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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 Pages
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
Corporate Author Christensen, J.W. Thesis
Publisher Xenophon Publishing Place of Publication Wald Editor (down) Krueger, K.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 978-3-9808134-26 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5499
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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
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor (down)
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 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
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor (down)
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1464-7931 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8054445 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 708
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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
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor (down)
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:10485003 Approved no
Call Number 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.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor (down)
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:16812908 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 1829
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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
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor (down)
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12461598 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2592
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Author West, R.E.; Young, R.J.
Title Do domestic dogs show any evidence of being able to count? Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 5 Issue 3 Pages 183-186
Keywords Animal Feed; Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Cognition; *Dogs; Female; Male; *Mathematics; Reinforcement (Psychology); Visual Perception
Abstract Numerical competence has been demonstrated in a wide range of animal species. The level of numerical abilities shown ranges from simple relative numerousness judgements to true counting. In this study we used the preferential looking technique to test whether 11 pet dogs could count. The dogs were presented with three simple calculations: “1+1=2”; “1+1=1”; and “1+1=3”. These calculations were performed by presenting the dogs with treats that were placed behind a screen that allowed manipulation of the outcome of the calculation. When the dogs expected the outcome they spent the same amount of time looking at the result of the calculation as they did on the initial presentation. However, when the result was unexpected dogs spent significantly longer looking at the outcome of the calculation. The results suggest that the dogs were anticipating the outcome of the calculations they observed, thus suggesting that dogs may have a rudimentary ability to count.
Address De Montfort University-Lincoln, Caythorpe, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG32 3EP, UK
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor (down)
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12357291 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2594
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Author Schwartz, B.L.; Colon, M.R.; Sanchez, I.C.; Rodriguez, I.A.; Evans, S.
Title Single-trial learning of “what” and “who” information in a gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla): implications for episodic memory Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 5 Issue 2 Pages 85-90
Keywords Animals; Cognition; Gorilla gorilla/*psychology; *Learning; Male; *Memory; Perception; Reinforcement Schedule
Abstract Single-trial learning and long-term memory of “what” and “who” information were examined in an adult gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). We presented the gorilla with a to-be-remembered food item at the time of study. In Experiment 1, following a retention interval of either approximately 7 min or 24 h, the gorilla responded with one of five cards, each corresponding to a particular food. The gorilla was accurate on 70% of the short retention-interval trials and on 82% of the long retention-interval trials. In Experiment 2, the food stimulus was provided by one of two experimenters, each of whom was represented by a card. The gorilla identified the food (55% of the time) and the experimenter (82% of the time) on the short retention-interval trials. On the long retention-interval trials, the gorilla was accurate for the food (73%) and for the person (87%). The results are interpreted in light of theories of episodic memory.
Address Department of Psychology, Florida International University, University Park, Miami, FL 33199, USA. schwartb@fiu.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor (down)
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12150040 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2604
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Author Burke, D.; Cieplucha, C.; Cass, J.; Russell, F.; Fry, G.
Title Win-shift and win-stay learning in the short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 5 Issue 2 Pages 79-84
Keywords Animals; Echidna/*psychology; Ecology; Female; *Learning; *Memory; *Predatory Behavior; Reinforcement (Psychology)
Abstract Numerous previous investigators have explained species differences in spatial memory performance in terms of differences in foraging ecology. In three experiments we attempted to extend these findings by examining the extent to which the spatial memory performance of echidnas (or “spiny anteaters”) can be understood in terms of the spatio-temporal distribution of their prey (ants and termites). This is a species and a foraging situation that have not been examined in this way before. Echidnas were better able to learn to avoid a previously rewarding location (to “win-shift”) than to learn to return to a previously rewarding location (to “win-stay”), at short retention intervals, but were unable to learn either of these strategies at retention intervals of 90 min. The short retention interval results support the ecological hypothesis, but the long retention interval results do not.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. darren_burke@uow.edu.au
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor (down)
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12150039 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2605
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Watanabe, S.
Title How animal psychology contributes to animal welfare Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 106 Issue 4 Pages 193-202
Keywords Animal welfare; Anthropomorphism; Animal psychology; Reinforcement; Socially constructed concept
Abstract This article explores the contribution of animal psychology to animal welfare. Since animal welfare includes subjective welfare, it is crucial to know the subjective world of animals. Analysis of the concept of anthropomorphism is particularly important because it is a basic idea of animal ethics. The history of animal psychology, focusing on anthropomorphism and behaviourism, is briefly described, and then measurement of the subjective experience of animals in two ways, namely animal cognition and pleasure or reinforcing effects, is reported. Finally, it is suggested that animal welfare is not a permanently fixed idea, but a socially constructed one that can be changed. To gain widespread agreement about a socially constructed idea, it is important to know in which circumstances ordinary people employ metaphorical extension to an understanding of animal behaviour. In other words, a survey of “folk animal psychology” is important in order to establish a consensus about animal welfare.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor (down)
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2888
Permanent link to this record