| Records |
| Author |
Christensen, J.W.; Ahrendt, L.P.; Lintrup, R.; Gaillard, C.; Palme, R.; Malmkvist, J. |
| Title |
Does learning performance in horses relate to fearfulness, baseline stress hormone, and social rank? |
Type |
Abstract |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
App Anim Behav Sci |
| Volume |
140 |
Issue  |
1 |
Pages |
44-52 |
| Keywords |
Horse; Learning; Fearfulness; Stress; Reinforcement; Social rank |
| Abstract |
The ability of horses to learn and remember new tasks is fundamentally important for their use by humans. Fearfulness may, however, interfere with learning, because stimuli in the environment can overshadow signals from the rider or handler. In addition, prolonged high levels of stress hormones can affect neurons within the hippocampus; a brain region central to learning and memory. In a series of experiments, we aimed to investigate the link between performance in two learning tests, the baseline level of stress hormones, measured as faecal cortisol metabolites (FCM), fearfulness, and social rank. Twenty-five geldings (2 or 3 years old) pastured in one group were included in the study. The learning tests were performed by professional trainers and included a number of predefined stages during which the horses were gradually trained to perform exercises, using either negative (NR) or positive reinforcement (PR). Each of the learning tests lasted 3 days; 7min/horse/day. The NR test was repeated in a novel environment. Performance, measured as final stage in the training programme, and heart rate (HR) were recorded. Faeces were collected on four separate days where the horses had been undisturbed at pasture for 48h. Social rank was determined through observations of social interactions during feeding. The fear test was a novel object test during which behaviour and HR were recorded. Performance in the NR and PR learning tests did not correlate. In the NR test, there was a significant, negative correlation between performance and HR in the novel environment (rS=-0.66, P<0.001, i.e. nervous horses had reduced performance), whereas there was no such correlation in the home environment (both NR and PR). Behavioural reactions in the fear test correlated significantly with performance in the NR test in the novel environment (e.g. object alertness and final stage: rS=-0.43, P=0.04), suggesting that performance under unfamiliar, stressful conditions may be predicted by behavioural responses in a fear test. There was a negative correlation between social rank and baseline stress hormones (rS=-0.43, P=0.04), i.e. high rank corresponded to low FCM concentrations, whereas neither rank nor FCM correlated with fearfulness or learning performance. We conclude that performance under stressful conditions is affected by activation of the sympathetic nervous system during training and related to behavioural responses in a standardised fear test. Learning performance in the home environment, however, appears unrelated to fearfulness, social rank and baseline FCM levels. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ S0168-1591(12)00168-2 |
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5769 |
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Langbein, J.; Siebert, K.; Nuernberg, G.; Manteuffel, G. |
| Title |
The impact of acoustical secondary reinforcement during shape discrimination learning of dwarf goats (Capra hircus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
103 |
Issue |
1-2 |
Pages |
35-44 |
| Keywords |
Dwarf goats; Operant conditioning; Visual discrimination learning; Secondary reinforcement |
| Abstract |
The use of secondary reinforcement is widely accepted to support operant learning in animals. In farm animals, however, the efficacy of secondary reinforcement has up to now been studied systematically only in horses (“clicker training”), and the results are controversial. We investigated the impact of acoustical secondary reinforcement on voluntary, self-controlled visual discrimination learning of two-dimensional shapes in group-housed dwarf goats (Capra hircus). Learning tests were conducted applying a computer-controlled learning device that was integrated in the animals' home pen. Shapes were presented on a TFT-screen using a four-choice design. Drinking water was used as primary reinforcement. In the control group (Gcontrol, n = 5) animals received only primary reinforcement, whereas in the sound group (Gsound, n = 6) animals got additional acoustical secondary reinforcement. Testing recall of shapes which had been successfully learned by the goats 6 weeks earlier (T1), we found a weak impact of secondary reinforcement on daily learning success (P = 0.07), but not on the number of trials the animals needed to reach the learning criterion (trials to criterion, n.s.). Results in T1 indicated that dwarf goats did not instantly recall previously learned shapes, but, re-learned within 250-450 trials. When learning a set of new shapes (T2), there was a strong influence of secondary reinforcement on daily learning success and on trials to criterion. Animals in Gsound reached the learning criterion earlier (P < 0.05) and needed fewer trials (1320 versus 3700; P < 0.01), compared to animals in Gcontrol. Results suggest that acoustical secondary reinforcement supports visual discrimination learning of dwarf goats, especially when the task is new and the salience of S+ is low. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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3583 |
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| Author |
de Waal, F.B.M.; Davis, J.M. |
| Title |
Capuchin cognitive ecology: cooperation based on projected returns |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Neuropsychologia |
Abbreviated Journal |
Neuropsychologia |
| Volume |
41 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
221-228 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Attention; Cebus/*psychology; *Cooperative Behavior; Decision Making; Dominance-Subordination; Female; Male; *Motivation; Reaction Time; Reinforcement Schedule; *Social Behavior |
| Abstract |
Stable cooperation requires that each party's pay-offs exceed those available through individual action. The present experimental study on brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) investigated if decisions about cooperation are (a) guided by the amount of competition expected to follow the cooperation, and (b) made instantaneously or only after a period of familiarization. Pairs of adult monkeys were presented with a mutualistic cooperative task with variable opportunities for resource monopolization (clumped versus dispersed rewards), and partner relationships (kin versus nonkin). After pre-training, each pair of monkeys (N=11) was subjected to six tests, consisting of 15 2 min trials each, with rewards available to both parties. Clumped reward distribution had an immediate negative effect on cooperation: this effect was visible right from the start, and remained visible even if clumped trials alternated with dispersed trials. The drop in cooperation was far more dramatic for nonkin than kin, which was explained by the tendency of dominant nonkin to claim more than half of the rewards under the clumped condition. The immediacy of responses suggests a decision-making process based on predicted outcome of cooperation. Decisions about cooperation thus take into account both the opportunity for and the likelihood of subsequent competition over the spoils. |
| Address |
Living Links, Yerkes Primate Center, Emory University, 954 N. Gatewood Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. dewaal@emory.edu |
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English |
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0028-3932 |
