Non-scientific literature consistently describes dolphins as “curious animals,” but there has been little systematic research on curiosity in dolphins. Curiosity in humans and certain non-human animal species, including birds and non-human primates, has been studied by examining individual differences in exploration and reactions to novel stimuli. Additionally, research has explored how human infants and non-human animals react when an event violates their expectations. The present study explored dolphins’ reactions to spontaneously surprising and expectation-violating stimuli. The reactions of dolphins, 15 bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) and 6 rough-toothed (Steno bredanensis), at Gulf World Marine Park were analyzed in response to events that were spontaneously surprising and a possible violation of expectations paradigm. The results of this study supported the hypothesis that there would be a wide range of individual differences in dolphins’ reactions to the stimuli, including differences between species, sex, age class, and personality ratings. Subjects had a longer gaze duration, produced more bubble bursts and bubble trails, opened their mouths more, and were visibly startled more frequently while viewing a spontaneously surprising stimulus. Contrary to hypotheses, the subjects did not behave differently when shown an expectation-violating stimulus compared to a control stimulus. The results of this study provide insight into individual differences in dolphins’ curiosity-related behavior and stimuli that elicit the curiosity of these animals, both of which can improve environmental enrichment and the welfare of dolphins in human care.
","abstract_html":"<p>Non-scientific literature consistently describes dolphins as “curious animals,” but there has been little systematic research on curiosity in dolphins. Curiosity in humans and certain non-human animal species, including birds and non-human primates, has been studied by examining individual differences in exploration and reactions to novel stimuli. Additionally, research has explored how human infants and non-human animals react when an event violates their expectations. The present study explored dolphins’ reactions to spontaneously surprising and expectation-violating stimuli. The reactions of dolphins, 15 bottlenose (<em>Tursiops truncatus</em>) and 6 rough-toothed (<em>Steno bredanensis</em>), at Gulf World Marine Park were analyzed in response to events that were spontaneously surprising and a possible violation of expectations paradigm. The results of this study supported the hypothesis that there would be a wide range of individual differences in dolphins’ reactions to the stimuli, including differences between species, sex, age class, and personality ratings. Subjects had a longer gaze duration, produced more bubble bursts and bubble trails, opened their mouths more, and were visibly startled more frequently while viewing a spontaneously surprising stimulus. Contrary to hypotheses, the subjects did not behave differently when shown an expectation-violating stimulus compared to a control stimulus. The results of this study provide insight into individual differences in dolphins’ curiosity-related behavior and stimuli that elicit the curiosity of these animals, both of which can improve environmental enrichment and the welfare of dolphins in human care.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lilley, Malin Katarina"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Donald Sacco","Richard Mohn","Deirdre Yeater"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:41Z","subjects":["dolphin cognition","curiosity","individual differences","marine mammal cognition","Animal Studies","Biological Psychology","Cognition and Perception","Cognitive Psychology","Comparative Psychology","Other Animal Sciences","Zoology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/278","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Donald Sacco","Richard Mohn","Deirdre Yeater"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lilley, Malin Katarina"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-03-09T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["dolphin cognition","curiosity","individual differences","marine mammal cognition","Animal Studies","Biological Psychology","Cognition and Perception","Cognitive Psychology","Comparative Psychology","Other Animal Sciences","Zoology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/278"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Non-scientific literature consistently describes dolphins as “curious animals,” but there has been little systematic research on curiosity in dolphins. Curiosity in humans and certain non-human animal species, including birds and non-human primates, has been studied by examining individual differences in exploration and reactions to novel stimuli. Additionally, research has explored how human infants and non-human animals react when an event violates their expectations. The present study explored dolphins’ reactions to spontaneously surprising and expectation-violating stimuli. The reactions of dolphins, 15 bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) and 6 rough-toothed (Steno bredanensis), at Gulf World Marine Park were analyzed in response to events that were spontaneously surprising and a possible violation of expectations paradigm. The results of this study supported the hypothesis that there would be a wide range of individual differences in dolphins’ reactions to the stimuli, including differences between species, sex, age class, and personality ratings. Subjects had a longer gaze duration, produced more bubble bursts and bubble trails, opened their mouths more, and were visibly startled more frequently while viewing a spontaneously surprising stimulus. Contrary to hypotheses, the subjects did not behave differently when shown an expectation-violating stimulus compared to a control stimulus. The results of this study provide insight into individual differences in dolphins’ curiosity-related behavior and stimuli that elicit the curiosity of these animals, both of which can improve environmental enrichment and the welfare of dolphins in human care.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Sparking a Dolphin's Curiosity: Individual Differences in Dolphins' Reactions to Surprising and Expectation-Violating Events"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Donald Sacco","Richard Mohn","Deirdre Yeater"],"dc:creator":["Lilley, Malin Katarina"],"dc:date.available":["2017-03-09T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Non-scientific literature consistently describes dolphins as “curious animals,” but there has been little systematic research on curiosity in dolphins. Curiosity in humans and certain non-human animal species, including birds and non-human primates, has been studied by examining individual differences in exploration and reactions to novel stimuli. Additionally, research has explored how human infants and non-human animals react when an event violates their expectations. The present study explored dolphins’ reactions to spontaneously surprising and expectation-violating stimuli. The reactions of dolphins, 15 bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) and 6 rough-toothed (Steno bredanensis), at Gulf World Marine Park were analyzed in response to events that were spontaneously surprising and a possible violation of expectations paradigm. The results of this study supported the hypothesis that there would be a wide range of individual differences in dolphins’ reactions to the stimuli, including differences between species, sex, age class, and personality ratings. Subjects had a longer gaze duration, produced more bubble bursts and bubble trails, opened their mouths more, and were visibly startled more frequently while viewing a spontaneously surprising stimulus. Contrary to hypotheses, the subjects did not behave differently when shown an expectation-violating stimulus compared to a control stimulus. The results of this study provide insight into individual differences in dolphins’ curiosity-related behavior and stimuli that elicit the curiosity of these animals, both of which can improve environmental enrichment and the welfare of dolphins in human care.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/278"],"dc:subject":["dolphin cognition","curiosity","individual differences","marine mammal cognition","Animal Studies","Biological Psychology","Cognition and Perception","Cognitive Psychology","Comparative Psychology","Other Animal Sciences","Zoology"],"dc:title":["Sparking a Dolphin's Curiosity: Individual Differences in Dolphins' Reactions to Surprising and Expectation-Violating Events"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:41Z"}