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Author Bobbert, M.F.; Santamaria, S.
Title Contribution of the forelimbs and hindlimbs of the horse to mechanical energy changes in jumping Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication The Journal of Experimental Biology Abbreviated Journal J Exp Biol
Volume 208 Issue 2 Pages 249-260
Keywords Animals; Biomechanics; Forelimb/*physiology; Hindlimb/*physiology; Horses/*physiology; Locomotion/*physiology; Muscle, Skeletal/*physiology; Time Factors
Abstract The purpose of the present study was to gain more insight into the contribution of the forelimbs and hindlimbs of the horse to energy changes during the push-off for a jump. For this purpose, we collected kinematic data at 240 Hz from 23 5-year-old Warmbloods (average mass: 595 kg) performing free jumps over a 1.15 m high fence. From these data, we calculated the changes in mechanical energy and the changes in limb length and joint angles. The force carried by the forelimbs and the amount of energy stored was estimated from the distance between elbow and hoof, assuming that this part of the leg behaved as a linear spring. During the forelimb push, the total energy first decreased by 3.2 J kg(-1) and then increased again by 4.2 J kg(-1) to the end of the forelimb push. At the end of the forelimb push, the kinetic energy due to horizontal velocity of the centre of mass was 1.6 J kg(-1) less than at the start, while the effective energy (energy contributing to jump height) was 2.3 J kg(-1) greater. It was investigated to what extent these changes could involve passive spring-like behaviour of the forelimbs. The amount of energy stored and re-utilized in the distal tendons during the forelimb push was estimated to be on average 0.4 J kg(-1) in the trailing forelimb and 0.23 J kg(-1) in the leading forelimb. This means that a considerable amount of energy was first dissipated and subsequently regenerated by muscles, with triceps brachii probably being the most important contributor. During the hindlimb push, the muscles of the leg were primarily producing energy. The total increase in energy was 2.5 J kg(-1) and the peak power output amounted to 71 W kg(-1).
Address Institute for Fundamental and Clinical Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, van der Boechorstraat 9, NL-1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands. MFBobbert@fbw.vu.nl
Corporate Author Thesis
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Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0022-0949 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) PMID:15634844 Approved no
Call Number Serial 1895
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Author Hodgson, Z.G.; Healy, S.D.
Title Preference for spatial cues in a non-storing songbird species Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 211-214
Keywords Animals; Association Learning/*physiology; *Cues; Feeding Behavior/physiology; Female; Male; Memory/*physiology; Sex Factors; Songbirds/*physiology; Space Perception/*physiology; Spatial Behavior/*physiology
Abstract Male mammals typically outperform their conspecific females on spatial tasks. A sex difference in cues used to solve the task could underlie this performance difference as spatial ability is reliant on appropriate cue use. Although comparative studies of memory in food-storing and non-storing birds have examined species differences in cue preference, few studies have investigated differences in cue use within a species. In this study, we used a one-trial associative food-finding task to test for sex differences in cue use in the great tit, Parus major. Birds were trained to locate a food reward hidden in a well covered by a coloured cloth. To determine whether the colour of the cloth or the location of the well was learned during training, the birds were presented with three wells in the test phase: one in the original location, but covered by a cloth of a novel colour, a second in a new location covered with the original cloth and a third in a new location covered by a differently coloured cloth. Both sexes preferentially visited the well in the training location rather than either alternative. As great tits prefer colour cues over spatial cues in one-trial associative conditioning tasks, cue preference appears to be related to the task type rather than being species dependent.
Address Ashworth Laboratories, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK. s.healy@ed.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
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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 (down) PMID:15611879 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2499
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Author Cole, P.D.; Adamo, S.A.
