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Cognition is the science of how animals learn and communicate. Since most animals cannot talk, evolution has allowed them to use signs for communication. One of the many questions being answered by animal cognition is the question of do animals think? Well of course, animals are able to think but at much lower levels than humans. Do animals communicate? Yes, but we cannot understand them. Most of what an animal needs to know is already programmed into their genes. Animals function on three modes, reproduction, feeding , and self-preservation. The famous question regarding animal language is if a lion could talk would we understand him? HISTORY Charles Darwin Evolution The first person to suggest the possible continuity of cognitive processes among diffferent species. http://act9.saumag.edu/faculty/kardas/Images/Web%20Images/Lecture/Darwin.html Photograph of Charles Darwin Ivan Pavlov Discovered the conditioned response. We use the term "classical conditioning to describe one type of associative learning in which there is no contingency between response and reinforcer. http://courses.wcupa.edu/renner/psy363/pavlov/index.htm#14Slides of Classical Conditioning http://act9.saumag.edu/faculty/kardas/Images/Web%20Images/Lecture/pavlov.GIF Photograph of Ivan Pavlov http://act9.saumag.edu/faculty/kardas/Images/Web%20Images/Lecture/PavlovApp.html Pavlov's Apparatus Edward Thorndike First empirical and theoretical analyses of animal learning. Operant conditioning and behaviorism http://act9.saumag.edu/faculty/kardas/Images/Web%20Images/Lecture/thorndike.GIF Photograph of Edward Thorndike http://act9.saumag.edu/faculty/kardas/Images/Web%20Images/Lecture/PuzzleBox.html Puzzle Box Wolfgang Kohler Developed the first real cognitive analysis of learning in animals http://info.ilboro.ac.uk/research/husat/eusc/g-observation.htm/ Photograph of Wolfgang Kohler Konrad Lorenz Played a key role in the devlopment of the ethological study of animal behavior Winner of the 1973 Nobel Prize for his work in the area of innate behaviors. http://lonestar.texas.net/~alandp/popwip/people/lorenz.htm Pictures B.F. Skinner A major figure in the fielf of behaviorism and is considered to be the father of operant conditioning. With pigeons, he developed the ideas of "operant conditioning" and "shaping behavior." The Behavior of Organisms Operant conditoning a term applied by B.F. Skinner to a process in which learning or behavioral change takes place as a result of reinforcing (rewarding) the desired behavior and withholding the reward or actively punishing undesired behaviors. Examples are teaching a dog new tricks, and rewarding behavior change in mental patients. http://act9.saumag.edu/faculty/kardas/Images/Web%20Images/Lecture/skinner.GIF Photograph of B.F. Skinner http://act9.saumag.edu/faculty/kardas/Images/Web%20Images/Lecture/ratoper.GIF Diagram of the Skinner Box ANIMAL PERCEPTION Visual perception Perception of light in animals vs humans http://www.uwsp.edu/acad/psych/dog/DVision.htm Basic, Text, Medium, Links Article describing Canine Vision http://birding.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa021498.htm Long, text, links, graphics Article on Bird Vision-What do they see? Descirbes the importance of the bird's sense of vision in their ability to survive. It also describes such concepts as monocular and binocular vision. Cognitive aspects of stimulus control The perception of the extended stimulus Three psychophysical principles in the processing of spatial and temporal information Animal perception and memory The perception of Pitch constancy in birdsong The visual perception and processing of textures\ Physical Stimulus - Robert Tufts Bat Ecolocation long, text, The Evolution of Behavior http://www.batcon.org/discover/silvhair.wav Silver-haired bat with feeding buzzes http://www.batcon.org/discover/mexfree.wav Mexican free-tailed bat communication call http://www.batcon.org/discover/noctule.wav British Noctule bat feeding buzzes COGNITION AND MEMORY Since we cannot normally understand or communicate directly with most other species has with animals in the same way that we communicate with other people, humans have developed three major ways of working with animals for an better understanding of their mental processes: (1) Ethological studies, (2) Behavioral studies, and (3) Interspecific communication. Ethology - the study of animals in a natural setting. Science of animal behavior migration pattern http://courses.wcupa.edu/renner/psy335/migrate/index.html slides of