Today we were able to observe Talon perform match to sample. This consisted of three individuals in a line showing Talon 3 objects, two of which were the same and one of which was different. The objects were three dimensional “toys” that Talon was familiar with. The trainer would be in the middle and would hold up one of the two similar objects, while students on either side would hold up the other two. The trainer would signal Talon with a shrug. Talon would then touch the middle object and do his best to pick the matching object one of the students was holding. Talon was not always correct; apparently he had learned the process earlier and seemed to have become somewhat rusty. We were surprised to hear that Talon also tended to have “favorite” objects that he would select even when it was incorrect. He tended to like larger objects such as the ice cube tray and the toy sailboat. The trainer used several methods she used to help Talon identify the correct choice after an incorrect choice. For instance she would create an errorless trial by showing Talon only two similar objects or moving the two similar objects closer together and the different object slightly farther away.
The paper that we read involved showing dolphins planar objects, which would be more difficult, but their success rate was impressive. Two dolphins were seen to have a success rate of 76% and 89%, both of which were statistically significant. The trainer suggested that DRC was not going to do the test with planar objects.
We think that it makes sense that dolphins would be able to perform tasks like match to sample since dolphins rely heavily on recognition for numerous facets of their life. For example in the wild they would need to be able to distinguish optimal prey types when hunting in order to catch the most nutritious food and maximize caloric efficiency. In social settings they need to be able to distinguish between each others signal whistles as well as their visual appearances. It would be interesting to see if they could perform better under the water, as the ability to use echolocation could increase their response accuracy.
By: Trevor Sands and Tori Hymel