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Author van Schaik, C.P.
Title Social learning and culture in animals Type Book Chapter
Year 2010 Publication Animal Behaviour: Evolution and Mechanisms Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages 623-653
Keywords Life Sciences
Abstract Most animals must learn some of the behaviours in their repertoire, and some must learn most. Although learning is often thought of as an individual exercise, in nature much learning is social, i.e. under the influence of conspecifics. Social learners acquire novel information or skills faster and at lower cost, but risk learning false information or useless skills. Social learning can be divided into learning from social information and learning through social interaction. Different species have different mechanisms of learning from social information, ranging from selective attention to the environment due to the presence of others to copying of complete motor sequences. In vertical (or oblique) social learning, naïve individuals often learn skills or knowledge from parents (or other adults), whereas horizontal social learning is from peers, either immatures or adults, and more often concerns eavesdropping and public information use. Because vertical social learning is often adaptive, maturing individuals often have a preference for it over individual exploration. The more cognitively demanding social learning abilities probably evolved in this context, in lineages where offspring show long association with parents and niches are complex. Because horizontal learning can be maladaptive, especially when perishable information has become outdated, animals must decide when to deploy social learning. Social learning of novel skills can lead to distinct traditions or cultures when the innovations are sufficiently rare and effectively transmitted socially. Animal cultures may be common but to date taxonomic coverage is insufficient to know how common. Cultural evolution is potentially powerful, but largely confined to humans, for reasons currently unknown. A general theory of culture is therefore badly needed.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (down) Springer Berlin Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor Kappeler, P.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN 978-3-642-02624-9 Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5268
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Author Kerth, G.
Title Group decision-making in animal societies Type Book Chapter
Year 2010 Publication Animal Behaviour: Evolution and Mechanisms Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages 241-265
Keywords Life Sciences
Abstract Individuals need to coordinate their activities to benefit from group living. Thus group decisions are essential for societies, especially if group members cooperate with each other. Models show that shared (democratic) decisions outperform unshared (despotic) decisions, even if individuals disagree about actions. This is surprising as in most other contexts, differences in individual preferences lead to sex-, age-, or kin-specific behaviour. Empirical studies testing the predictions of the theoretical models have only recently begun to emerge. This applies particularly to group decisions in fission-fusion societies, where individuals can avoid decisions that are not in their interest. After outlining the basic ideas and theoretical models on group decision-making I focus on the available empirical studies. Originally most of the relevant studies have been on social insects and fish but recently an increasing number of studies on mammals and birds have been published, including some that deal with wild long-lived animals living in complex societies. This includes societies where group members have different interests, as in most mammals, and which have been less studied compared to eusocial insects that normally have no conflict among their colony members about what to do. I investigate whether the same decision rules apply in societies with conflict and without conflict, and outline open questions that remain to be studied. The chapter concludes with a synthesis on what is known about group decision-making in animals and an outlook on what I think should be done to answer the open questions.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (down) Springer Berlin Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor Kappeler, P.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN 978-3-642-02624-9 Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5381
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Author Bergmüller, R.
Title Animal Personality and Behavioural Syndromes Type Book Chapter
Year 2010 Publication Animal Behaviour – Evolution and Mechanisms Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages 587-621
Keywords
Abstract
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (down) Springer Place of Publication Heidelberg Editor Kappeler, P.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5179
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Author Maros, K.; Dóka, A.; Miklósi, Á.
Title Behavioural correlation of heart rate changes in family dogs Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 109 Issue 2 Pages 329-341
Keywords
Abstract Fourteen dogs (7 males and 7 females) were tested for their heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) responses in different activities and environmental challenges while their movement was controlled. First, we wanted to compare the dogs? cardiac responses in different body positions (lying, sitting and standing) and during slow walking to reveal their possible influence on HR and HRV. Second, we tested the HR response during an attentive state when the dog was gazing at its favourite toy while remaining in a steady body position. Finally we investigated the heart activity during separation from the owner. We also analysed the individual differences and the influence of gender on the heart responses. We found that the HR increased during periods of increased activity (walking) and was lowest during lying, while it did not differ between sitting and standing. At the same time no changes in HRV were found in the case of different body positions and walking. In contrast, HRV significantly increased when dogs oriented towards their favourite toy, and we found a distinct individual characteristic HR change in this situation compared to the similar body position without the toy being shown. Interestingly during separation from the owner the HR did not increase, but when a strange person was petting the dog, a significant increasing effect was seen in the HR. However the HRV increased only when the petting was discontinued. In general, large individual variation was found with regard to the HR and HRV, while gender did not influence the cardiac activity of the dogs.These results show that body position affected HR significantly in dogs. Further it seems that HRV could be a good indicator of the dog's attentive state. Thus in future studies both the physical and cognitive factors should be given more attention when HR or HRV is investigated as a dependent variable.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (down) Elsevier Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2007.03.005 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5846
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Author Lovrovich, P.; Sighieri, C.; Baragli, P.
Title Following human-given cues or not? Horses (Equus caballus) get smarter and change strategy in a delayed three choice task Type Journal Article
Year 2015 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 166 Issue Pages 80-88
Keywords
Abstract Highlights

�Horses remember the location of food hidden by the experimenter after a delay.

