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Bouchard, J. (2002). Is social learning correlated with innovation in birds? An inter-and an interspecific test. Master's thesis, Department of Biology McGili University Montréal, Québec, .
Abstract: This thesis focuses on the relationship between innovation and social learning in the foraging context, across and within bird species, using two different sources of data: anecdotal reports from the literature, and experimental tests in the laboratory and the field. In chapter 1, I review the trends in innovation and social learning in the avian literature, and contrast them with trends in mammals, especially primates. In chapter 2, I use anecdotal reports of feeding innovation and social learning in the literature to assess taxonomic trends and to study the relationship between the two traits at the interspecific level. In chapter 3, I investigate the relationship between innovation and social learning at the intraspecific level in captive feral pigeons (Columba livia). Innovation is estimated from the ability to solve an innovative foraging problem, and social learning is measured as the number of trials required to learn a foraging task from a proficient demonstrator. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
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Macphail, E. M., & Boldhuis, J. J. (2001). The evolution of intelligence: adaptive specializations versusgeneral process. Biological Reviews, 76(3), 341–364.
Abstract: Darwin argued that between-species differences in intelligence were differences of degree, not of kind. The contemporary ecological approach to animal cognition argues that animals have evolved species-specific and problem-specific processes to solve problems associated with their particular ecological niches: thus different species use different processes, and within a species, different processes are used to tackle problems involving different inputs. This approach contrasts both with Darwin's view and with the general process view, according to which the same central processes of learning and memory are used across an extensive range of problems involving very different inputs. We review evidence relevant to the claim that the learning and memory performance of non-human animals varies according to the nature of the stimuli involved. We first discuss the resource distribution hypothesis, olfactory learning-set formation, and the 'biological constraints' literature, but find no convincing support from these topics for the ecological account of cognition. We then discuss the claim that the performance of birds in spatial tasks of learning and memory is superior in species that depend heavily upon stored food compared to species that either show less dependence upon stored food or do not store food. If it could be shown that storing species enjoy a superiority specifically in spatial (and not non-spatial) tasks, this would argue that spatial tasks are indeed solved using different processes from those used in non-spatial tasks. Our review of this literature does not find a consistent superiority of storing over non-storing birds in spatial tasks, and, in particular, no evidence of enhanced superiority of storing species when the task demands are increased, by, for example, increasing the number of items to be recalled or the duration of the retention period. We discuss also the observation that the hippocampus of storing birds is larger than that of non-storing birds, and find evidence contrary to the view that hippocampal enlargement is associated with enhanced spatial memory; we are, however, unable to suggest a convincing alternative explanation for hippocampal enlargement. The failure to find solid support for the ecological view supports the view that there are no qualitative differences in cognition between animal species in the processes of learning and memory. We also argue that our review supports our contention that speculation about the phylogenetic development and function of behavioural processes does not provide a solid basis for gaining insight into the nature of those processes. We end by confessing to a belief in one major qualitative difference in cognition in animals: we believe that humans alone are capable of acquiring language, and that it is this capacity that divides our intelligence so sharply from non-human intelligence.
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Takimoto, A., Kuroshima, H., & Fujita, K. (2010). Capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) are sensitive to others’ reward: an experimental analysis of food-choice for conspecifics. Anim. Cogn., 13(2), 249–261.
Abstract: Abstract The issue whether non-human primates have other-regarding preference and/or inequity aversion has been under debate. We investigated whether tufted capuchin monkeys are sensitive to others’ reward in various experimental food sharing settings. Two monkeys faced each other. The operator monkey chose one of two food containers placed between the participants, each containing a food item for him/herself and another for the recipient. The recipient passively received either high- or low-value food depending on the operator’s choice, whereas the operator obtained the same food regardless of his/her choice. The recipients were either the highest- or lowest-ranking member of the group, and the operators were middle-ranking. In Experiment 1, the operators chose the high-value food for the subordinate recipient more frequently than when there was no recipient, whereas they were indifferent in their choice for the dominant. This differentiated behavior could have been because the dominant recipient frequently ate the low-value food. In Experiment 2, we increased the difference in the value of the two food items so that both recipients would reject the low-value food. The results were the same as in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, we placed an opaque screen in front of the recipient to examine effects of visual contact between the participants. The operators’ food choice generally shifted toward providing the low-value food for the recipient. These results suggest that capuchins are clearly sensitive to others’ reward and that they show other-regarding preference or a form of inequity aversion depending upon the recipients and the presence of visual contact.
