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| Author |
Griffiths,S. W.; Brockmark, S.; Höjesjö,J.; Johnsson,J. I. |
| Title |
Coping with divided attention: the advantage of familiarity |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal  |
Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |
| Volume |
271 |
Issue |
1540 |
Pages |
695-699 |
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| Abstract |
The ability of an animal to perform a task successfully is limited by the amount of attention being simultaneously focused on other activities. One way in which individuals might reduce the cost of divided attention is by preferentially focusing on the most beneficial tasks. In territorial animals where aggression is lower among familiar individuals, the decision to associate preferentially with familiar conspecifics may therefore confer advantages by allowing attention to be switched from aggression to predator vigilance and feeding. Wild juvenile brown trout were used to test the prediction that familiar fishes respond more quickly than unfamiliar fishes to a simulated predator attack. Our results confirm this prediction by demonstrating that familiar trout respond 14% faster than unfamiliar individuals to a predator attack. The results also show that familiar fishes consume a greater number of food items, foraging at more than twice the rate of unfamiliar conspecifics. To the best of our knowledge, these results provide the first evidence that familiarity–biased association confers advantages through the immediate fitness benefits afforded by faster predator–evasion responses and the long–term benefits provided by increased feeding opportunities. |
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10.1098/rspb.2003.2648 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5007 |
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Bugnyar, T.; Stöwe, M.; Heinrich, B. |
| Title |
Ravens, Corvus corax, follow gaze direction of humans around obstacles |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |
| Volume |
271 |
Issue |
1546 |
Pages |
1331-1336 |
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The ability to follow gaze (i.e. head and eye direction) has recently been shown for social mammals, particularly primates. In most studies, individuals could use gaze direction as a behavioural cue without understanding that the view of others may be different from their own. Here, we show that hand–raised ravens not only visually co–orient with the look–ups of a human experimenter but also reposition themselves to follow the experimenter's gaze around a visual barrier. Birds were capable of visual co–orientation already as fledglings but consistently tracked gaze direction behind obstacles not before six months of age. These results raise the possibility that sub–adult and adult ravens can project a line of sight for the other person into the distance. To what extent ravens may attribute mental significance to the visual behaviour of others is discussed. |
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10.1098/rspb.2004.2738 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5009 |
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Bode, N.W.F.; Faria, J.J.; Franks, D.W.; Krause, J.; Wood, A.J. |
| Title |
How perceived threat increases synchronization in collectively moving animal groups |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2010 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |
| Volume |
277 |
Issue |
1697 |
Pages |
3065-3070 |
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Nature is rich with many different examples of the cohesive motion of animals. Previous attempts to model collective motion have primarily focused on group behaviours of identical individuals. In contrast, we put our emphasis on modelling the contributions of different individual-level characteristics within such groups by using stochastic asynchronous updating of individual positions and orientations. Our model predicts that higher updating frequency, which we relate to perceived threat, leads to more synchronized group movement, with speed and nearest-neighbour distributions becoming more uniform. Experiments with three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) that were exposed to different threat levels provide strong empirical support for our predictions. Our results suggest that the behaviour of fish (at different states of agitation) can be explained by a single parameter in our model: the updating frequency. We postulate a mechanism for collective behavioural changes in different environment-induced contexts, and explain our findings with reference to confusion and oddity effects. |
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10.1098/rspb.2010.0855 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5188 |
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| Author |
Bugnyar, T. |
| Title |
Knower–guesser differentiation in ravens: others' viewpoints matter |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2011 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |
| Volume |
278 |
Issue |
1705 |
Pages |
634-640 |
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Differentiating between individuals with different knowledge states is an important step in child development and has been considered as a hallmark in human evolution. Recently, primates and corvids have been reported to pass knower–guesser tasks, raising the possibility of mental attribution skills in non-human animals. Yet, it has been difficult to distinguish ‘mind-reading’ from behaviour-reading alternatives, specifically the use of behavioural cues and/or the application of associatively learned rules. Here, I show that ravens (Corvus corax) observing an experimenter hiding food are capable of predicting the behaviour of bystanders that had been visible at both, none or just one of two caching events. Manipulating the competitors' visual field independently of the view of the test-subject resulted in an instant drop in performance, whereas controls for behavioural cues had no such effect. These findings indicate that ravens not only remember whom they have seen at caching but also take into account that the other's view was blocked. Notably, it does not suffice for the birds to associate specific competitors with specific caches. These results support the idea that certain socio-ecological conditions may select for similar cognitive abilities in distantly related species and that some birds have evolved analogous precursors to a human theory-of-mind. |
