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J W Kalat

Publications and source records attributed to J W Kalat.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1983

Evolutionary thinking in the history of the comparative psychology of learning.

Darwin's theory of evolution initially inspired researchers to search for intelligence in animals. The early work was dominated by the assumption that intelligence is qualitatively the same in all species, and that it is meaningful to compare all species in the same situation or situations. This assumption persisted through the "learning theory" era, even when interest had faded in species comparisons. Even today there has not yet been an adequate test of the assumption that intelligence is qualitatively the same across species and situations. Interest has returned, however, to a second implication of evolution: We should expect to find not only similarities among species, but also divergences and adaptation to specific problems. Some speculations are offered regarding implications for human intelligence.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1975

Taste-aversion learning in infant guinea pigs.

Infant guinea pigs were hand-fed a 10% sucrose solution and poisoned after delays of 0 min, 30 min, or 24+ hr. Subjects in the first 2 groups showed significant sucrose aversions when tested more than a month later. No significant difference existed between the 0- and 30-min groups; no deficiency in this type of learning was evident even in neonates. All 3 groups showed a lower sucrose preference if first exposed at ages 0-6 days than at 7-11 days. Evidently exposure to sucrose at the earlier ages was less effective in reducing later neophobia to sucrose; although the youngest animals had no evident deficiency in learning aversions, they may have been deficient in learning "safety".

Adaptation, Biological↗