Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) comprehend the referential character of the human pointing gesture

Louis M. Herman

University of Hawaii at Manoa and Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory,

 

Sheila l.Abichandani, Ali N. Elhajj, Elia Y. K. Herman, and Juliana L. Sanchez, Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory

Adam A.Pack

Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory and the Dolphin Institute 

(C) 1999 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.

The authors tested a dolphin's (Tursiops truncatus) understanding of human manual pointing getsures to 3 distal objects located to the left of, to the right of, or behind the dolphin. The human referred to an object through a direct point (Pd), a cross-body point (Px), or a familiar symbolic gesture (S). In Experiment 1, the dolphin responded correctly to 80% of Pds toward laterally placed objects but to only 40% of Pds to the object behind. Responding to objects behind improved to 88% in Experiment 2 after exaggerated pointing was briefly instituted. Spontaneous comprehension of Pxs also was demonatrated. In Experiment 3, the human produced a sequence of 2 Pds, 2 Pxs, 2 Ss, or all 2-way combinations of these 3 to direct the dolphin to take the object referred second to the object referenced first. Accuracy ranged from 68% to 77% correct (chance = 17%). These results established that the dolphin undertsood the referential character of the human manual pointing gesture.

Herman, L.M., Abichandani, S.L., Elhajj, A.N., Herman, E.Y.K., Sanchez, J.L., Pack, A. (1999). Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Comprehend the Referential Character of the Human Pointing Gesture. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1999, Vol. 113, No. 4, 347 - 364

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