International Journal of Comparative Psychology

Dizocilpine maleate (MK-801) is one of several NMDA receptor antagonists that is widely used to pharmacologically model the symptoms of psychosis and schizophrenia in animals. MK-801 elicits behaviors in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) that are phenotypically consistent with behaviors observed in humans and rodents exposed to tbhe drug. However, the molecular and cellular processes that mediate the psychotomimetic, cognitive and locomotive behaviors of MK-801 are unclear. We exposed zebrafish larvae to MK-801 to assess their merit as a model organism to elucidate the behavioral effects of NMDA receptor blockade. Zebrafish larvae were acutely immersed in MK-801 to assess the effect on spontaneous swimming. MK-801 caused a time- and dose-dependent increase in larval swim speed, and the peak response (a five-fold increase in swim speed) was evoked by a three h exposure to a 20 uM dose. Zebrafish larvae did not exhibit sensitivity to the locomotor effects of MK-801 until 5 dpf, suggesting a critical role for developmental in sensitivity to the drug. Exposure to the low potency NMDA antagonist, memantine, did not alter the swim speed of zebrafish larvae. Co-immersion in D(1) or D(2) dopamine receptor antagonists did not disrupt the time course or magnitude of the increase in swim speed, suggesting dopaminergic signaling is not required for the locomotor actions of MK-801. Our findings of the behavioral actions of MK-801 in zebrafish larvae are consistent with previous observations in mammals and imply that the physiological, cellular and molecular processes disrupted by MK-801 are conserved in zebrafish larvae. These data suggest that the zebrafish larvae is a valid and useful model to elucidate neurobehavioral aspects of NMDA receptor antagonism and may provide insight to the neurobiology of psychosis and schizophrenia.

There are two general strategies that may be employed for "doing human factors research with nonhuman animals." First, one may use the methods of traditional human factors investigations to examine the nonhuman animal-to-machine interface. Alternatively, one might use performance by nonhuman animals as a surrogate for or model of performance by a human operator. Each of these approaches is illustrated with data in the present review. Chronic ambient noise was found to have a significant but inconsequential effect on computer-task performance by rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Additional data supported the generality of findings such as these to humans, showing that rhesus monkeys are appropriate models human psychomotor performance. It is argued that ultimately the interface between comparative psychology and technology will depend on the coordinated use of both strategies of investigation.

Rats emit aversive taste reactivity (TR) behavior (i.e., gapes) following intraoral delivery of a cocaine-paired taste cue, and greater conditioned aversive TR in well-trained rats predicts greater drug-taking. Here, we used a between-groups design and tracked the development of this conditioned aversive TR behavior on a trial by trial basis in an effort to determine when the change in behavior occurs and at what point individual differences in cue reactivity become predictive of cocaine-seeking and cocaine-taking. The results demonstrate that conditioned aversive TR to a cocaine-predictive flavor cue appears very early in training (i.e., following as few as 1 to 2 taste-drug pairings), stabilizes quickly, and becomes predictive of terminal self-administration within 3 to 4 trials. Indeed, rats exhibiting high conditioned aversive TR to the cocaine-paired cue also exhibited greater goal-directed behavior, were faster to take drug, self-administered more cocaine, and exhibited greater seeking during periods of drug non-availability. High conditioned aversive TR, then, develops quickly and is associated with a greater motivation for drug.

Comparative cognition is the field of inquiry concerned with understanding the cognitive abilities and mechanisms that are evident in nonhuman species. Assessments of animal cognition have a long history, but in recent years there has been an explosion of new research topics, and a general broadening of the phylogenetic map of animal cognition. To review the past of comparative cognition, we describe the historical trends. In regards to the present state, we examine current "hot topics" in comparative cognition. Finally, we offer our unique and combined thoughts on the future of the field.