Title Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis: Cephalopoda) hunting behavior and associative learning Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages 27-30
Keywords Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; *Association Learning; *Conditioning, Classical; Female; Male; *Mollusca; Photic Stimulation; *Predatory Behavior
Abstract Because most learning studies in cephalopods have been performed on octopods, it remains unclear whether such abilities are specific to octopus, or whether they correlate with having a larger and more centrally organized brain. To investigate associative learning in a different cephalopod, six sexually mature cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) participated in a counterbalanced, within-subjects, appetitive, classical conditioning procedure. Two plastic spheres (conditioned stimuli, CSs), differing in brightness, were presented sequentially. Presentation of the CS+ was followed 5 s later by a live feeder fish (unconditioned stimulus, US). Cuttlefish began to attack the CS+ with the same type of food-acquisition seizures used to capture the feeder fish. After seven blocks of training (42 presentations of each CS) the difference in seizure probability between CS+ and CS- trials more than doubled; and was found to be significantly higher in late versus early blocks. These results indicate that cuttlefish exhibit autoshaping under some conditions. The possible ecological significance of this type of learning is briefly discussed.
Address Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Corporate Author Thesis
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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 (down) PMID:15592760 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2500
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Author Ferkin, M.H.; Pierce, A.A.; Sealand, R.O.; Delbarco-Trillo, J.
Title Meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, can distinguish more over-marks from fewer over-marks Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 182-189
Keywords Animals; Arvicolinae/*psychology; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Intermediate Filament Proteins; Male; Mathematics; Sex Factors; *Smell
Abstract Is it possible that voles have a sense of number? To address this question, we determined whether voles discriminate between two different scent-marking individuals and identify the individual whose scent marks was on top more often than the other individual. We tested whether voles show a preference for the individual whose scent marks was on top most often. If so, the simplest explanation was that voles can make a relative size judgement-such as distinguishing an area containing more of one individual's over-marks as compared to less of another individual's over-marks. We found that voles respond preferentially to the donor that provided a greater number of over-marks as compared to the donor that provided a lesser number of over-marks. Thus, we concluded that voles might display the capacity for relative numerousness. Interestingly, female voles were better able than male voles to distinguish between small differences in the relative number of over-marks by the two scent donors.
Address Department of Biology, The University of Memphis, Ellington Hall, Memphis, TN 38152, USA. mhferkin@memphis.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
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Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) PMID:15580367 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2501
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Author Horner, V.; Whiten, A.
Title Causal knowledge and imitation/emulation switching in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and children (Homo sapiens) Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 164-181
Keywords Animals; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; *Concept Formation; Female; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; Pan troglodytes; *Problem Solving; Psychomotor Performance; *Social Environment; Species Specificity
Abstract This study explored whether the tendency of chimpanzees and children to use emulation or imitation to solve a tool-using task was a response to the availability of causal information. Young wild-born chimpanzees from an African sanctuary and 3- to 4-year-old children observed a human demonstrator use a tool to retrieve a reward from a puzzle-box. The demonstration involved both causally relevant and irrelevant actions, and the box was presented in each of two conditions: opaque and clear. In the opaque condition, causal information about the effect of the tool inside the box was not available, and hence it was impossible to differentiate between the relevant and irrelevant parts of the demonstration. However, in the clear condition causal information was available, and subjects could potentially determine which actions were necessary. When chimpanzees were presented with the opaque box, they reproduced both the relevant and irrelevant actions, thus imitating the overall structure of the task. When the box was presented in the clear condition they instead ignored the irrelevant actions in favour of a more efficient, emulative technique. These results suggest that emulation is the favoured strategy of chimpanzees when sufficient causal information is available. However, if such information is not available, chimpanzees are prone to employ a more comprehensive copy of an observed action. In contrast to the chimpanzees, children employed imitation to solve the task in both conditions, at the expense of efficiency. We suggest that the difference in performance of chimpanzees and children may be due to a greater susceptibility of children to cultural conventions, perhaps combined with a differential focus on the results, actions and goals of the demonstrator.
Address Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9JU, UK. vkh1@st-andrews.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
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ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) PMID:15549502 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 732
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Author Suzuki, Y.; Toquenaga, Y.
Title Effects of information and group structure on evolution of altruism: analysis of two-score model by covariance and contextual analyses Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Journal of theoretical biology Abbreviated Journal J. Theor. Biol.
