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Author Ahrendt, L.P.; Labouriau, R.; Malmkvist, J.; Nicol, C.J.; Christensen, J.W. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Development of a standard test to assess negative reinforcement learning in horses Type Journal Article
  Year 2015 Publication (up) Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 169 Issue Pages 38-42  
  Keywords Algometry; Horse behaviour; Learning performance; Operant conditioning; Pressure-release; Horse training  
  Abstract Most horses are trained by negative reinforcement. Currently, however, no standardised test for evaluating horses' negative reinforcement learning ability is available. The aim of this study was to develop an objective test to investigate negative reinforcement learning in horses. Twenty-four Icelandic horses (3 years old) were included in this study. The horses were tested in a pressure-release task on three separate days with 10, 7 and 5 trials on each side, respectively. Each trial consisted of pressure being applied on the hindquarter with an algometer. The force of the pressure was increased until the horse moved laterally away from the point of pressure. There was a significant decrease in required force over trials on the first test day (P<0.001), but not the second and third day. The intercepts on days 2 and 3 differed significantly from day 1 (P<0.001), but not each other. Significantly stronger force was required on the right side compared to the left (P<0.001), but there was no difference between first and second side tested (P=0.56). Individual performance was evaluated by median-force and the change in force over trials on the first test day. These two measures may explain different characteristics of negative reinforcement learning. In conclusion, this study presents a novel, standardised test for evaluating negative reinforcement learning ability in horses.  
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  ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6650  
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Author Dunbar, R.I.M.; McAdam, M.R.; O'connell, S. doi  openurl
  Title Mental rehearsal in great apes (Pan troglodytes and Pongo pygmaeus) and children Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication (up) Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.  
  Volume 69 Issue 3 Pages 323-330  
  Keywords Algorithms; Animals; Child; Child, Preschool; Food; Frontal Lobe/anatomy & histology/physiology; Humans; *Imagination; Pan troglodytes; Pongo pygmaeus; Problem Solving/*physiology; Psychomotor Performance/physiology; Reward  
  Abstract The ability to rehearse possible future courses of action in the mind is an important feature of advanced social cognition in humans, and the “social brain” hypothesis implies that it might also be a feature of primate social cognition. We tested two chimpanzees, six orangutans and 63 children aged 3-7 years on a set of four puzzle boxes, half of which were presented with an opportunity to observe the box before being allowed to open it (“prior view”), the others being given without an opportunity to examine the boxes before handling them (“no prior view”). When learning effects are partialled out, puzzle boxes in the “prior view” condition were opened significantly faster than boxes given in the “no prior view” condition by the children, but not by either of the great apes. The three species differ significantly in the speed with which they opened boxes in the “no prior view” condition. The three species' performance on this task was a function of relative frontal lobe volume, suggesting that it may be possible to identify quantitative neuropsychological differences between species.  
