toggle visibility Search & Display Options

Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print
  Records Links
Author Larose, C.; Richard-Yris, M.-A.; Hausberger, M.; Rogers, L.J. doi  openurl
  Title Laterality of horses associated with emotionality in novel situations Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2006 Publication Laterality Abbreviated Journal Laterality  
  Volume 11 Issue 4 Pages 355-367  
  Keywords Affect/*physiology; Animals; Brain/*physiology; Female; Functional Laterality/*physiology; Horses; Male; *Social Behavior; *Social Environment  
  Abstract We have established that lateral biases are characteristic of visual behaviour in 65 horses. Two breeds, Trotters and French Saddlebreds aged 2 to 3, were tested on a novel object test. The main finding was a significant correlation between emotionality index and the eye preferred to view the novel stimulus: the higher the emotionality, the more likely that the horse looked with its left eye. The less emotive French Saddlebreds, however, tended to glance at the object using the right eye, a tendency that was not found in the Trotters, although the emotive index was the same for both breeds. The youngest French Saddlebreds did not show this trend. These results are discussed in relation to the different training practices for the breeds and broader findings on lateralisation in different species.  
  Address Universite de Rennes 1, France  
  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 1357-650X ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16754236 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ room B 3.029 Serial 1826  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Peltzer, K.; Mabilu, M.G.; Mathoho, S.F.; Nekhwevha, A.P.; Sikhwivhilu, T.; Sinthumule, T.S. openurl 
  Title Trauma history and severity of gambling involvement among horse-race gamblers in a South African gambling setting Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2006 Publication Psychological Reports Abbreviated Journal Psychol Rep  
  Volume 99 Issue 2 Pages 472-476  
  Keywords Adult; African Continental Ancestry Group/*psychology/statistics & numerical data; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Gambling/*psychology; Humans; *Life Change Events; Male; Middle Aged; Personality Inventory; Risk Factors; *Social Environment; Socioeconomic Factors; South Africa; Statistics; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/epidemiology/*psychology  
  Abstract The purpose of this study was to ascertain the frequency of gambling involvement and the prevalence of problem gambling among horse race gamblers and to discover whether problem gambling in this sample is associated with a history of trauma. Among a sample of 266 South African horse-race gamblers (94% men and 6% women, Mage 46.8 yr., SD = 13.9, range 18-85 years), 31.2% were classified as probable pathological gamblers and 19.9% with problem gambling. Major weekly gambling activities included racetrack betting (82%), purchase of lottery tickets or scratch tickets (35%), purchase of sports lottery tickets (23%), and using casino type games (18%). Trauma history was significantly associated with gambling severity.  
  Address Human Sciences Research Council, University of Limpopo, Pretoria, South Africa. KPeltzer@hsrc.ac.za  
  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 0033-2941 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:17153816 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 1850  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Huber, L.; Gajdon, G.K. doi  openurl
  Title Technical intelligence in animals: the kea model Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 4 Pages 295-305  
  Keywords Animals; *Comprehension; *Intelligence; Models, Psychological; Observation; *Parrots; *Problem Solving; Psychological Theory; Social Environment; *Tool Use Behavior  
  Abstract The ability to act on information flexibly is one of the cornerstones of intelligent behavior. As particularly informative example, tool-oriented behavior has been investigated to determine to which extent nonhuman animals understand means-end relations, object affordances, and have specific motor skills. Even planning with foresight, goal-directed problem solving and immediate causal inference have been a focus of research. However, these cognitive abilities may not be restricted to tool-using animals but may be found also in animals that show high levels of curiosity, object exploration and manipulation, and extractive foraging behavior. The kea, a New Zealand parrot, is a particularly good example. We here review findings from laboratory experiments and field observations of keas revealing surprising cognitive capacities in the physical domain. In an experiment with captive keas, the success rate of individuals that were allowed to observe a trained conspecific was significantly higher than that of naive control subjects due to their acquisition of some functional understanding of the task through observation. In a further experiment using the string-pulling task, a well-probed test for means-end comprehension, we found the keas finding an immediate solution that could not be improved upon in nine further trials. We interpreted their performance as insightful in the sense of being sensitive of the relevant functional properties of the task and thereby producing a new adaptive response without trial-and-error learning. Together, these findings contribute to the ongoing debate on the distribution of higher cognitive skills in the animal kingdom by showing high levels of sensorimotor intelligence in animals that do not use tools. In conclusion, we suggest that the 'Technical intelligence hypothesis' (Byrne, Machiavellian intelligence II: extensions and evaluations, pp 289-211, 1997), which has been proposed to explain the origin of the ape/monkey grade-shift in intelligence by a selection pressure upon an increased efficiency in foraging behavior, should be extended, that is, applied to some birds as well.  
