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At least 55 records · Page 3

Note on hand use in the manipulation of joysticks by rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

MacNeilage et al. (1987) have proposed that nonhuman primate handedness may be contingent on the specific task requirements, with visual-spatial tasks yielding left-hand preferences and fine-motor tasks producing right-hand preferences. This study reports hand preferences in the manipulation of joysticks by 2 rhesus monkeys and 3 chimpanzees. Reach data were also collected for comparison with preference data for manipulation of the joystick. The data indicated that all 5 subjects demonstrated significant right-hand preferences in manipulating the joystick. In contrast, no significant hand preferences were found for the reach data. Reaction-time data also indicated that the right hand could perform a perceptual-motor task better than the left hand in all 5 subjects. Overall, the data indicate that reach tasks may not be sensitive enough measures to produce reliable hand preferences, whereas tasks that assess fine-motor control produce significant hand preferences.

Hopkins, William D.↗

Lana chimpanzee learns to count by 'numath' - A summary of a videotaped experimental report

Computerized training programs whereby an adult female chimpanzee learned to use a joystick to remove from a screen the number of boxes appropriate to the value of a randomly selected Arabic numeral 1, 2, or 3, are studied. Initial training provided a variety of cues, both numeric and otherwise, to support correct performance. In the final test, the ape was correct on over 80 percent of trials in which there was no residual feedback of intratrial events and where only her memory of those events could provide the cue to indicate that she had removed boxes in accordance with the value of the target numbers and should terminate the trial.

Rumbaugh, Duane M.↗

Use of implantable telemetry systems for study of cardiovascular phenomena.

Preliminary observations of cardiovascular function have been made in four chimpanzees using multichannel implantable units. Measurements of right- and left-sided pressures were periodically made in these animals over a four-month period, including continuous observations for selected 24-hour periods. Pressures recorded with animals in an awake, unanesthetized, unrestrained state were much lower than pressures reported for restrained animals in similar situations. Diurnal variations of pressure tended to occur, but were not as clear-cut as those reported to occur for humans. The ability to implant a transmitter chronically and receive useful multichannel information in the chimpanzee encourages the future use of such implant devices as part of the control system for an artificial heart or directly for use in man.

Sandler, H.↗

Learning about primates' learning, language, and cognition

Results are presented of many years of research on the methods of teaching primates the language and cognitive skills which were long considered to be unteachable to particular species of primates. It was found that chimpanzee subjects could not only learn a number of 'stock sentences' but to use them in variations and several combinations for the purpose of solving various problems. Apes placed in different rooms could be taught to communicate via computer, and collaborate with each other on doing specific tasks. Contrary to expectations, young rhesus monkeys proved to be able to learn as much as the chimpanzee species.

Rumbaugh, Duane M.↗

Performance

Effect on chimpanzee performance after being subjected to decompression to near vacuum followed by recompression - aerospace medicine

CHIMPANZEE↗

Physiology

Physiological parameters recorded from chimpanzees before, during, and after rapid decompression to near vacuum - aerospace medicine

DECOMPRESSION↗

Physical environment

Instrumentation for decompression chamber and other equipment used for environmental testing of chimpanzee - aerospace medicine

INSTRUMENTATION↗

Comparative psychology and the great apes - Their competence in learning, language, and numbers

An overview of comparative studies conducted for the past three decades is presented. These studies have led to the establishment of the Language Research Center that provides facilities for research into questions of primate behavior and cognition. Several experiments conducted among chimpanzees are discussed and comparative analyses with the lesser apes, monkeys, and humans are offered. Among the primates, brain complexity varies widely and the evidence is strong that encephalization and enhanced brain complexity facilitate the learning of concepts, the transfer of learning to an advantage, and mediational and observational learning.

Rumbaugh, Duane M.↗

Cognitive competencies - Products of genes, experience, and technology

The paper examines methods used in studying cognitive competency in primates. Citing experiments on teaching language skills to chimpanzees, it is shown that some methods used for inquiry might lead to the cultivation and generation of new competencies, and specifically to the development of observational and relational learning skills. It is noted that methods can also limit the generality of conclusions; erroneous conclusions may be made based on certain generally accepted methods, whereby the research might be treatments that profoundly determine the assessment of dependent variables. Particular attention is given to the role of age in learning, showing that young primates can be taught the meaning of lexigrams and many specific tasks in much shorter time than adults; on the basis of these experiments, it was concluded that cultural gains did evolve primarily as a consequence of context within which infants were growing.