Age-matched pairs from 6 young chimpanzees (aged 2–4 yrs) were presented with a wooden tool and a horizontal transparent tube with a food item in the center. Insertion of the tool into the tube was required to obtain the food item. One member of each pair was exposed to a model performing the task successfully. Following acquisition, Ss were tested with more complex versions to evaluate comprehension. Presence of a model influenced acquisition only in 3–4 yr olds. Older Ss learned to solve the task in fewer trials, made fewer errors when faced with tools requiring modification, and improved their performance on the complex tasks with limited practice. Comparisons with human cognitive developmental data and findings on the same task with older apes point to a link between the emergence of imitation, self recognition, and comprehension of the cause-effect relation in this task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Examined the learning of pine cone (PC) stripping (ST) feeding behavior in 3 groups of black rat pups: (1) 25 pups raised by naive mothers and without exposure either to ST behavior or to partially opened PCs, (2) 25 pups raised by naive mothers and exposed to PCs at different stages of opening but not to ST behavior, and (3) 55 pups raised by mothers experienced in ST and exposed both to the mother exhibiting ST behavior (the stripper mother model) and to opened PCs. After 80 days, no pup in Group 1 had learned to strip PCs, where as 24% of pups in Group 2 could strip PCs. 65.5% of pups in Group 3 had learned to strip PCs after 60–70 days. Results suggest that the presence of a social influence (the stripper mother model) in addition to the open PCs significantly increased the proportion of pups that learned the ST technique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Two investigations demonstrated that behaviors employed by male rats in exploration influenced the information gained from that exploration. In Exp 1, 16 Ss from either enriched (EC) or impoverished conditions (IC) were chased by a mechanical device after 2 days of exploring an arena with a hidden escape route. Although EC and IC Ss were not differentially stressed by the procedure, behaviors relevant to predicting escape showed EC–IC differences. Exp 2 followed the same procedures as Exp 1, but the 12 Ss were chased after only 3 min of arena experience. As in Exp 1, EC Ss escaped significantly more quickly than IC Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Compared measures of reach efficiency in 8 galagos, 4 left-hand preferent and 4 right-hand preferent Ss, tested in a reach apparatus designed to elicit equal numbers of responses by the left and right hands. The effect of variant or invariant target placement within sessions was also assessed by the use of both blocked and randomized trials. Efficiency was defined in terms of the percentage of successful reaches and the average duration of time required for reach execution. Results indicate that there was no effect of target variance on strength of hand preference or on either measure of performance efficiency. Preferred and nonpreferred hands did not differ with respect to these 2 measures. There was also no difference in the percentage of successful reaches between the left and right hands. However, for 7 of 8 Ss the left hand generated faster reach times than did the right hand, regardless of hand preference. The greater execution speed with the left arm/hand is interpreted as exemplifying a lateralized neural advantage for the execution of ballistic reaching in galago species. It is argued that the highly consistent timing of this prey capture behavior in the galago supports the view that this arm/hand movement is ballistic in type. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Shows that contact with a spider that preys on woodlice (WL) influences the correcting behavior of WL. The test apparatus used was a modification of R. N. Hughes (1967) maze. Hughes proposed that correcting behavior may function to facilitate efficient movement away from unfavorable conditions. In an experimental test, a woodlouse was put in the starting chamber with a predatory spider. In a control test, a woodlouse was put in the starting chamber with either a ball of cotton wool or a fly. There were 100 trials for each of the 3 treatments. Results support Hughes' hypothesis by providing evidence that WL react to the presence of a predator by increasing their rates of alternating turns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Responds to C. B. Campbell and W. Hodos's (e.g., 1969, 1991) continuing critiques of the field of comparative psychology. This author supports G. Gottlieb's (see record 1988-03514-001) position that anagenesis is still a useful concept to evolution scientists and that anagenetic analysis provides a viable and fruitful approach to theory development in comparative psychology. Anagenesis suggests improvement with evolution and the idea of complexity as an indicator of evolutionary progress. Finally, the article discusses the utility of a modified form of the Scala naturae, namely the concept of integrative levels, by showing how T. C. Schneirla has used this idea as the foundation of his significant theoretical contributions to comparative psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Examines whether the presence of language capacities in animals should be considered a pivotal bridge for establishing a continuity between animal and human mind and posits that the methodological and interpretative problems of animal language research (ALR) derive from some key theoretical paradoxes implicit in the premises of the research. The author argues that, based on evolutionary and continuity arguments, ALR has assumed that nonhuman animals may possess some rudiments of human language. In contrast, it is argued that (1) the evolutionary origins of human language do not necessarily require the presence of linguistic capacities in nonhumans, and (2) animal communicative skills could be best understood