  Address Department for Behavior, Neurobiology and Cognition, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria. ludwig.huber@univie.ac.at  
  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:16909237 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 2085  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Bugnyar, T.; Heinrich, B. doi  openurl
  Title Pilfering ravens, Corvus corax, adjust their behaviour to social context and identity of competitors Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 4 Pages 369-376  
  Keywords Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Competitive Behavior; Crows/*physiology; *Deception; Feeding Behavior; Female; Male; Social Behavior; *Social Environment  
  Abstract Like other corvids, food-storing ravens protect their caches from being pilfered by conspecifics by means of aggression and by re-caching. In the wild and in captivity, potential pilferers rarely approach caches until the storers have left the cache vicinity. When storers are experimentally prevented from leaving, pilferers first search at places other than the cache sites. These behaviours raise the possibility that ravens are capable of withholding intentions and providing false information to avoid provoking the storers' aggression for cache protection. Alternatively, birds may refrain from pilfering to avoid conflicts with dominants. Here we examined whether ravens adjust their pilfer tactics according to social context and type of competitors. We allowed birds that had witnessed a conspecific making caches to pilfer those caches either in private, together with the storer, or together with a conspecific bystander that had not created the caches (non-storer) but had seen them being made. Compared to in-private trials, ravens delayed approaching the caches only in the presence of storers. Furthermore, they quickly engaged in searching away from the caches when together with dominant storers but directly approached the caches when together with dominant non-storers. These findings demonstrate that ravens selectively alter their pilfer behaviour with those individuals that are likely to defend the caches (storers) and support the interpretation that they are deceptively manipulating the others' behaviour.  
  Address Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA. thomas.bugnyar@univie.ac.at  
  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:16909235 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2449  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Gajdon, G.K.; Fijn, N.; Huber, L. doi  openurl
  Title Limited spread of innovation in a wild parrot, the kea (Nestor notabilis) Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 9 Issue 3 Pages 173-181  
  Keywords Animal Communication; Animals; Diffusion of Innovation; Feeding Behavior; Female; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; *Motor Skills; *Parrots; *Problem Solving; Sex Factors; Social Dominance; Social Environment; Statistics, Nonparametric  
  Abstract In the local population of kea in Mount Cook Village, New Zealand, some keas open the lids of rubbish bins with their bill to obtain food scraps within. We investigated the extent to which this innovation has spread in the local population, and what factors limit the acquisition of bin opening. Only five males of 36 individually recognised birds were observed to have performed successful bin opening. With one exception there were always other keas present, watching successful bin opening. Seventeen additional individuals were seen to have benefitted from lid opening. Their foraging success was less than that of the bin openers. Social status of bin openers did not differ from scrounging males. Among the individuals that were regularly seen at the site of the bins but were not successful in bin opening, social status and the ratio of feeding directly from open bins correlated with the amount of opening attempts. We conclude that scrounging facilitated certain behavioural aspects of bin opening rather than inhibiting them. The fact that only 9% of opening attempts were successful, and the long period of time required to increase efficiency in lid opening shows that mainly individual experience, and to a lesser extent insight and social learning, play key roles in acquisition of the opening technique. The results indicate that the spread of innovative solutions of challenging mechanical problems in animals may be restricted to only a few individuals.  
  Address Department for Behavior, Neurobiology and Cognition, University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria. gyula.gajdon@univie.ac.at  
  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:16568276 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2472  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Zhou, W.-X.; Sornette, D.; Hill, R.A.; Dunbar, R.I.M. doi  openurl
  Title Discrete hierarchical organization of social group sizes Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2005 Publication Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci  
  Volume 272 Issue 1561 Pages 439-444  
  Keywords Anthropology, Cultural; *Group Structure; Humans; *Models, Biological; *Social Behavior; *Social Environment  
  Abstract The 'social brain hypothesis' for the evolution of large brains in primates has led to evidence for the coevolution of neocortical size and social group sizes, suggesting that there is a cognitive constraint on group size that depends, in some way, on the volume of neural material available for processing and synthesizing information on social relationships. More recently, work on both human and non-human primates has suggested that social groups are often hierarchically structured. We combine data on human grouping patterns in a comprehensive and systematic study. Using fractal analysis, we identify, with high statistical confidence, a discrete hierarchy of group sizes with a preferred scaling ratio close to three: rather than a single or a continuous spectrum of group sizes, humans spontaneously form groups of preferred sizes organized in a geometrical series approximating 3-5, 9-15, 30-45, etc. Such discrete scale invariance could be related to that identified in signatures of herding behaviour in financial markets and might reflect a hierarchical processing of social nearness by human brains.  
