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Author Lazareva, O.F.; Smirnova, A.A.; Bagozkaja, M.S.; Zorina, Z.A.; Rayevsky, V.V.; Wasserman, E.A.
Title Transitive responding in hooded crows requires linearly ordered stimuli Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior Abbreviated Journal J Exp Anal Behav
Volume 82 Issue 1 Pages 1-19
Keywords Animals; *Association; Cognition/physiology; Crows; Discrimination (Psychology); *Discrimination Learning; Feedback; Reinforcement (Psychology); Visual Perception/physiology
Abstract Eight crows were taught to discriminate overlapping pairs of visual stimuli (A+ B-, B+ C-, C+ D-, and D+ E-). For 4 birds, the stimuli were colored cards with a circle of the same color on the reverse side whose diameter decreased from A to E (ordered feedback group). These circles were made available for comparison to potentially help the crows order the stimuli along a physical dimension. For the other 4 birds, the circles corresponding to the colored cards had the same diameter (constant feedback group). In later testing, a novel choice pair (BD) was presented. Reinforcement history involving stimuli B and D was controlled so that the reinforcement/nonreinforcement ratios for the latter would be greater than for the former. If, during the BD test, the crows chose between stimuli according to these reinforcement/nonreinforcement ratios, then they should prefer D; if they chose according to the diameter of the feedback stimuli, then they should prefer B. In the ordered feedback group, the crows strongly preferred B over D; in the constant feedback group, the crows' choice did not differ significantly from chance. These results, plus simulations using associative models, suggest that the orderability of the postchoice feedback stimuli is important for crows' transitive responding.
Address Institute of Higher Nervous Activity, Moscow State University. olga-lazareva@uiowa.edu
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0022-5002 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15484868 Approved no
Call Number (up) refbase @ user @ Serial 612
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Author Heyes, C.M.
Title Social learning in animals: categories and mechanisms Type Journal Article
Year 1994 Publication Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society Abbreviated Journal Biol. Rev.
Volume 69 Issue 2 Pages 207-231
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Conditioning (Psychology); *Learning; Reinforcement (Psychology); *Social Behavior
Abstract There has been relatively little research on the psychological mechanisms of social learning. This may be due, in part, to the practice of distinguishing categories of social learning in relation to ill-defined mechanisms (Davis, 1973; Galef, 1988). This practice both makes it difficult to identify empirically examples of different types of social learning, and gives the false impression that the mechanisms responsible for social learning are clearly understood. It has been proposed that social learning phenomena be subsumed within the categorization scheme currently used by investigators of asocial learning. This scheme distinguishes categories of learning according to observable conditions, namely, the type of experience that gives rise to a change in an animal (single stimulus vs. stimulus-stimulus relationship vs. response-reinforcer relationship), and the type of behaviour in which this change is detected (response evocation vs. learnability) (Rescorla, 1988). Specifically, three alignments have been proposed: (i) stimulus enhancement with single stimulus learning, (ii) observational conditioning with stimulus-stimulus learning, or Pavlovian conditioning, and (iii) observational learning with response-reinforcer learning, or instrumental conditioning. If, as the proposed alignments suggest, the conditions of social and asocial learning are the same, there is some reason to believe that the mechanisms underlying the two sets of phenomena are also the same. This is so if one makes the relatively uncontroversial assumption that phenomena which occur under similar conditions tend to be controlled by similar mechanisms. However, the proposed alignments are intended to be a set of hypotheses, rather than conclusions, about the mechanisms of social learning; as a basis for further research in which animal learning theory is applied to social learning. A concerted attempt to apply animal learning theory to social learning, to find out whether the same mechanisms are responsible for social and asocial learning, could lead both to refinements of the general theory, and to a better understanding of the mechanisms of social learning. There are precedents for these positive developments in research applying animal learning theory to food aversion learning (e.g. Domjan, 1983; Rozin & Schull, 1988) and imprinting (e.g. Bolhuis, de Vox & Kruit, 1990; Hollis, ten Cate & Bateson, 1991). Like social learning, these phenomena almost certainly play distinctive roles in the antogeny of adaptive behaviour, and they are customarily regarded as 'special kinds' of learning (Shettleworth, 1993).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Address Department of Psychology, University College London
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Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1464-7931 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8054445 Approved no
Call Number (up) refbase @ user @ Serial 708
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Author Mills, D.S.
Title Applying learning theory to the management of the horse: the difference between getting it right and getting it wrong Type Journal Article
Year 1998 Publication Equine veterinary journal. Supplement Abbreviated Journal Equine Vet J Suppl
Volume Issue 27 Pages 44-48
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Horses/*psychology; *Learning; Reinforcement (Psychology)
Abstract Horses constantly modify their behaviour as a result of experience. This involves the creation of an association between events or stimuli. The influence of people on the modification and generation of certain behaviour patterns extends beyond the intentional training of the horse. The impact of any action depends on how it is perceived by the horse, rather than the motive of the handler. Negative and positive reinforcement increase the probability of specific behaviours recurring i.e. strengthen the association between events, whereas punishment reduces the probable recurrence of a behaviour without providing specific information about the desired alternative. In this paper the term 'punishers' is used to refer to the physical aids, such as a whip or crop, which may be used to bring about the process of punishment. However, if their application ceases when a specific behaviour occurs they may negatively reinforce that action. Intended 'punishers' may also be rewarding (e.g. for attention seeking behaviour). Therefore, contingency factors (which define the relationship between stimuli, such as the level of reinforcement), contiguity factors (which describe the proximity of events in space or time) and choice of reinforcing stimuli are critical in determining the rate of learning. The many problems associated with the application of punishment in practice lead to confusion by both horse and handler and, possibly, abuse of the former. Most behaviour problems relate to handling and management of the horse and can be avoided or treated with a proper analysis of the factors influencing the behaviour.
Address De Montfort University Lincoln, School of Agriculture and Horticulture, Caythorpe, Lincs., UK
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Notes PMID:10485004 Approved no
Call Number (up) refbase @ user @ Serial 845
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Author Cooper, J.J.
Title Comparative learning theory and its application in the training of horses Type Journal Article
Year 1998 Publication Equine veterinary journal. Supplement Abbreviated Journal Equine Vet J Suppl
Volume Issue 27 Pages 39-43
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Conditioning (Psychology); Horses/*psychology; *Learning; Reinforcement (Psychology)
Abstract Training can best be explained as a process that occurs through stimulus-response-reinforcement chains, whereby animals are conditioned to associate cues in their environment, with specific behavioural responses and their rewarding consequences. Research into learning in horses has concentrated on their powers of discrimination and on primary positive reinforcement schedules, where the correct response is paired with a desirable consequence such as food. In contrast, a number of other learning processes that are used in training have been widely studied in other species, but have received little scientific investigation in the horse. These include: negative reinforcement, where performance of the correct response is followed by removal of, or decrease in, intensity of a unpleasant stimulus; punishment, where an incorrect response is paired with an undesirable consequence, but without consistent prior warning; secondary conditioning, where a natural primary reinforcer such as food is closely associated with an arbitrary secondary reinforcer such as vocal praise; and variable or partial conditioning, where once the correct response has been learnt, reinforcement is presented according to an intermittent schedule to increase resistance to extinction outside of training.
Address Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK
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Notes PMID:10485003 Approved no
Call Number (up) refbase @ user @ Serial 846
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Author Farmer-Dougan, V.; Dougan, J.
Title The Man Who Listens To Behavior: Folk Wisdom And Behavior Analysis From A Real Horse Whisperer Type Journal Article
Year 1999 Publication JOURNAL OF THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR Abbreviated Journal J Exp Anal Behav
Volume 72 Issue 1 Pages 139-149
Keywords positive reinforcement, aversive control, learned helplessness, language, biological constraints,
Abstract The popular novel and movie The Horse Whisperer are based on the work of several real-life horse

