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Author Dougherty, D.M.; Lewis, P.
Title Generalization of a tactile stimulus in horses Type Journal Article
Year 1993 Publication (up) Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Abbreviated Journal J Exp Anal Behav
Volume 59 Issue 3 Pages 521-528
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal; Female; *Horses; Male; Reinforcement (Psychology); *Touch
Abstract Using horses, we investigated the control of operant behavior by a tactile stimulus (the training stimulus) and the generalization of behavior to six other similar test stimuli. In a stall, the experimenters mounted a response panel in the doorway. Located on this panel were a response lever and a grain dispenser. The experimenters secured a tactile-stimulus belt to the horse's back. The stimulus belt was constructed by mounting seven solenoids along a piece of burlap in a manner that allowed each to provide the delivery of a tactile stimulus, a repetitive light tapping, at different locations (spaced 10.0 cm apart) along the horse's back. Two preliminary steps were necessary before generalization testing: training a measurable response (lip pressing) and training on several reinforcement schedules in the presence of a training stimulus (tapping by one of the solenoids). We then gave each horse two generalization test sessions. Results indicated that the horses' behavior was effectively controlled by the training stimulus. Horses made the greatest number of responses to the training stimulus, and the tendency to respond to the other test stimuli diminished as the stimuli became farther away from the training stimulus. These findings are discussed in the context of behavioral principles and their relevance to the training of horses.
Address Human Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston 77030
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0022-5002 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8315368 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3571
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Author Fenner, K.; Freire, R.; McLean, A.; McGreevy, P.
Title Behavioral, demographic and management influences on equine responses to negative reinforcement Type Journal Article
Year 2018 Publication (up) Journal of Veterinary Behavior Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages
Keywords Learning; horse management; training; temperament; negative reinforcement
Abstract Understanding the factors that influence horse learning is critical to ensure horse welfare and rider safety. In this study, data were obtained from horses (n=96) training to step backwards through a corridor in response to bit pressure. Following training, learning ability was determined by the latency to step backwards through the corridor when handled on the left and right reins. Additionally, horse owners were questioned about each horse's management, training, behavior and signalment (such as horse breed, age and sex). Factors from these four broad domains were examined using a multiple logistic regression (MLR) model, following an Information Theoretic approach, for associations between horses' behavioral attributes and their ability to learn the task. The MLR also included estimates of the rider's ability and experience as well as owner's perceptions of their horse's trainability and temperament. Results revealed several variables including explanatory variables that correlated significantly with rate of learning. Horses were faster at backing, a behavioral trait, when handled on the right (t = 3.65, df = 94, P < 0.001) than the left side. Thoroughbred horses were slower at completing the tests than other breeds of horses when handled on the left side (LM, F1,48=4.5, P=0.04) and right side (LM, F1,45=6.0, P=0.02). Those in regular work, a training factor, did not learn faster than their unworked counterparts on the right rein but completed the task faster on the left rein (F1,44=5.47, P=0.02). This may reflect differences in laterality and habituation effects. In contrast, more anxious horses were faster at completing the test when handled from the right (Spearman, r=-0.22, P=0.04). It is possible that these horses have an increased arousal level when interacting with handlers, resulting in more engagement with the lesson, accounting for the improved performance results. The findings of this study will help clarify how horse behavior, training and management may influence learning and how their application may optimize learning outcomes. Future equine behavior assessment and research questionnaires should include items that assess these qualities.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1558-7878 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6400
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Author Hendriksen, P.; Elmgreen, K.; Ladewig, J.
Title Trailer-loading of horses: Is there a difference between positive and negative reinforcement concerning effectiveness and stress-related signs? Type Journal Article
Year 2011 Publication (up) Journal of Veterinary Behavior Abbreviated Journal J. Vet. Behav.
Volume 6 Issue 5 Pages 261-266
Keywords negative reinforcement; positive reinforcement; horse; behavior; heart rate; trailer-loading
Abstract The traditional way to train horses is by the application of negative reinforcement (NR). In the past few years, however, the use of positive reinforcement (PR) has become more common. To evaluate the effectiveness and the possible stressor effect of the 2 training methods, 12 horses showing severe trailer-loading problems were selected and exposed to trailer-loading. They were randomly assigned to one of the 2 methods. NR consisted of various degrees of pressure (lead rope pulling, whip tapping). Pressure was removed as soon as the horse complied. PR horses were exposed to clicker training and taught to follow a target into the trailer. Heart rate (HR) was recorded every 5 seconds and behavior denoting discomfort was observed using one-zero sampling with 10 seconds sampling intervals. Training was completed when the horse could enter the trailer upon a signal, or was terminated after a maximum of 15 sessions. Of the 12 horses, 10 reached the criterion within the 15 sessions. One horse was eliminated from the study because of illness and 1 PR horse failed to enter the trailer. A Mann-Whitney U-test indicated that the horses trained with NR displayed significantly more discomfort behavior per training session than horses trained with PR (NR: 13.26 ± 3.25; PR: 3.17 ± 8.93, P < 0.0001) and that horses in the PR group spent less time (second) per session to complete the training criterion (NR: 672.9 ± 247.12; PR: 539.81 ± 166.37, P < 0.01). A Mann-Whitney U-test showed that no difference existed in mean HR (bpm) between the 2 groups (NR: 53.06 ± 11.73 bpm; PR: 55.54 ± 6.7 bpm, P > 0.05), but a Wilcoxon test showed a difference in the PR group between the baseline of HR and mean HR obtained during training sessions (baseline PR: 43 ± 8.83 bpm; PR: 55.54 ± 6.7 bpm, P < 0.05). In conclusion, the PR group provided the fastest training solution and expressed less stress response. Thus, the PR procedure could provide a preferable training solution when training horses in potentially stressing situations.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1558-7878 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6598
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Author Nicol, C.J.
