ndash; Dolphin Intelligence web site), early research focused on the development of human/dolphin communication. "Devices were constructed to translate articulated vowel sounds into sinusoidal whistles and to provide real time visual displays of the frequency modulated whistles. Two dolphins ... were found to respond distinctly to 35 response-demand messages embedded in 5-word spoken sentences" (cited in Whales on the Net – Dolphin Intelligence web site, p. 3).
             A second early study explored abstract communication between two Bottlenose dolphins. The dolphins were trained to respond to light signals and to perform a cooperative task using acoustic transmission of information. "Each animal was first trained to press one of two paddles, depending on the state of a light signal. Next, while housed in adjacent enclosures, they were required to coordinate their actions in the fixed sequence and within fixed time limits. The light signal to the animal required to respond first was removed, visual contact with the other animal and its light eliminated. They continued to perform successfully as long as they were in acoustical contact and the light signal to one of the animals was provided. Their performance success was found to depend directly upon the emission of pulsed trains by the animal receiving the light signal, although it was also found to be directly connected with its emission of whistle signals" (cited in Whales on the Net – Dolphin Intelligence web site, p. 3).
             A third study done in 1968 was titled, "The Creative Porpoise: Training for Novel Behavior, A demonstration of the creative potential of rough toothed dolphins.
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