  Address State Key Laboratory of Chemical Reaction Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China  
  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 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15734699 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 549  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Horner, V.; Whiten, A. doi  openurl
  Title Causal knowledge and imitation/emulation switching in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and children (Homo sapiens) Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2005 Publication Animal cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 164-181  
  Keywords Animals; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; *Concept Formation; Female; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; Pan troglodytes; *Problem Solving; Psychomotor Performance; *Social Environment; Species Specificity  
  Abstract This study explored whether the tendency of chimpanzees and children to use emulation or imitation to solve a tool-using task was a response to the availability of causal information. Young wild-born chimpanzees from an African sanctuary and 3- to 4-year-old children observed a human demonstrator use a tool to retrieve a reward from a puzzle-box. The demonstration involved both causally relevant and irrelevant actions, and the box was presented in each of two conditions: opaque and clear. In the opaque condition, causal information about the effect of the tool inside the box was not available, and hence it was impossible to differentiate between the relevant and irrelevant parts of the demonstration. However, in the clear condition causal information was available, and subjects could potentially determine which actions were necessary. When chimpanzees were presented with the opaque box, they reproduced both the relevant and irrelevant actions, thus imitating the overall structure of the task. When the box was presented in the clear condition they instead ignored the irrelevant actions in favour of a more efficient, emulative technique. These results suggest that emulation is the favoured strategy of chimpanzees when sufficient causal information is available. However, if such information is not available, chimpanzees are prone to employ a more comprehensive copy of an observed action. In contrast to the chimpanzees, children employed imitation to solve the task in both conditions, at the expense of efficiency. We suggest that the difference in performance of chimpanzees and children may be due to a greater susceptibility of children to cultural conventions, perhaps combined with a differential focus on the results, actions and goals of the demonstrator.  
  Address Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9JU, UK. vkh1@st-andrews.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:15549502 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 732  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Devenport, J.A.; Patterson, M.R.; Devenport, L.D. doi  openurl
  Title Dynamic averaging and foraging decisions in horses (Equus callabus) Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2005 Publication Journal of Comparative psychology Abbreviated Journal J. Comp. Psychol.  
  Volume 119 Issue 3 Pages 352-358  
  Keywords Animals; *Decision Making; *Feeding Behavior; Female; Horses/*psychology; Male; *Memory, Short-Term; Motivation; Orientation; *Social Environment  
  Abstract The variability of most environments taxes foraging decisions by increasing the uncertainty of the information available. One solution to the problem is to use dynamic averaging, as do some granivores and carnivores. Arguably, the same strategy could be useful for grazing herbivores, even though their food renews and is more homogeneously distributed. Horses (Equus callabus) were given choices between variable patches after short or long delays. When patch information was current, horses returned to the patch that was recently best, whereas those without current information matched choices to the long-term average values of the patches. These results demonstrate that a grazing species uses dynamic averaging and indicate that, like granivores and carnivores, they can use temporal weighting to optimize foraging decisions.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of Central Oklahoma, 73034, USA. jdevenport@ucok.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 0735-7036 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16131264 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 752  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Call, J.; Carpenter, M.; Tomasello, M. doi  openurl
  Title Copying results and copying actions in the process of social learning: chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and human children (Homo sapiens) Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 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 Barth, J.; Reaux, J.E.; Povinelli, D.J. doi  openurl
  Title Chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes) use of gaze cues in object-choice tasks: different methods yield different results Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2005 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 84-92  
  Keywords Animals; *Attention; *Choice Behavior; *Cues; *Eye Movements; Female; Male; *Nonverbal Communication; Orientation; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; Social Environment  
  Abstract To assess the influence of different procedures on chimpanzees' performance in object-choice tasks, five adult chimpanzees were tested using three experimenter-given cues to food location: gazing, glancing, and pointing. These cues were delivered to the subjects in an identical fashion but were deployed within the context of two distinct meta-procedures that have been previously employed with this species with conflicting results. In one procedure, the subjects entered the test unit and approached the experimenter (who had already established the cue) on each trial. In the other procedure, the subjects stayed in the test unit throughout a session, witnessed the hiding procedure, and waited for a delay of 10 s during which the cue was provided. The subjects scored at high levels far exceeding chance in response to the gaze cue only when they approached the experimenter for each trial. They performed at chance levels when they stayed inside the test unit throughout the session. They scored at chance levels on all other cues irrespective of the procedure. These findings imply that (a) chimpanzees can immediately exploit social gaze cues, and (b) previous conflicting findings were likely due to the different meta-procedures that were used.  
  Address Department of Neurocognition, Faculty of Psychology, Universiteit Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands. j.barth@psychology.unimaas.nl  
  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:15449100 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2510  
Permanent link to this record
Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print