Title Development, direction, and damage limitation: social learning in domestic fowl Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication (up) Learning & behavior : a Psychonomic Society publication Abbreviated Journal Learn Behav
Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 72-81
Keywords Adaptation, Psychological; Age Factors; Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Chickens; *Feeding Behavior; *Food Preferences; *Imitative Behavior; Imprinting (Psychology); *Learning; Maternal Behavior; Reinforcement (Psychology); *Social Environment; *Social Facilitation
Abstract This review highlights two areas of particular interest in the study of social learning in fowl. First, the role of social learning in the development of feeding and foraging behavior in young chicks and older birds is described. The role of the hen as a demonstrator and possible teacher is considered, and the subsequent social influence of brood mates and other companions on food avoidance and food preference learning is discussed. Second, the way in which work on domestic fowl has contributed to an understanding of the importance of directed social learning is examined. The well-characterized hierarchical social organization of small chicken flocks has been used to design studies which demonstrate that the probability of social transmission is strongly influenced by social relationships between birds. The practical implications of understanding the role of social learning in the spread of injurious behaviors in this economically important species are briefly considered.
Address Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol, England. c.j.nicol@bristol.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1543-4494 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15161142 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 75
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Author Gibson, B.M.; Juricevic, I.; Shettleworth, S.J.; Pratt, J.; Klein, R.M.
Title Looking for inhibition of return in pigeons Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication (up) Learning & behavior : a Psychonomic Society publication Abbreviated Journal Learn Behav
Volume 33 Issue 3 Pages 296-308
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Columbidae; *Inhibition (Psychology); Reinforcement (Psychology)
Abstract We conducted four experiments in order to investigate whether pigeons' responses to a recently attended (i.e., recently pecked) location are inhibited. In Experiments 1 and 2, stimulus displays were similar to those used in studies of inhibition of return (IOR) with humans; responses to cued targets tended to be facilitated rather than inhibited. In Experiments 3 and 4, birds were presented with stimulus displays that mimicked clusters of small grains and were relatively localized, which should have been more appropriate for detecting IOR in pigeons. The results from these experiments again provided evidence for facilitation of responding to cued targets, rather than for IOR.
Address University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. bgibson@cisunix.unh.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1543-4494 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16396077 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 359
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Author Kaplan, A.I.; Borodovskii, M.I.
Title [Alternative animal behavior: a model and its statistical characteristics] Type Journal Article
Year 1989 Publication (up) Nauchnye Doklady Vysshei Shkoly. Biologicheskie Nauki Abbreviated Journal Nauchnye Doki Vyss Shkoly Biol Nauki
Volume Issue 3 Pages 29-32
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Cognition; Male; Mathematics; *Models, Biological; *Models, Statistical; Rats; Reinforcement (Psychology)
Abstract The rats' alternative behaviour in T-maze at simultaneous two-sided food refreshment in 13 trials a day during 6 days has been studied. It has been found that in the first testing days the indexes of alternative behaviour of animals correspond to the characteristics of the random alternation. However, on the 5-6th day of testing in the overwhelming majority of rats the true deviation of alternation index above or below than the theoretical values has been revealed. A question on the existence of two strategies of cognitive behaviour alteration and perseveration in rat population is under discussion.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Russian Summary Language Original Title Al'ternativnoe povedenie zhivotnykh: model' i statisticheskie kharakteristiki
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0470-4606 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:2742929 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2799
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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 (up) 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
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0028-3932 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12459220 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 182
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Author Pickens, C.L.; Holland, P.C.
