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Murray, L. M. A., Byrne, K., & D’Eath, R. B. (2013). Pair-bonding and companion recognition in domestic donkeys, <em>Equus asinus</em>. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 143(1), 67–74.
Abstract: Pair and social bonding has been documented in various taxa, where pair formations are often described as being driven by kinship or sexual motivation. However, pair-bonding between unrelated individuals where sexual motivation is not a factor is not well documented. Many social relationships and pair-bonds between members of a dyad are facilitated by each individual's ability to recognise their partner using cues which are characteristic of that particular individual. The aims of this study were i) to investigate the existence of pair-bonding in domestic donkeys and ii) to determine whether members of a dyad could recognise their companion during a Y-maze recognition test. Subjects were 55 unrelated donkeys (38 gelded males, 15 females) in seven groups of mixed or same sex, comprising 4?14 individuals. Spatial proximity (nearest-neighbour) was observed three times a day over a 22-day period. Using a simulation approach based on observed data to generate randomised nearest-neighbour matrices, the statistical significance of social relationships was estimated. Of these, 42 (79.2%) were involved in significantly (p<0.05) non-random nearest-neighbour relationships, most of which were reciprocal pair relationships. Based on the spatial data, 24 of the donkeys which had shown significant reciprocal nearest-neighbour preferences for one individual (companion) were then used in a Y-maze recognition test in which they were presented with a choice of their companion and either a familiar donkey from the same group or an unfamiliar donkey from a different group. Donkeys? spatial location in the Y-maze demonstrated a preference for their companion versus familiar (one sample Wilcoxon signed rank test, W=239, p=0.002) or unfamiliar donkeys (W=222, p=0.041). These results verify anecdotal evidence from donkey handlers that donkeys often form pair-bonds, and show that reciprocal social preference and recognition are the basis of these. Pair-bond formation and companionship among donkeys have potential implications for their management, husbandry and welfare.
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McGreevy, P. (2012). Equine Behavior A Guide for Veterinarians and Equine Scientists.
Abstract: Chapter 1 – Introduction, Pages 1-36
Chapter 2 – Perception, Pages 37-54
Chapter 3 – Behavior and the brain, Pages 55-84, Caroline Hahn
Chapter 4 – Learning, Pages 85-118
Chapter 5 – Social behavior, Pages 119-150
Chapter 6 – Communication, Pages 151-163
Chapter 7 – Locomotory behavior, Pages 165-187
Chapter 8 – Ingestive behavior, Pages 189-215
Chapter 9 – Eliminative behavior, Pages 217-221
Chapter 10 – Body care, Pages 223-243
Chapter 11 – Behavior of the stallion, Pages 245-264
Chapter 12 – Behavior of the mare, Pages 265-290
Chapter 13 – Training, Pages 291-311, Andrew McLean, Paul McGreevy
Chapter 14 – Handling and transport, Pages 313-329
Chapter 15 – Miscellaneous unwelcome behaviors, their causes and resolution, Pages 331-345
Further reading, Page 347
Glossary, Pages 351-356
Index, Pages 357-369
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McDonnell, S. (1999). Understanding horse behavior. Your guide to horse health care and management. Lexington, KY 40544-4038: Blood-Horse Inc.
Abstract: The author has conducted much research on equine behaviour, and here presents her findings in a form suitable for owners of horses. Common behavioural problems are mentioned.
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Ward, A., & Webster, M. (2016). Sociality: The Behaviour of Group-Living Animals.
Abstract: Covers the aspects of social behaviour of animals in comprehensive form Provides a clear overview to up-to-date empirical and theoretical research on social animal behaviour
Discusses collective animal behaviour, social networks and animal personality in detail
The last decade has seen a surge of interest among biologists in a range of social animal phenomena, including collective behaviour and social networks. In ‘Animal Social Behaviour’, authors Ashley Ward and Michael Webster integrate the most up-to-date empirical and theoretical research to provide a new synthesis of the field, which is aimed at fellow researchers and postgraduate students on the topic. ​
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Wynne C. D. L. (2001). Animal Cognition: The Mental Lives of Animals. Palgrave.
Abstract: Covering a wide range of key topics, from reasoning and communication to sensation and complex problem-solving, this engagingly-written text presents a comprehensive survey of contemporary research on animal cognition. Written for anyone with an interest in animal cognition, but without a background in animal behaviour, it endeavours to explain what makes animals tick.
With numerous illustrations and including exciting recent studies from many little-studied species (such as the weakly electric African fish), this text is ideal for psychology students who are interested in how much of our human cognition is shared by other species, for students of biology who want to know how complex animal behaviour can get, and for all those with an interest in the animal mind.
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Baragli, P., Demuru, E., Scopa, C., & Palagi, E. (2017). Are horses capable of mirror self-recognition? A pilot study. Plos One, 12(5), e0176717.
