| Home | << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> |
|
Houpt, K. A., & Wolski, T. R. (1980). Stability of equine hierarchies and the prevention of dominance related aggression. Equine Vet J, 12(1), 15–18.
Abstract: The dominance hierarchy of a herd of 10 Thoroughbred mares was determined twice, at an interval of 18 months, using paired feeding tests. Each mare's rank was correlated significantly between the 2 tests. This indicated that the hierarchy within the herd was stable. The offspring of dominant and subordinate mares were also tested for dominance in their own age groups. The offspring of dominant mares tended to be near the top of the hierarchy while those of middle and low ranking mares were not consistently found in the middle or bottom of their own hierarchies. Paired feeding tests were carried out on 8 ponies. During tests the time that each pony spent eating and the ponies' aggressive interactions were recorded. Two situations were used. Each pony-pair was tested when both ponies were in the same paddock and also when they were separated by a rail fence. The subordinate ponies spent significantly more time eating and the domonant pony was significantly less aggressive, when the pony-pair was separated by a fence than when they were in one paddock. It was concluded that the dominance hierarchies of adult horse groups changed very little over time and that the foals of dominant mares will tend to be dominant in their own age groups. Management practices can be used to reduce aggression and consequent injury that may arise in group feeding situations.
|
|
Noë, R., de Waal, F. B., & van Hooff, J. A. (1980). Types of dominance in a chimpanzee colony. Folia Primatol (Basel), 34(1-2), 90–110.
Abstract: This study examines to what extent the concept of dominance can be used to describe the social structure of a group of semi-free-living chimpanzees. 15 behavioural variables, based on agonistic, competitive and affinitive behaviour patterns, have been compared with respect to the interindividual directions in which they occurred. In this analysis use was made of indices that reflect the position an individual occupies in the relationship structure. These indices were calculated per individual for all variables and subjected to factor analysis and cluster analysis. As a result, 13 of the variables could be grouped in three categories which have been labelled: (1) agonistic dominance; (2) bluff dominance, and (3) competitive dominance. Whereas the top positions in the hierarchies based on the first two closely related types of dominance were occupied by the adult males, the hierarchy based on the third type was headed by several adult females.
|
|
Zentall, T. R., Hogan, D. E., Edwards, C. A., & Hearst, E. (1980). Oddity learning in the pigeon as a function of the number of incorrect alternatives. J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process, 6(3), 278–299.
Abstract: Pigeons' rate of learning a two-color oddity task increased as a function of the number of incorrect alternatives from 2 to 24 in Experiments 1, 2, and 3. In general, pigeons that were transferred from many-incorrect-alternative to two-incorrect-alternative oddity performed better than controls, but considerably below baseline (Experiments 2 and 3). In Experiment 4, pigeons showed no unconditioned tendency to peck the odd stimulus among 24 incorect alternatives, when pecks were nondifferentially reinforced, and in Experiment 5, when this procedure was preceded by oddity training, a progressive drop in odd-stimulus pecking was found. In Experiment 6, pigeons exposed to a nine-stimulus array in which the odd stimulus appeared (a) in the center or (b) separate from the array learned faster than when the odd stimulus was at the edge. This outcome suggests ththe figure-ground relation between the odd stimulus and the incorrect alternatives plays a role in the facilitation produced by increasing the number of incorrect alternatives but that poor performance on the standard, three-alternative oddity task appears to be due to center-odd trials which provide a difficult size or number discrimination.
|
|
Seyfarth, R. M., Cheney, D. L., & Marler, P. (1980). Monkey responses to three different alarm calls: evidence of predator classification and semantic communication. Science, 210(4471), 801–803.
Abstract: Vervet monkeys give different alarm calls to different predators. Recordings of the alarms played back when predators were absent caused the monkeys to run into trees for leopard alarms, look up for eagle alarms, and look down for snake alarms. Adults call primarily to leopards, martial eagles, and pythons, but infants give leopard alarms to various mammals, eagle alarms to many birds, and snake alarms to various snakelike objects. Predator classification improves with age and experience.
|
|
Shettleworth, S. J., & Juergensen, M. R. (1980). Reinforcement and the organization of behavior in golden hamsters: brain stimulation reinforcement for seven action patterns. J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process, 6(4), 352–375.
Abstract: Golden hamsters were reinforced with intracranial electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus (ICS) for spending time engaging in one of seven topographically defined action patterns (APs). The stimulation used as reinforcer elicited hoarding and/or feeding and supported high rates of bar pressing. In Experiment 1, hamsters were reinforced successively for digging, open rearing, and face washing. Digging increased most in time spent, and face washing increased least. Experiments 2-5 examined these effects further and also showed that “scrabbling,” like digging, was performed a large proportion of the time, almost without interruption, for contingent ICS but that scratching the body with a hindleg and scent-marking showed relatively little effect of contingent ICS, the latter even in an environment that facilitated marking. In Experiment 6, naive hamsters received ICS not contingent on behavior every 30 sec (fixed-time 30-sec schedule). Terminal behaviors that developed on this schedule were APs that were easy to reinforce in the other experiments, but a facultative behavior, face washing, was one not so readily reinforced. Experiment 7 confirmed a novel prediction from Experiment 6--that wall rearing, a terminal AP, would be performed at a high level for contingent ICS. All together, the results point to both motivational factors and associative factors being involved in the considerable differences in performance among different reinforced activities.
|
|
Houpt, K. A. (1980). Review of some research areas of applied and theoretical interest in domestic animal behavior. Appl. Animal. Ethol., 6(2), 111–119.
