On Mon, 26 Nov 2001, David Honig wrote:
> Aha. I have learned something then; I didn't realize that reps
> must be somewhat infectious. But infectious-reps require a decent
> medium, e.g., a decent language; squirrels don't really have the
> degrees of freedom. Though it must be obvious to new squirrels
> (eg by observing other more seasoned squirrels lack of reaction) that no
> one takes Spoofie Squirrel seriously.
You're going to learn something else. Once squirrels grow up they don't
look to 'other' squirrels for behaviour. It's already set.
Squirrels can't learn to solve problems by watching other squirrels.
Outside of birds and people, there aren't a lot of animals outside of
primates and cetacians that do learn by observation (and this can be, and
has been, proven by observation).
At most a given squirrel is doing a correlation analysis on whether they
(and I challenge you to demonstrate a squirrel has an 'I', which is
necessary before they can have a 'they') see a problem or not. After
enough false alarms the squirrel HABITUATES and ceases to respond to that
call FOR A SHORT TIME PERIOD. You can also find may studies on this
involving Meerkats and Chimps (there are lots of studies of chimps - three
calls - snake, cheetah, bird).
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