Mimicry of modeled behaviors by bottlenose dolphins
- Mark J. Xitco
University of Hawaii, Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Lboratory, 1129
Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu, HI, USA, 96814
-
- (C) 1988 University of Hawaii
This paper reports on a series of experiments investigating the
capacity of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, for learning
motor behaviors through mimicry. The goals of the present investigation
were two-fold; 1) to demonstrate and characterize the dolphin’s
capacity for true motor mimicry, and 2) to harness this capacity
as an alternative training technique and investigative tool for
examining dolphin behavior.
The investigation was carried out in two major phases, each comprised
of two experiments. Experiment 1 demonstrated the ability of two
naïve, juvenile dolphins to mimic a succession of novel behaviors
demonstrated by human models, providing clear evidence of the
dolphin’s capability for true motor mimicry. In Experiment
2, a methodology was successfully developed for placing the dolphins’
demonstrated capacity for mimicry under stimulus control. Experiment
3 examined the characteristics of the process of mimicry itself
through an adaptation of the original paradigm. Rather than using
human models, the adapted paradigm employed two older, more sophisticated
dolphins who served as models to demonstrate behaviors for each
other. The dolphins’ performance across a structured series
of transfer behaviors suggested that the acquisition of behaviors
through mimicry operates independently from reinforcement-based
learning mechanisms.
In Experiment 3, a model of behavior similarity was developed,
and used to interpret performance on mimicry trials as a manifestation
of the dolphin’s underlying representational schema for behavior.
Experiment 3 also provided evidence suggesting the transmission
of situation-specific information between the dolphins, and the
emission of behavior-specific vocalizations during the mimicry
paradigm. Experiment 4 demonstrated the dolphin’s ability
for mimicry following a delay interval. The model of behavior
similarity was successfully employed again to interpret changes
in the dolphins’ performance with increasing delays within
the framework of the dolphin’s representational schema for
behavior.
- Xitco, M. J., Jr. (1988) Mimicry of modeled behaviors by bottlenose
dolphins. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Back to Top
Dolphin
Programs | Whale
Programs | Education
Programs | Our Research
| Resource Guide
Copyright © 2002, The Dolphin Institute
|