Abstract: There are numerous areas worthy of study in the field of domestic animal behavior or applied ethology. In this paper a few areas are offerred as particularly worthy of attention. These areas are worthwhile either because they have received little or no study and are of basic interest or because they have application to current problems of livestock production. The study of cat behavior falls in the former category. Neither the food and water sources, the reproductive success rate nor even the social interactions of cats in the large populations found in both rural and urban environments are known. Pigs as a species have already been the subjects of many behavior studies; nevertheless, there are still gaps in our knowledge of the underlying principles of swine behavior. The physiological basis of maternal behavior, for example, has not been studied in swine or in any domestic species. The sensory basis of udder location by the neonatal piglet deserves study also. Some aspects of olfactory and vocal communication of pigs have been studied, but only one of what may be a large number of pheromones of pigs has been chemically identified. The message conveyed by the vocal interactions between adult swine of the same sex is unknown, as is the role of facial and postural expressions in porcine communication. The two major problems of pig behavior under conditions of intensive livestock management are tail biting and reproductive failure. The application of behavioral techniques to these problems might help to attenuate those problems as well as broaden our understanding of normal pig behavior. Horse behavior has also been a relatively neglected field of study. Of particular interest is the significance of the flehmen gesture used by both mares and stallions in a variety of situations. Flehmen may be related to the function of the vomeronasal organ, but both observational and physiological studies should be performed to verify the hypothesis.
|
|
Mader, D. R., & Price, E. O. (1980). Discrimination learning in horses: effects of breed, age and social dominance. J. Anim Sci., 50(5), 962–965.
Abstract: The discrimination learning ability of Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds was compared by means of visual cues in a three-choice test with food as a reward. Quarter Horses learned significantly faster than Thoroughbreds, and learning progressed more rapidly for both breeds in a second discrimination task. Significant negative correlations were observed between age and rate of learning. Quarter Horses tended to be less reactive than Thoroughbreds, but individual emotional reactivity ratings and learning scores were not correlated. No correlation was found between social dominance and learning scores. Learning studies with horses may provide a better understanding of the behavioral traits that influence trainability in this species.
Keywords: Aging; Animals; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Horses/*physiology; *Social Dominance
|
|
van Niekerk, H. P. (1980). Ethological studies within the man-horse relationship. J S Afr Vet Assoc, 51(4), 237–238.
Abstract: Certain aspects of ethology and the horse's senses are discussed to bring about a better understanding between man and horse. Furthermore the behaviour of horses with respect to housing, feeding, breeding, veterinary treatment and work are considered.
Keywords: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Hearing; Horses/*physiology; Humans; Smell; Taste; Touch; Vision
|
|
Hasumi, H. (1980). Kinetic studies on isomerization of ferricytochrome c in alkaline and acid pH ranges by the circular dichroism stopped-flow method. Biochim Biophys Acta, 626(2), 265–276.
Abstract: The isomerization of horse-heart ferricytochrome c caused by varying pH was kinetically studied by using circular dichroism (CD) and optical absorption stopped-flow techniques. In the pH range of 7--13, the existence of the three different forms of ferricytochrome c (pH less than 10, pH 10--12, and pH greater than 12) was indicated from the statistical difference CD spectra. On the basis of analyses of the stopped-flow traces in the near-ultraviolet and Soret wavelength regions, the isomerization of ferricytochrome c from neutral form to the above three alkaline forms was interpreted as follows (1) below pH 10, the replacement of the intrinsic ligand of methionine residue by lysine residue occurs; (2) between pH 10 and 12, the uncoupling of the polypeptide chain from close proximity of the heme group occurs first, followed by the interconversion of the intrinsic ligands; and (3) above pH 12, hydroxide form of ferricytochrome c is formed, though the replacement of the intrinsic ligand by extrinsic ligands may occur via different routes from those below pH 12. The CD changes at 288 nm and in the Soret region caused by the pH-jump (down) from pH 6.0 to 1.6 were compared with the appearance of the 620-nm absorption band ascribed to the formation of the high-spin form of ferricytochrome c. Both CD and absorption changes indicated that the isomerization at pH 1.6 consisted of two processes: one proceeded within the dead-time (about 2 ms) of the stopped-flow apparatus and the other proceeded at a determinable rate with the apparatus. On the basis of these results, the isomerization of ferricytochrome c at pH 1.6 was explained as follows: (1) the transition from the low-spin form to the high-spin forms occurs within about 2 ms, the dead-time of the stopped-flow apparatus; and (2) the polypeptide chain is unfolded after the formation of the high-spin form.
|
|
Frank, H. (1980). Evolution of canine information processing under conditions of natural and artificial selection. Z Tierpsychol, 5.
|