�They understand the communicative meaning of a human positioned close to the target.

�The same horses are capable of changing their decision-making strategy.

�They are able to shift from accuracy inferred from human given cues to speed.

�Horses can use human cues or not depending on time, cost, experience and reward.

Abstract

To date, horses have seemed capable of using human local enhancement cues only when the experimenter remains close to the reward, since they fail to understand the communicative meaning of the human as momentary local enhancement cue (when the human is not present at the moment of the animal's choice). This study was designed to analyse the ability of horses to understand, remember and use human-given cues in a delayed (10 s) three-choice task. Twelve horses (experimental group) had to find a piece of carrot hidden under one of three overturned buckets after seeing the experimenter hide it. The results were then compared with those of a control group (twelve horses) that had to find the carrot using only the sense of smell or random attempts. At the beginning, the experimental horses made more correct choices at the first attempt, although they took more time to find the carrot. Later the same horses were less accurate but found the carrot in less time. This suggests that the value of the proximal momentary local enhancement cues became less critical. It seemed, in fact, that the experimental and control group had aligned their behaviour as the trials proceeded. Despite this similarity, in the second half of the trials, the experimental group tended to first approach the bucket where they had found the carrot in the immediately preceding trial. Our findings indicate that horses are capable of remembering the location of food hidden by the experimenter after a delay, by using the human positioned close to the target as valuable information. The same horses are also capable of changing their decision-making strategy by shifting from the accuracy inferred from human given cues to speed. Therefore, horses are able to decide whether or not to use human given-cues, depending on a speed-accuracy trade-off.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (down) Elsevier Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2015.02.017 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5849
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Author Figueroa, J.; Solà-Oriol, D.; Manteca, X.; Pérez, J.F.
Title Social learning of feeding behaviour in pigs: Effects of neophobia and familiarity with the demonstrator conspecific Type Journal Article
Year 2013 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 148 Issue 1 Pages 120-127
Keywords
Abstract Social interactions facilitate animals learning of new features of their environment minimizing a trial and error process. It has been observed in some species that food cues can be acquired by one individual (the observer) from an animal model (demonstrator) due to social learning. Three experiments were performed to evaluate whether weaned piglets may show a preference for a flavoured feed following brief social interactions (30min) with an experienced demonstrator. After the social interaction between demonstrator and observer pigs, a 30-min choice test between the flavoured feed previously eaten by demonstrators (DEM-feed) and other flavoured feed (OTH-feed; Exp. 1 and 2) or a known unflavoured starter diet (Exp. 3) was performed with observer animals. Greater intake of DEM-feed occurred when demonstrators and observers were from the same pen (Exp. 1) or from the same litter (Exp. 2), but not when observers and demonstrators were unfamiliar with each other (Exp. 1). Observers also preferred flavours previously eaten by the demonstrator over their unflavoured diet already known. Social interactions with a conspecific pig that had a recent experience with a flavoured feed enhanced the preference for that feed and could even override neophobia to a new feed. The familiarity of conspecific demonstrators plays a key role in social learning of new feed cues probably due to selective exploration involving closer snout-to-snout contacts with kin conspecifics.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (down) Elsevier Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2013.06.002 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6038
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Author Munksgaard, L.; DePassillé, A.M.; Rushen, J.; Herskin, M.S.; Kristensen, A.M.
Title Dairy cows' fear of people: social learning, milk yield and behaviour at milking Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 73 Issue 1 Pages 15-26
Keywords
Abstract We examined the effects of the presence of an unfamiliar, a gentle or an aversive handler during milking on behaviour and milk yield, and whether cows can learn to approach or avoid a handler by observing the neighbouring cow?s responses. In Experiment 1, Danish Friesian cows (n=16) were treated gently (offering hay and concentrates) by one handler and aversively (hit every 15s on the head with the hand) by another handler for six periods of 2min each. The two handlers wore different coloured overalls, and each cow received either gentle or aversive treatment in the first week and the other treatment the following week. All cows kept a longer distance to the aversive than to the gentle handler in a 1min test after treatment. Milk yield and residual milk did not differ when the aversive or the gentle handler was standing in front of the cow during milking, although the cows moved their legs and tail less when the aversive handler was present. When an unfamiliar person was standing in front of the cows during milking, behaviour and milk yield did not differ from control milkings. Cows and heifers (n=10) that had observed their neighbours receiving gentle treatment by one handler and aversive treatment from another handler did not differ in the distance they kept from these two handlers. In Experiment 2, cows (n=15) that had observed the neighbours receiving a gentle treatment (eight times for 2min) kept a shorter distance to that handler after treatment of their neighbours, and the distance they kept was correlated with the distance kept by the neighbouring cows. This suggests that responses of observer cows may be affected by the responses of the cows being treated. The cows rapidly learned to avoid an aversive handler, but although the cows showed clear avoidance response to the aversive handler there was no effect on milk yield when the aversive handler was present at milking.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (down) Elsevier Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes doi: 10.1016/S0168-1591(01)00119-8 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6039