Title Conditioning and cognition Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication (up) Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Abbreviated Journal Neurosci Biobehav Rev
Volume 28 Issue 7 Pages 651-661
Keywords Animals; Association Learning/physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Conditioning (Psychology)/*physiology; Discrimination Learning/physiology; Humans; Memory; Models, Psychological; Reinforcement (Psychology); Visual Perception/physiology
Abstract Animals' abilities to use internal representations of absent objects to guide adaptive behavior and acquire new information, and to represent multiple spatial, temporal, and object properties of complex events and event sequences, may underlie many aspects of human perception, memory, and symbolic thought. In this review, two classes of simple associative learning tasks that address these core cognitive capacities are discussed. The first set, including reinforcer revaluation and mediated learning procedures, address the power of Pavlovian conditioned stimuli to gain access, through learning, to representations of upcoming events. The second set of investigations concern the construction of complex stimulus representations, as illustrated in studies of contextual learning, the conjunction of explicit stimulus elements in configural learning procedures, and recent studies of episodic-like memory. The importance of identifying both cognitive process and brain system bases of performance in animal models is emphasized.
Address Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0149-7634 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15555675 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2803
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Author Christensen, J.W.
Title Object habituation in horses: Voluntary vs. negatively reinforced approach to frightening stimuli Type Conference Article
Year 2012 Publication (up) Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting Abbreviated Journal Proc. 2. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg
Volume in press Issue Pages
Keywords Habituation; learning; fearfulness; stress; reinforcement
Abstract The ability and ease of horses to habituate to frightening stimuli greatly increases safety in the horse-human relationship. Several different techniques have been suggested for habituation training of horses and under certain conditions, preventing animals from avoidance reactions during exposure to frightening stimuli is believed to facilitate habituation. Response prevention does, however, lead to a loss of control, which is a known stress inducer in both animals and humans. This experiment investigated whether horses show increased stress responses when negatively reinforced to approach a mildly frightening stimulus, compared to horses allowed to voluntarily explore the same stimulus. We further investigated whether the prevention of avoidance responses in horses that are negatively reinforced to approach the stimulus, facilitates habituation to the stimulus. Twenty-two 2-3 years old Danish warmblood geldings were included in the study. Half of the horses (NR group) were negatively reinforced (through halter and rope pressure) by a familiar human handler to approach a collection of frightening objects (six open and colourful umbrellas) placed in a semi-circle in a familiar test arena. The other half of the horses were released in the arena and were free to avoid or explore the objects (VOL group). On the next day, all horses were exposed to the objects again without a human to investigate the rate of habituation. Behavioural and heart rate responses were recorded on both days. Data were analysed in a two way repeated measures ANOVA and post hoc analysed via the Holm-Sidak method. In the VOL group, all horses initially chose to avoid the unknown objects, whereas the handler managed to get all horses in the NR group to approach and stand next to the objects within the first 2-min session. As expected, horses in the NR group had a significantly longer duration of alertness (sec, mean ± se: NR: 23 ± 4.1 vs. VOL: 16 ± 4.7, P=0.026) and a higher max HR in the first session (bpm, mean ± se: NR: 106 ± 5.2 vs. VOL: 88 ± 4.4, P=0.004). On the next day, however, the NR horses spent significantly less time investigating the objects (sec, mean ± se: NR: 13 ± 4.1 vs. VOL: 24 ± 6.0, P=0.005) and had a shorter latency to approach a feed container, placed next to the objects (sec, mean ± se: NR: 25 ± 3.9 vs. VOL: 47 ± 16.2, P=0.031), indicating increased habituation. In conclusion, negatively reinforced approach to mildly frightening objects appears to increase stress responses during the initial exposure, but also to facilitate habituation in young horses.
Address
Corporate Author Christensen, J.W. Thesis
Publisher Xenophon Publishing Place of Publication Wald Editor Krueger, K.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 978-3-9808134-26 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5499
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Author Roper, K.L.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Directed forgetting in animals Type Journal Article
Year 1993 Publication (up) Psychological bulletin Abbreviated Journal Psychol Bull
Volume 113 Issue 3 Pages 513-532
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Cognition; Columbidae; Conditioning (Psychology); Discrimination Learning; Female; Humans; Male; Memory Disorders/*psychology; Reinforcement (Psychology); Task Performance and Analysis
Abstract Directed-forgetting research with animals suggests that animals show disrupted test performance only under certain conditions. Important variables are (a) whether during training, the cue to forget (F cue) signals nonreward (i.e., that the trial is over) versus reward (i.e., that reinforcement can be obtained) and (b) given that reinforcement can be obtained on F-cue trials, whether the post-F-cue response pattern is compatible with the baseline memory task. It is proposed that some findings of directed forgetting can be attributed to trained response biases, whereas others may be attributable perhaps to frustration-produced interference. It is suggested that directed forgetting in animals should be studied using procedures similar to those used to study directed forgetting in humans. This can be accomplished by presenting, within a trial, both to-be-remembered and to-be-forgotten material.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0033-2909 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8316612 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 259
Permanent link to this record