Dolphin Imitation: Who, What, When, and Why?

Kuczaj, Stan A.; Yeater, Deirdre

doi:10.1578/am.32.4.2006.413

Cited by 54 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Social learning is an important component of dolphin behavioral development Kuczaj & Yeater, 2006;Yeater & Kuczaj, 2010), and our observations suggest that belugas are also intrigued by the activities of others (also see Hill, 2009). Each of the animals in this study observed other animals engaging in bubble helix play behaviors, and oftentimes participated in the play activities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) Novel Bubble Helix Play Behavior

Jones¹,

Kuczaj²

2014

ABC

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) Novel Bubble Helix Play Behavior

Jones¹,

Kuczaj²

2014

ABC

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“…Cetaceans provide a particularly important test bed for examining the origins of imitative abilities as well as the mechanisms that underlie such abilities, because although they have diverged in many ways from terrestrial mammals, they seem to possess cognitive capacities that are similar in certain respects to those of humans (Herman, 1980;Marino et al, 2007;Mercado & DeLong, 2010). For instance, bottlenose dolphins are the only mammals other than humans that have demonstrated the ability to voluntarily imitate both seen and heard actions (Herman, 1980(Herman, , 2002Kuczaj & Yeater, 2006;Yeater & Kuczaj, 2010). Humpback whales are the only non-human mammals that continuously and collectively restructure their vocal repertoire throughout their adult lives (Guinee, Chu, & Dorsey, 1983).…”

Section: Sound Imitation By Whales and Dolphinsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imitating Sounds: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding Vocal Imitation

Mercado¹,

Mantell²,

Pfordresher³

2014

CCBR

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Vocal imitation is often described as a specialized form of learning that facilitates social communication and that involves less cognitively sophisticated mechanisms than more "perceptually opaque" types of imitation. Here, we present an alternative perspective. Considering current evidence from adult mammals, we note that vocal imitation often does not lead to learning and can involve a wide range of cognitive processes. We further suggest that sound imitation capacities may have evolved in certain mammals, such as cetaceans and humans, to enhance both the perception of ongoing actions and the prediction of future events, rather than to facilitate mate attraction or the formation of social bonds. The ability of adults to voluntarily imitate sounds is better described as a cognitive skill than as a communicative learning mechanism. Sound imitation abilities are gradually acquired through practice and require the coordination of multiple perceptual-motor and cognitive mechanisms for representing and generating sounds. Understanding these mechanisms is critical to explaining why relatively few mammals are capable of flexibly imitating sounds, and why individuals vary in their ability to imitate sounds. Keywords: mimicry; copying; social learning; singing; emulation; imitatible; convergence; imitativenessIn his seminal text, Habitat and Instinct, Lloyd Morgan (1896, p. 166) describes two general kinds of imitation: instinctive imitation and intelligent or voluntary imitation. The examples he provides of intelligent imitation mostly involve reproducing sounds-a child copies words used by his companions, a mockingbird imitates the songs of 32 other bird species, a jay imitates the neighing of a horse, and so on. In fact, most of the examples of "imitation proper" that Morgan provides consist of birds reproducing the sounds of other species. Similarly, Romanes (1884) focuses almost exclusively on reports of birds imitating songs, music, and speech in his discussion of imitation. These classic portrayals of vocal reproductions as providing the best and clearest examples of imitation stand in stark contrast to current psychological discussions of imitation, which often classify examples such as those given by Romanes and Morgan as non-imitative performances that merely resemble actual imitation (Byrne, 2002;Heyes, 1996). When did phenomena that were once considered archetypal examples of voluntary imitation transform into a footnote of modern cognitive theories? Was some discovery made that fundamentally changed our scientific understanding of the processes underlying vocal imitation? Have psychologists or biologists succeeded in explaining what vocal imitation is and how it works to the point where little can be gained from further study? Or, have theoretical assumptions led scientists to underestimate the cognitive mechanisms required for an individual to be able to flexibly imitate sounds?In the present article, we attempt to identify what exactly vocal imitation entails, and to assess whether current explanatory fr...

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“…Rather than providing another review of the literature on dolphin cognition, in the remainder of this paper we will focus on one aspect of dolphin behavior that we believe has particular significance for our understanding of dolphin intelligence  their ability to plan their behavior. But we refer readers interested in other aspects of dolphin cognition to the following: Herman (1980; ;Schusterman, Thomas & Wood (1986) : Roitblat, Herman & Nachtigall (1993); Kuczaj & Walker (2006), Kuczaj & Yeater (2006), Morisaka (2007), White (2007), and Marino et al (2008).…”

Section: Do Big Brains Mean More Intelligence?mentioning

confidence: 99%

How intelligent are dolphins? A partial answer based on their ability to plan their behavior when confronted with novel problems

Kuczaj

Gory²,

Xitco

2009

Japanese Journal of Animal Psychology

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The nature and extent of dolphin intelligence has long intrigued humans. Unequivocal answers to the question "how intelligent are dolphins?" have proven evasive due to both the existing myriad views of intelligence and the ambiguity of much spontaneous dolphin behavior. In this paper, we focus on one aspect of intelligence, namely the ability to plan one's behavior in a meaningful way. The generalized ability to create novel and appropriate behavioral plans when confronted with new problems has obvious evolutionary advantages, but has been found in relatively few species. The studies reported in this paper demonstrate planning behaviors in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in conditions quite different from those that occur during dolphin foraging and mating (two areas in which wild dolphins may engage in planning). The dolphins' ability to plan their behaviors in these novel contexts provides additional evidence that generalized planning ability is not unique to humans, and demonstrate that human-like language is not required for generalized planning skills. These findings also suggest that in addition to species niche specific cognitive abilities, generalized cognitive abilities may play an important role in the evolutionary success of some species.

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Dolphin Imitation: Who, What, When, and Why?

Cited by 54 publications

References 53 publications

Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) Novel Bubble Helix Play Behavior

Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) Novel Bubble Helix Play Behavior

Imitating Sounds: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding Vocal Imitation

How intelligent are dolphins? A partial answer based on their ability to plan their behavior when confronted with novel problems

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