| Records |
| Author |
Hauber, M.E.; Sherman, P.W. |
| Title |
Designing and interpreting experimental tests of self-referent phenotype matching |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
6 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
69-71 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Birds; Body Constitution; Color; Humans; Pedigree; *Perception; Phenotype; *Recognition (Psychology); Research Design; *Self Psychology |
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Address  |
Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-2702, USA |
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| ISSN |
1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:12658536 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2580 |
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| Author |
Sovrano, V.A.; Bisazza, A.; Vallortigara, G. |
| Title |
How fish do geometry in large and in small spaces |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
10 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
47-54 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Association Learning; Color Perception; Cues; *Discrimination Learning; *Distance Perception; *Fishes; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Social Environment; *Space Perception; Visual Perception |
| Abstract |
It has been shown that children and non-human animals seem to integrate geometric and featural information to different extents in order to reorient themselves in environments of different spatial scales. We trained fish (redtail splitfins, Xenotoca eiseni) to reorient to find a corner in a rectangular tank with a distinctive featural cue (a blue wall). Then we tested fish after displacement of the feature on another adjacent wall. In the large enclosure, fish chose the two corners with the feature, and also tended to choose among them the one that maintained the correct arrangement of the featural cue with respect to geometric sense (i.e. left-right position). In contrast, in the small enclosure, fish chose both the two corners with the features and the corner, without any feature, that maintained the correct metric arrangement of the walls with respect to geometric sense. Possible reasons for species differences in the use of geometric and non-geometric information are discussed. |
| Address |
Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35131, Padova, Italy. valeriaanna.sovrano@unipd.it |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16794851 |
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no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2462 |
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| Author |
Tommasi, L.; Polli, C. |
| Title |
Representation of two geometric features of the environment in the domestic chick ( Gallus gallus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
7 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
53-59 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Chickens/*physiology; *Cues; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual/*physiology |
| Abstract |
We report experiments based on a novel test in domestic chicks ( Gallus gallus), designed to examine the encoding of two different geometric features of an enclosed environment: relative lengths of the walls and amplitude of the corners. Chicks were trained to search for a food reward located in one corner of a parallelogram-shaped enclosure. Between trials, chicks were passively disoriented and the enclosure was rotated, making reorientation possible only on the basis of the internal spatial structure of the enclosure. In order to reorient, chicks could rely on two sources of information: the relative lengths of the walls of the enclosure (associated to their left-right sense order) and the angles subtended by walls at corners. Chicks learned the task choosing equally often the reinforced corner and its rotational equivalent. Results of tests carried out in novel enclosures, the shapes of which were chosen ad hoc (1) to induce reorientation based only on the ratio of walls lengths plus sense (rectangular enclosure), or (2) to induce reorientation based only on corner angles (rhombus-shaped enclosure), suggested that chicks encoded both features of the environment. In a third test, in which chicks faced a conflict between these geometric features (mirror parallelogram-shaped enclosure), reorientation seemed to depend on the salience of corner angles. These results shed light on the elements of the environmental geometry which control spatial reorientation, and broaden the knowledge on the geometric representation of space in animals. |
| Address |
Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padua, Italy. ltommasi@unipd.it |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:12884079 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2561 |
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| Author |
Regolin, L.; Marconato, F.; Vallortigara, G. |
| Title |
Hemispheric differences in the recognition of partly occluded objects by newly hatched domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
7 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
162-170 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Discrimination Learning/physiology; Dominance, Cerebral/*physiology; Female; Form Perception/*physiology; Imprinting (Psychology)/*physiology; Pattern Recognition, Visual/*physiology; Photic Stimulation; Random Allocation; Vision, Monocular/*physiology |
| Abstract |
Domestic chicks are capable of perceiving as a whole objects partly concealed by occluders (“amodal completion”). In previous studies chicks were imprinted on a certain configuration and at test they were required to choose between two alternative versions of it. Using the same paradigm we now investigated the presence of hemispheric differences in amodal completion by testing newborn chicks with one eye temporarily patched. Separate groups of newly hatched chicks were imprinted binocularly: (1) on a square partly occluded by a superimposed bar, (2) on a whole or (3) on an amputated version of the square. At test, in monocular conditions, each chick was presented with a free choice between a complete and an amputated square. In the crucial condition 1, chicks tested with only their left eye in use chose the complete square (like binocular chicks would do); right-eyed chicks, in contrast, tended to choose the amputated square. Similar results were obtained in another group of chicks imprinted binocularly onto a cross (either occluded or amputated in its central part) and required to choose between a complete or an amputated cross. Left-eyed and binocular chicks chose the complete cross, whereas right-eyed chicks did not choose the amputated cross significantly more often. These findings suggest that neural structures fed by the left eye (mainly located in the right hemisphere) are, in the chick, more inclined to a “global” analysis of visual scenes, whereas those fed by the right eye seem to be more inclined to a “featural” analysis of visual scenes. |
| Address |
Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padova, Italy. lucia.regolin@unipd.it |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:15241654 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2519 |