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Author Murray, L.M.A.; Byrne, K.; D’Eath, R.B.
Title Pair-bonding and companion recognition in domestic donkeys, <em>Equus asinus</em> Type Journal Article
Year 2013 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 143 Issue 1 Pages 67-74
Keywords
Abstract Pair and social bonding has been documented in various taxa, where pair formations are often described as being driven by kinship or sexual motivation. However, pair-bonding between unrelated individuals where sexual motivation is not a factor is not well documented. Many social relationships and pair-bonds between members of a dyad are facilitated by each individual's ability to recognise their partner using cues which are characteristic of that particular individual. The aims of this study were i) to investigate the existence of pair-bonding in domestic donkeys and ii) to determine whether members of a dyad could recognise their companion during a Y-maze recognition test. Subjects were 55 unrelated donkeys (38 gelded males, 15 females) in seven groups of mixed or same sex, comprising 4?14 individuals. Spatial proximity (nearest-neighbour) was observed three times a day over a 22-day period. Using a simulation approach based on observed data to generate randomised nearest-neighbour matrices, the statistical significance of social relationships was estimated. Of these, 42 (79.2%) were involved in significantly (p<0.05) non-random nearest-neighbour relationships, most of which were reciprocal pair relationships. Based on the spatial data, 24 of the donkeys which had shown significant reciprocal nearest-neighbour preferences for one individual (companion) were then used in a Y-maze recognition test in which they were presented with a choice of their companion and either a familiar donkey from the same group or an unfamiliar donkey from a different group. Donkeys? spatial location in the Y-maze demonstrated a preference for their companion versus familiar (one sample Wilcoxon signed rank test, W=239, p=0.002) or unfamiliar donkeys (W=222, p=0.041). These results verify anecdotal evidence from donkey handlers that donkeys often form pair-bonds, and show that reciprocal social preference and recognition are the basis of these. Pair-bond formation and companionship among donkeys have potential implications for their management, husbandry and welfare.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (down) Elsevier Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2012.11.005 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6149
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Author Sato, S.
Title Social licking pattern and its relationships to social dominance and live weight gain in weaned calves Type Journal Article
Year 1984 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 12 Issue 1 Pages 25-32
Keywords
Abstract Social licking patterns of heifer and steer herds were observed and recorded during periods of resting and intermittent feeding. The results revealed the following features: (1) heifers and steers had 15.0 and 15.2 social licking interactions per hour which lasted for 37.8 and 41.0 s on average, respectively. The average time an animal spent licking was about 25 s per hour; (2) all the animals in the herds were licked by others, but only 72.3% of the animals licked other animals; (3) the animals close in the social hierarchy tended to lick each other for a longer time than did remote animals; (4) the time receiving l licking and weight gain tended to be positively correlated. The observations suggest that (1) the motivation of giving licking may be individual-specific and may be influenced by genetic factors, while that of receiving licking appears to be general, and that (2) social licking may mean not only cleaning the skin and hair of a passive partner, but also leading it to psychological stability.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (down) Elsevier Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes doi: 10.1016/0168-1591(84)90093-5 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6407
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Author Sato, S.; Sako, S.; Maeda, A.
Title Social licking patterns in cattle (<em>Bos taurus</em>): influence of environmental and social factors Type Journal Article
Year 1991 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science
Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 3-12
Keywords
Abstract To investigate the functions of social licking in cattle, four calves (one heifer and one steer in each of two herds), known to exhibit frequent social licking were observed continuously for 2 h before sunset for 13 days, using the focal animal sampling method. Calves were observed under various environmental conditions. Social licking significantly decreased on rainy days and tended to increase in a dirty barn and when food was restricted. Solicitation for social licking occurred not only from dominant animals of pairs but also from subordinates. Of the licking interactions, 31% occurred following solicitation, and these accounted for 39% of the total time spent licking. Following solicitation, 78% of social licking was oriented to the head and the neck regions that were inaccessible to self-licking animals. Unsolicited licking, however, was oriented not only to the head and the neck but also to the back and the rump regions, and these two latter regions were the major ones to receive licking. The effect of social relationships on social licking was investigated using least-squares analysis of variance. Social factors investigated were the difference of dominance values, the dominance-subordinance relationship, and kinship and familiarity; the sex of calves involved was also considered. Only familiarity had a significant effect on licking; exchanges of social licking increased with length of cohabitation. We suggest that social licking may have a cleaning effect, a tension-reducing effect and a bonding effect.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (down) Elsevier Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes doi: 10.1016/S0168-1591(05)80158-3 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6409
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