus in the future 

3. How does the memory performance of food-storing birds differ from birds that don’t store food? What factors predict a larger hippocampus in birds? Finally, what is the “important thing to take away” that is noted in the last paragraph of this section?  

Food storing species of birds have a larger hippocampus than those with less storing experience. Similar species can have different abilities if they are subjected to different Enviromental demands; as well different species can have similar abilities if they are subjected to similar environmental demands.  

4.  Summarize the main points of the section When “Bird Brains” Outperform People. 

Switching doors after one is eliminated gives you a higher probability of winning than if you stay with your first choice after you are shown what is eliminated. Humans often fail this task because we look it at using “classical probability” where we attempt to rationally (if incorrectly) predict the probability of a certain outcome given the alternatives available. In contrast, pigeons learn to switch through reinforcement and perform better. Empirical learning can sometimes outperform people's reasoning.  

5. Describe the false belief task and how children over the age of 4 typically respond. Describe how the hidden banana task is used to assess the same skill in chimps.   

Children are told a story using props children over 4 would usually respond with saying that Sally will look in the box because that is where Sally left it and she didn't know that the bear had been moved.  

The subordinate chimps can use information about what dominant chimps know to make safe decisions in a competitive task.  

6. What is unique about vervet monkeys’ communication? 

Thier system of communication involves alarm calls. When one vervet makes an alarm call as a result of spotting a predator, other vervets pay close attention and will often hide or escape the area. What is unique about vervets is they have different calls for different predator types and the different calls elicit different behavioral responses from the rest of the group.  

7. Who is Vicki, and why was the attempt to train her to speak destined to produce disappointing results?  

Viki only learned to produce a few numbers of words such as mama, papa, cup and up.  

8. Describe the characteristics shared by species good at learning language.  

Some animals can use symbols in certain situations. Different species with different social and physical environments have evolved specialized ways of dealing with those environments.  

9. Summarize the language achievement of the African grey parrot Alex, including his ability to understand overlapping categories.  

Dr. Pepperberg used a training method called the model-rival technique which uses a competitor for the subject being trained and acts as a model for the behavior to be learned.       Gradually he learned to name colors, names of items and learn words for numbers. He also demonstrated verbal ability. The question would require him to count the number of items that were in two different categories. He couldn't just count the green items and couldn't just count the blocks, but he had to count only the green blocks.