  Address Evolutionary Psychology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Biosciences Building, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK. rimd@liv.ac.uk  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:15896530 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 2097  
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Author Macphail, E.M. doi  openurl
  Title Cognitive function in mammals: the evolutionary perspective Type Journal Article
  Year 1996 Publication (up) Brain research. Cognitive brain research Abbreviated Journal Brain Res Cogn Brain Res  
  Volume 3 Issue 3-4 Pages 279-290  
  Keywords Animals; Cognition/*physiology; Conditioning (Psychology)/*physiology; Evolution; Humans; Learning/*physiology; Task Performance and Analysis  
  Abstract The work of behavioural pharmacologists has concentrated on small animals, such as rodents and pigeons. The validity of extrapolation of their findings to humans depends upon the existence of parallels in both physiology and psychology between these animals and humans. This paper considers the question whether there are in fact substantial cognitive parallels between, first, different non-human groups of vertebrates and, second, non-humans and humans. Behavioural data from 'simple' tasks, such as habituation and conditioning, do not point to species differences among vertebrates. Using examples that concentrate on the performance of rodents and birds, it is argued that, similarly, data from more complex tasks (learning-set formation, transitive inference, and spatial memory serve as examples) reveal few if any cognitive differences amongst non-human vertebrates. This conclusion supports the notion that association formation may be the critical problem-solving process available to non-human animals; associative mechanisms are assumed to have evolved to detect causal links between events, and would therefore be relevant in all ecological niches. In agreement with this view, recent advances in comparative neurology show striking parallels in functional organisation of mammalian and avian telencephalon. Finally, it is argued that although the peculiarly human capacity for language marks a large cognitive contrast between humans and non-humans, there is good evidence-in particular, from work on implicit learning--that the learning mechanisms available to non--humans are present and do play an important role in human cognition.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of York at Heslington, UK  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0926-6410 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:8806029 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 603  
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Author Pepperberg, I.M. doi  openurl
  Title In search of king Solomon's ring: cognitive and communicative studies of Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) Type Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication (up) Brain, behavior and evolution Abbreviated Journal Brain Behav Evol  
  Volume 59 Issue 1-2 Pages 54-67  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; Attention/physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Cues; Form Perception/physiology; Humans; Intelligence; Learning/physiology; Male; Models, Psychological; Parrots/*physiology; Psychomotor Performance/physiology; Reward; Social Behavior  
  Abstract During the past 24 years, I have used a modeling technique (M/R procedure) to train Grey parrots to use an allospecific code (English speech) referentially; I then use the code to test their cognitive abilities. The oldest bird, Alex, labels more than 50 different objects, 7 colors, 5 shapes, quantities to 6, 3 categories (color, shape, material) and uses 'no', 'come here', wanna go X' and 'want Y' (X and Y are appropriate location or item labels). He combines labels to identify, request, comment upon or refuse more than 100 items and to alter his environment. He processes queries to judge category, relative size, quantity, presence or absence of similarity/difference in attributes, and show label comprehension. He semantically separates labeling from requesting. He thus exhibits capacities once presumed limited to humans or nonhuman primates. Studies on this and other Greys show that parrots given training that lacks some aspect of input present in M/R protocols (reference, functionality, social interaction) fail to acquire referential English speech. Examining how input affects the extent to which parrots acquire an allospecific code may elucidate mechanisms of other forms of exceptional learning: learning unlikely in the normal course of development but that can occur under certain conditions.  
  Address The MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, Mass. 02139, USA. impepper@media.mit.edu  
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  ISSN 0006-8977 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:12097860 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 579  
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Author Acuna, B.D.; Sanes, J.N.; Donoghue, J.P. doi  openurl
  Title Cognitive mechanisms of transitive inference Type Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication (up) Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Experimentation cerebrale Abbreviated Journal Exp Brain Res  
  Volume 146 Issue 1 Pages 1-10  
  Keywords Adolescent; Adult; Attention/*physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Female; Humans; Learning/physiology; Linear Models; Male; Photic Stimulation; Psychomotor Performance/physiology; Reaction Time/physiology  
  Abstract We examined how the brain organizes interrelated facts during learning and how the facts are subsequently manipulated in a transitive inference (TI) paradigm (e.g., if A<B and B<C, then A<C). This task determined features such as learned facts and behavioral goals, but the learned facts could be organized in any of several ways. For example, if one learns a list by operating on paired items, the pairs may be stored individually as separate facts and reaction time (RT) should decrease with learning. Alternatively, the pairs may be stored as a single, unified list, which may yield a different RT pattern. We characterized RT patterns that occurred as participants learned, by trial and error, the predetermined order of 11 shapes. The task goal was to choose the shape occurring closer to the end of the list, and feedback about correctness was provided during this phase. RT increased even as its variance decreased during learning, suggesting that the learnt knowledge became progressively unified into a single representation, requiring more time to manipulate as participants acquired relational knowledge. After learning, non-adjacent (NA) list items were presented to examine how participants reasoned in a TI task. The task goal also required choosing from each presented pair the item occurring closer to the list end, but without feedback. Participants could solve the TI problems by applying formal logic to the previously learnt pairs of adjacent items; alternatively, they could manipulate a single, unified representation of the list. Shorter RT occurred for NA pairs having more intervening items, supporting the hypothesis that humans employ unified mental representations during TI. The response pattern does not support mental logic solutions of applying inference rules sequentially, which would predict longer RT with more intervening items. We conclude that the brain organizes information in such a way that reflects the relations among the items, even if the facts were learned in an arbitrary order, and that this representation is subsequently used to make inferences.  
