Open AccessOverview of comparative cognitive studies of dolphins in Japan 1
Author(s) -
MORISAKA TADAMICHI
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
japanese psychological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.392
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1468-5884
pISSN - 0021-5368
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5884.2009.00395.x
Subject(s) - cognition , comparative cognition , comparative psychology , psychology , comparative research , cognitive science , sociology , anthropology , neuroscience
Dolphins live in aquatic environments that differ greatly from our terrestrial environments. Several studies have demonstrated that dolphins have complex cognitive abilities comparable to those of great apes. No comparative cognitive studies of dolphins were conducted in Japan until the mid‐1990s, but several pioneering works on dolphin comparative brain studies in Japan had already implied the higher cognitive ability of dolphins by the 1940s. Research in this field is now increasing gradually. This paper provides an overview of comparative cognitive studies of dolphins conducted in Japan, in order to promote dolphin cognition studies in Japan in the future. It begins with a brief history of dolphin cognitive studies in Japan, which is followed by case studies of visual, acoustic, and social cognition, and a discussion of future studies.