| Records |
| Author |
VanDierendonck, M.C. |
| Title |
Summary |
Type |
Manuscript |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
The Importance of Social Relationships in Horses |
Abbreviated Journal |
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| Volume |
Chapter 8 |
Issue |
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Pages |
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| Keywords |
horses, social relationships, dominance, allogrooming, play, kinship, familiarity, self-rewarding, interventions, ethological need |
| Abstract |
Feral horses are social animals, which have to rely on survival strategies centered on the formation of cohesive social bonds within their bands. Many problems in the husbandry of social animals such as horses, are due to the fact that the limits of their adaptive abilities are exceeded. Evidence suggests that the fundamental social characteristics of domestic horses have remained relatively unchanged. The social structure, social strategies and social interactions were investigated (3 non-consecutive years, 24 hr per day for several weeks) in long term established groups of domestic horses (mares and geldings of all ages) and a few small introduced groups, kept in (semi)natural environments. The general aim was to investigate the social needs of domestic horses. The social life of domestic horses was characterised by long lasting bonds with preferred partners which were established and maintained by allogrooming, play, proximity and dominance behaviours. Bonding partners were mainly found within the same sex-age group, but adult geldings also bonded with sub-adult mares and geldings. Adult mares were clustered in a group, while the other animals formed a second group. Among the adult mares, subgroups according to reproductive state were formed. Individuals regulated their social network by interfering with interactions between other members of the herd, which in itself is complex. An intervention is a behavioural action of one animal that actively interferes with an ongoing interaction between a dyad with the apparent aim of altering that interaction. This was verified by post-hoc analyses of disturbed and undisturbed interactions. Interventions in allogrooming or play were performed significantly more often when at least one member of the initial dyad was a preferred partner of, or familiar to (within the small introduced bands) the intervener. The stronger the preferred association in allogrooming between the intervener and member(s) of the initial dyad, the higher the probability the intervener would displace one initial member and continue allogrooming with the other. Just five behaviours were extracted which reliably reflected the dominance relations among horses. Aggression with the hind quarters was used both offensively and defensively and therefore not suitable as a reliable parameter. Individual dominance relationships were related to social experience. The implications of these findings for horse husbandry were assessed. It is argued that the execution of affiliative behaviours may be rewarding in itself, and therefore always will be a highly motivated behaviour. It is shown that social positive physical interactions (allogrooming, play) with other horses is an ethological need and therefore indispensable in modern husbandry systems. Ethological needs are so important for the animal that husbandry systems that lack the possibilities to execute such behaviours will cause chronic stress. It is concluded that all horses need physical social contact, and that horses, which lack appropriate social learning experiences during ontogeny, may be hampered in their social functioning later in life. Solutions for problems, including dominance problems, in individual social housing and group housing are presented. |
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Thesis |
Ph.D. thesis |
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Place of Publication |
Universiteit Utrecht |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2373 |
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| Author |
VanDierendonck, M.C. |
| Title |
General Introduction |
Type |
Manuscript |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
The Importance of Social Relationships in Horses - |
Abbreviated Journal |
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| Volume |
Chapter 1 |
Issue |
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Pages |
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| Keywords |
horses, social relationships, dominance, allogrooming, play, kinship, familiarity, self-rewarding, interventions, ethological need |
| Abstract |
Feral horses are social animals, which have to rely on survival strategies centered on the formation of cohesive social bonds within their bands. Many problems in the husbandry of social animals such as horses, are due to the fact that the limits of their adaptive abilities are exceeded. Evidence suggests that the fundamental social characteristics of domestic horses have remained relatively unchanged. The social structure, social strategies and social interactions were investigated (3 non-consecutive years, 24 hr per day for several weeks) in long term established groups of domestic horses (mares and geldings of all ages) and a few small introduced groups, kept in (semi)natural environments. The general aim was to investigate the social needs of domestic horses. The social life of domestic horses was characterised by long lasting bonds with preferred partners which were established and maintained by allogrooming, play, proximity and dominance behaviours. Bonding partners were mainly found within the same sex-age group, but adult geldings also bonded with sub-adult mares and geldings. Adult mares were clustered in a group, while the other animals formed a second group. Among the adult mares, subgroups according to reproductive state were formed. Individuals regulated their social network by interfering with interactions between other members of the herd, which in itself is complex. An intervention is a behavioural action of one animal that actively interferes with an ongoing interaction between a dyad with the apparent aim of altering that interaction. This was verified by post-hoc analyses of disturbed and undisturbed interactions. Interventions in allogrooming or play were performed significantly more often when at least one member of the initial dyad was a preferred partner of, or familiar to (within the small introduced bands) the intervener. The stronger the preferred association in allogrooming between the intervener and member(s) of the initial dyad, the higher the probability the intervener would displace one initial member and continue allogrooming with the other. Just five behaviours were extracted which reliably reflected the dominance relations among horses. Aggression with the hind quarters was used both offensively and defensively and therefore not suitable as a reliable parameter. Individual dominance relationships were related to social experience. The implications of these findings for horse husbandry were assessed. It is argued that the execution of affiliative behaviours may be rewarding in itself, and therefore always will be a highly motivated behaviour. It is shown that social positive physical interactions (allogrooming, play) with other horses is an ethological need and therefore indispensable in modern husbandry systems. Ethological needs are so important for the animal that husbandry systems that lack the possibilities to execute such behaviours will cause chronic stress. It is concluded that all horses need physical social contact, and that horses, which lack appropriate social learning experiences during ontogeny, may be hampered in their social functioning later in life. Solutions for problems, including dominance problems, in individual social housing and group housing are presented. |