Rumbaugh, Duane M.↗

Twenty-Five Years of Progress. Part 1: Birth of NASA. Part 2: The Moon-A Goal

Historical footage (1958 - 1983) concerning NASA's Space Program, is reviewed in this two-part video. Host, Lynn Bondurant describes the birth of NASA and its accomplishments through the years. Part one contains: the launch of Russian satellite Sputnik on October 4,1957; the first dog (Soviet) in space; NACA Space Research, Explorer-6; and still photographs of various Space projects. Tiros 1 experimental weather satellite, Microgravity simulators, Echo 1 passive communications satellite, and the first U.S. manned spaceflight Mercury are included in part two. The seven Mercury astronauts are: Captain Donald Slayton, Lt. Commander Alan Shepard, Lt. Commander Walter Schirra, Captain Virgil Grissom, Lt. Col. John Glenn Jr., Captain Leroy Cooper Jr, and Lt. Malcolm Scott Carpenter. Also included are an ongoing interview (throughout the video) with NASA's first Administrator Keith Glennan, the first flight in 1961 with Enos, a chimpanzee, President Kennedy's speech in Washington about the Space Program, Project Gemini - the 2-manned space flights, and the recovery of Virgil Grissom from splash down.

Source record↗

Language in Comparative Perspective

The twentieth century will be noted for a wide variety of scientific and technological advancements, including powered flight, antibiotics, space travel, and the breaking of the genetic code. It also should be noted as the century in which major psychological, as well as biological, continuities between animal and human have been defined. Charles Darwin (1859) was quite right when he anticipated continuity in mental processes, some of which provide for language. Though none will argue that any animal has the full capacity of humans for language, none should deny that at least some animals have quite impressive competencies for language skills, including speech comprehension. The finding that the language skills in the bonobo and the chimpanzee are likely more fully and efficiently developed as a result of early rearing than by formal training at a later age declares a continuity even stronger than that defined by the language acquisition potential of the ape. To clarify, because early rearing facilitates the emergence of language in ape as well as in child, a naturalness to the familiar course of language acquisition, whereby comprehension precedes production, is also corroborated. In turn, the continuity and the shared naturalness of language acquisition serve jointly to define an advanced and critical point of linkage between the genera Pan and Homo - and, as concluded by Domjan (1993), one worthy of contributing to the series of reconceptions of ourselves as anticipated by Ploog and Melnechuk (1971).

Rumbaugh, Duane M.↗

Studies of Cell-Mediated Immunity Against Immune Disorders Using Synthetic Peptides and Rotating Bioreactor System

Our proposed experiments included: (1) immunzing mice with synthetic peptides; (2) preparing spleen and lymph node cells; (3) growing them under conventional conditions as well as in the rotatory vessel in appropriate medium reconstituting with synthetic peptides and/or cytokines as needed; and (4) comparing at regular time intervals the specific CTL activity as well as helper T-cell activity (in terms of both proliferative responses and cytokine production) using established procedures in my laboratory. We further proposed that once we demonstrated the merit of rotatory vessel technology to achieve desired results, these studies would be expanded to include immune cells from non-human primates (rhesus monkeys and chimpanzees) and also humans. We conducted a number of experiments to determine CTL induction by the synthetic peptides corresponding to antigenic proteins in HIV and HPV in different mouse strains that express MHC haplotypes H-2b or H-2d. We immunized mice with 100 ug of the synthetic peptide, suspended in sterile water, and emulsified in CFA (1:1). The immune lymph node cells obtained after 7 days were restimulated by culturing in T25 flask, HARV-10, or STLV-50, in the presence of the peptide at 20 ug/ml. The results from the 5'Cr-release assay consistently revealed complete abrogation of CTL activity of cells grown in the bioreactors (both HARV and STLV), while significant antigen-specific CTL activity was observed with cells cultured in tissue culture flasks. Thus, overall the data we generated in this study proved the usefulness of the NASA-developed developed technology for understanding the known immune deficiency during space travel. Additionally, this ex vivo microgravity technology since it mimics effectively the in vivo situation, it is also useful in understanding immune disorders in general. Thus, our proposed studies in TMC-NASA contract round II application benefit from data generated in this TMC-NASA contract round I study.

Sastry, Jagannadha K.↗

Primate Language and Cognition: Common Ground

Research of the past decade has served to underscore the close psychological relationship between humans, chimpanzees, and the other great apes. In his evolutionary theory, Darwin (1860, 1871) posited both psychological and biological continuities between animals and humans. Although the evidence for biological continuity has been strong for decades, the evidence necessary for affirmation of psychological continuity is recent.

Rumbaugh, Duane↗