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Author Uller, C.; Lewis, J. doi  openurl
  Title Horses (Equus caballus) select the greater of two quantities in small numerical contrasts Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2009 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 12 Issue 5 Pages 733-738  
  Keywords Quantity representation – Horses – Number discrimination  
  Abstract Abstract  The ability to select the greater numerosity over another in small sets seems to stem from the calculation of which set contains more, and has been taken as evidence of a primordial representation at the roots of the primate numerical system. We tested 56 horses (Equus caballus) in a paradigm previously used with human infants and nonhuman primates. Horses saw two quantities paired in contrasts—2 versus 1, 3 versus 2, 6 versus 4 and a control for volume, 2 versus 1 big—and had to make a choice by snout touching the container holding the numerosity selected. The horses spontaneously selected the greater of the two quantities when the numerosities were small. These results add to evidence showing spontaneous quantity assessment in a variety of species.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5028  
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Author Lemasson, A.; Boutin, A.; Boivin, S.; Blois-Heulin, C.; Hausberger, M. doi  openurl
  Title Horse (Equus caballus) whinnies: a source of social information Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2009 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 12 Issue 5 Pages 693-704  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Abstract  Many animal species that rely mainly on calls to communicate produce individual acoustic structures, but we wondered whether individuals of species better known as visual communicants, with small vocal repertoires, would also exhibit individual distinctiveness in calls. Moreover, theoretical advances concerning the evolution of social intelligence are usually based on primate species data, but relatively little is known about the social cognitive capacities of non-primate mammals. However, some non-primate species demonstrate auditory recognition of social categories and possess mental representation of their social network. Horses (Equus caballus) form stable social networks and although they display a large range of visual signals, they also use long-distance whinny calls to maintain contact. Here, we investigated the potential existence of individual acoustic signatures in whinny calls and the ability of horses to discriminate by ear individuals varying in their degree of familiarity. Our analysis of the acoustic structure of whinnies of 30 adult domestic horses (ten stallions, ten geldings, ten mares) revealed that some of the frequency and temporal parameters carried reliable information about the caller’s sex, body size and identity. However, no correlations with age were found. Playback experiments evaluated the behavioural significance of this variability. Twelve horses heard either control white noise or whinnies emitted by group members, familiar neighbours or unfamiliar horses. While control sounds did not induce any particular response, horses discriminated the social category of the callers and reacted with a sound-specific behaviour (vigilance and attraction varied with familiarity). Our results support the existence of social knowledge in horses and suggest a process of vocal coding/decoding of information.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5035  
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Author Guo, K.; Meints, K.; Hall, C.; Hall, S.; Mills, D. doi  openurl
  Title Left gaze bias in humans, rhesus monkeys and domestic dogs Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2009 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 12 Issue 3 Pages 409-418  
  Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences  
  Abstract While viewing faces, human adults often demonstrate a natural gaze bias towards the left visual field, that is, the right side of the viewee’s face is often inspected first and for longer periods. Using a preferential looking paradigm, we demonstrate that this bias is neither uniquely human nor limited to primates, and provide evidence to help elucidate its biological function within a broader social cognitive framework. We observed that 6-month-old infants showed a wider tendency for left gaze preference towards objects and faces of different species and orientation, while in adults the bias appears only towards upright human faces. Rhesus monkeys showed a left gaze bias towards upright human and monkey faces, but not towards inverted faces. Domestic dogs, however, only demonstrated a left gaze bias towards human faces, but not towards monkey or dog faces, nor to inanimate object images. Our findings suggest that face- and species-sensitive gaze asymmetry is more widespread in the animal kingdom than previously recognised, is not constrained by attentional or scanning bias, and could be shaped by experience to develop adaptive behavioural significance.  
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  Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5353  
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Author Slobodchikoff, C.; Paseka, A.; Verdolin, J. doi  openurl
  Title Prairie dog alarm calls encode labels about predator colors Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2009 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 12 Issue 3 Pages 435-439  
  Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences  
  Abstract Some animals have the cognitive capacity to differentiate between different species of predators and generate different alarm calls in response. However, the presence of any addition information that might be encoded into alarm calls has been largely unexplored. In the present study, three similar-sized human females walked through a Gunnison’s prairie dog ( Cynomys gunnisoni ) colony wearing each of three different-colored shirts: blue, green, and yellow. We recorded the alarm calls and used discriminant function analysis to assess whether the calls for the different-colored shirts were significantly different. The results showed that the alarm calls for the blue and the yellow shirts were significantly different, but the green shirt calls were not significantly different from the calls for the yellow shirt. The colors that were detected, with corresponding encoding into alarm calls, reflect the visual perceptual abilities of the prairie dogs. This study suggests that prairie dogs are able to incorporate labels about the individual characteristics of predators into their alarm calls, and that the complexity of information contained in animal alarm calls may be greater than has been previously believed.  