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raven; Corvus corax; knowledge attribution; perspective; competitive food retrieval; caching |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5287 |
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Johnstone, R.A.; Dugatkin, L.A. |
| Title |
Coalition formation in animals and the nature of winner and loser effects |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2000 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |
| Volume |
267 |
Issue |
1438 |
Pages |
17-21 |
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Coalition formation has been documented in a diverse array of taxa, yet there has been little formal analysis of polyadic interactions such as coalitions. Here, we develop an optimality model which examines the role of winner and loser effects in shaping coalition formation. We demonstrate that the predicted patterns of alliances are strongly dependent on the way in which winner and loser effects change with contestant strength. When winner and loser effects decrease with the resource-holding power (RHP) of the combatants, coalitions will be favoured between the strongest members of a group, but not between the weakest. If, in contrast, winner and loser effects increase with RHP, exactly the opposite predictions emerge. All other things being equal, intervention is more likely to prove worthwhile when the beneficiary of the aid is weaker (and its opponent is stronger), because the beneficiary is then less likely to win without help. Consequently, intervention is more probable when the impact of victory on the subsequent performance of a combatant increases with that individual's strength because this selects for intervention in favour of weaker combatants. The published literature on hierarchy formation does not reveal how winner and loser effects actually change with contestant strength and we therefore hope that our model will spur others to collect such data; in this light we suggest an experiment which will help to elucidate the nature of winner and loser effects and their impact on coalition formation in animals. |
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* aggression * dominance * hierarchy * intervention * reciprocity |
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10.1098/rspb.2000.0960 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5290 |
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| Author |
Magat, M.; Brown, C. |
| Title |
Laterality enhances cognition in Australian parrots |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2009 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |
| Volume |
276 |
Issue |
1676 |
Pages |
4155-4162 |
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Cerebral lateralization refers to the division of information processing in either hemisphere of the brain and is a ubiquitous trait among vertebrates and invertebrates. Given its widespread occurrence, it is likely that cerebral lateralization confers a fitness advantage. It has been hypothesized that this advantage takes the form of enhanced cognitive function, potentially via a dual processing mechanism whereby each hemisphere can be used to process specific types of information without contralateral interference. Here, we examined the influence of lateralization on problem solving by Australian parrots. The first task, a pebble-seed discrimination test, was designed for small parrot species that feed predominately on small seeds, which do not require any significant manipulation with the foot prior to ingestion. The second task, a string-pull problem, was designed for larger bodied species that regularly use their feet to manipulate food objects. In both cases, strongly lateralized individuals (those showing significant foot and eye biases) outperformed less strongly lateralized individuals, and this relationship was substantially stronger in the more demanding task. These results suggest that cerebral lateralization is a ubiquitous trait among Australian parrots and conveys a significant foraging advantage. Our results provide strong support for the enhanced cognitive function hypothesis. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5380 |
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Tebbich, S.; Taborsky, M.; Fessl, B.; Blomqvist, D. |
| Title |
Do woodpecker finches acquire tool-use by social learning? |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2001 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |
| Volume |
268 |
Issue |
1482 |
Pages |
2189-2193 |
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Tool–use is widespread among animals, but except in primates the development of this behaviour is poorly known. Here, we report on the first experimental study to our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the acquisition of tool–use in a bird species. The woodpecker finch Cactospiza pallida, endemic to the Galápagos Islands, is a famous textbook example of tool–use in animals. This species uses modified twigs or cactus spines to pry arthropods out of tree holes. Using nestlings and adult birds from the field, we tested experimentally whether woodpecker finches learn tool–use socially. We show that social learning is not essential for the development of tool–use: all juveniles developed tool–use regardless of whether or not they had a tool–using model. However, we found that not all adult woodpecker finches used tools in our experiments. These non–tool–using individuals also did not learn this task by observing tool–using conspecifics. Our results suggest that tool–use behaviour depends on a very specific learning disposition that involves trial–and–error learning during a sensitive phase early in ontogeny. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5914 |