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Thesis |
Ph.D. thesis |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2366 |
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| Author |
Topál, J.; Byrne, R.W.; Miklósi, Á.; Csányi, V. |
| Title |
Reproducing human actions and action sequences: “Do as I Do!” in a dog |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
355-367 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Comprehension; Conditioning, Operant; *Discrimination Learning; Dogs/*psychology; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; Male; *Serial Learning |
| Abstract |
We present evidence that a dog (Philip, a 4-year-old tervueren) was able to use different human actions as samples against which to match his own behaviour. First, Philip was trained to repeat nine human-demonstrated actions on command ('Do it!'). When his performance was markedly over chance in response to demonstration by one person, testing with untrained action sequences and other demonstrators showed some ability to generalise his understanding of copying. In a second study, we presented Philip with a sequence of human actions, again using the 'Do as I do' paradigm. All demonstrated actions had basically the same structure: the owner picked up a bottle from one of six places; transferred it to one of the five other places and then commanded the dog ('Do it!'). We found that Philip duplicated the entire sequence of moving a specific object from one particular place to another more often than expected by chance. Although results point to significant limitations in his imitative abilities, it seems that the dog could have recognized the action sequence, on the basis of observation alone, in terms of the initial state, the means, and the goal. This suggests that dogs might acquire abilities by observation that enhance their success in complex socio-behavioural situations. |
| Address |
Comparative Ethology Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Pazmany, P. 1/c H-1117, Hungary. kea@t-online.hu |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
ISBN |
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| Notes |
PMID:17024511 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2434 |
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| Author |
Call, J. |
| Title |
Inferences by exclusion in the great apes: the effect of age and species |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
393-403 |
| Keywords |
Age Factors; Animals; Association Learning; *Cognition; *Concept Formation; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Gorilla gorilla; Hominidae/classification/*psychology; Male; Pan paniscus; Pan troglodytes; Pongo pygmaeus; *Problem Solving; Species Specificity |
| Abstract |
This study investigated the ability of chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and bonobos to make inferences by exclusion using the procedure pioneered by Premack and Premack (Cognition 50:347-362, 1994) with chimpanzees. Thirty apes were presented with two different food items (banana vs. grape) on a platform and covered with identical containers. One of the items was removed from the container and placed between the two containers so that subjects could see it. After discarding this item, subjects could select between the two containers. In Experiment 1, apes preferentially selected the container that held the item that the experimenter had not discarded, especially if subjects saw the experimenter remove the item from the container (but without seeing the container empty). Experiment 3 in which the food was removed from one of the containers behind a barrier confirmed these results. In contrast, subjects performed at chance levels when a stimulus (colored plastic chip: Exp. 1; food item: Exp. 2 and Exp. 3) designated the item that had been removed. These results indicated that apes made inferences, not just learned to use a discriminative cue to avoid the empty container. Apes perceived and treated the item discarded by the experimenter as if it were the very one that had been hidden under the container. Results suggested a positive relationship between age and inferential ability independent of memory ability but no species differences. |
| Address |
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. call@eva.mpg.de |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16924458 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2444 |
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| Author |
Watanabe, S.; Huber, L. |
| Title |
Animal logics: decisions in the absence of human language |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
235-245 |
| Keywords |
*Animal Communication; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Brain/physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Decision Making/*physiology; Evolution; Humans; *Language; *Logic; Problem Solving/physiology |
| Abstract |
Without Abstract |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, Keio University, Mita 2-15-45, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108, Japan. swat@flet.keio.ac.jp |
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English |
Summary Language |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16909231 |
Approved |
no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2453 |
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| Author |
Gajdon, G.K.; Fijn, N.; Huber, L. |
| Title |
Limited spread of innovation in a wild parrot, the kea (Nestor notabilis) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
173-181 |
| Keywords |
Animal Communication; Animals; Diffusion of Innovation; Feeding Behavior; Female; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; *Motor Skills; *Parrots; *Problem Solving; Sex Factors; Social Dominance; Social Environment; Statistics, Nonparametric |
| Abstract |
