| Records |
Author  |
Christensen, J.W. |
| Title |
Object habituation in horses: Voluntary vs. negatively reinforced approach to frightening stimuli |
Type |
Conference Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 2. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg |
| Volume |
in press |
Issue |
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Pages |
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| Keywords |
Habituation; learning; fearfulness; stress; reinforcement |
| Abstract |
The ability and ease of horses to habituate to frightening stimuli greatly increases safety in the horse-human relationship. Several different techniques have been suggested for habituation training of horses and under certain conditions, preventing animals from avoidance reactions during exposure to frightening stimuli is believed to facilitate habituation. Response prevention does, however, lead to a loss of control, which is a known stress inducer in both animals and humans. This experiment investigated whether horses show increased stress responses when negatively reinforced to approach a mildly frightening stimulus, compared to horses allowed to voluntarily explore the same stimulus. We further investigated whether the prevention of avoidance responses in horses that are negatively reinforced to approach the stimulus, facilitates habituation to the stimulus. Twenty-two 2-3 years old Danish warmblood geldings were included in the study. Half of the horses (NR group) were negatively reinforced (through halter and rope pressure) by a familiar human handler to approach a collection of frightening objects (six open and colourful umbrellas) placed in a semi-circle in a familiar test arena. The other half of the horses were released in the arena and were free to avoid or explore the objects (VOL group). On the next day, all horses were exposed to the objects again without a human to investigate the rate of habituation. Behavioural and heart rate responses were recorded on both days. Data were analysed in a two way repeated measures ANOVA and post hoc analysed via the Holm-Sidak method. In the VOL group, all horses initially chose to avoid the unknown objects, whereas the handler managed to get all horses in the NR group to approach and stand next to the objects within the first 2-min session. As expected, horses in the NR group had a significantly longer duration of alertness (sec, mean ± se: NR: 23 ± 4.1 vs. VOL: 16 ± 4.7, P=0.026) and a higher max HR in the first session (bpm, mean ± se: NR: 106 ± 5.2 vs. VOL: 88 ± 4.4, P=0.004). On the next day, however, the NR horses spent significantly less time investigating the objects (sec, mean ± se: NR: 13 ± 4.1 vs. VOL: 24 ± 6.0, P=0.005) and had a shorter latency to approach a feed container, placed next to the objects (sec, mean ± se: NR: 25 ± 3.9 vs. VOL: 47 ± 16.2, P=0.031), indicating increased habituation. In conclusion, negatively reinforced approach to mildly frightening objects appears to increase stress responses during the initial exposure, but also to facilitate habituation in young horses. |
| Address |
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| Corporate Author |
Christensen, J.W. |
Thesis |
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| Publisher |
Xenophon Publishing |
Place of Publication |
Wald |
Editor |
Krueger, K. |
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| ISSN |
978-3-9808134-26 |
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| Notes |
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Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5499 |
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| Author |
Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M.; Silk, J.B. |
| Title |
The responses of female baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) to anomalous social interactions: evidence for causal reasoning? |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
1995 |
Publication |
Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Comp Psychol |
| Volume |
109 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
134-141 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Attention; Auditory Perception; *Awareness; *Concept Formation; *Dominance-Subordination; Fear; Female; Hierarchy, Social; Papio/*psychology; *Social Behavior; Social Environment; Vocalization, Animal |
| Abstract |
Baboons' (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) understanding of cause-effect relations in the context of social interactions was examined through use of a playback experiment. Under natural conditions, dominant female baboons often grunt to more subordinate mothers when interacting with their infants. Mothers occasionally respond to these grunts by uttering submissive fear barks. Subjects were played causally inconsistent call sequences in which a lower ranking female apparently grunted to a higher ranking female, and the higher ranking female apparently responded with fear barks. As a control, subjects heard a sequence made causally consistent by the inclusion of grunts from a 3rd female that was dominant to both of the others. Subjects responded significantly more strongly to the causally inconsistent sequences, suggesting that they recognized the factors that cause 1 individual to give submissive vocalizations to another. |
| Address |
Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, USA |
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| Language |
English |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0735-7036 |
ISBN |