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| Notes |
PMID:12459220 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
182 |
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| Author |
Zentall, T.R.; Roper, K.L.; Sherburne, L.M. |
| Title |
Most directed forgetting in pigeons can be attributed to the absence of reinforcement on forget trials during training or to other procedural artifacts |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
1995 |
Publication |
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Anal Behav |
| Volume |
63 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
127-137 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Attention; Color Perception; Columbidae; Cues; *Discrimination Learning; *Mental Recall; Motivation; Pattern Recognition, Visual; *Reinforcement Schedule; Retention (Psychology) |
| Abstract |
In research on directed forgetting in pigeons using delayed matching procedures, remember cues, presented in the delay interval between sample and comparisons, have been followed by comparisons (i.e., a memory test), whereas forget cues have been followed by one of a number of different sample-independent events. The source of directed forgetting in delayed matching to sample in pigeons was examined in a 2 x 2 design by independently manipulating whether or not forget-cue trials in training ended with reinforcement and whether or not forget-cue trials in training included a simultaneous discrimination (involving stimuli other than those used in the matching task). Results were consistent with the hypothesis that reinforced responding following forget cues is sufficient to eliminate performance deficits on forget-cue probe trials. Only when reinforcement was omitted on forget-cue trials in training (whether a discrimination was required or not) was there a decrement in accuracy on forget-cue probe trials. When reinforcement is present, however, the pattern of responding established during and following a forget cue in training may also play a role in the directed forgetting effect. These findings support the view that much of the evidence for directed forgetting using matching procedures may result from motivational and behavioral artifacts rather than the loss of memory. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506 |
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English |
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0022-5002 |
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| Notes |
PMID:7714447 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
256 |
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| Author |
Zentall, T.R.; Sherburne, L.M. |
| Title |
Transfer of value from S+ to S- in a simultaneous discrimination |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
1994 |
Publication |
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
| Volume |
20 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
176-183 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; Attention; Color Perception; Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Male; Motivation; Orientation; Pattern Recognition, Visual; *Problem Solving; *Reinforcement Schedule; *Transfer (Psychology) |
| Abstract |
Value transfer theory has been proposed to account for transitive inference effects (L. V. Fersen, C. D. L. Wynne, J. D. Delius, & J. E. R. Staddon, 1991), in which following training on 4 simultaneous discriminations (A+B-, B+C-, C+D-, D+E-) pigeons show a preference for B over D. According to this theory, some of the value of reinforcement acquired by each S+ transfers to the S-. In the transitive inference experiment, C (associated with both reward and nonreward) can transfer less value to D than A (associated only with reward) can transfer to B. Support for value transfer theory was demonstrated in 2 experiments in which an S- presented in the context of a stimulus to which responses were always reinforced (S+) was preferred over an S- presented in the context of a stimulus to which responses were sometimes reinforced (S +/-). |
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Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506 |
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0097-7403 |
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PMID:8189186 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
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258 |
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Shettleworth, S.J. |
| Title |
Reinforcement and the organization of behavior in golden hamsters: Pavlovian conditioning with food and shock unconditioned stimuli |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
1978 |
Publication |
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
| Volume |
4 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
152-169 |
| Keywords |
Acoustic Stimulation; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Conditioning, Classical; Conditioning, Operant; Cricetinae; *Electroshock; Female; *Food; Male; Punishment; *Reinforcement (Psychology); Reinforcement Schedule |
| Abstract |
The effects of Pavlovian conditioned stimuli (CSs) for food or shock on a variety of behaviors of golden hamsters were observed in three experiments. The aim was to see whether previously reported differences among the behaviors produced by food reinforcement and punishment procedures could be accounted for by differential effects of Pavlovian conditioning on the behaviors. There was some correspondence between the behaviors observed to the CSs and the previously reported effects of instrumental training. However, the Pavlovian conditioned responses (CRs) alone would not have predicted the effects of instrumental training. Moreover, CRs depended to some extent on the context in which training and testing occurred. These findings, together with others in the literature, suggest that the results of Pavlovian conditioning procedures may not unambiguously predict what system of behaviors will be most readily modified by instrumental training with a given reinforcer. |
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0097-7403 |
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PMID:670890 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
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387 |
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| Author |
Heyes, C.M. |
| Title |
Social learning in animals: categories and mechanisms |
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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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1464-7931 |
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PMID:8054445 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
708 |
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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 |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12150040 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2604 |
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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 |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12150039 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2605 |
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Mills, D.S. |
| Title |
Applying learning theory to the management of the horse: the difference between getting it right and getting it wrong |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
1998 |
Publication |
Equine veterinary journal. Supplement |
Abbreviated Journal |
Equine Vet J Suppl |
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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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PMID:10485004 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
845 |
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