Gardner, E. L., & Engel, D. R. (1971). Imitational and social facilitatory aspects of observational learning in the laboratory rat. Psychon. Sci., 25(1), 5–6.
Abstract: Rats acquired a food-motivated leverpressing response by “observational learning” or by trial-and-error learning under conditions of social facilitation or isolation. Both the observational learning and social facilitation Ss learned faster than did the isolated trial-and-error Ss. There was no difference in speed of learning between the observational learning and social facilitation groups. It is suggested that some previous studies purporting to demonstrate observational learning may have demonstrated socially facilitated trial-and-error learning instead.
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A. Wiggins, & K. Crowston. (2011). From Conservation to Crowdsourcing: A Typology of Citizen Science. In 2011 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 1–10). 2011 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
Abstract: Citizen science is a form of research collaboration involving members of the public in scientific research projects to address real-world problems. Often organized as a virtual collaboration, these projects are a type of open movement, with collective goals addressed through open participation in research tasks. Existing typologies of citizen science projects focus primarily on the structure of participation, paying little attention to the organizational and macrostructural properties that are important to designing and managing effective projects and technologies. By examining a variety of project characteristics, we identified five types-Action, Conservation, Investigation, Virtual, and Education- that differ in primary project goals and the importance of physical environment to participation.
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Sabou, M., Bontcheva, K., & Scharl, A. (2012). Crowdsourcing Research Opportunities: Lessons from Natural Language Processing. In Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Technologies (pp. 1–18). i-KNOW '12. New York, NY, USA: Acm.
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Bernauer, K., Kollross, H., Schuetz, A., Farmer, K., & Krueger, K. (2020). How do horses (Equus caballus) learn from observing human action? Anim. Cogn., 23, 1–9.
Abstract: A previous study demonstrated that horses can learn socially from observing humans, but could not draw any conclusions about the social learning mechanisms. Here we develop this by showing horses four different human action sequences as demonstrations of how to press a button to open a feed box. We tested 68 horses aged between 3 and 12 years. 63 horses passed the habituation phase and were assigned either to the group Hand Demo (N = 13) for which a kneeling person used a hand to press the button, Head Demo (N = 13) for which a kneeling person used the head, Mixed Demo (N = 12) for which a squatting person used both head and hand, Foot Demo (N = 12) in which a standing person used a foot, or No Demo (N = 13) in which horses did not receive a demonstration. 44 horses reached the learning criterion of opening the feeder twenty times consecutively, 40 of these were 75% of the Demo group horses and four horses were 31% of the No Demo group horses. Horses not reaching the learning criterion approached the human experimenters more often than those who did. Significantly more horses used their head to press the button no matter which demonstration they received. However, in the Foot Demo group four horses consistently preferred to use a hoof and two switched between hoof and head use. After the Mixed Demo the horses' actions were more diverse. The results indicate that only a few horses copy behaviours when learning socially from humans. A few may learn through observational conditioning, as some appeared to adapt to demonstrated actions in the course of reaching the learning criterion. Most horses learn socially through enhancement, using humans to learn where, and which aspect of a mechanism has to be manipulated, and by applying individual trial and error learning to reach their goal.
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Freitas, J., Lagos, L., & Álvares, F. (2021). Horses as prey of wolves. CDPnews, 23, 1–9.
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Lema, F. J., Ribeiro, S., & Palacios, V. (2022). Observations of wolves hunting fee-ranging horses in Iberia. CDPNews, 24, 1–9.
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Hartmann, E., Christensen, J. W., & McGreevy, P. D. (2017). Dominance and Leadership: Useful Concepts in Human-Horse Interactions? Proceedings of the 2017 Equine Science Symposium, 52, 1–9.
