Matsumura, S., & Kobayashi, T. (1998). A game model for dominance relations among group-living animals. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 42(2), 77–84.
Abstract: Abstract We present here an attempt to understand behaviors of dominant individuals and of subordinate individuals as behavior strategies in an asymmetric “hawk-dove” game. We assume that contestants have perfect information about relative fighting ability and the value of the resource. Any type of asymmetry, both relevant to and irrelevant to the fighting ability, can be considered. It is concluded that evolutionarily stable strategies (ESSs) depend on the resource value (V), the cost of injury (D), and the probability that the individual in one role will win (x). Different ESSs can exist even when values of V, D, and x are the same. The characteristics of dominance relations detected by observers may result from the ESSs that the individuals are adopting. The model explains some characteristics of dominance relations, for example, the consistent outcome of contests, the rare occurrence of escalated fights, and the discrepancy between resource holding potential (RHP) and dominance relations, from the viewpoint of individual selection.
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Figueredo, A. J., Cox, R. L., & Rhine, R. J. (1995). A Generalizability Analysis of Subjective Personality Assessments in the Stumptail Macaque and the Zebra Finch. Multivariate Behav Res, 30(2), 167–197.
Abstract: Psychometric findings are reported from two studies concerning the construct validity, temporal stability, and interrater reliability of the latent common factors underlying subjective assessments by human raters of personality traits in two nonhuman animal species: (a) the Stumptail macaque (Maraca arctoides), a cercopithecine monkey; and (b) the Zebra finch (Poephila guttata), an estrildid songbird. Because most theories of animal personality have historically implied that certain personality constructs should be relatively universal across taxa, parallel analyses of similar data are reported for two phylogenetically distant species of subject using the same psychometric methods. Each of the samples was drawn from a socially-housed colony of the same species: that of macaques consisted of 5 mature adult fem ales and 8 of their adult offspring and that of finches consisted of 5 adult individuals. A modified version of the 1978 Stevenson-Hinde and Zunz (SHZ) list of personality items was applied to the macaques at various times during the eight years from 1980-1988 and to the finches during 1992. This study also used the three SHZ scales – Confident, Excitable, and Sociable – originally derived from principal components. Generalizability analyses were used to assess the construct validity, temporal stability, and interrater reliability of the hypothesized factors. Both Stumptail macaques and Zebra finches manifest measurable personality factors that are highly valid across multiple items, stable across multiple years, and reliable across multiple raters. The same model fits both species, as predicted by theory. The construct validity of the factors is slightly higher for the finches than for the macaques, although the interrater reliability is somewhat lower. This study illustrates how generalizability analysis can be used to test prespecified confirmatory factor models when the number of individual subjects is quite small.
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Cynx, J., Hulse, S. H., & Polyzois, S. (1986). A psychophysical measure of pitch discrimination loss resulting from a frequency range constraint in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process, 12(4), 394–402.
Abstract: Earlier research (Hulse & Cynx, 1985) revealed that a number of species of songbirds acquired a pitch discrimination between rising and falling sequences in an arbitrarily defined training range of frequencies, but then failed to generalize the discrimination to new frequency ranges--a frequency range constraint. The two experiments here provide a psychophysical estimate of how pitch discrimination deteriorated in one species as sequences were stepped out from the training range. The gradient showing loss of discrimination was much sharper than would have been anticipated by stimulus generalization or the training procedures, and appeared unaffected by the removal of rising and falling frequency information. The frequency range constraint and its psychophysical properties have implications both for the analysis of birdsong and the study of animal cognition.
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Yeon, S. C. (2012). Acoustic communication in the domestic horse (Equus caballus). Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 7(3), 179–185.
Abstract: Equine vocalization and acoustic sounds can communicate a horse’s emotional state, physiological state, and situation to other individuals, including other horses and humans. These vocalizations and acoustic sounds can be divided into several types. The whinny, nicker, squeal, blow, snore, snort, roar, and groan are typical types of horse vocalizations and acoustic sounds. The sound localization thresholds of horses are markedly poorer than those of other large mammals, such as humans and elephants. The audiogram of horse has shown their best sensitivity and hearing range in which it perceives sound. Laryngeal diseases, such as laryngeal hemiplegia, dorsal displacement of the soft palate, and alar fold paralysis, can cause laryngeal sounds in the upper airway. The analyses of horses’ vocalizations and laryngeal sounds that are reviewed in this article were conducted with computer-aided analysis programs using spectrograms and spectra that evaluate several parameters, including amplitude, fundamental frequency, duration, and formants. Laryngeal sound analysis could be a useful method for diagnosing upper airway diseases. This article presents a review of the literature describing scientific analyses of horse vocalizations and acoustic sounds to elucidate equine acoustic communications and aid in the development of horse-human bonds.
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Zentall, T. R. (2004). Action imitation in birds. Learn Behav, 32(1), 15–23.
