toggle visibility Search & Display Options

Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print
  Records Links
Author Benhamou, S. doi  openurl
  Title Place navigation in mammals: a configuration-based model Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 1998 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 55-63  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Recent water maze experiments suggest that rats performing place navigation primarily use the geometric information provided by a set of landmarks, and neglect the featural information provided by the identities of the landmarks. Here, I develop a model that explains how an animal may perform place navigation by relying only on geometric information. The core of the model is the representation of places as panoramas defined by circular bar-codes embodying the relative bearings and apparent sizes of the landmarks, irrespective of their identities. There are two stages in the model. During the first stage, the animal freely explores its environment in order to acquire spatial information at the local level. During the second stage, the animal uses the information previously memorized to perform place navigation towards the goal it intends to reach. The possible role of two brain areas in place navigation is discussed within this framework. Beyond their primary role in landmark-based representations of places, hippocampal place cells may be involved in computing the current distances to the landmarks. Beyond their primary role in landmark-based representations of headings, post-subicular head-direction cells may be involved in computing the “compass bearings” of the landmarks.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3344  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Vallortigara, G.; Regolin, L.; Rigoni, M.; Zanforlin, M. doi  openurl
  Title Delayed search for a concealed imprinted object in the domestic chick Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 1998 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 17-24  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Five-day-old chicks were accustomed to follow an imprinted object (a small red ball with which they had been reared) that was moving slowly in a large arena, until it disappeared behind an opaque screen. In experiments, each chick was initially confined in a transparent cage, from where it could see and track the ball while it moved towards, and then beyond, one of two screens. The screens could be either identical or differ in colour and pattern. Either immediately after the disappearance of the ball, or with a certain delay, the chick was released and allowed to search for its imprinted object behind either screen. The results showed that chicks took into account the directional cue provided by the ball movement and its concealment, up to a delay period of about 180 s, independently of the perceptual characteristics of the two screens. If an opaque partition was positioned in front of the transparent cage immediately after the ball had disappeared, so that, throughout the delay, neither the goal-object nor the two screens were visible, chicks were still capable of remembering and choosing the correct screen, though over a much shorter period of about 60 s. The results suggest that, at least in this precocial bird species, very young chicks can maintain some form of representation of the location where a social partner was last seen, and are also capable of continuously updating this representation so as to take into account successive displacements of the goal-object.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3347  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Shuster, G.; Sherman, P.W. doi  openurl
  Title Tool use by naked mole-rats Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 1998 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 71-74  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber, Rodentia: Bathyergidae) excavate extensive subterranean burrows with their procumbent incisors. Captive individuals often place a wood shaving or tuber husk behind their incisor teeth and in front of their lips and molar teeth while gnawing on substrates that yield fine particulate debris. This oral barrier may prevent choking or aspiration of foreign material. Consistent use of tools has rarely been reported in rodents.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3367  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author McNelis, N.L.; Boatright-Horowitz, S.L. doi  openurl
  Title Social monitoring in a primate group: the relationship between visual attention and hierarchical ranks Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 1998 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 65-69  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Social monitoring has been hypothesized to be an important component of primate social behavior. If the gaze direction of one animal can redirect the gaze of another, visual scanning of conspecifics can provide a more efficient means of locating food or predators than directly scanning the entire nonsocial environment. Social monitoring also allows distance regulation between members of a group, reducing the likelihood of agonistic encounters. Although assessment of gaze direction in freely moving primates is problematic, we were successful in assessing amounts of visual scanning among adult females of a captive, socially housed group of patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) using a focal sampling technique with on-the-dot recording (5-s sampling intervals). In study 1, relative amounts of scanning were assessed as subjects gazed at any other member of the group. Percentages of agreement between observers ranged from 80% to 92%, with corresponding &#115 values ranging from 0.74 to 0.92. In study 2, relative amounts of visual scanning were assessed so that specific targets of gaze were identified. The resultant data supported a long-standing prediction about the role of social monitoring in primate group dynamics. Lower-ranking animals gazed toward higher-ranking animals more often than vice versa. Although the specific cues eliciting social monitoring remain to be determined, visual attention in this social primate group appeared to be systematically related to hierarchical ranks, assessed by displacements. Minimally, these results suggest that patas monkeys structure their visual attention based on previous encounters with other members of their social group. While simple discrimination learning could account for these results, the demonstration of a systematic relationship between visual attention and primate social dynamics is relevant to current discussions of a primate's understanding of conspecific gaze direction.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3377  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Miklósi, A.; Polgárdi, R.; Topál, J.; Csányi, V. doi  openurl
  Title Use of experimenter-given cues in dogs Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 1998 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 1 Issue 2 Pages 113-121  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Since the observations of O. Pfungst the use of human-provided cues by animals has been well-known in the behavioural sciences (“Clever Hans effect”). It has recently been shown that rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) are unable to use the direction of gazing by the experimenter as a cue for finding food, although after some training they learned to respond to pointing by hand. Direction of gaze is used by chimpanzees, however. Dogs (Canis familiaris) are believed to be sensitive to human gestural communication but their ability has never been formally tested. In three experiments we examined whether dogs can respond to cues given by humans. We found that dogs are able to utilize pointing, bowing, nodding, head-turning and glancing gestures of humans as cues for finding hidden food. Dogs were also able to generalize from one person (owner) to another familiar person (experimenter) in using the same gestures as cues. Baseline trials were run to test the possibility that odour cues alone could be responsible for the dogs' performance. During training individual performance showed limited variability, probably because some dogs already “knew” some of the cues from their earlier experiences with humans. We suggest that the phenomenon of dogs responding to cues given by humans is better analysed as a case of interspecific communication than in terms of discrimination learning.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3378  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author López, J.C.; Broglio, C.; Rodríguez, F.; Thinus-Blanc, C.; Salas, C. doi  openurl
