|   | 
Details
   web
Records
Author Harris, E.H.; Washburn, D.A.
Title Macaques' (Macaca mulatta) use of numerical cues in maze trials Type (up) Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 190-199
Keywords Animals; *Cues; *Discrimination Learning; Macaca mulatta/*psychology; Male; Mathematics; *Maze Learning; *Pattern Recognition, Visual
Abstract We tested the ability of number-trained rhesus monkeys to use Arabic numeral cues to discriminate between different series of maze trials and anticipate the final trial in each series. The monkeys' prior experience with numerals also allowed us to investigate spontaneous transfer between series. A total of four monkeys were tested in two experiments. In both experiments, the monkeys were trained on a computerized task consisting of three reinforced maze trials followed by one nonreinforced trial. The goal of the maze was an Arabic numeral 3, which corresponded to the number of reinforced maze trials in the series. In experiment 1 (n=2), the monkeys were given probe trials of the numerals 2 and 4 and in experiment 2 (n=2), they were given probe trials of the numerals 2-8. The monkeys receiving the probe trials 2 and 4 showed some generalization to the new numerals and developed a pattern of performing more slowly on the nonreinforced trial than the reinforced trial before it for most series, indicating the use of the changing numeral cues to anticipate the nonreinforced trial. The monkeys receiving probe trials of the numerals 2-8 did not predict precisely when the nonreinforced trial would occur in each series, but they did incorporate the changing numerals into their strategy for performing the task. This study provides the first evidence that number-trained monkeys can use Arabic numerals to perform a task involving sequential presentations.
Address Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA. eharris11@gsu
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 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15654597 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2498
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Hodgson, Z.G.; Healy, S.D.
Title Preference for spatial cues in a non-storing songbird species Type (up) Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 211-214
Keywords Animals; Association Learning/*physiology; *Cues; Feeding Behavior/physiology; Female; Male; Memory/*physiology; Sex Factors; Songbirds/*physiology; Space Perception/*physiology; Spatial Behavior/*physiology
Abstract Male mammals typically outperform their conspecific females on spatial tasks. A sex difference in cues used to solve the task could underlie this performance difference as spatial ability is reliant on appropriate cue use. Although comparative studies of memory in food-storing and non-storing birds have examined species differences in cue preference, few studies have investigated differences in cue use within a species. In this study, we used a one-trial associative food-finding task to test for sex differences in cue use in the great tit, Parus major. Birds were trained to locate a food reward hidden in a well covered by a coloured cloth. To determine whether the colour of the cloth or the location of the well was learned during training, the birds were presented with three wells in the test phase: one in the original location, but covered by a cloth of a novel colour, a second in a new location covered with the original cloth and a third in a new location covered by a differently coloured cloth. Both sexes preferentially visited the well in the training location rather than either alternative. As great tits prefer colour cues over spatial cues in one-trial associative conditioning tasks, cue preference appears to be related to the task type rather than being species dependent.
Address Ashworth Laboratories, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK. s.healy@ed.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 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15611879 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2499
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Cole, P.D.; Adamo, S.A.
Title Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis: Cephalopoda) hunting behavior and associative learning Type (up) Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages 27-30
Keywords Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; *Association Learning; *Conditioning, Classical; Female; Male; *Mollusca; Photic Stimulation; *Predatory Behavior
Abstract Because most learning studies in cephalopods have been performed on octopods, it remains unclear whether such abilities are specific to octopus, or whether they correlate with having a larger and more centrally organized brain. To investigate associative learning in a different cephalopod, six sexually mature cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) participated in a counterbalanced, within-subjects, appetitive, classical conditioning procedure. Two plastic spheres (conditioned stimuli, CSs), differing in brightness, were presented sequentially. Presentation of the CS+ was followed 5 s later by a live feeder fish (unconditioned stimulus, US). Cuttlefish began to attack the CS+ with the same type of food-acquisition seizures used to capture the feeder fish. After seven blocks of training (42 presentations of each CS) the difference in seizure probability between CS+ and CS- trials more than doubled; and was found to be significantly higher in late versus early blocks. These results indicate that cuttlefish exhibit autoshaping under some conditions. The possible ecological significance of this type of learning is briefly discussed.