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Expedition |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:7758289 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
348 |
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| Author |
Breuer, K.; Hemsworth, P.H.; Coleman, G.J. |
| Title |
The effect of positive or negative handling on the behavioural and physiological responses of nonlactating heifers |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
84 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
3-22 |
| Keywords |
Dairy heifer; Fear; Handling; Stress response; Milk production; Stimulus generalisation |
| Abstract |
This experiment investigated the effects of positive and negative tactile handling on the stress physiology and behaviour of dairy heifers. Forty-eight 5-14-month-old nonlactating Holstein-Friesian heifers were allocated to one of two handling treatments, either positive or negative tactile handling, over four time replicates. Handling was imposed twice daily, 2-5 min per session and involved moving animals individually along a 64 m outdoor route. The negatively handled heifers took longer to approach within 1 and 2 m of a stimulus person in a standard test, than their positively handled counterparts (P<0.001) and had a greater flight distance to an approaching stimulus (P<0.001). The time taken by the heifers to approach within 1 and 2 m of a familiar person was similar to that taken to approach within 1 and 2 m of an unfamiliar person in the standard test (P<0.05). There was a tendency for heifers to have a greater flight distance from the approaching unfamiliar person than from the approaching familiar person (P=0.06). The negatively handled heifers had greater (P<0.05) increases in total cortisol concentrations 5, 10 and 15 min after exposure to a human and had higher (P<0.05) free cortisol concentrations in the afternoon than the positively handled heifers. It is concluded that the nature of the human contact affects the subsequent behavioural response of heifers to humans. This behavioural response may extend to other humans through the process of stimulus generalisation, although there was some evidence of moderate discrimination. Negative handling results in an acute stress response in the presence of humans and also leads to a chronic stress response. Further research into the effect of these stress responses on milk production and welfare in fearful cows in a commercial situation is suggested. |
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| ISSN |
0168-1591 |
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no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
4980 |
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| Author |
Branson, N.J.; Rogers, L.J. |
| Title |
Relationship between paw preference strength and noise phobia in Canis familiaris |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Journal of Comparative Psychology |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Comp. Psychol. |
| Volume |
120 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
176-183 |
| Keywords |
noise phobia; lateralization; paw preference; dog; fear |
| Abstract |
The authors investigated the relationship between degree of lateralization and noise phobia in 48 domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) by scoring paw preference to hold a food object and relating it to reactivity to the sounds of thunderstorms and fireworks, measured by playback and a questionnaire. The dogs without a significant paw preference were significantly more reactive to the sounds than the dogs with either a left-paw or right-paw preference. Intense reactivity, therefore, is associated with a weaker strength of cerebral lateralization. The authors note the similarity between their finding and the weaker hand preferences shown in humans suffering extreme levels of anxiety and suggest neural mechanisms that may be involved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
| Address |
Branson, N. J.: Centre for Neuroscience and Animal Behavior, School of Biological, Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia, nbranson@une.edu.au |
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US: American Psychological Association |
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| ISSN |
1939-2087 (Electronic); 0735-7036 (Print) |
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Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ 2006-09888-002 |
Serial |
5384 |
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| Author |
Beckers, T.; Miller, R.R.; De Houwer, J.; Urushihara, K. |
| Title |
Reasoning rats: forward blocking in Pavlovian animal conditioning is sensitive to constraints of causal inference |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Journal of experimental psychology. General |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Gen |
| Volume |
135 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
92-102 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Association Learning; *Cognition; *Conditioning, Classical; Cues; Fear; Female; Inhibition (Psychology); Male; Motivation; *Problem Solving; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley |
| Abstract |