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da Costa, A.P.; Leigh, A.E.; Man, M.-S.; Kendrick, K.M. |
| Title |
Face pictures reduce behavioural, autonomic, endocrine and neural indices of stress and fear in sheep |
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Journal Article |
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2004 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. |
| Volume |
271 |
Issue |
1552 |
Pages |
2077-2084 |
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Faces are highly emotive stimuli and we find smiling or familiar faces both attractive and comforting, even as young babies. Do other species with sophisticated face recognition skills, such as sheep, also respond to the emotional significance of familiar faces? We report that when sheep experience social isolation, the sight of familiar sheep face pictures compared with those of goats or inverted triangles significantly reduces behavioural (activity and protest vocalizations), autonomic (heart rate) and endocrine (cortisol and adrenaline) indices of stress. They also increase mRNA expression of activity–dependent genes (c–fos and zif/268) in brain regions specialized for processing faces (temporal and medial frontal cortices and basolateral amygdala) and for emotional control (orbitofrontal and cingulate cortex), and reduce their expression in regions associated with stress responses (hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus) and fear (central and lateral amygdala). Effects on face recognition, emotional control and fear centres are restricted to the right brain hemisphere. Results provide evidence that face pictures may be useful for relieving stress caused by unavoidable social isolation in sheep, and possibly other animal species, including humans. The finding that sheep, like humans, appear to have a right brain hemisphere involvement in the control of negative emotional experiences also suggests that functional lateralization of brain emotion systems may be a general feature in mammals. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5354 |
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McComb, K.; Shannon, G.; Durant, S.M.; Sayialel, K.; Slotow, R.; Poole, J.; Moss, C. |
| Title |
Leadership in elephants: the adaptive value of age |
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Journal Article |
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2011 |
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Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. |
| Volume |
278 |
Issue |
1722 |
Pages |
3270-3276 |
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The value of age is well recognized in human societies, where older individuals often emerge as leaders in tasks requiring specialized knowledge, but what part do such individuals play in other social species? Despite growing interest in how effective leadership might be achieved in animal social systems, the specific role that older leaders may play in decision-making has rarely been experimentally investigated. Here, we use a novel playback paradigm to demonstrate that in African elephants (Loxodonta africana), age affects the ability of matriarchs to make ecologically relevant decisions in a domain critical to survival—the assessment of predatory threat. While groups consistently adjust their defensive behaviour to the greater threat of three roaring lions versus one, families with younger matriarchs typically under-react to roars from male lions despite the severe danger they represent. Sensitivity to this key threat increases with matriarch age and is greatest for the oldest matriarchs, who are likely to have accumulated the most experience. Our study provides the first empirical evidence that individuals within a social group may derive significant benefits from the influence of an older leader because of their enhanced ability to make crucial decisions about predatory threat, generating important insights into selection for longevity in cognitively advanced social mammals. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5652 |
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Dugatkin, L.A. |
| Title |
Breaking up fights between others: a model of intervention behaviour |
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Journal Article |
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1998 |
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Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences |
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Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B |
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265 |
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1394 |
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433-437 |
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To examine when and why animals break up fights between others in their group, I modelled whether ‘winner’ and ‘loser’ effects might be one element driving the evolution of intervention behaviour. I considered one particular type of intervention: when the intervener simply breaks up fights between two others, but does not favour either party in so doing. When victories at time T + 1 are more likely given a victory at time T (i.e. winner effects), intervention is often favoured. Intervention is favoured in these circumstances because the intervening party in essence stops others from ‘getting on a roll’ and climbing up any hierarchy that exists. However, when loser effects alone are at work (defeats at time T + 1 are more likely given a defeat at time T), breaking up fights between others is never selected. If both winner and loser effects are operating simultaneously, then the likelihood of intervention behaviour evolving is a function of the relative strength of these two effects. The greater the winner effect relative to the loser effect, the more likely intervention behaviour is to evolve. |
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10.1098/rspb.1998.0313 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5240 |
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