through the study of their behavioral natural repertoire. The author suggests that the performance of animals in language studies can be an indicator of cognitive abilities but not of linguistic competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Provides examples of structural and functional laterality in nonhuman species (e.g., rats, birds). Topics discussed include laterality of limb use and cognitive function, dominance vs differential use of the hemispheres, lateralization in individuals and in populations, and factors affecting the development of asymmetry. Laterality in perceptual and cognitive processes may have been an evolutionary antecedent to laterality of limb use in birds and primates. Studies using animals may provide a means to understand the dynamic processes of laterality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The comprehension and production of manual pointing and joint visual attention are already well developed when human infants reach their 2nd year. These early developmental milestones mark the infant's transition into accelerated linguistic competence and shared experiences with others. The ability to draw another's attention toward distal objects or events facilitates the development of complex cognitive processes such as language acquisition. A comparative approach allowed the authors to examine the evolution of these phenomena. Of recent interest is whether non-human primates also gesture and manipulate the eye gaze direction of others when communicating. However, all captive apes do not use referential gestures such as pointing, or appear to understand the meaning of shared attention. Those that show evidence of these abilities differ in their expression of them, and this may be closely related to rearing history. This paper reviews the literature on the topic of pointing and joint attention in non-human primates with the goal of identifying why these abilities develop in other species, and to examine the potential sources of the existing individual variation in their expression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Nine experiments tested the value of postnatal audition of sibling calls. 169 battery-reared chicks were placed in an operant conditioning paradigm in which the instrumental response allowed the birds to receive either auditory, visual, or audiovisual stimuli. Results demonstrate that audition of sibling calls was appetitive but Ss did not evince a clear-cut choice for this stimulus over audition of a pure tone. Ss were tested in a choice situation between 2 audiovisual stimuli. The visual stimulus was the vision of their own image in a mirror. In this choice situation between mirror and call and mirror and tone, Ss did not choose the mirror and call stimulus significantly more. Data support the hypothesis that sibling calls do not play an important role in attraction between brood mates and that the main effect of their audition is an activating one. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The authors show 4 different ways of using video systems, with pigeons, for research in avian visual cognition: 1) recent developments of high vision TV systems made it possible to use the video system for psychophysical studies. Visual acuity measured with such a video system was comparable to those obtained by more traditional methods; 2) using image processing software, the authors could display unnatural animals, such as chimeras on the TV screen. This article also reports that pigeons did not discriminate partially occluded conspecifics; 3) effects of exposure to visual stimuli upon on-going behavior were examined using suppression and conditioned suppression procedures; and 4) discrimination of moving images, namely 2 words of Japanese Sign Language, are reported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Discusses the development of biopsychology (BP) from 19th-century animal studies, and the supporters and opponents of the Darwinian theory. The development of the nervous system from coelenterates to worms and insects is examined. Characteristics of the instincts of feeding, reproduction, and self-preservation, are described, with examples of maternal behavior. Distortion of the concept of instinct by religious explanations for instinctual behavior is discussed. Development of psychological activity from reflex through instinct to intellect is described. The practical significance of BP is seen in its application to hunting, animal husbandry, and defense against predators and pests. Observation and experimentation in BP investigations are discussed. The study of conditioned reflexes is seen as inadequate to explain animal behavior and even less applicable to the field of sociology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Examined perception of song syllables taken from natural song sparrow and swamp sparrow songs in 5 different species: Song sparrows ( Melospiza melodia), swamp sparrows ( M. georgiana), zebra finches, canaries, and budgerigars. Ss were trained to discriminate among sparrow song syllables, and median reaction time (RT) matrices reflecting response latencies to detect changes in a repeating background of syllables were generated. There were species differences in the perception of syllables; these differences may be related to basic differences in auditory processes. The present procedures are useful for species specificity in song perception not only across species but also between males and females of the same species. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Two bonobos ( Pan paniscus) and 3 chimpanzees ( P. troglodytes) monitored spatial transpositions, or the simultaneous movement of multiple items in an array, so as to select a specific item from the array. In the initial condition of Exp 1, food reward was hidden beneath 1 of 4 cups, and the apes were required to select the cup containing the reward in order to receive it. In the 2nd condition, the test board on which the cups were located was rotated 180° after placement of the food reward. In the 3rd condition, 2 of the 3 cups switched locations with 1 another after placement of the food reward. All 5 apes performed at very high levels for these conditions. Exp 2 was a computerized simulation of the tasks with the cups in which the apes had to track 1 of 4 simultaneously moving stimuli on a computer monitor. Two of the 3 apes that were tested performed at a very high level for this computerized task. Therefore, members of the genus Pan can perform complex feats of spatial monitoring such as transpositions both in real world contexts and in computerized tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Budgerigars were trained with operant conditioning procedures to discriminate among sets of calls from several species in a same–different task. Response latencies from this task were analyzed in several ways, including multidimensional scaling (MDS) and cluster analysis. The pattern of response latencies from Ss reared in a large group of conspecifics was compared to that of Ss reared in acoustic and social isolation. Results show that Ss with previous experience with species-specific vocalizations and isolate-reared Ss who had never heard such sounds could both discriminate among the categories of species-specific vocal signals. However, results from MDS and cluster analysis also show that rearing budgerigars in isolation had subtle effects on the perception of these categories of vocal signals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Humans, pigeons, and monkeys are severely limited in their ability to identify stimuli that vary along a single dimension. Increasing the dimensionality of spatially undifferentiated stimuli improves performance. However, this improvement is trivial compared to that observed when spatially complex stimuli such as pictures are presented. While the number of items that can be held in working memory varies among species, the number of items that can be identified depends more on the characteristics of the stimuli than on the organism making the identification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Pigeons that had extensive training with an oddity-from-sample discrimination procedure using visual patterns, and were able to transfer their performance to novel patterns, were tested for 3 kinds of pattern recognition invariance. The experiments involved the variables of outline, color, and contrast. Ss' performance was above 90% correct for the outline and color experiments; performance reached 77% for the reversed contrast experiment. In all conditions, significant transfer was obtained. Ss showed that they were capable of invariant shape recognition under all conditions. Results also suggest that pigeons can conceptualize a relational oddity/identity rule. (German abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Examined persistence during extinction of key pecking performance in 12 pigeons ( Columba livia) after training with either a large (15 food pellets) or a small reward magnitude (1 food pellet). Strictly instrumental contingencies were enforced and a single trial per daily session was administered. There were 52 acquisition trials followed by 48 extinction trials. Although extinction started from similar response levels in both groups, the pigeons trained with 15 pellets exhibited significantly slower extinction than those trained with a single pellet. This result is discussed in the context of comparative research on the effects of reward magnitude and schedule on extinction in vertebrates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Perception of the distance of objects with respect to an observer (egocentric distance) and the perception of the relative distance (depth) between external points is optimized in the pigeon's visual system according to the optical and retinal constraints of the eye. Each of these perceptual capacities is mediated by different binocular mechanisms in the frontal field, both of which appear to be designed for a stationary world. This is evident in the egocentric distance estimation that occurs during the reaching movement when pecking. Stereopsis in the pigeon appears to be more effective for pattern decoding than for absolute spatial perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Reviews studies of hand preference in New World primate species recorded during feeding activities, visuospatial reaching, haptic discrimination, tool use and in other routine tasks. Of the New World species tested so far, the common marmoset and squirrel monkeys appear to be the only species that display a symmetrical distribution of hand preferences. It appears that only the spider monkey ( Ateles geoffroyi), displays left handedness during feeding, while other species are right handed or have no handedness. Thus, the findings for hand use in feeding do not support a Postural Origins hypothesis as it predicts left handedness rather than right in the arboreal platyrrhine species. Overall, the reports of handedness for tasks requiring complex visuospatial or tactile processing in the New World primates concur with those reported for humans, who have left handedness in haptic discrimination and complex visuospatial tasks and right handedness for manipulative tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Conducted 2 experiments that examined the behavioral significance of tactile and motion sensitive cells in the superior temporal sulcus (STS) of the macaque brain. In the awake, behaving monkey, the critical dimension for polymodal coding was whether or not the sensations were expected. Tactile stimulation out of sight could not be predicted and elicited neuronal responses. By contrast, when the monkey could see and, therefore, predict impending contact, or when the monkey touched a familiar surface in a predictable location, cell responses were reduced or abolished. In an analogous way some cells were unresponsive to the sight of the monkey's own limbs moving, but responded to the sight of other moving stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)