Abstract: Dominance hierarchies in horses primarily influence priority access to limited resources of any kind, resulting in predictable contest outcomes that potentially minimize aggressive encounters and associated risk of injury. Levels of aggression in group-kept horses under domestic conditions have been reported to be higher than in their feral counterparts but can often be attributed to suboptimal management. Horse owners often express concerns about the risk of injuries occurring in group-kept horses, but these concerns have not been substantiated by empirical investigations. What has not yet been sufficiently addressed are human safety aspects related to approaching and handling group-kept horses. Given horse's natural tendency to synchronize activity to promote group cohesion, questions remain about how group dynamics influence human-horse interactions. Group dynamics influence a variety of management scenarios, ranging from taking a horse out of its social group to the prospect of humans mimicking the horse's social system by taking a putative leadership role and seeking after an alpha position in the dominance hierarchy to achieve compliance. Yet, there is considerable debate about whether the roles horses attain in their social group are of any relevance in their reactions to humans. This article reviews the empirical data on social dynamics in horses, focusing on dominance and leadership theories and the merits of incorporating those concepts into the human-horse context. This will provide a constructive framework for informed debate and valuable guidance for owners managing group-kept horses and for optimizing human-horse interactions.
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Sackman, J. E., & Houpt, K. A. (2018). Equine Personality: Association with Breed, Use and Husbandry Factors. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, .
Abstract: Abstract
Temperament can be defined as innate properties of the nervous system whereas personality includes the complex behavioral traits acquired through life. Association between personality and behavior is important for breeding, selection, and training of horses. For the first time, we evaluated if equine personality components previously identified in Japan and Europe were consistent when applied to American horses. We examined the association of personality with breed, age, sex, management, training, stereotypies and misbehaviors.
Materials and Methods
The owner directed personality survey consisted of 25 questions. An online version of the survey was created. The principal component analysis (PCA) method was used to associate behavioral traits with personality components. Factor analysis with orthogonal transformation was performed on scores for personality related questions.
Results
847 survey responses were used. Quarter horses, “other” breed and Thoroughbred were the most common breeds. Three principal personality components were extracted as each behavioral trait belonged to one of these three components. Arabians, Thoroughbreds, Saddlebreds and Walking horses were the most nervous and Quarter horses, Paints, Appaloosas and Drafts were the least nervous. No trained discipline was significantly associated with any personality component. There were no significant associations between stereotypies and misbehaviors and nervous or curious personality.
Conclusions
For the first time in predominantly American horses, we have evaluated personality components and their association with breed, age, sex, training discipline and stereotypies. We refute links between personality and trained discipline and confirm the lack of association between nervous personality and stereotypies and misbehaviors.
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Devinsky, O., Boesch, J. M., Cerda-Gonzalez, S., Coffey, B., Davis, K., Friedman, D., et al. (2018). A cross-species approach to disorders affecting brain and behaviour. Nature Reviews Neurology, .
Abstract: Structural and functional elements of biological systems are highly conserved across vertebrates. Many neurological and psychiatric conditions affect both humans and animals. A cross-species approach to the study of brain and behaviour can advance our understanding of human disorders via the identification of unrecognized natural models of spontaneous disorders, thus revealing novel factors that increase vulnerability or resilience, and via the assessment of potential therapies. Moreover, diagnostic and therapeutic advances in human neurology and psychiatry can often be adapted for veterinary patients. However, clinical and research collaborations between physicians and veterinarians remain limited, leaving this wealth of comparative information largely untapped. Here, we review pain, cognitive decline syndromes, epilepsy, anxiety and compulsions, autoimmune and infectious encephalitides and mismatch disorders across a range of animal species, looking for novel insights with translational potential. This comparative perspective can help generate novel hypotheses, expand and improve clinical trials and identify natural animal models of disease resistance and vulnerability.
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Suter, S. M., Giordano, M., Nietlispach, S., Apollonio, M., & Passilongo, D. (2016). Non-invasive acoustic detection of wolves. Bioacoustics, .
Abstract: Monitoring wolves (Canis lupus) is a difficult and often expensive task due to high mobility,pack dynamic, shyness and nocturnal activity of this species. Wolves communicate acoustically trough howling, within pack and with packs of the neighbourhood. A wolf howl is a low frequency vocalization that can be transmitted over long distances and thus be used
for monitoring tasks. Animated howling survey is a current method to monitor wolves indifferent areas all over the world. Animated howling, however, may be invasive to residential wolf packs and could create possible negative reactions from local human population. Here we show that it is possible to detect wolves by recording spontaneous howling events. We measured the sound pressure level of wolf howls on captive individuals and we further found that simulated howling may be recorded and clearly identified up to a distance of 3 km. We finally conducted non-invasive acoustic detection of wolves in a free ranging population. The use of passive sound recorders may provide a powerful non-invasive tool for future wolf monitoring and thus help to established sustainable management plans for this species.
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