Perhaps it is a symbiosis, the trees are offering the acorns to the squirrels, and we have to grant a sense of the future to oak trees also.
Ken ----------------------------------------------------------- On Tue, 30 Oct 2001 12:16:09 -0800 Harry Avis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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 > > Ken ---------------------- Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dept. of Psychology Appalachian State University Boone, NC 28608 USA --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