  Address Department of Neuroscience, Box 1953, Brown Medical School, Providence, RI 02912, USA  
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  ISSN 0014-4819 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:12192572 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 602  
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Author Sterling, E.J.; Povinelli, D.J. openurl 
  Title Tool use, aye-ayes, and sensorimotor intelligence Type Journal Article
  Year 1999 Publication (up) Folia Primatologica; International Journal of Primatology Abbreviated Journal Folia Primatol (Basel)  
  Volume 70 Issue 1 Pages 8-16  
  Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Feeding Behavior; Female; *Intelligence; Male; Problem Solving; *Psychomotor Performance; Strepsirhini/*physiology/psychology  
  Abstract Humans, chimpanzees, capuchins and aye-ayes all display an unusually high degree of encephalization and diverse omnivorous extractive foraging. It has been suggested that the high degree of encephalization in aye-ayes may be the result of their diverse, omnivorous extractive foraging behaviors. In combination with certain forms of tool use, omnivorous extractive foraging has been hypothesized to be linked to higher levels of sensorimotor intelligence (stages 5 or 6). Although free-ranging aye-ayes have not been observed to use tools directly in the context of their extractive foraging activities, they have recently been reported to use lianas as tools in a manner that independently suggests that they may possess stage 5 or 6 sensorimotor intelligence. Although other primate species which display diverse, omnivorous extractive foraging have been tested for sensorimotor intelligence, aye-ayes have not. We report a test of captive aye-ayes' comprehension of tool use in a situation designed to simulate natural conditions. The results support the view that aye-ayes do not achieve stage 6 comprehension of tool use, but rather may use trial-and-error learning to develop tool-use behaviors. Other theories for aye-aye encephalization are considered.  
  Address Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Gottingen, Germany  
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  ISSN 0015-5713 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:10050062 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4178  
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Author Young, L.E.; Rogers, K.; Wood, J.L.N. doi  openurl
  Title Left ventricular size and systolic function in Thoroughbred racehorses and their relationships to race performance Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication (up) Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) Abbreviated Journal J Appl Physiol  
  Volume 99 Issue 4 Pages 1278-1285  
  Keywords *Adaptation, Physiological; Aging/physiology; Animal Husbandry; Animals; *Echocardiography; Female; Heart/*physiology; Heart Ventricles; Horses/*physiology; Male; *Physical Conditioning, Animal; Running/*physiology; Stroke Volume; Systole; Task Performance and Analysis  
  Abstract Cardiac morphology in human athletes is known to differ, depending on the sports-specific endurance component of their events, whereas anecdotes abound about superlative athletes with large hearts. As the heart determines stroke volume and maximum O(2) uptake in mammals, we undertook a study to test the hypothesis that the morphology of the equine heart would differ between trained horses, depending on race type, and that left ventricular size would be greatest in elite performers. Echocardiography was performed in 482 race-fit Thoroughbreds engaged in either flat (1,000-2,500 m) or jump racing (3,200-6,400 m). Body weight and sex-adjusted measures of left ventricular size were largest in horses engaged in jump racing over fixed fences, compared with horses running shorter distances on the flat (range 8-16%). The observed differences in cardiac morphologies suggest that subtle differences in training and competition result in cardiac adaptations that are appropriate to the endurance component of the horses' event. Derived left ventricular mass was strongly associated with published rating (quality) in horses racing over longer distances in jump races (P < or = 0.001), but less so for horses in flat races. Rather, left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular mass combined were positively associated with race rating in older flat racehorses running over sprint (<1,408 m) and longer distances (>1,408 m), explaining 25-35% of overall variation in performance, as well as being closely associated with performance in longer races over jumps (23%). These data provide the first direct evidence that cardiac size influences athletic performance in a group of mammalian running athletes.  