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| Author |
Agrillo, C.; Dadda, M.; Bisazza, A. |
| Title |
Quantity discrimination in female mosquitofish |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Animal cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
10 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
63-70 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Cognition; *Cyprinodontiformes; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Male; Mathematics; *Pattern Recognition, Visual |
| Abstract |
The ability in animals to count and represent different numbers of objects has received a great deal of attention in the past few decades. Cumulative evidence from comparative studies on number discriminations report obvious analogies among human babies, non-human primates and birds and are consistent with the hypothesis of two distinct and widespread mechanisms, one for counting small numbers (<4) precisely, and one for quantifying large numbers approximately. We investigated the ability to discriminate among different numerosities, in a distantly related species, the mosquitofish, by using the spontaneous choice of a gravid female to join large groups of females as protection from a sexually harassing male. In one experiment, we found that females were able to discriminate between two shoals with a 1:2 numerosity ratio (2 vs. 4, 4 vs. 8 and 8 vs. 16 fish) but failed to discriminate a 2:3 ratio (8 vs. 12 fish). In the second experiment, we studied the ability to discriminate between shoals that differed by one element; females were able to select the larger shoal when the paired numbers were 2 vs. 3 or 3 vs. 4 but not 4 vs. 5 or 5 vs. 6. Our study indicates that numerical abilities in fish are comparable with those of other non-verbal creatures studied; results are in agreement with the hypothesis of the existence of two distinct systems for quantity discrimination in vertebrates. |
| Address |
Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, via Venezia 8, 35131, Padova, Italy. christian.agrillo@unipd.it |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16868736 |
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no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
339 |
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| Author |
Parejo, D.; Aviles, J.M. |
| Title |
Do avian brood parasites eavesdrop on heterospecific sexual signals revealing host quality? A review of the evidence |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
10 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
81-88 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Birds/*parasitology/*physiology; *Host-Parasite Relations; *Nesting Behavior |
| Abstract |
Eavesdropping can be defined as the extraction of information from the interactions between other individuals. It provides a relatively cheap way of gathering relevant information for fitness enhancement. Here, we propose that obligate avian brood parasites, which always lay their eggs in foreign nests of individuals of other species, may eavesdrop on their host sexual signals to locate nests of high quality individuals in which to lay their parasitic eggs. Sexual signal variation can honestly signal parental quality. Thus, by eavesdropping on sexual signals, parasites may select high quality foster parents for their own offspring. Such a use of sexual signals within host populations by brood parasites differs from signal exploitation theory that proposes that parasite only use signals to locate potential host independently from signaller quality. Here, we review the avian literature concerning host choice within a host species by obligate avian brood parasites and find evidence for host selection within individuals of a host species on the basis of cues potentially functioning as sexually selected traits, or at least revealing parental abilities. We have also found support for the existence of benefits linked to host selection by avian brood parasites. Finally, one study reported on the attenuation of a sexual ornament in host populations under strong pressure by brood parasites. Most of these findings have been interpreted as evidence for host selection by avian brood parasites based on the conspicuousness of sexual signals. We suggest, however, that these findings may in fact reveal eavesdropping on host signalling performance by brood parasites which would use the information extracted to choose the better individuals among conspecifics of a given host. This provides a new perspective for the study of host selection in obligate brood parasites, and raises interesting questions for the study of animal cognition that would deserve experimental studies. |
| Address |
Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Estacion Experimental de Zonas Aridas, C.S.I.C. C/General Segura 1, 04001, Almeria, Spain. parejo@eeza.csic.es |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:17180699 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2426 |
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| Author |
Tebbich, S.; Seed, A.M.; Emery, N.J.; Clayton, N.S. |
| Title |
Non-tool-using rooks, Corvus frugilegus, solve the trap-tube problem |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
10 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
225-231 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Crows/*physiology; Female; Male; Problem Solving/*physiology |
| Abstract |
The trap-tube problem is used to assess whether an individual is able to foresee the outcome of its actions. To solve the task, an animal must use a tool to push a piece of food out of a tube, which has a trap along its length. An animal may learn to avoid the trap through a rule based on associative processes, e.g. using the distance of trap or food as a cue, or by understanding relations between cause and effect. This task has been used to test physical cognition in a number of tool-using species, but never a non-tool-user. We developed an experimental design that enabled us to test non-tool-using rooks, Corvus frugilegus. Our modification of the task removed the cognitive requirements of active tool use but still allowed us to test whether rooks can solve the trap-tube problem, and if so how. Additionally, we developed two new control tasks to determine whether rooks were able to transfer knowledge to similar, but novel problems, thus revealing more about the mechanisms involved in solving the task. We found that three out of seven rooks solved the modified trap-tube problem task, showing that the ability to solve the trap-tube problem is not restricted to tool-using animals. We found no evidence that the birds solved the task using an understanding of its causal properties, given that none of the birds passed the novel transfer tasks. |
| Address |
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK. st281@cam.ac.uk |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:17171360 |
Approved |
no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2429 |
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| Author |
Waite, T.A. |
| Title |
