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Experiments are the key to understanding sociallyacquired knowledge in cetaceans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2001

Eduardo Mercado
Affiliation:
Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07102 mercado@pavlov.rutgers.edu www.cmbn.rutgers.edu/~mercado/welcome.html
Caroline M. DeLong
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822 delong@hawaii.edu

Abstract

We agree with Rendell and Whitehead that cetaceans acquire knowledgefrom caretakers and peers, and that a clear understanding of thisprocess can provide insight into the evolution of mammaliancognition. The passive observational methods they advocate, however,are inadequate for determining what cetaceans know. Only byexperimentally investigating the cognition of cetaceans can we hopeto understand what they learn through social interactions.

Information

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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