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  Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5467  
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Author Pongrácz, P.; Vida, V.; Bánhegyi, P.; Miklósi, Á. doi  openurl
  Title How does dominance rank status affect individual and social learning performance in the dog (Canis familiaris)? Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2008 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 11 Issue Pages 75-82  
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  Abstract Dogs can learn effectively to detour around a V-shaped fence after observing a demonstration from either an unfamiliar human or dog demonstrator. We found earlier that there is substantial individual variation between the dogs' performance, even when using the same experimental conditions. Here, we investigate if the subjects' relative dominance rank with other dogs had an effect on their social learning performance. On the basis of the owners' answers to a questionnaire, subjects from multi-dog homes were sorted into groups of dominant and subordinate dogs. In Experiment 1, dominant and subordinate dogs were tested without demonstration and we did not find any difference between the groups-they had similarly low detour performances on their own. In Experiment 2 and 3, dogs from single dog and multi-dog households were tested in the detour task with demonstration by an unfamiliar dog, or human, respectively. The results showed that social learning performance of the single dogs fell between the dominant and subordinate multi-dogs with both dog and human demonstration. Subordinate dogs displayed significantly better performance after having observed a dog demonstrator in comparison to dominant dogs. In contrast, the performance of dominant and subordinate dogs was almost similar, when they observed a human demonstrator. These results suggest that perceived dominance rank in its own group has a strong effect on social learning in dogs, but this effect seems to depend also on the demonstrator species. This finding reveals an intricate organization of the social structure in multi-dog households, which can contribute to individual differences existing among dogs.  
  Address Department of Ethology, Eotvos Lorand University, Pazmany Peter setany 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary, peter.celeste.pongracz@gmail.com  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:17492317 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2400  
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Author Ferkin, M.; Combs, A.; delBarco-Trillo, J.; Pierce, A.; Franklin, S. url  doi
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  Title Meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus , have the capacity to recall the “what”, “where”, and “when” of a single past event Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2008 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 147-159  
  Keywords Recollection for what, when, and where – Voles – Reproductive state – Postpartum estrus  
  Abstract Abstract  Some non-human animals may possess the ability to recall the “what”, “where”, and “when” of a single past event. We tested the hypothesis that male meadow voles posses the capacity to recall the “what”, “where”, and “when” of a single past event associated with mate selection in two experiments. Briefly, male voles were allowed to explore an apparatus that contained two chambers. One chamber contained a day-20 pregnant female (24 h prepartum). The other chamber contained a sexually mature female that was neither pregnant nor lactating (REF female). Twenty-four hour after the exposure, the males were placed in the same apparatus, which was empty and clean. At this time, the pregnant female would have entered postpartum estrus (PPE), a period of heightened sexual receptivity. Males initially chose and spent significantly more time investigating the chamber that originally housed the pregnant female (now a PPE female) than the chamber that originally housed the REF female. Male voles also explored an apparatus containing a chamber with a PPE female and one chamber containing a REF female. Twenty-four hour later, males were placed into an empty and clean apparatus. The males did not display an initial choice and they spent similar amounts of time investigating the chamber that originally housed the PPE female (now a lactating female) and the chamber that originally housed the REF female. The results of these and additional experiments suggest that male voles may have the capacity to recall the “what”, “where”, and “when” of a single past event, which may allow males to remember the location of females who would currently be in heightened states of sexual receptivity.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Admin @ knut @ Serial 4215  
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Author Prato-Previde, E.; Marshall-Pescini, S.; Valsecchi, P. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Is your choice my choice` The owners effect on pet dogs? ( Canis lupus familiaris ) performance in a food choice task Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2008 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 167-174  
  Keywords Dog – Dog-owner relationship – Food choice task – Quantity discrimination  