Volume 232 Issue 2 Pages 191-201
Keywords *Altruism; Analysis of Variance; *Communication; Cooperative Behavior; *Evolution; Game Theory; *Group Structure; Humans; Models, Genetic; Models, Psychological; Selection (Genetics); Trust
Abstract An altruistic individual has to gamble on cooperation to a stranger because it does not know whether the stranger is trustworthy before direct interaction. Nowak and Sigmund (Nature 393 (1998a) 573; J. Theor. Biol. 194 (1998b) 561) presented a new theoretical framework of indirect reciprocal altruism by image scoring game where all individuals are informed about a partner's behavior from its image score without direct interaction. Interestingly, in a simplified version of the image scoring game, the evolutionarily stability condition for altruism became a similar form of Hamilton's rule, i.e. inequality that the probability of getting correct information is more than the ratio of cost to benefit. Since the Hamilton's rule was derived by evolutionarily stable analysis, the evolutionary meaning of the probability of getting correct information has not been clearly examined in terms of kin and group selection. In this study, we applied covariance analysis to the two-score model for deriving the Hamilton's rule. We confirmed that the probability of getting correct information was proportional to the bias of altruistic interactions caused by using information about a partner's image score. The Hamilton's rule was dependent on the number of game bouts even though the information reduced the risk of cooperation to selfish one at the first encounter. In addition, we incorporated group structure to the two-score model to examine whether the probability of getting correct information affect selection for altruism by group selection. We calculated a Hamilton's rule of group selection by contextual analysis. Group selection is very effective when either the probability of getting correct information or that of future interaction, or both are low. The two Hamilton's rules derived by covariance and contextual analyses demonstrated the effects of information and group structure on the evolution of altruism. We inferred that information about a partner's behavior and group structure can produce flexible pathways for the evolution of altruism.
Address Integrative Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Ten-Nou-Dai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan. yukari@pe.ies.life.tsukuba.ac.jp
Corporate Author Thesis
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Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0022-5193 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) PMID:15530489 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 556
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Author Werner, C.W.; Tiemann, I.; Cnotka, J.; Rehkamper, G.
Title Do chickens (Gallus gallus f. domestica) decompose visual figures? Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 129-140
Keywords Animals; *Chickens; Conditioning, Classical; *Discrimination Learning; Female; *Pattern Recognition, Visual; Photic Stimulation; *Visual Perception
Abstract To investigate whether learning to discriminate between visual compound stimuli depends on decomposing them into constituting features, hens were first trained to discriminate four features (red, green, horizontal, vertical) from two dimensions (colour, line orientation). After acquisition, hens were trained with compound stimuli made up from these dimensions in two ways: a separable (line on a coloured background) stimulus and an integral one (coloured line). This compound training included a reversal of reinforcement of only one of the two dimensions (half-reversal). After having achieved the compound stimulus discrimination, a second dimensional training identical to the first was performed. Finally, in the second compound training the other dimension was reversed. Two major results were found: (1) an interaction between the dimension reversed and the type of compound stimulus: in compound training with colour reversal, separable compound stimuli were discriminated worse than integral compounds and vice versa in compound training with line orientation reversed. (2) Performance in the second compound training was worse than in the first one. The first result points to a similar mode of processing for separable and integral compounds, whereas the second result shows that the whole stimulus is psychologically superior to its constituting features. Experiment 2 repeated experiment 1 using line orientation stimuli of reversed line and background brightness. Nevertheless, the results were similar to experiment 1. Results are discussed in the framework of a configural exemplar theory of discrimination that assumes the representation of the whole stimulus situation combined with transfer based on a measure of overall similarity.
Address C. and O. Vogt Institute of Brain Research, Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf, Universitatsstr. 1, 40225, Dusseldorf, Germany. wernerc@uni-duesseldorf.de
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ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
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Notes (down) PMID:15490291 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2503
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Author Call, J.; Carpenter, M.; Tomasello, M.