Abstract: Mirror Self-Recognition (MSR) unveils complex cognitive, social and emotional skills and it has been found only in humans and few other species, such as great apes, dolphins, elephants and magpies. In this pilot study, we tested if horses show the capacity of MSR. Four subjects living socially under naturalistic conditions were selected for the experiment. We adopted the classical mark test, which consists in placing a coloured mark on an out-of-view body part, visible only through mirror inspection. If the animal considers the image as its own, it will use its reflection to detect the mark and will try to explore it. We enhanced the classical paradigm by introducing a double-check control. Only in the presence of the reflecting surface, animals performed tactile and olfactory exploration of the mirror and looked behind it. These behaviors suggest that subjects were trying to associate multiple sensory cues (visual, tactile and olfactory) to the image in the mirror. The lack of correspondence between the collected stimuli in front of the mirror and the response to the colored mark lead us to affirm that horses are able to perceive that the reflected image is incongruent when compared with the memorized information of a real horse. However, without replication of data, the self-directed behavior towards the colored marks showed by our horses cannot be sufficient per se to affirm that horses are capable of self-recognition.
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Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Review of Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associative Processes in Animals. Psychol. Rev., 5(5), 551–553.
Abstract: Reviews the article “Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associative Processes in Animals” by E. L. Thorndike. In this monograph are presented the results of some experiments which the author has been carrying on during two years, and some theories which these results seem to support. The subjects of the experiments were dogs, cats and chicks, and the method was to put them, when hungry, in boxes from which they could escape and so get food by manipulating some simple mechanism (e. g., by pulling down a loop of wire, depressing a lever, turning a button). The author reports on the behavior of the animals. The author's conception of mental evolution is briefly explained, and applications of his results to education, anthropology and theoretical psychology are made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
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Reader, S. M., Kendal, J. R., & Laland, K. N. (2003). Social learning of foraging sites and escape routes in wild Trinidadian guppies. Anim. Behav., 66(4), 729–739.
Abstract: We describe two field experiments with wild guppies, Poecilia reticulata, in Trinidad that demonstrated that guppies can acquire foraging and predator escape-response information from conspecifics. In the foraging experiment, subjects were presented with two distinctly marked feeders in their home rivers. One feeder contained a conspecific shoal in a transparent container. Guppies preferred to enter the feeder containing this artificial shoal over the other feeder. In a test phase, the artificial shoal was removed and the feeders replaced at the testing site after a 5-min delay. More guppies entered the feeder that had contained the artificial shoal over the other feeder, a difference that can be explained only by the fish learning the characteristics or location of the feeder during the training phase. We suggest that subjects acquired a foraging patch preference through a propensity to approach feeding conspecifics, a local enhancement process. In the predator escape-response experiment, naive 'observer' guppies could avoid an approaching trawl net by escaping through either a hole to which 'demonstrator' guppies had been trained or through an alternative hole. When the demonstrators were present, the naive observers escaped more often and more rapidly by the demonstrated route than the alternative route. When the demonstrators were removed, observers maintained a route preference according to the training of their demonstrators, which suggests that the observers had learned an escape route through following or observing their more knowledgeable conspecifics. Thus, both experiments reveal that guppies can socially learn in the wild. Copyright 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
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Smith, S. F., Appleby, M. C., & Hughes, B. O. (1990). Problem solving by domestic hens: opening doors to reach nest sites. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 28(3), 287–292.
Abstract: In a trial of cage designs for laying hens, eggs were discovered in dust baths where access was restricted by a closed door during the normal laying period (08:00-13:00 h). Observations showed that the hens in these dust bath treatments had developed methods of opening the doors in order to lay in the baths. Three different methods of opening were observed. An average time of 34.4 min was spent attempting to open the doors before access was finally achieved. This implies a strong nesting motivation in these hens. The proportion of eggs laid in the dust baths increased (with occasional fluctuations) over a 24-week period. Door opening is likely to have initially developed in one individual in each cage through a trial and error basis, and then have been learned by cage mates through imitation. The speed and efficiency of door opening was not found to increase with experience or time.
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Petherick, J. C., & Rutter, S. M. (1990). Quantifying motivation using a computer-controlled push-door. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 27(1), 159–167.
Abstract: A computer-controlled push-door system was designed and tested as a method for measuring motivation. Eleven domestic hens were trained to use the push-door to gain access to food. They were deprived of food for 12 h or 43 h on 12 occasions and the push-door was used to measure the amount of “work” (measured as force × time) that they performed to gain access to a food reward. When deprived of food for 12 h the hens took significantly longer (P<0.01) to reach the required threshold of work, than when deprived for 43 h. This difference arose from the amount of time that the hens spent not pushing at the door. The problems encountered with this system and such an approach to measuring motivation are discussed.
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