Address Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
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 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15592760 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2500
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Ferkin, M.H.; Pierce, A.A.; Sealand, R.O.; Delbarco-Trillo, J.
Title Meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, can distinguish more over-marks from fewer over-marks Type (up) Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 182-189
Keywords Animals; Arvicolinae/*psychology; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Intermediate Filament Proteins; Male; Mathematics; Sex Factors; *Smell
Abstract Is it possible that voles have a sense of number? To address this question, we determined whether voles discriminate between two different scent-marking individuals and identify the individual whose scent marks was on top more often than the other individual. We tested whether voles show a preference for the individual whose scent marks was on top most often. If so, the simplest explanation was that voles can make a relative size judgement-such as distinguishing an area containing more of one individual's over-marks as compared to less of another individual's over-marks. We found that voles respond preferentially to the donor that provided a greater number of over-marks as compared to the donor that provided a lesser number of over-marks. Thus, we concluded that voles might display the capacity for relative numerousness. Interestingly, female voles were better able than male voles to distinguish between small differences in the relative number of over-marks by the two scent donors.
Address Department of Biology, The University of Memphis, Ellington Hall, Memphis, TN 38152, USA. mhferkin@memphis.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 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15580367 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2501
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Ward, M.P.; Ramsay, B.H.; Gallo, K.
Title Rural cases of equine West Nile virus encephalomyelitis and the normalized difference vegetation index Type (up) Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.) Abbreviated Journal Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis
Volume 5 Issue 2 Pages 181-188
Keywords Animals; Biomass; Cluster Analysis; Disease Outbreaks/veterinary; Ecology; *Geographic Information Systems; Horse Diseases/*epidemiology; Horses; Indiana/epidemiology; Plants; Population Surveillance; Rural Health; Seasons; Topography, Medical/*methods; West Nile Fever/epidemiology/*veterinary
Abstract Data from an outbreak (August to October, 2002) of West Nile virus (WNV) encephalomyelitis in a population of horses located in northern Indiana was scanned for clusters in time and space. One significant (p = 0.04) cluster of case premises was detected, occurring between September 4 and 10 in the south-west part of the study area (85.70 degrees N, 45.50 degrees W). It included 10 case premises (3.67 case premises expected) within a radius of 2264 m. Image data were acquired by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensor onboard a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration polar-orbiting satellite. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was calculated from visible and near-infrared data of daily observations, which were composited to produce a weekly-1km(2) resolution raster image product. During the epidemic, a significant (p < 0.01) decrease (0.025 per week) in estimated NDVI was observed at all case and control premise sites. The median estimated NDVI (0.659) for case premises within the cluster identified was significantly (p < 0.01) greater than the median estimated NDVI for other case (0.571) and control (0.596) premises during the same period. The difference in median estimated NDVI for case premises within this cluster, compared to cases not included in this cluster, was greatest (5.3% and 5.1%, respectively) at 1 and 5 weeks preceding occurrence of the cluster. The NDVI may be useful for identifying foci of WNV transmission.
Address Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA. mward@cvm.tamu.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 1530-3667 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16011435 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2627
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Werner, C.W.; Tiemann, I.; Cnotka, J.; Rehkamper, G.