Abstract: Action imitation, once thought to be a behavior almost exclusively limited to humans and the great apes, surprisingly also has been found in a number of bird species. Because imitation has been viewed by some psychologists as a form of intelligent behavior, there has been interest in how it is distributed among animal species. Although the mechanisms responsible for action imitation are not clear, we are now at least beginning to understand the conditions under which it occurs. In this article, I try to identify and differentiate the various forms of socially influenced behavior (species-typical social reactions, social effects on motivation, social effects on perception, socially influenced learning, and action imitation) and explain why it is important to differentiate imitation from other forms of social influence. I also examine some of the variables that appear to be involved in the occurrence of imitation. Finally, I speculate about why a number of bird species, but few mammal species, appear to imitate.
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Henry, S., Zanella, A. J., Sankey, C., Richard-Yris, M. - A., Marko, A., & Hausberger, M. (2012). Adults may be used to alleviate weaning stress in domestic foals (Equus caballus). Physiology & Behavior, 106(4), 428–438.
Abstract: The present study aims to investigate whether the presence of unrelated adult horses at weaning would reduce the social stress of weaning and the emergence of undesirable behaviours. We tested this hypothesis in 32 domestic foals by comparing short and medium term behavioural and physiological responses to weaning in foals maintained in homogeneous groups of peers (PW) to those of foals grouped with both peers and unrelated adults (AW). In total, three trials were conducted, which each trial consisting of one AW group and one PW group. In all foals, weaning was followed by increased vocalization, increased locomotion and increased salivary cortisol concentration. However, signs of stress were less pronounced and shorter in duration in weanlings housed with unrelated adults (e.g. whinnies: p < 0.05; salivary cortisol: p < 0.05). Only foals without adults exhibited increased aggressiveness towards peers (p < 0.05) and abnormal behaviours (p < 0.05) such as excessive wood-chewing and redirected sucking towards peers. In conclusion, introducing adults to minimize weaning stress in foals and later on aggressiveness and abnormal behaviours appears as the most promising approach to date.
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Ruffner Ga, C. S. (1979). Age structure, condition, and reproduction of two burro (Equus asinus) populations from Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.
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Neumann Inga D, Veenema Alexa H, & Beiderbeck Daniela I. (2010). Aggression and anxiety: social context and neurobiological links. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 4(1).
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Psychopathologies such as anxiety- and depression-related disorders are often characterized by impaired social behaviours including excessive aggression and violence. Excessive aggression and violence likely develop as a consequence of generally disturbed emotional regulation, such as abnormally high or low levels of anxiety. This suggests an overlap between brain circuitries and neurochemical systems regulating aggression and anxiety. In this review, we will discuss different forms of male aggression, rodent models of excessive aggression, and neurobiological mechanisms underlying male aggression in the context of anxiety. We will summarize our attempts to establish an animal model of high and abnormal aggression using rats selected for high (HAB) versus low (LAB) anxiety-related behaviour. Briefly, male LAB rats and, to a lesser extent, male HAB rats show high and abnormal forms of aggression compared with non-selected (NAB) rats, making them a suitable animal model for studying excessive aggression in the context of extremes in innate anxiety. In addition, we will discuss differences in the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, brain arginine vasopressin, and the serotonin systems, among others, which contribute to the distinct behavioural phenotypes related to aggression and anxiety. Further investigation of the neurobiological systems in animals with distinct anxiety phenotypes might provide valuable information about the link between excessive aggression and disturbed emotional regulation, which is essential for understanding the social and emotional deficits that are characteristic of many human psychiatric disorders.
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Cameron, E. Z., Linklater, W. L., Stafford, K. J., & Minot, E. O. (2000). Aging and improving reproductive success in horses: declining residual reproductive value or just older and wiser? Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 47(4), 243–249.
Abstract: In many mammalian species, female success in raising offspring improves as they age. The residual reproductive value hypothesis predicts that each individual offspring will be more valuable to the mother as she ages because there is less conflict between the current and potential future offspring. Therefore, as mothers age, their investment into individual offspring should increase. Empirical evidence for an influence of declining residual reproductive value on maternal investment is unconvincing. Older mothers may not invest more, but may be more successful due to greater experience, allowing them to target their investment more appropriately (targeted reproductive effort hypothesis). Most studies do not preclude either hypothesis. Mare age significantly influenced maternal investment in feral horses living on the North Island of New Zealand. Older mares, that were more successful at raising foals, were more protective for the first 20 days of life, but less diligent thereafter. Total maternal input by older mothers did not seem to be any greater, but was better targeted at the most critical period for foal survival and a similar pattern was observed in mares that had lost a foal in the previous year. In addition, older mothers were more likely to foal in consecutive years, supporting the hypothesis that they are investing less than younger mares in individual offspring. Therefore, older mothers seem to become more successful by targeting their investment better due to experience, not by investing more in their offspring.
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Nevin, J. A., & Shettleworth, S. J. (1966). An analysis of contrast effects in multiple schedules. J Exp Anal Behav, 9(4), 305–315.
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