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Rands, S. A., Cowlishaw, G., Pettifor, R. A., Rowcliffe, J. M., & Johnstone, R. A. (2008). The emergence of leaders and followers in foraging pairs when the qualities of individuals differ. BMC Evol Biol, 8, 51.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Foraging in groups offers animals a number of advantages, such as increasing their likelihood of finding food or detecting and avoiding predators. In order for a group to remain together, there has to be some degree of coordination of behaviour and movement between its members (which may in some cases be initiated by a decision-making leader, and in other cases may emerge as an underlying property of the group). For example, behavioural synchronisation is a phenomenon where animals within a group initiate and then continue to conduct identical behaviours, and has been characterised for a wide range of species. We examine how a pair of animals should behave using a state-dependent approach, and ask what conditions are likely to lead to behavioural synchronisation occurring, and whether one of the individuals is more likely to act as a leader. RESULTS: The model we describe considers how the energetic gain, metabolic requirements and predation risks faced by the individuals affect measures of their energetic state and behaviour (such as the degree of behavioural synchronisation seen within the pair, and the value to an individual of knowing the energetic state of its colleague). We explore how predictable changes in these measures are in response to changes in physiological requirements and predation risk. We also consider how these measures should change when the members of the pair are not identical in their metabolic requirements or their susceptibility to predation. We find that many of the changes seen in these measures are complex, especially when asymmetries exist between the members of the pair. CONCLUSION: Analyses are presented that demonstrate that, although these general patterns are robust, care needs to be taken when considering the effects of individual differences, as the relationship between individual differences and the resulting qualitative changes in behaviour may be complex. We discuss how these results are related to experimental observations, and how the model and its predictions could be extended.
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Rands, S. A., Cowlishaw, G., Pettifor, R. A., Rowcliffe, J. M., & Johnstone, R. A. (2003). Spontaneous emergence of leaders and followers in foraging pairs. Nature, 423(6938), 432–434.
Abstract: Animals that forage socially often stand to gain from coordination of their behaviour. Yet it is not known how group members reach a consensus on the timing of foraging bouts. Here we demonstrate a simple process by which this may occur. We develop a state-dependent, dynamic game model of foraging by a pair of animals, in which each individual chooses between resting or foraging during a series of consecutive periods, so as to maximize its own individual chances of survival. We find that, if there is an advantage to foraging together, the equilibrium behaviour of both individuals becomes highly synchronized. As a result of this synchronization, differences in the energetic reserves of the two players spontaneously develop, leading them to adopt different behavioural roles. The individual with lower reserves emerges as the 'pace-maker' who determines when the pair should forage, providing a straightforward resolution to the problem of group coordination. Moreover, the strategy that gives rise to this behaviour can be implemented by a simple 'rule of thumb' that requires no detailed knowledge of the state of other individuals.
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Hockenhull, J., & Creighton, E. (2010). Unwanted oral investigative behaviour in horses: A note on the relationship between mugging behaviour, hand-feeding titbits and clicker training. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 127(3-4), 104–107.
Abstract: Unwanted oral investigative in horses has been anecdotally attributed to the practice of hand-feeding. Fears over such behaviour developing as a consequence of using food rewards, for example in clicker training, have been implicated as a common reason for not employing food-based positive reinforcement training techniques. This study used data generated as part of a larger research project, and explored associations between five common oral investigative behaviours and the practices of hand-feeding and clicker training. Data were from a convenience sample of UK leisure horse owners using two self-administered Internet surveys. Ninety-one percent of respondents reported giving their horse food by hand and this practice was significantly associated with three of the five oral investigative behaviours, licking hands (P = 0.006), gently searching clothing (P < 0.001) and roughly searching clothing (P = 0.003). Nipping hands and biting clothes were not associated with hand-feeding, suggesting that risk factors for these behaviours originate outside of this practice. Clicker training techniques were employed by 14% of respondents and their use was not associated with the incidence of any of the five oral investigative behaviours. These findings suggest that horse owners should not be deterred from using food-based positive reinforcement techniques with their horses, as fears that this practice will result in unwanted oral investigative behaviours from their horses appear unfounded.
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Sanga, U., Provenza, F. D., & Villalba, J. J. (2011). Transmission of self-medicative behaviour from mother to offspring in sheep. Anim. Behav., 82(2), 219–227.
