|
|
Santamaria, S., Bobbert, M. F., Back, W., Barneveld, A., & van Weeren, P. R. (2005). Effect of early training on the jumping technique of horses. Am J Vet Res, 66(3), 418–424.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of early training for jumping by comparing the jumping technique of horses that had received early training with that of horses raised conventionally. ANIMALS: 40 Dutch Warmblood horses. PROCEDURE: The horses were analyzed kinematically during free jumping at 6 months of age. Subsequently, they were allocated into a control group that was raised conventionally and an experimental group that received 30 months of early training starting at 6 months of age. At 4 years of age, after a period of rest in pasture and a short period of training with a rider, both groups were analyzed kinematically during free jumping. Subsequently, both groups started a 1-year intensive training for jumping, and at 5 years of age, they were again analyzed kinematically during free jumping. In addition, the horses competed in a puissance competition to test maximal performance. RESULTS: Whereas there were no differences in jumping technique between experimental and control horses at 6 months of age, at 4 years, the experimental horses jumped in a more effective manner than the control horses; they raised their center of gravity less yet cleared more fences successfully than the control horses. However, at 5 years of age, these differences were not detected. Furthermore, the experimental horses did not perform better than the control horses in the puissance competition. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Specific training for jumping of horses at an early age is unnecessary because the effects on jumping technique and jumping capacity are not permanent.
|
|
|
|
Beckers, T., Miller, R. R., De Houwer, J., & Urushihara, K. (2006). Reasoning rats: forward blocking in Pavlovian animal conditioning is sensitive to constraints of causal inference. J Exp Psychol Gen, 135(1), 92–102.
Abstract: Forward blocking is one of the best-documented phenomena in Pavlovian animal conditioning. According to contemporary associative learning theories, forward blocking arises directly from the hardwired basic learning rules that govern the acquisition or expression of associations. Contrary to this view, here the authors demonstrate that blocking in rats is flexible and sensitive to constraints of causal inference, such as violation of additivity and ceiling considerations. This suggests that complex cognitive processes akin to causal inferential reasoning are involved in a well-established Pavlovian animal conditioning phenomenon commonly attributed to the operation of basic associative processes.
|
|
|
|
Zentall, T. R. (2006). Mental time travel in animals: a challenging question. Behav. Process., 72(2), 173–183.
Abstract: Humans have the ability to mentally recreate past events (using episodic memory) and imagine future events (by planning). The best evidence for such mental time travel is personal and thus subjective. For this reason, it is particularly difficult to study such behavior in animals. There is some indirect evidence, however, that animals have both episodic memory and the ability to plan for the future. When unexpectedly asked to do so, animals can report about their recent past experiences (episodic memory) and they also appear to be able to use the anticipation of a future event as the basis for a present action (planning). Thus, the ability to imagine past and future events may not be uniquely human.
|
|
|
|
Skov-Rackette, S. I., Miller, N. Y., & Shettleworth, S. J. (2006). What-where-when memory in pigeons. J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process, 32(4), 345–358.
Abstract: The authors report a novel approach to testing episodic-like memory for single events. Pigeons were trained in separate sessions to match the identity of a sample on a touch screen, to match its location, and to report on the length of the retention interval. When these 3 tasks were mixed randomly within sessions, birds were more than 80% correct on each task. However, performance on 2 different tests in succession after each sample was not consistent with an integrated memory for sample location, time, and identity. Experiment 2 tested binding of location and identity memories in 2 different ways. The results were again consistent with independent feature memories. Implications for tests of episodic-like memory are discussed.
|
|
|
|
Christensen, J. W., Rundgren, M., & Olsson, K. (2006). Training methods for horses: habituation to a frightening stimulus. Equine Vet J, 38(5), 439–443.
Abstract: REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Responses of horses in frightening situations are important for both equine and human safety. Considerable scientific interest has been shown in development of reactivity tests, but little effort has been dedicated to the development of appropriate training methods for reducing fearfulness. OBJECTIVES: To investigate which of 3 different training methods (habituation, desensitisation and counter-conditioning) was most effective in teaching horses to react calmly in a potentially frightening situation. HYPOTHESES: 1) Horses are able to generalise about the test stimulus such that, once familiar with the test stimulus in one situation, it appears less frightening and elicits a reduced response even when the stimulus intensity is increased or the stimulus is presented differently; and 2) alternative methods such as desensitisation and counter-conditioning would be more efficient than a classic habituation approach. METHODS: Twenty-seven naive 2-year-old Danish Warmblood stallions were trained according to 3 different methods, based on classical learning theory: 1) horses (n = 9) were exposed to the full stimulus (a moving, white nylon bag, 1.2 x 0.75 m) in 5 daily training sessions until they met a predefined habituation criterion (habituation); 2) horses (n = 9) were introduced gradually to the stimulus and habituated to each step before the full stimulus was applied (desensitisation); 3) horses (n = 9) were trained to associate the stimulus with a positive reward before being exposed to the full stimulus (counter-conditioning). Each horse received 5 training sessions of 3 min per day. Heart rate and behavioural responses were recorded. RESULTS: Horses trained with the desensitisation method showed fewer flight responses in total and needed fewer training sessions to learn to react calmly to test stimuli. Variations in heart rate persisted even when behavioural responses had ceased. In addition, all horses on the desensitisation method eventually habituated to the test stimulus whereas some horses on the other methods did not. CONCLUSIONS AND POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: Desensitisation appeared to be the most effective training method for horses in frightening situations. Further research is needed in order to investigate the role of positive reinforcement, such as offering food, in the training of horses.
|
|
|
|
Jonsson, H., & Egenvall, A. (2006). Prevalence of gastric ulceration in Swedish Standardbreds in race training. Equine Vet J, 38(3), 209–213.
