Assume that squirrels have evolved a behavior pattern - see acorn bury it. Then come Winter and Spring, squirrel is hungry and smells the acorn in the ground. I don't have the reference, but I recall reading that squirrels are absolutely lousy at finding acorns they have buried (no episodic memory?). Their lack of episodic memory is, however, great for oak trees.
Harry Avis PhD Sierra College Rocklin, CA 95677 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Life is opinion - Marcus Aurelius There is nothing that is good or bad, but that thinking makes it so - Shakespeare >From: "Patrick O. Dolan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: Student's question >Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2001 14:29:51 -0500 > >Not sure what you mean by sense of the future, but you may be able to >explain squirrel behavior without assuming they have some complex sense of >the past and future. However, Nicole Clayton has suggested that birds >display episodic-like memory because they not only remember the spatial >location of previously stored food, but are also sensitive to temporal >factors, as if they remember "when" they were stored and know whether or >not >the perishable larvae are still good and worth digging up. See Clayton, N. >S. & Dickinson, A. (1998). Episodic-like memory during cache recovery by >scrub jays. Nature, 395, 272-273. Neat stuff. > >Patrick > >******************** >Patrick O. Dolan >Department of Psychology >Drew University >Madison, NJ 07940 >973-408-3558 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >******************** > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Michael Sylvester" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 1:31 PM >Subject: Student's question > > > > > > do squirrels have a sense of the future since they can store nuts > > at the base of certain trees and return the following day to retrieve > > them? > > > > Michael Sylvester,PhD > > Daytona Beach,Florida > > > >--- >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