Title Do chickens (Gallus gallus f. domestica) decompose visual figures? Type (up) Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 129-140
Keywords Animals; *Chickens; Conditioning, Classical; *Discrimination Learning; Female; *Pattern Recognition, Visual; Photic Stimulation; *Visual Perception
Abstract To investigate whether learning to discriminate between visual compound stimuli depends on decomposing them into constituting features, hens were first trained to discriminate four features (red, green, horizontal, vertical) from two dimensions (colour, line orientation). After acquisition, hens were trained with compound stimuli made up from these dimensions in two ways: a separable (line on a coloured background) stimulus and an integral one (coloured line). This compound training included a reversal of reinforcement of only one of the two dimensions (half-reversal). After having achieved the compound stimulus discrimination, a second dimensional training identical to the first was performed. Finally, in the second compound training the other dimension was reversed. Two major results were found: (1) an interaction between the dimension reversed and the type of compound stimulus: in compound training with colour reversal, separable compound stimuli were discriminated worse than integral compounds and vice versa in compound training with line orientation reversed. (2) Performance in the second compound training was worse than in the first one. The first result points to a similar mode of processing for separable and integral compounds, whereas the second result shows that the whole stimulus is psychologically superior to its constituting features. Experiment 2 repeated experiment 1 using line orientation stimuli of reversed line and background brightness. Nevertheless, the results were similar to experiment 1. Results are discussed in the framework of a configural exemplar theory of discrimination that assumes the representation of the whole stimulus situation combined with transfer based on a measure of overall similarity.
Address C. and O. Vogt Institute of Brain Research, Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf, Universitatsstr. 1, 40225, Dusseldorf, Germany. wernerc@uni-duesseldorf.de
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 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15490291 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2503
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Call, J.; Carpenter, M.; Tomasello, M.
Title Copying results and copying actions in the process of social learning: chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and human children (Homo sapiens) Type (up) Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 151-163
Keywords Animals; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; *Concept Formation; Female; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; Pan troglodytes; *Problem Solving; Psychomotor Performance; Random Allocation; *Social Environment; Species Specificity
Abstract There is currently much debate about the nature of social learning in chimpanzees. The main question is whether they can copy others' actions, as opposed to reproducing the environmental effects of these actions using their own preexisting behavioral strategies. In the current study, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and human children (Homo sapiens) were shown different demonstrations of how to open a tube-in both cases by a conspecific. In different experimental conditions, demonstrations consisted of (1) action only (the actions necessary to open the tube without actually opening it); (2) end state only (the open tube, without showing any actions); (3) both of these components (in a full demonstration); or (4) neither of these components (in a baseline condition). In the first three conditions subjects saw one of two different ways that the tube could open (break in middle; caps off ends). Subjects' behavior in each condition was assessed for how often they opened the tube, how often they opened it in the same location as the demonstrator, and how often they copied the demonstrator's actions or style of opening the tube. Whereas chimpanzees reproduced mainly the environmental results of the demonstrations (emulation), human children often reproduced the demonstrator's actions (imitation). Because the procedure used was similar in many ways to the procedure that Meltzoff (Dev Psych 31:1, 1995) used to study the understanding of others' unfulfilled intentions, the implications of these findings with regard to chimpanzees' understanding of others' intentions are also discussed.
Address Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. call@eva.mpg.de
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 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15490290 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2504
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Mercado, E. 3rd; Herman, L.M.; Pack, A.A.
Title Song copying by humpback whales: themes and variations Type (up) Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 93-102
Keywords Acoustics; Animals; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; Sound Spectrography; *Vocalization, Animal; Whales/*psychology
Abstract Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce long, structured sequences of sound underwater, commonly called “songs.” Humpbacks progressively modify their songs over time in ways that suggest that individuals are copying song elements that they hear being used by other singers. Little is known about the factors that determine how whales learn from their auditory experiences. Song learning in birds is better understood and appears to be constrained by stable core attributes such as species-specific sound repertoires and song syntax. To clarify whether similar constraints exist for song learning by humpbacks, we analyzed changes over 14 years in the sounds used by humpback whales singing in Hawaiian waters. We found that although the properties of individual sounds within songs are quite variable over time, the overall distribution of certain acoustic features within the repertoire appears to be stable. In particular, our findings suggest that species-specific constraints on temporal features of song sounds determine song form, whereas spectral variability allows whales to flexibly adapt song elements.