whisperers, the most famous of whom is Monty Roberts. Over the last 50 years, Roberts has developed

a technique for training horses that is both more effective and less aversive than traditional training

techniques. An analysis of Roberts` methods (as described in his book, The Man Who Listens to Horses)

indicates a deep understanding of behavioral principles including positive reinforcement, timeout,

species-specific defense reactions, learned helplessness, and the behavioral analysis of language.

Roberts developed his theory and techniques on the basis of personal experience and folk wisdom,

and not as the result of formal training in behavior analysis. Behavior analysts can clearly learn from

such insightful yet behaviorally incorrect practitioners, just as such practitioners can benefit from

the objective science of behavior analysts.
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Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0022-5002 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16812908 Approved no
Call Number (up) refbase @ user @ Serial 1829
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Author Ferguson, D.L.; Rosales-Ruiz, J.
Title Loading the problem loader: the effects of target training and shaping on trailer-loading behavior of horses Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis Abbreviated Journal J Appl Behav Anal
Volume 34 Issue 4 Pages 409-423
Keywords Animals; *Conditioning, Operant; *Escape Reaction; Female; Horses/*psychology; Reinforcement (Psychology); *Transportation
Abstract The purpose of this study was to develop an effective method for trailer loading horses based on principles of positive reinforcement. Target training and shaping were used to teach trailer-loading behavior to 5 quarter horse mares in a natural setting. All 5 had been trailer loaded before through the use of aversive stimulation. Successive approximations to loading and inappropriate behaviors were the dependent variables. After training a horse to approach a target, the target was moved to various locations inside the trailer. Horses started training on the left side of a two-horse trailer. After a horse was loading on the left side, she was moved to the right side, then to loading half on the right and half on the left. A limited-hold procedure and the presence of a companion horse seemed to facilitate training for 1 horse. Inappropriate behaviors fell to zero immediately after target training, and all the horses successfully completed the shaping sequence. Finally, these effects were observed to generalize to novel conditions (a different trainer and a different trailer).
Address University of North Texas, Denton 76203, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0021-8855 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11800182 Approved no
Call Number (up) refbase @ user @ Serial 1915
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