| Records |
| Author |
Malavasi, R.; Huber, L. |
| Title |
Evidence of heterospecific referential communication from domestic horses (Equus caballus) to humans |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2016 |
Publication  |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
19 |
Issue |
5 |
Pages |
899-909 |
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| Abstract |
Referential communication occurs when a sender elaborates its gestures to direct the attention of a recipient to its role in pursuit of the desired goal, e.g. by pointing or showing an object, thereby informing the recipient what it wants. If the gesture is successful, the sender and the recipient focus their attention simultaneously on a third entity, the target. Here we investigated the ability of domestic horses (Equus caballus) to communicate referentially with a human observer about the location of a desired target, a bucket of food out of reach. In order to test six operational criteria of referential communication, we manipulated the recipient’s (experimenter) attentional state in four experimental conditions: frontally oriented, backward oriented, walking away from the arena and frontally oriented with other helpers present in the arena. The rate of gaze alternation was higher in the frontally oriented condition than in all the others. The horses appeared to use both indicative (pointing) and non-indicative (nods and shakes) head gestures in the relevant test conditions. Horses also elaborated their communication by switching from a visual to a tactile signal and demonstrated perseverance in their communication. The results of the tests revealed that horses used referential gestures to manipulate the attention of a human recipient so to obtain an unreachable resource. These are the first such findings in an ungulate species. |
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1435-9456 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ Malavasi2016 |
Serial |
6029 |
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| Author |
Kis, A.; Huber, L.; Wilkinson, A. |
| Title |
Social learning by imitation in a reptile (Pogona vitticeps) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim.Cogn. |
| Volume |
18 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
325-331 |
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The ability to learn through imitation is thought to be the basis of cultural transmission and was long considered a distinctive characteristic of humans. There is now evidence that both mammals and birds are capable of imitation. However, nothing is known about these abilities in the third amniotic class--reptiles. Here, we use a bidirectional control procedure to show that a reptile species, the bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps), is capable of social learning that cannot be explained by simple mechanisms such as local enhancement or goal emulation. Subjects in the experimental group opened a trap door to the side that had been demonstrated, while subjects in the ghost control group, who observed the door move without the intervention of a conspecific, were unsuccessful. This, together with differences in behaviour between experimental and control groups, provides compelling evidence that reptiles possess cognitive abilities that are comparable to those observed in mammals and birds and suggests that learning by imitation is likely to be based on ancient mechanisms. |
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1435-9456 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ Kis2015 |
Serial |
6193 |
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Miyata, H.; Gajdon, G.K.; Huber, L.; Fujita, K. |
| Title |
How do keas (Nestor notabilis) solve artificial-fruit problems with multiple locks? |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2011 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
14 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
45-58 |
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Keas, a species of parrots from New Zealand, are an interesting species for comparative studies of problem solving and cognition because they are known not only for efficient capacities for object manipulation but also for explorative and playful behaviors. To what extent are they efficient or explorative, and what cognitive abilities do they use? We examined how keas would solve several versions of artificial-fruit box problems having multiple locks. After training keas to remove a metal rod from over a Plexiglas lid that had to be opened, we exposed the birds to a variety of tasks having two or more locks. We also introduced a preview phase during which the keas had extended opportunity to look at the tasks before the experimenter allowed the birds to solve them, to examine whether the preview phase would facilitate the birds' performance on the tasks. In a large number of tests, the keas showed a strong trend to solve the tasks with no positive effect of previewing the tasks. When the tasks became complex, however, the keas corrected inappropriate responses more quickly when they had had chance to preview the problems than when they had not. The results suggest that the keas primarily used explorative strategies in solving the lock problems but might have obtained some information about the tasks before starting to solve them. This may reflect a good compromise of keas' trial-and-error tendency and their good cognitive ability that result from a selection pressure they have faced in their natural habitat. |
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1435-9456 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ Miyata2011 |
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6549 |
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| Author |
Range, F.; Huber, L. |
| Title |
Attention in common marmosets: implications for social-learning experiments |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Animal Behaviour. |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Behav. |
| Volume |
73 |
Issue |
6 |
Pages |
1033-1041 |
| Keywords |
attention; Callithrix jacchus; common marmoset; imitation; social learning |
| Abstract |
The question whether a certain species is or is not able to imitate has received much recent attention. However, the ability to copy a demonstrated action might depend not only on the imitative ability of the observer but also on its attention, a factor widely neglected in discussions and experiments. Since attention differs between species as well as between individuals, it is likely to influence the amount and type of information different species and/or observers may extract from a given demonstration. We studied attention in common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus. In a series of experimental sessions, individual marmosets watched different conspecific models that were searching, manipulating an object and feeding. The observers could see the demonstration through two observation holes, which allowed us to measure exactly how often and for how long they watched the model. Marmosets were more attentive towards conspecifics engaged in a problem-solving task than an exploring model. Individual variation in attention was large, ranging from less than 10% to over 49%. Attention also depended on the identity of the model with an increase in attention if it was of the opposite sex. Overall, attention of marmosets was short with a median duration of 6 s while the model manipulated an object. This study measured the real interest of the observer towards a model, which could be an important variable in social-learning experiments. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4208 |
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| Author |
Horn, L.; Range, F.; Huber, L. |
| Title |
Dogs’ attention towards humans depends on their relationship, not only on social familiarity |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2013 |
Publication |
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Abbreviated Journal |
Animal Cognition |
| Volume |
16 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
435-443 |
| Keywords |
Domestic dogs; Social attention; Social familiarity; Dog–human relationship |
| Abstract |
Both in humans and non-human animals, it has been shown that individuals attend more to those they have previously interacted with and/or they are more closely associated with than to unfamiliar individuals. Whether this preference is mediated by mere social familiarity based on exposure or by the specific relationship between the two individuals, however, remains unclear. The domestic dog is an interesting subject in this line of research as it lives in the human environment and regularly interacts with numerous humans, yet it often has a particularly close relationship with its owner. Therefore, we investigated how long dogs (Canis familiaris) would attend to the actions of two familiar humans and one unfamiliar experimenter, while varying whether dogs had a close relationship with only one or both familiar humans. Our data provide evidence that social familiarity by itself cannot account for dogs’ increased attention towards their owners since they only attended more to those familiar humans with whom they also had a close relationship. |
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Springer-Verlag |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5667 |
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