animal migration, navigation, and orientation Following animal in wild to see social behavior and learning trends. (ie Jane Goodall) Rat taste aversion Cognition and Behavior Concepts of what behavior is according to Species of Mind Behavior vs Action - Is behavior mindful or simply reflexive? Form vs Function - classification of behavior by historical cause or primary purpose. Consciousness and recognition is a key mechanism for which scientists search in these studies. This type of research is considered anthropomorphic. Dolpins show elements of self awareness when they see themselves in a mirror or on a television. Pigeons have been found to distinguish between different places using land marks http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/bionb420.07/eorcutt/behav.htmAdv, Links, Long, Text, Diagrams Describes the homing behavior of and potential cues that might be used by homing pigeons in returning to their lofts. Short term memory is shown in DMTS tests which Skinner developed Bird Brains Alex Effectively uses over 100 words to represent his environment. Can make requests for items or relocation. Know to respond in the negative when he wants something different. Knows the alphabet and can count to six Dog domestication Border Collie Training stop is the first thing learned one of the built in behaviors is to circle the prey item acts as if the shepard is another dog hardest thing to learn is to keep sheep away from shepard http://mendel.berkeley.edu/dogs/bcs.htmlBasic, Short, Text, Pictures Describes different types of Herding Dogs ex. Border Collie. Sheep dog Old English Sheep dogs Imprinted as sheep when sheep. No radar lock on prey Marine Mammal Communication and Cognition Dolphins Medium length page on Dolphin Cognition http://www.seaworld.org/sounds/soundfour.aiff Listen to a Dolphin http://www.c-com.net/~mark/ Medium length page on songs of sea creatures COMMUNICATION The basis of social organization is communication, a process by which the behavior of one individual affects the behavior of others. Its purpose is to convey emotional state and thereby control the behaviour of others. Communication serves to coordinate activities, provide access to resources, and to enhance mating success. Bee communication Von Frisch Experiments http://www.angelfire.com/ky/bioreport/Basic,Text, Medium, Diagrams, Pictures An Introduction of honey bees. It contains information on the types of honey bees, what each kind's function is, and what goes on in a typical bee hive Step experiment Fan experiment Dolphin Communication Chemical Communication Ant Communication Moth Communication Bird Song Basic,Text, Medium Summarization of bird songs and what a bird is saying when it sings http://www.wbird.com/robin.htm Song of a Robin http://www.wbird.com/mockingb.htmSong of a Mockingbird http://www.wbird.com/mockingb.htmSong of a Dove http://www.wbird.com/cardinal.htmSong of a Cardinal http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/G_Kunkel/hsefnch.wavSong of a Finch http://www.planetpets.simplenet.com/finchsng.htmBasic, Text, Short Summarization of Song learning in Zebra Finches Functions Territorial defense by males Reproduction Alarm Primate Communication Central Washington University Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/twyford/73/Basic, Text, Medium, Pictures Describes Animal Communication and describes the various results of different studies performed on Chimpanzees and Beluga Whales. Washoe FAQ's Primates Kanzi and Panbanisha - chimpanzee Koko and other gorillas Orangutans URLs Historical Sites A Brief Historical Account of Classical Ethology and Cognitive Ethology --adv., long, text This site considers some major strands in the history of approaches to the study of animal behavior and cognition. These range from the "anecdotal cognitivism" of the late nineteeth century to the present-day cognitive ethology via behaviorsim and classical ethology. http://logic.tamu.edu/~colin/SpeciesofMind/chapter2.html Perception Visual Perception http://www.bssc.edu.u/tl/learning/science/wigney/catstuff Vision, mood, and Grobstein's cat : perceptiion and reality http://www.students.haverford.edu/drakoff/nb/final.html Perception: Abstracts   Communication Communication--interm., medium, text Editorial on the communication of animals and how it relates to human communication http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-2/backup/editorial.html Course Resources: Animal Communication--basic, short, links, search Site lists links in various areas of animal