Switching strategies: a dolphin’s use of passive and active acoustics to imitate motor actions

Jaakkola, Kelly; Guarino, Emily; Rodriguez, Mandy; Hecksher, Jane

doi:10.1007/s10071-013-0605-3

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Unfortunately, systematic comparisons between studies are difficult because studies vary in terms of the criterion of correct performance, the number and type of actions performed by the demonstrator (e.g., vocal versus motor; transitive versus intransitive), and the kind of demonstrator are also variable (e.g., conspecific, human, computer). For example, compared to dolphins Yulka´s level of correct performance remained high after making the first correct matching ( Table 2 ) as in Jaakkola et al’s [ 49 ] study of motor imitation the researchers found that in the sighted condition (similar to our study) the dolphin’s matching accuracy of 19 motor behaviors was 61%. On the other hand, compared to killer whales, Yulkas’s generalization of the copy command was slower as in the Abramson et al’s [ 35 ] study, familiar behaviors performed by the demonstrator were copied before the 8 th trial and many of them on the first attempt (range = 57–93%).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Contextual imitation of intransitive body actions in a Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas): A “do as other does” study

Abramson

Hernández-Lloreda

Esteban³

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

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Cetaceans are remarkable for exhibiting group-specific behavioral traditions or cultures in several behavioral domains (e.g., calls, behavioral tactics), and the question of whether they can be acquired socially, for example through imitative processes, remains open. Here we used a “Do as other does” paradigm to experimentally study the ability of a beluga to imitate familiar intransitive (body-oriented) actions demonstrated by a conspecific. The participant was first trained to copy three familiar behaviors on command (training phase) and then was tested for her ability to generalize the learned “Do as the other does” command to a different set of three familiar behaviors (testing phase). We found that the beluga (1) was capable of learning the copy command signal “Do what-the-other-does”; (2) exhibited high matching accuracy for trained behaviors (mean = 84% of correct performance) after making the first successful copy on command; (3) copied successfully the new set of three familiar generalization behaviors that were untrained to the copy command (range of first copy = 12 to 35 trials); and (4) deployed a high level of matching accuracy (mean = 83%) after making the first copy of an untrained behavior on command. This is the first evidence of contextual imitation of intransitive (body-oriented) movements in the beluga and adds to the reported findings on production imitation of sounds in this species and production imitation of sounds and motor actions in several cetaceans, especially dolphins and killer whales. Collectively these findings highlight the notion that cetaceans have a natural propensity at skillfully and proficiently matching the sounds and body movements demonstrated by conspecifics, a fitness-enhancing propensity in the context of cooperative hunting and anti-predatory defense tactics, and of alliance formation strategies that have been documented in these species’ natural habitats. Future work should determine if the beluga can also imitate novel motor actions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Contextual imitation of intransitive body actions in a Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas): A “do as other does” study

Abramson

Hernández-Lloreda

Esteban³

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

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“…They also were more likely than Kimbit to use multiple strategies within a trial. Dolphins can switch strategies when task parameters change (Jaakkola, Guarino, Rodriguez, & Hecksher, 2013;Kuczaj, Gory, & Xitco, 2009), and we suspect that the dolphins in this study varied their strategies to keep the task interesting, much as dolphins modify their play to keep it interesting (Kuczaj et al, 2006;Kuczaj & Walker, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

The “Creative Dolphin” Revisited: What Do Dolphins Do When Asked to Vary their Behavior?

Kuczaj¹,

Eskelinen²

2014

AB&C

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The variability of dolphin behavior is evident in their communication, foraging, and play. Dolphins can also vary their behavior when asked to do so by humans. Following the work of Karen Pryor and her colleagues, this ability is commonly referred to as creative behavior, a bit of a misnomer since dolphins need not always create a new behavior to succeed on this task. Nonetheless, when given a task in which success depends on not repeating what one has already done, dolphins are able to remember what they have done and successfully produce a new behavior, sometimes even a completely novel one. In this paper, we report similarities and differences in the performance of three bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) given such a task, the results highlighting the need for continued investigation of individual differences in cognitive style and performance.

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“…Nonetheless, in this particular case, the plausibility arguments are unusually strong, for a number of reasons. First, the motor imitation capabilities of bottlenose dolphins are well established [17,18], so social learning has to be a candidate for explaining the spread of tail walking. Second is the arbitrary nature of the behaviour-it is a highly energetic display, so likely costly, that produces nothing energetically to offset that cost.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tail walking in a bottlenose dolphin community: the rise and fall of an arbitrary cultural ‘fad’

Bossley¹,

Steiner²,

Brakes

et al. 2018

Biol. Lett.

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Social learning of adaptive behaviour is widespread in animal populations, but the spread of arbitrary behaviours is less common. In this paper, we describe the rise and fall of a behaviour called tail walking, where a dolphin forces the majority of its body vertically out of the water and maintains the position by vigourously pumping its tail, in a community of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (). The behaviour was introduced into the wild following the rehabilitation of a wild female individual, Billie, who was temporarily co-housed with trained dolphins in a dolphinarium. This individual was sighted performing the behaviour seven years after her 1988 release, as was one other female dolphin named Wave. Initial production of the behaviour was rare, but following Billie's death two decades after her release, Wave began producing the behaviour at much higher rates, and several other dolphins in the community were subsequently sighted performing the behaviour. Social learning is the most likely mechanism for the introduction and spread of this unusual behaviour, which has no known adaptive function. These observations demonstrate the potential strength of the capacity for spontaneous imitation in bottlenose dolphins, and help explain the origin and spread of foraging specializations observed in multiple populations of this genus.

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Switching strategies: a dolphin’s use of passive and active acoustics to imitate motor actions

Cited by 15 publications

References 35 publications

Contextual imitation of intransitive body actions in a Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas): A “do as other does” study

Contextual imitation of intransitive body actions in a Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas): A “do as other does” study

The “Creative Dolphin” Revisited: What Do Dolphins Do When Asked to Vary their Behavior?

Tail walking in a bottlenose dolphin community: the rise and fall of an arbitrary cultural ‘fad’

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