Interruptions improve choice performance in gray jays: prolonged information processing versus minimization of costly errors |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
5 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
209-214 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Choice Behavior; Female; Learning; Male; Models, Biological; Motivation; Reinforcement Schedule; Songbirds/*physiology; Time Factors |
| Abstract |
Under the assumption that selection favors minimization of costly errors, erroneous choice may be common when its fitness cost is low. According to an adaptive-choice model, this cost depends on the rate at which an animal encounters the choice: the higher this rate, the smaller the cost of choosing a less valuable option. Errors should thus be more common when interruptions to foraging are shorter. A previous experiment supported this prediction: gray jays, Perisoreus canadensis, were more error prone when subjected to shorter delays to access to food rewards. This pattern, though, is also predicted by an attentional-constraints model. Because the subjects were able to inspect the rewards during delays, their improved performance when subjected to longer delays could have been a byproduct of the experimentally prolonged opportunity for information processing. To evaluate this possibility, a follow-up experiment manipulated both delay to access and whether rewards could be inspected during delays. Depriving jays of the opportunity to inspect rewards (using opaque lids) induced only a small, nonsignificant increase in error rate. This effect was independent of length of delay and so the jays' improved performance when subjected to longer delays was not simply a byproduct of prolonged information processing. More definitively, even when the jays were prevented from inspecting rewards during delays, their performance improved when subjected to longer delays. The findings are thus consistent with the adaptive-choice model. |
| Address |
Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, 1735 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1293, USA. waite.1@osu.edu |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:12461598 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2592 |
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Gácsi, M.; Kara, E.; Belényi, B.; Topál, J.; Miklósi, Á. |
| Title |
The effect of development and individual differences in pointing comprehension of dogs |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2009 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
12 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
471-479 |
| Keywords |
Age Factors; Analysis of Variance; Animals; *Association Learning; Attention; Chi-Square Distribution; Choice Behavior; *Comprehension; *Concept Formation; Dogs/*psychology; Female; *Gestures; Humans; Male; Orientation; Statistics, Nonparametric |
| Abstract |
In spite of the rather different procedures actually used in comparative studies to test the ability of different species to rely on the human pointing gesture, there is no debate on the high performance of dogs in such tasks. Very little is known, however, on the course through which they acquire this ability or the probable factors influencing the process. Important developmental questions have remained unsolved and also some methodological concerns should be addressed before we can convincingly argue for one interpretation or another. In this study we tested 180 dogs of different age (from 2 months to adults) to investigate their performance in the human distal momentary pointing gesture. The results, analyzed at both the group and the individual levels, showed no difference in the performance according to age, indicating that in dogs the comprehension of the human pointing may require only very limited and rapid early learning to fully develop. Interestingly, neither the keeping conditions nor the time spent in active interaction with the owner, and not even some special (agility) training for using human visual cues, had significant effect on the success and explained individual differences. The performance of the dogs was rather stable over time: during the 20 trials within a session and even when subsamples of different age were repeatedly tested. Considering that in spite of the general success at the group level, more than half of the dogs were not successful at the individual level, we revealed alternative “decision-making rules” other than following the pointing gesture of the experimenter. |
| Address |
Department of Ethology, Eotvos University, Budapest, Hungary. gm.art@t-online.hu |
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1435-9456 |
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| Notes |
PMID:19130102 |
Approved |
no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
4969 |
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Pongrácz, P.; Vida, V.; Bánhegyi, P.; Miklósi, Á. |
| Title |
How does dominance rank status affect individual and social learning performance in the dog (Canis familiaris)? |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
11 |
Issue |
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Pages |
75-82 |
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| Abstract |
Dogs can learn effectively to detour around a V-shaped fence after observing a demonstration from either an unfamiliar human or dog demonstrator. We found earlier that there is substantial individual variation between the dogs' performance, even when using the same experimental conditions. Here, we investigate if the subjects' relative dominance rank with other dogs had an effect on their social learning performance. On the basis of the owners' answers to a questionnaire, subjects from multi-dog homes were sorted into groups of dominant and subordinate dogs. In Experiment 1, dominant and subordinate dogs were tested without demonstration and we did not find any difference between the groups-they had similarly low detour performances on their own. In Experiment 2 and 3, dogs from single dog and multi-dog households were tested in the detour task with demonstration by an unfamiliar dog, or human, respectively. The results showed that social learning performance of the single dogs fell between the dominant and subordinate multi-dogs with both dog and human demonstration. Subordinate dogs displayed significantly better performance after having observed a dog demonstrator in comparison to dominant dogs. In contrast, the performance of dominant and subordinate dogs was almost similar, when they observed a human demonstrator. These results suggest that perceived dominance rank in its own group has a strong effect on social learning in dogs, but this effect seems to depend also on the demonstrator species. This finding reveals an intricate organization of the social structure in multi-dog households, which can contribute to individual differences existing among dogs. |
| Address |
Department of Ethology, Eotvos Lorand University, Pazmany Peter setany 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary, peter.celeste.pongracz@gmail.com |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:17492317 |
Approved |
no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2400 |
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