communication. http://www.georgetown.edu/cball/ling001/intro-resources-animals.html Animal Communication Chart--basic, short, graphics, chart This site explains in table form the simmilarities and differences between several species of non-human and human communication. http://regweb.unc.edu/~rfbryan/ling/compare.html Learning and Memory Animal Learning Outline--index, long, interm., links Chapter outline on learning from the beginnings of the study of learning to the present. Http://ucnet.canberra.edu.au/~packrat/Psychology.101/chapter6.html Animal Memory -- Long, basic, text http://frank.mtsu.edu/~pyskip/ltlec13.htm Animal Concept Learning -- Long, basic, text http://frank.mtsu.edu/~pyskip/ltlec14.htm   Books Animal Cognition (Vauclair)--short, basic, links,text http://www.hup.harvard.edu/S96_Books/S96_Long/animal_cog.html Species of Mind index, basic, short Allen, entire book is on-line http://snaefell.tamu.edu/Philosophy/Faculty/Colin/SpeciesofMind/ Articles Journal of Comparative Psychology (description of journal, editor's name, and type of articles wanted)--short, basic, text http://www.apa.org/journals/comjnlde.html Cued and detached representations in animal cognition (Gärdenfors)--short, text http://lucs.fil.lu.se/Abstracts/LUCS_Studies/LUCS38.html Assessing animal cognition: Philosophical and ethological perspectives (Allen)--long, text, adv. http://snaefell.tamu.edu/~colin/asas.html Communicattion--Short, basic, text http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-2/backup/editorial.html Conceptual abilities of pigeons (Wasserman)--basic, short, graphic, links http://www.sigmaxi.org/amsci/articles/95articles/eawasserman.html Natural intelligence in artificial creatures (Balkenius)--index, basic, short, links http://lucs.fil.lu.se/Staff/Christian.Balkenius/Thesis/ Cognitive ethology: Slayers, skeptics, and proponents (Bekoff and Allen, abstract) short, basic, text http://snaefell.tamu.edu/~colin/Abstracts/slayers.html Significance of animal behavior research (Snowdon)--basic, medium, text http://www.cisab.indiana.edu/ABS/valueofanimalbehavior.html What children and animals know that we don't (Giglioti)--intermediate, medium, text http://www.uiah.fi/bookshop/isea_proc/high&low/j/18b.html Concerning animal perception (Mead, 1907)--interm., medium, text http://paradigm.soci.brocku.ca/~lward/PUBS/MEAD_029.html Introduction to comparative psychology (Morgan, 1894)--interm., medium, text http://paradigm.soci.brocku.ca/~lward/SUP/COMP_PSY.html Index Pages Other Works (these are authors and their publications mentioned in George H. Mead's writing, interface is unfriendly but there are some gems buried within. http://paradigm.soci.brocku.ca/~lward/OTH_BIB.HTML Organizations Program in Animal Behavior at Indiana University --basic, short, text, links contains links to archives and to other WWW resources in animal behavior Animal Behavior Society (ABS)--short, links http://www.cisab.indiana.edu/animal_behavior.html Konrad Lorenz Institute for Comparative Behavioural Research--basic, short, links http://www.oeaw.ac.at/~klivv/klivv.html Nebraska Behavioral Biology Group--short, basic, links, index Comprehensive index page http://cricket.unl.edu/NBBG.html Sea World/Busch Gardens Animal Information Database--index, basic, short, links, graphics. The home page of Sea World and Busch Gardens, has links to a variety of information on animals and their behavior. http://www.seaworld.org/infobook.html Personal Home Pages Steve Haggbloom (Arkansas State University) http://www.astate.edu/docs/acad/coe/cep/personal/haggblom.html--basic, short, text Colin Allen (Texas A & M University)--short, basic, links http://snaefell.tamu.edu/~colin/ Mark Rilling (Michigan State University) http://eyelab.msu.edu/graduate_program/faculty/rilling.html Edward Wasserman (University of Iowa)--short, links, text, graphics, basic http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/faculty/Wasserman.html Stewart Hulse (Johns Hopkins University)--text, short http://www.psy.jhu.edu/faculty/hulse.html Christian Balkenius (University of Lund)--basic, short, index, links http://lucs.fil.lu.se/Staff/Christian.Balkenius/ Odds and sods A2Z Science and Learning Store's Super Neat Experiments for Kids & Adults --- basic, tutorial, graphics, links, short (contains a few experiments for sale related to animal behavior and cognition among others) http://www.a-two-z.com/page_e.html Annual Skinner Box Rat Training Competition -- basic, tutorial, long, links http://outcast.gene.com/ae/AE/AEC/AEF/1996/banister-marx_rat.html

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