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Eight Dolphins Underwent Each of Two Tests Separated by at Least 48 Hours

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Hanalyn Salik
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30 views1 page

Eight Dolphins Underwent Each of Two Tests Separated by at Least 48 Hours

Uploaded by

Hanalyn Salik
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Eight dolphins underwent each of two tests separated by at least 48 hours.

All dolphins
successfully chose the correct location on the 'location' test, and 7 succeeded on the 'who' test
(the 8th dolphin made no choice in this task). The researchers designed the test to avoid the
possible involvement of other types of memory, such as short-term working memory and
familiarity with places and people.
“Among the various ways humans have attempted to develop animal models of episodic
memory, I believe the strongest evidence comes from the strategies used in this article”,
generally “random coding followed by unexpected results." ' said Jonathon Crystal, an
experimental psychologist at Indiana University Bloomington, who was not involved in the study.
Therefore, he adds, "this study provides compelling and strong evidence" that dolphins have
episodic memory.
Kelly Jacola, a cognitive psychologist and marine mammal scientist at the Dolphin Research
Center in Florida, who wasn't involved in the study, says she's "better in a lot of ways." et al.
"found a way to ask dolphins questions about different aspects of past events." This is important
because dolphins were able to solve the task through training rather than episodic memory. She
also praised the team for checking short-term memory and familiarity.
Jaakkola notes a small caveat, though the experiment was not strictly blinded. Based on
previous animal cognition research, it is known that people who interact with animals during
tests may have "unconscious communication pathways" that help them find the correct
answer. , a human may have provided an 'unintended cue' that prompted the dolphin to choose
where the ball was hidden. She believes that's not the reason Iruka succeeded in these exams,
but she needs to deal with "closing this loop".

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