Abstract: Herbivores challenged by diets with high concentrations of tannins learn by individual experience to self-select medicinal compounds such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), which neutralizes the negative postingestive effects of tannins. We investigated the transmission of this acquired self-medicative behaviour from mother to offspring. One group of ewes (experienced, N = 8) was conditioned to associate the beneficial effects of PEG after consuming a tannin-rich diet. Ewes ingested a meal of high-tannin food and were then offered PEG. Subsequently, ewes ingested the same tannin-rich meal and were then offered a food (grape pomace; control) that did not have the medicinal effects of PEG. After conditioning, the experienced group and a naïve group of ewes (N = 8) were given a choice between the high-tannin food, PEG and grape pomace. Experienced ewes showed higher intake and preference for PEG than did naïve ewes (P < 0.05). Subsequently, experienced and naïve ewes with their naïve lambs, as well as a group of naïve lambs without their mothers (N = 8), were exposed to the tannin-rich diet, PEG and grape pomace. Lambs were then tested for their ability to self-medicate with PEG by offering them a choice between the tannin-rich diet, PEG and grape pomace. Lambs from experienced and naïve mothers showed a higher preference for PEG than did lambs exposed without their mothers (P = 0.05). Thus, the presence of the mother (experienced or naïve) was important for naïve lambs to learn about the medicinal benefits of PEG. We conclude that the mother's presence per se may increase the efficiency of creating new knowledge, such as preference for a medicine, within a group, beyond transmitting and maintaining this knowledge across generations.
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Güntürkün, O., & Kesch, S. (1987). Visual lateralization during feeding in pigeons. Behav. Neurosci., 101(3), 433–435.
Abstract: In a quasi-natural feeding situation, adult pigeons had to detect and consume 30 food grains out of about 1,000 pebbles of similar shape, size, and color within 30 s under monocular conditions. With the right eye seeing, the animals achieved a significantly higher discrimination accuracy and, consequently, a significantly higher proportion of grains grasped than with the left eye seeing. This result supports previous demonstrations of a left-hemisphere dominance for visually guided behavior in birds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
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Spagnoletti, N., Visalberghi, E., Verderane, M. P., Ottoni, E., Izar, P., & Fragaszy, D. (2012). Stone tool use in wild bearded capuchin monkeys, Cebus libidinosus. Is it a strategy to overcome food scarcity? Anim. Behav., 83(5), 1285–1294.
Abstract: To determine whether tool use varied in relation to food availability in bearded capuchin monkeys, we recorded anvil and stone hammer use in two sympatric wild groups, one of which was provisioned daily, and assessed climatic variables and availability of fruits, invertebrates and palm nuts. Capuchins used tools to crack open encased fruits, mostly palm nuts, throughout the year. Significant differences between wet and dry seasons were found in rainfall, abundance of invertebrates and palm nuts, but not in fruit abundance. Catulè nuts were more abundant in the dry season. We tested the predictions of the necessity hypothesis (according to which tool use is maintained by sustenance needs during resource scarcity) and of the opportunity hypothesis (according to which tool use is maintained by repeated exposure to appropriate ecological conditions, such as preferred food resources necessitating the use of tools). Our findings support only the opportunity hypothesis. The rate of tool use was not affected by provisioning, and the monthly rate of tool use was not correlated with the availability of fruits and invertebrates. Conversely, all capuchins cracked food items other than palm nuts (e.g. cashew nuts) when available, and adult males cracked nuts more in the dry season when catulè nuts (the most common and exploited nut) are especially abundant. Hence, in our field site capuchins use tools opportunistically.
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Brinkmann, L., Gerken, M., & Riek, A. (2015). Energetic adaptations of Shetland pony mares. In Proceedings of the 3. International Equine Science Meeting.
Abstract: Recent results suggest that wild Northern herbivores exhibit signs of a hypometabolism during times of low ambient temperature and food shortage in order to reduce their energetic needs. However, there are speculations that domestic animals lost the ability to reduce energy expenditure. To examine energetic and behavioural responses 10 Shetland pony mares were exposed to different environmental conditions (summer and winter). During winter ponies were allocated into two groups receiving two different food quantities (60% and 100% of maintenance energy requirement). We measured the field metabolic rate, water turn over, body temperature, locomotor activity, lying time, resting heart rate, body mass and body condition score.
In summer, the field metabolic rate of all ponies (FMR; 63.4±15.0 MJ/day) was considerably higher compared with food restricted and control animals in winter (24.6±7.8 and 15.0±1.1 MJ/day, respectively). Furthermore, during summer, locomotor activity, resting heart rate and total water turnover were significantly elevated (P<0.001) compared with winter. Animals receiving a reduced amount of food (N=5) reduced their FMR by 26% compared with control animals (N=5) to compensate for the decreased energy supply. Furthermore, resting heart rate, body mass and body condition score were lower(29.2±2.7 beats/min, 140±22 kg and 3.0±1.0 points, respectively) than in control animals (36.8±41 beats/min, 165±31 kg, 4.4±0.7 points; P<0.05). While no difference could be found in the observed behaviour, nocturnal hypothermia was elevated in restrictively fed animals. Our results indicate that ponies adapt to different climatic conditions by changing their metabolic rate, behaviour and some physiological parameters. When exposed to energy shortage, ponies, like wild herbivores, exhibited hypometabolism and nocturnal hypothermia.
Keywords:
Body temperature, Energy expenditure, Food restriction, Hypometabolism, Locomotor activity, Shetland pony
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