  Address Centre for Equine Studies, Animal Health Trust, Newmarket, Suffolk, UK. lesley.young@aht.org.uk  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 8750-7587 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:15920096 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3768  
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Author Horowitz, A.C. doi  openurl
  Title Do humans ape? Or do apes human? Imitation and intention in humans (Homo sapiens) and other animals Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication (up) Journal of comparative psychology Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol  
  Volume 117 Issue 3 Pages 325-336  
  Keywords Adolescent; Adult; Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; Attention; Child, Preschool; Concept Formation; Female; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; Male; Motivation; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; *Problem Solving; *Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Species Specificity  
  Abstract A. Whiten, D. M. Custance, J.-C. Gomez, P. Teixidor, and K. A. Bard (1996) tested chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes) and human children's (Homo sapiens) skills at imitation with a 2-action test on an “artificial fruit.” Chimpanzees imitated to a restricted degree; children were more thoroughly imitative. Such results prompted some to assert that the difference in imitation indicates a difference in the subjects' understanding of the intentions of the demonstrator (M. Tomasello, 1996). In this experiment, 37 adult human subjects were tested with the artificial fruit. Far from being perfect imitators, the adults were less imitative than the children. These results cast doubt on the inference from imitative performance to an ability to understand others' intentions. The results also demonstrate how any test of imitation requires a control group and attention to the level of behavioral analysis.  
  Address Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA. ahorowitz@crl.ucsd.edu  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Washington, D.C. : 1983 Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:14498809 Approved yes  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 736  
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Author Stoinski, T.S.; Whiten, A. doi  openurl
  Title Social learning by orangutans (Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus) in a simulated food-processing task Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication (up) Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol  
  Volume 117 Issue 3 Pages 272-282  
  Keywords *Animal Communication; Animals; *Feeding Behavior; Female; *Imitative Behavior; Male; Pongo pygmaeus/*psychology; Problem Solving; Psychomotor Performance; Social Environment; Species Specificity; *Transfer (Psychology)  
  Abstract Increasing evidence for behavioral differences between populations of primates has created a resurgence of interest in examining mechanisms of information transfer between individuals. The authors examined the social transmission of information in 15 captive orangutans (Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus) using a simulated food-processing task. Experimental subjects were shown 1 of 2 methods for removing a suite of defenses on an “artificial fruit.” Control subjects were given no prior exposure before interacting with the fruit. Observing a model provided a functional advantage in the task, as significantly more experimental than control subjects opened the fruit. Within the experimental groups, the authors found a trend toward differences in the actual behaviors used to remove 1 of the defenses. Results support observations from the wild implying horizontal transfer of information in orangutans and show that a number of social learning processes are likely to be involved in the transfer of knowledge in this species.  
  Address Department of Primate Research, Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30315, USA. tstoinski@zooatlanta.org  
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  ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:14498803 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 737  
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Author Zentall, T.R.; Sherburne, L.M. openurl 
  Title Role of differential sample responding in the differential outcomes effect involving delayed matching by pigeons Type Journal Article
  Year 1994 Publication (up) Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process  
  Volume 20 Issue 4 Pages 390-401  
  Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal; Choice Behavior; *Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; Feeding Behavior; Task Performance and Analysis  
  Abstract The role of differential sample responding in the differential outcomes effect was examined. In Experiment 1, we trained pigeons on a one-to-many matching task with differential sample responding required. Differential outcomes were associated with samples and comparisons, with comparisons only, or with neither samples nor comparisons. Slopes of delay functions for trials with pecked versus nonpecked samples suggested use of a single-code-default strategy in the nondifferential-outcomes group but not in the differential-outcomes groups. In Experiment 2, differential sample responding and differential outcomes were manipulated independently. Again, there were significant differences in the relative slopes of the delay functions. Results suggest that differential outcomes exert their effect independently of differential sample responding.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0097-7403 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:7964521 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 257  
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