  Abstract Abstract  This study investigates the influence of owners on their dogs performance in a food choice task using either different or equal quantities of food. Fifty-four pet dogs were tested in three different conditions. In Condition 1 we evaluated their ability to choose between a large and small amount of food (quantity discrimination task). In Condition 2 dogs were again presented with a choice between the large and small food quantity, but only after having witnessed their owner favouring the small quantity. In Condition 3 dogs were given a choice between two equally small quantities of food having witnessed their owner favouring either one or the other. A strong effect of the owner on the dogs`` performance was observed. In Condition 1 dogs as a group chose significantly more often the large food quantity, thus showing their ability to solve the quantity discrimination task. After observing their owner expressing a preference for the small food quantity they chose the large quantity of food significantly less than in the independent choice situation. The tendency to conform to the owner`s choice was higher when the dogs had to choose between equally small quantities of food (Condition 3) rather than between a large and a small one (Condition 2). These results provide evidence that dogs can be influenced by their owners even when their indications are clearly in contrast with direct perceptual information, thus leading dogs to ultimately make counterproductive choices.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Admin @ knut @ Serial 4216  
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Author Sovrano, V.; Bisazza, A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Recognition of partly occluded objects by fish Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2008 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 1435-9448  
  Keywords Visual completion – Amodal completion – Occlusion – Visual recognition – Fish  
  Abstract Abstract  The ability to visually complete partly occluded objects (so-called `“amodal completion”) has been documented in mammals and birds. Here, we report the first evidence of such a perceptual ability in a fish species. Fish (Xenotoca eiseni) were trained to discriminate between a complete and an amputated disk. Thereafter, the fish performed test trials in which hexagonal polygons were either exactly juxtaposed or only placed close to the missing sectors of the disk in order to produce or not produce the impression (to a human observer) of an occlusion of the missing sectors of the disk by the polygon. In another experiment, fish were first trained to discriminate between hexagonal polygons that were either exactly juxtaposed or only placed close to the missing sectors of a disk, and then tested for choice between a complete and an amputated disk. In both experiments, fish behaved as if they were experiencing visual completion of the partly occluded stimuli. These findings suggest that the ability to visually complete partly occluded objects may be widespread among vertebrates, possibly inherited in mammals, birds and fish from early vertebrate ancestors.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Admin @ knut @ Serial 4217  
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Author Bräuer, J.; Call, J.; Tomasello, M. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Chimpanzees do not take into account what others can hear in a competitive situation Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2008 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 1435-9448  
  Keywords Social cognition – Food competition – Perspective taking  
  Abstract Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) know what others can and cannot see in a competitive situation. Does this reflect a general understanding the perceptions of others` In a study by Hare et al. (2000) pairs of chimpanzees competed over two pieces of food. Subordinate individuals preferred to approach food that was behind a barrier that the dominant could not see, suggesting that chimpanzees can take the visual perspective of others. We extended this paradigm to the auditory modality to investigate whether chimpanzees are sensitive to whether a competitor can hear food rewards being hidden. Results suggested that the chimpanzees did not take what the competitor had heard into account, despite being able to locate the hiding place themselves by the noise.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Admin @ knut @ Serial 4218  
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Author Krueger, K.; Heinze, J. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Horse sense: social status of horses (Equus caballus) affects their likelihood of copying other horses` behavior Type Journal Article
  Year (down) 2008 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 11 Issue 3 Pages 431-439  
  Keywords copying, horse, social cognition, sociality  
  Abstract Animals that live in stable social groups need to gather information on their own relative position in the group`s social hierarchy, either by directly threatening or challenging others, or in a less costly manner, by observing interactions among others. Such indirect inference of dominance relationships has previously been reported from primates, rats, and birds and fish. Here, we show that domestic horses, Equus caballus, are similarly capable of social cognition. Taking advantage of a specific “following behavior” that horses show towards humans in a riding arena, we investigated whether bystander horses adjust their response to an experimenter according to the observed interaction and their own dominance relationship with the horse whose reaction to the experimenter they had observed before. Horses copied the following behavior towards an experimenter after watching a dominant horse following, but did not follow after observing a subordinate horse or a horse from another social group doing so. The following behavior which horses show towards an experimenter therefore appears to be affected by the demonstrator`s behavior and social status relative to the observer.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4324  
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