In the local population of kea in Mount Cook Village, New Zealand, some keas open the lids of rubbish bins with their bill to obtain food scraps within. We investigated the extent to which this innovation has spread in the local population, and what factors limit the acquisition of bin opening. Only five males of 36 individually recognised birds were observed to have performed successful bin opening. With one exception there were always other keas present, watching successful bin opening. Seventeen additional individuals were seen to have benefitted from lid opening. Their foraging success was less than that of the bin openers. Social status of bin openers did not differ from scrounging males. Among the individuals that were regularly seen at the site of the bins but were not successful in bin opening, social status and the ratio of feeding directly from open bins correlated with the amount of opening attempts. We conclude that scrounging facilitated certain behavioural aspects of bin opening rather than inhibiting them. The fact that only 9% of opening attempts were successful, and the long period of time required to increase efficiency in lid opening shows that mainly individual experience, and to a lesser extent insight and social learning, play key roles in acquisition of the opening technique. The results indicate that the spread of innovative solutions of challenging mechanical problems in animals may be restricted to only a few individuals. |
| Address |
Department for Behavior, Neurobiology and Cognition, University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria. gyula.gajdon@univie.ac.at |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16568276 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2472 |
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Virányi, Z.; Topál, J.; Miklósi, Á.; Csányi, V. |
| Title |
A nonverbal test of knowledge attribution: a comparative study on dogs and children |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
13-26 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Child Psychology; Child, Preschool; Cues; Dogs/*psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Nonverbal Communication; *Problem Solving; Species Specificity |
| Abstract |
The sensitivity of eleven pet dogs and eleven 2.5-year-old children to others' past perceptual access was tested for object-specificity in a playful, nonverbal task in which a human Helper's knowledge state regarding the whereabouts of a hidden toy and a stick (a tool necessary for getting the out-of-reach toy) was systematically manipulated. In the four experimental conditions the Helper either participated or was absent during hiding of the toy and the stick and therefore she knew the place(s) of (1) both the toy and the stick, (2) only the toy, (3) only the stick or (4) neither of them. The subjects observed the hiding processes, but they could not reach the objects, so they had to involve the Helper to retrieve the toy. The dogs were more inclined to signal the place of the toy in each condition and indicated the location of the stick only sporadically. However the children signalled both the location of the toy and that of the stick in those situations when the Helper had similar knowledge regarding the whereabouts of them (i.e. knew or ignored both of them), and in those conditions in which the Helper was ignorant of the whereabouts of only one object the children indicated the place of this object more often than that of the known one. At the same time however, both dogs and children signalled the place of the toy more frequently if the Helper had been absent during toy-hiding compared to those conditions when she had participated in the hiding. Although this behaviour appears to correspond with the Helper's knowledge state, even the subtle distinction made by the children can be interpreted without a casual understanding of knowledge-formation in others. |
| Address |
Department of Ethology, ELTE University Budapest, Pazmany P. setany 1/C H-1117, Hungary. zsofi.viranyi@freemail.hu |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:15895261 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2486 |
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| Author |
Thornton, A.; McAuliffe, K. |
| Title |
Teaching in wild meerkats |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Science (New York, N.Y.) |
Abbreviated Journal |
Science |
| Volume |
313 |
Issue |
5784 |
Pages |
227-229 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Animals, Wild/psychology; Behavior, Animal; *Herpestidae/psychology; *Learning; *Predatory Behavior; South Africa; *Teaching; Vocalization, Animal |
| Abstract |
Despite the obvious benefits of directed mechanisms that facilitate the efficient transfer of skills, there is little critical evidence for teaching in nonhuman animals. Using observational and experimental data, we show that wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta) teach pups prey-handling skills by providing them with opportunities to interact with live prey. In response to changing pup begging calls, helpers alter their prey-provisioning methods as pups grow older, thus accelerating learning without the use of complex cognition. The lack of evidence for teaching in species other than humans may reflect problems in producing unequivocal support for the occurrence of teaching, rather than the absence of teaching. |
| Address |
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. jant2@cam.ac.uk |
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English |
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1095-9203 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16840701 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2834 |
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| Author |
Chappell J |
| Title |
Avian cognition: understanding tool use |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Current Biology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Curr. Biol. |
| Volume |
16 |
Issue |
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Pages |
244 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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3058 |
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| Author |
Seed AM; Tebbich S; Emery NJ; Clayton NS |
| Title |
Investigating physical cognition in rooks (Corvus frugilegus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Current Biology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Curr. Biol. |
| Volume |
16 |
Issue |
7 |
Pages |
697-701 |
| Keywords |
Sysneuro |
| Abstract |
Summary Although animals (particularly tool-users) are capable of solving physical tasks in the laboratory and the degree to which they understand them in terms of their underlying physical forces is a matter of contention. Here, using a new paradigm, the two-trap tube task, we report the performance of non-tool-using rooks. In contrast to the low success rates of previous studies using trap-tube problems , , and , seven out of eight rooks solved the initial task, and did so rapidly. Instead of the usual, conceptually flawed control, we used a series of novel transfer tasks to test for understanding. All seven transferred their solution across a change in stimuli. However, six out of seven were unable to transfer to two further tasks, which did not share any one visual constant. One female was able to solve these further transfer tasks. Her result is suggestive evidence that rooks are capable of sophisticated physical cognition, if not through an understanding of unobservable forces and , perhaps through rule abstraction. Our results highlight the need to investigate cognitive mechanisms other than causal understanding in studying animal physical cognition. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
3076 |
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