Conjunctive Rule Comprehension in a Bottlenosed Dolphin
Christopher G. Prince
University of Hawaii, Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Lboratory, 1129 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu, HI, USA, 96814 -
- (C) 1993 University of Hawaii
A bottlenosed dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, comprehended connectives and word order in an artificial language. The “conjunction” language sequence, OBJECT1 + AND + OBJECT2 + ACTION, required a response joining the action to both objects. The “conjunctive-erase”, OBJECT1 + ERASE + OBJECT 2 + ACTION, with “ERASE” glosses as “NO”, required a response joining only OBJECT 2 to the action. Training methods were developed, and the dolphin’s performance on an earlier studied language sequence, the relational: OBJECT1 + OBJECT2 + RELATIONAL-TERM, was compared to her performance on the new connective-based sequences. Transfer tests established the dolphin’s competence to categorically discriminate between the semantics of the two connectives, ability to encode objects and actions, and the use of word-order in this context. Theoretical implications were presented, phrased in terms of “rules” and “relationships”, regarding the acquired mental representations. Rules are unidirectional, procedural conceptual structures; relationships represent bi-directional. declarative knowledge. Of primary interest were the representations connecting sign to referent.
Prince, C. G. (1993). Conjunctive Rule Comprehension in a Bottlenosed Dolphin. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.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 |
