Research Overview:
We’ve all heard the expression “monkey see, monkey do” – but actually, that’s a myth. Imitation is very rare in the animal kingdom. Chimpanzees can imitate sometimes, but – apart from humans – the animal that is the best at imitation is the dolphin.
We wanted to explore this ability further. In our first study, Blindfolded Imitation in a Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) that was published by the International Journal of Comparative Psychology, we asked Tanner to copy the behaviors of another dolphin while wearing eyecups (soft, latex suction cups that completely cover his eyes). And….he could do it! But how? Without the ability to use his vision, he must have used sound, either by echolocating to “see” the behavior, or by recognizing the characteristic sound the behavior makes.
Blindfolded Imitation: Tanner is able to copy Kibby’s splash, without using his eyesight.
Blindfolded, Tanner is still able to imitate A.J.’s wave.
Our second study, called Switching Strategies: A Dolphin’s use of Passive and Active Acoustics to Imitate Motor Actions, discovered that when a dolphin could recognize the behavior by its characteristic sound, he did so. When he did not, he chose to use his echolocation in order to answer the question. This study was published in Animal Cognition. With these studies, DRC has shown that dolphins not only have the ability to imitate, but can imitate with a kind of problem-solving flexibility that’s never been seen outside of humans.
References:
For the full text of the second study, please email research@dolphins.org.