Abstract: REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: There is little information about the prevalence of gastric ulcers in Standardbred trotters and potential correlations between ulcers and various traits, e.g. age, sex, performance, temperament and feeding regimens, need further elucidation. OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of ulcers in the gastric squamous mucosa of Swedish Standardbreds was estimated and the associations between ulcer score and age, sex, performance, temperament and feeding regimens were determined. METHODS: Eighty Swedish Standardbreds in active race training, trained by 9 different trainers, underwent gastroscopy. Information on age, gender, status of training, performance over the last 4 months compared with the trainer's expectations before that period, behaviour, eating habits, feed type, bedding type, time spent outdoors per day and medical treatment during the last month was collected. Gastroscopy was performed and lesions in the squamous gastric mucosa were scored from 0 to 4 (0 = no lesions; 4 = > 5 lesions with haemorrhage, > 10 lesions with no haemorrhage, or a large area of diffuse loss of surface epithelium). RESULTS: Twenty-four (30%) of the horses had no lesions in the squamous mucosa, 22 (27.5%) had a score of 1; 21 (26.2%) score 2; 9 (11.2%) score 3; and 4 (5%) score 4. Horses that were in preparatory training and those that had raced during the last month were significantly more affected than horses that were fit for racing but had not raced during the last month, using a logistic regression model with trainer incorporated as a random effect. CONCLUSIONS: The study confirmed a high prevalence of ulcers in the gastric squamous mucosa of Standardbreds in race training. Of the studied parameters only status of training showed a significant association with gastric ulcers of the squamous mucosa. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: Gastric ulceration is a common disease and diagnosis should be made by endoscopic examination of the gastric mucosa, since parameters such as age, gender, performance, behaviour, eating habits provide only weak clues as to which horses might be affected. Further studies are needed to determine the aetiology of the syndrome and to find ways to reduce, if possible, the frequency of gastric ulcers.
|
|
|
|
Poncet, P. A., Ionita, J. C., Doherr, M. G., & Steiger, A. (2006). [The influence of the socio-economic structure of the breeding farms of Franches-Montagnes horses on the conditions of husbandry]. Schweiz Arch Tierheilkd, 148(4), 183–189.
Abstract: The socio-economic structure of the breeding farms of Franches-Montagnes horses (FM) in Switzerland is evaluated on the basis of an investigation carried out in 2002 by the Swiss FM breeding federation. Questionnaires were sent to 3500 of its members and the results include data from 968 breeding enterprises, housing a total of 3965 FM. The quality of the husbandry of FM varies according to factors such as the altitude and the geographical situation of the farms and studs. Socio-economic parameters, such as the role of FM in the business, their use (breeding, driving, riding) and the age and level of professional education of the owners may also have an effect on standards of husbandry. The results show that the owners for whom FM represent a source of income more frequently keep their horses in standing stalls, but give them more time to exercise at liberty than the horses belonging to amateur breeders. Younger and better educated breeders are more likely to house their animals in groups.
|
|
|
|
Topál, J., Byrne, R. W., Miklósi, Á., & Csányi, V. (2006). Reproducing human actions and action sequences: “Do as I Do!” in a dog. Anim. Cogn., 9(4), 355–367.
Abstract: We present evidence that a dog (Philip, a 4-year-old tervueren) was able to use different human actions as samples against which to match his own behaviour. First, Philip was trained to repeat nine human-demonstrated actions on command ('Do it!'). When his performance was markedly over chance in response to demonstration by one person, testing with untrained action sequences and other demonstrators showed some ability to generalise his understanding of copying. In a second study, we presented Philip with a sequence of human actions, again using the 'Do as I do' paradigm. All demonstrated actions had basically the same structure: the owner picked up a bottle from one of six places; transferred it to one of the five other places and then commanded the dog ('Do it!'). We found that Philip duplicated the entire sequence of moving a specific object from one particular place to another more often than expected by chance. Although results point to significant limitations in his imitative abilities, it seems that the dog could have recognized the action sequence, on the basis of observation alone, in terms of the initial state, the means, and the goal. This suggests that dogs might acquire abilities by observation that enhance their success in complex socio-behavioural situations.
|
|
|
|
Koba, R., & Izumi, A. (2006). Sex categorization of conspecific pictures in Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata). Anim. Cogn., 9(3), 183–191.
Abstract: We investigated whether monkeys discriminate the sex of individuals from their pictures. Whole-body pictures of adult and nonadult monkeys were used as stimuli. Two male Japanese monkeys were trained for a two-choice sex categorization task in which each of two choice pictures were assigned to male and female, respectively. Following the training, the monkeys were presented with novel monkey pictures, and whether they had acquired the categorization task was tested. The results suggested that while monkeys discriminate between the pictures of adult males and females, discrimination of nonadult pictures was difficult. Partial presentations of the pictures showed that conspicuous and sexually characteristic parts (i.e., underbellies including male scrotums or breasts including female nipples) played an important role in the sex categorization.
|
|
|
|
Nissani, M. (2006). Do Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) apply causal reasoning to tool-use tasks? J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process, 32(1), 91–96.
Abstract: Two experiments addressed contradictory claims about causal reasoning in elephants. In Experiment 1, 4 Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were pretrained to remove a lid from the top of a bucket and retrieve a food reward. Subsequently, in the first 5 critical trials, when the lid was placed alongside the bucket and no longer obstructed access to the reward, each elephant continued to remove the lid before retrieving the reward. Experiment 2, which involved 11 additional elephants and variations of the original design, yielded similarly counterintuitive observations. Although the results are open to alternative interpretations, they appear more consistent with associative learning than with causal reasoning. Future applications of Fabrean methodologies (J. H. Fabre, 1915) to animal cognition are proposed.
|
|