Address Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Park Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA. emiii@buffalo.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 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15490289 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2505
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Zucca, P.; Antonelli, F.; Vallortigara, G.
Title Detour behaviour in three species of birds: quails (Coturnix sp.), herring gulls (Larus cachinnans) and canaries (Serinus canaria) Type (up) Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 122-128
Keywords Animals; *Avoidance Learning; *Birds; Canaries; Charadriiformes; Coturnix; *Discrimination Learning; Orientation; *Space Perception; *Spatial Behavior; Species Specificity
Abstract Detour behaviour is the ability of an animal to reach a goal stimulus by moving round any interposed obstacle. It has been widely studied and has been proposed as a test of insight learning in several species of mammals, but few data are available in birds. A comparative study in three species of birds, belonging to different eco-ethological niches, allows a better understanding of the cognitive mechanism of such detour behaviour. Young quails (Coturnix sp.), herring gulls (Larus cachinnans) and canaries (Serinus canaria), 1 month old, 10-25 days old and 4-6 months old, respectively, were tested in a detour situation requiring them to abandon a clear view of a biologically interesting object (their own reflection in a mirror) in order to approach that object. Birds were placed in a closed corridor, at one end of which was a barrier through which the object was visible. Four different types of barrier were used: vertical bar, horizontal bar, grid and transparent. Two symmetrical apertures placed midline in the corridor allowed the birds to adopt routes passing around the barrier. After entering the apertures, birds could turn either right or left to re-establish social contact with the object in the absence of any local sensory cues emanating from it. Quails appeared able to solve the task, though their performance depended on the type of barrier used, which appeared to modulate their relative interest in approaching the object or in exploring the surroundings. Young herring gulls also showed excellent abilities to locate spatially the out-of-view object, except when the transparent barrier was used. Canaries, on the other hand, appeared completely unable to solve the detour task, whatever barrier was in use. It is suggested that these species differences can be accounted for in terms of adaptation to a terrestrial or aerial environment.
Address Laboratory of Animal Cognition and Comparative Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Trieste, Via S. Anastasio 12, 34100, Trieste, Italy. zucca@units.it
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 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15449104 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2506
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Traversa, D.; Otranto, D.; Iorio, R.; Giangaspero, A.
Title Molecular characterization of Thelazia lacrymalis (Nematoda, Spirurida) affecting equids: a tool for vector identification Type (up) Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Molecular and Cellular Probes Abbreviated Journal Mol Cell Probes
Volume 19 Issue 4 Pages 245-249
Keywords Animals; Horse Diseases/parasitology; Horses/*parasitology; Insect Vectors/*parasitology; Muscidae/*parasitology; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; Spirurida Infections/parasitology/veterinary; Thelazioidea/chemistry/*genetics
Abstract Equine thelaziosis caused by the eyeworm Thelazia lacrymalis is a parasitic disease transmitted by muscid flies. Although equine thelaziosis is known to have worldwide distribution, information on the epidemiology and presence of the intermediate hosts of T. lacrymalis is lacking. In the present work, a PCR-RFLP based assay on the first and/or second internal transcribed spacer (ITS1 and ITS2) of ribosomal DNA was developed for the detection of T. lacrymalis DNA in its putative vector(s). The sensitivity of the technique was also assessed. The restriction patterns obtained readily differentiated T. lacrymalis from four species of Musca (Diptera, Muscidae) (i.e. Musca autumnalis, Musca domestica, Musca larvipara and Musca osiris), which are potential vectors of equine eyeworms. The molecular assay presented herein is a useful tool to identify the intermediate host(s) of T. lacrymalis in natural conditions and to study its/their ecology and epidemiology.
Address Department of Biomedical Comparative Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Piazza Aldo Moro 45, 64100 Teramo, Italy. dtraversa@unite.it
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 0890-8508 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16038792 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2626
Permanent link to this record