Forward blocking is one of the best-documented phenomena in Pavlovian animal conditioning. According to contemporary associative learning theories, forward blocking arises directly from the hardwired basic learning rules that govern the acquisition or expression of associations. Contrary to this view, here the authors demonstrate that blocking in rats is flexible and sensitive to constraints of causal inference, such as violation of additivity and ceiling considerations. This suggests that complex cognitive processes akin to causal inferential reasoning are involved in a well-established Pavlovian animal conditioning phenomenon commonly attributed to the operation of basic associative processes. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York, NY, USA. tom.beckers@psy.kuleuven.be |
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English |
Summary Language |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0096-3445 |
ISBN |
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Medium |
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Expedition |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:16478318 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
155 |
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| Author |
Beaver, B.V. |
| Title |
Aggressive behavior problems |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
1986 |
Publication |
The Veterinary clinics of North America. Equine practice |
Abbreviated Journal |
Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract |
| Volume |
2 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
635-644 |
| Keywords |
Affect; Aggression/*psychology; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Dominance-Subordination; Fear; *Horses; Play and Playthings; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Social Environment |
| Abstract |
Accurate diagnosis of the cause of aggression in horses is essential to determining the appropriate course of action. The affective forms of aggression include fear-induced, pain-induced, intermale, dominance, protective, maternal, learned, and redirected aggressions. Non-affective aggression includes play and sex-related forms. Irritable aggression and hypertestosteronism in mares are medical problems, whereas genetic factors, brain dysfunction, and self-mutilation are also concerns. |
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English |
Summary Language |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0749-0739 |
ISBN |
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Expedition |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:3492250 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
674 |
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| Author |
Albentosa, M.J.; Kjaer, J.B.; Nicol, C.J. |
| Title |
Strain and age differences in behaviour, fear response and pecking tendency in laying hens |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2003 |
Publication |
British poultry science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Br Poult Sci |
| Volume |
44 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
333-344 |
| Keywords |
Age Factors; Aggression/*physiology; Animal Husbandry; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Breeding; Chickens/genetics/*physiology; Fear/*physiology; Feathers/*injuries; Female; Housing, Animal; Population Density; Social Behavior |
| Abstract |
1. Behaviours associated with a high or low tendency to feather peck could be used as predictors of feather pecking behaviour in selective breeding programmes. This study investigated how strain and age at testing influenced responses in behavioural tests. 2. Four layer-type strains (ISA Brown, Columbian Blacktail, Ixworth and a high feather pecking (HP) and a low feather pecking (LP) line of White Leghorn) were reared in 6 same-strain/line pens of 8 birds from one day old. Birds in half the pens were given an open field test, a novel object test and a test with loose feather bundles between 4 and 12 weeks of age and a tonic immobility (TI) test at 13 weeks of age. All pens were tested with fixed feather bundles at 26 weeks, and undisturbed behaviour in the home pens was videoed at 1 and 27 weeks of age. Daily records of plumage damage were used as an indicator of feather pecking activity in the home pens. 3. Strain did not influence novel object test, open field test or loose feather test behaviour, although age effects in all three tests indicated a reduction in fearfulness and/or an increase in exploratory behaviour with increasing age. 4. White Leghorns showed longer TI durations than the other strains but less pecking at fixed feather bundles than ISA Browns and Columbian Blacktails. 5. There were few associations between behaviour in the 5 different tests, indicating that birds did not have overall behavioural traits that were consistent across different contexts. This suggests hens cannot easily be categorised into different behavioural 'types', based on their test responses and casts doubt on the usefulness of tests as predictors of feather pecking. |
| Address |
Centre for Behavioural Biology, Division of Farm Animal Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol, England. MAlbentosa@lincoln.ac.uk |
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Place of Publication |
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| Language |
English |
Summary Language |
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Original Title |
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Series Title |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0007-1668 |
ISBN |
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Medium |
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Expedition |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:13677322 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
80 |
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