Title Copying results and copying actions in the process of social learning: chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and human children (Homo sapiens) Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 151-163
Keywords Animals; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; *Concept Formation; Female; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; Pan troglodytes; *Problem Solving; Psychomotor Performance; Random Allocation; *Social Environment; Species Specificity
Abstract There is currently much debate about the nature of social learning in chimpanzees. The main question is whether they can copy others' actions, as opposed to reproducing the environmental effects of these actions using their own preexisting behavioral strategies. In the current study, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and human children (Homo sapiens) were shown different demonstrations of how to open a tube-in both cases by a conspecific. In different experimental conditions, demonstrations consisted of (1) action only (the actions necessary to open the tube without actually opening it); (2) end state only (the open tube, without showing any actions); (3) both of these components (in a full demonstration); or (4) neither of these components (in a baseline condition). In the first three conditions subjects saw one of two different ways that the tube could open (break in middle; caps off ends). Subjects' behavior in each condition was assessed for how often they opened the tube, how often they opened it in the same location as the demonstrator, and how often they copied the demonstrator's actions or style of opening the tube. Whereas chimpanzees reproduced mainly the environmental results of the demonstrations (emulation), human children often reproduced the demonstrator's actions (imitation). Because the procedure used was similar in many ways to the procedure that Meltzoff (Dev Psych 31:1, 1995) used to study the understanding of others' unfulfilled intentions, the implications of these findings with regard to chimpanzees' understanding of others' intentions are also discussed.
Address Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. call@eva.mpg.de
Corporate Author Thesis
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Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) PMID:15490290 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2504
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Author Mercado, E. 3rd; Herman, L.M.; Pack, A.A.
Title Song copying by humpback whales: themes and variations Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 93-102
Keywords Acoustics; Animals; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; Sound Spectrography; *Vocalization, Animal; Whales/*psychology
Abstract Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce long, structured sequences of sound underwater, commonly called “songs.” Humpbacks progressively modify their songs over time in ways that suggest that individuals are copying song elements that they hear being used by other singers. Little is known about the factors that determine how whales learn from their auditory experiences. Song learning in birds is better understood and appears to be constrained by stable core attributes such as species-specific sound repertoires and song syntax. To clarify whether similar constraints exist for song learning by humpbacks, we analyzed changes over 14 years in the sounds used by humpback whales singing in Hawaiian waters. We found that although the properties of individual sounds within songs are quite variable over time, the overall distribution of certain acoustic features within the repertoire appears to be stable. In particular, our findings suggest that species-specific constraints on temporal features of song sounds determine song form, whereas spectral variability allows whales to flexibly adapt song elements.
Address Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Park Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA. emiii@buffalo.edu
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ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
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Notes (down) PMID:15490289 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2505
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Author Zucca, P.; Antonelli, F.; Vallortigara, G.
Title Detour behaviour in three species of birds: quails (Coturnix sp.), herring gulls (Larus cachinnans) and canaries (Serinus canaria) Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 122-128
Keywords Animals; *Avoidance Learning; *Birds; Canaries; Charadriiformes; Coturnix; *Discrimination Learning; Orientation; *Space Perception; *Spatial Behavior; Species Specificity
Abstract Detour behaviour is the ability of an animal to reach a goal stimulus by moving round any interposed obstacle. It has been widely studied and has been proposed as a test of insight learning in several species of mammals, but few data are available in birds. A comparative study in three species of birds, belonging to different eco-ethological niches, allows a better understanding of the cognitive mechanism of such detour behaviour. Young quails (Coturnix sp.), herring gulls (Larus cachinnans) and canaries (Serinus canaria), 1 month old, 10-25 days old and 4-6 months old, respectively, were tested in a detour situation requiring them to abandon a clear view of a biologically interesting object (their own reflection in a mirror) in order to approach that object. Birds were placed in a closed corridor, at one end of which was a barrier through which the object was visible. Four different types of barrier were used: vertical bar, horizontal bar, grid and transparent. Two symmetrical apertures placed midline in the corridor allowed the birds to adopt routes passing around the barrier. After entering the apertures, birds could turn either right or left to re-establish social contact with the object in the absence of any local sensory cues emanating from it. Quails appeared able to solve the task, though their performance depended on the type of barrier used, which appeared to modulate their relative interest in approaching the object or in exploring the surroundings. Young herring gulls also showed excellent abilities to locate spatially the out-of-view object, except when the transparent barrier was used. Canaries, on the other hand, appeared completely unable to solve the detour task, whatever barrier was in use. It is suggested that these species differences can be accounted for in terms of adaptation to a terrestrial or aerial environment.
Address Laboratory of Animal Cognition and Comparative Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Trieste, Via S. Anastasio 12, 34100, Trieste, Italy. zucca@units.it
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ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) PMID:15449104 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2506
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