  Title Multiple spatial learning strategies in goldfish (Carassius auratus) Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 1999 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 109-120  
  Keywords  
  Abstract There is a considerable amount of evidence that mammals and birds can use different spatial learning strategies based on multiple learning and memory systems. Unfortunately, only a few studies have investigated spatial learning and memory mechanisms in other vertebrates. This study aimed to identify the strategies used by goldfish to solve two different spatial tasks in a series of three experiments. In experiment 1, two groups of goldfish (Carassius auratus) were trained either in a spatial constancy task (SC), in which visual cues signalled the goal indirectly, or in a directly cued task (DC) in which similar cues signalled the goal directly. Transfer tests were conducted to study the effects of discrete cue deletion on the performance in both tasks. In these transfer tests the performance of the animals trained in the DC task dropped to chance level when the cue that signalled the goal directly was removed. In contrast, the removal of any single cue did not disrupt SC performance. In experiment 2, fish trained in the SC or the DC task were trained with the goal reversed. Goldfish in the SC group needed fewer sessions to master the reversal task than DC animals. Finally, experiment 3 investigated the effects of a substantial modification of the geometrical features of the apparatus on the performance of animals trained in the SC or in the DC condition. The performance of DC goldfish was not affected, whereas the same change disrupted performance in the SC animals despite the presence of the visual cues. These results suggest that there are separate spatial learning and memory systems in fish. Whereas the DC animals used a typical guidance strategy, relying only on the cue that signalled the goal directly, SC fish relied on a strategy with the properties of an actual spatial mapping system. Thus, the comparative approach points to the generality of these learning strategies among vertebrates.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3110  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Potì, P.; Langer, J.; Savage-Rumbaugh, S.; Brakke, K.E. doi  openurl
  Title Spontaneous logicomathematical constructions by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes, P. paniscus) Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 1999 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 2 Issue 3 Pages 147-156  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Two experiments investigated the spontaneous construction of precursory logicomathematical operations by human-enculturated and language-reared chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes, Pan paniscus) when they were interacting freely with objects. In experiment 1, three chimpanzees ranging in age from 6 to 18 years were presented with sets of six objects. Chimpanzees constructed equivalence, order and reversibility relations within single sets of objects as well as between two or three contemporaneous sets of objects. The chimpanzees' logicomathematical operations were more advanced, including infrequent and minimal operations on three sets, than those of some previously investigated younger nonenculturated common chimpanzees. In experiment 2, six chimpanzees ranging in age from 6 to 21 years were presented with sets of 12 objects. Chimpanzees constructed more advanced operations on single sets, but not on contemporaneous sets. The results suggest partial convergence and partial divergence between development of logicomathematical cognition in chimpanzees and humans.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3125  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Fountain, S. B.; Rowan, J.D.; Benson, D. M.Jr. doi  openurl
  Title Rule learning in rats: serial tracking in interleaved patterns Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 1999 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 2 Issue 1 Pages 41-54  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Humans have the ability to chunk together information from nonadjacent serial positions in sequential patterns. For example, human subjects can extrapolate the pattern, A-M-B-N-C-O-D-P-E-..., to find the missing element, Q, by sorting pattern elements into two component interleaved subpatterns: A-B-C-D-E and M-N-O-P-... Two experiments investigated the ability of rats to reorganize pattern elements from nonadjacent serial positions into chunks not presented by the experimenter. Rats learned either a structured or unstructured sequence interleaved with elements of a repeating sequence (experiment 1) or an alternation sequence (experiment 2). In both experiments, rats learned the interleaved subpatterns at different rates. Acquisition rate was correlated with the structural properties of component subpatterns and the nature of the rules required to describe the interleaved subpatterns. The results indicate that rats are sensitive to the organization of nonadjacent elements in serial patterns and that they can detect and sort structural relationships in interleaved patterns.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3135  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Cook, R. G.; Tauro, T. L. doi  openurl
  Title Object-goal positioning influences spatial representation in rats Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 1999 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 2 Issue 1 Pages 55-62  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Three tests investigated how the geometric relation between object/landmarks and goals influenced spatial choice behavior in rats. Two groups searched for hidden food in an object-filled circular arena containing 24 small poles. For the “Proximal” group, four distinct objects in a square configuration were placed close to four baited poles. For the “Distal” group, the identical configuration of objects was rotated 45° relative to the poles containing the hidden food. The Proximal group learned to locate the baited poles more quickly than the Distal group. Tests with removed and rearranged landmarks indicated that the two groups learned to use the objects differently. The results suggested that close proximity of objects to goals encouraged their use as beacons, while greater distance of objects from goals resulted in the global encoding of the geometric properties of the arena and the use of the objects as landmarks.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3137  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Heiling, A.M.; Herberstein, M.E. doi  openurl
  Title The role of experience in web-building spiders (Araneidae) Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 1999 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 2 Issue 3 Pages 171-177  
  Keywords  
  Abstract A typical feature of vertical orb-webs is the 'top/bottom' asymmetry, where the lower web region is larger than the upper web region. This asymmetry may improve prey capture success, because, sitting in the hub of the web, a spider can reach prey entangled below the hub faster than prey entangled in the area above the hub. While web asymmetry is known to vary intraspecifically, we tested if this variation also exists at the individual level and whether it is the result of experience, using two orb-web spider species, Argiope keyserlingi and Larinioides sclopetarius. The results reveal that experienced web-building spiders constructed more asymmetric webs than conspecifics deprived of any prior building experience over a period of several months. Experienced individuals invested more silk material into the web region below the hub, which covered a larger area. Moreover, web asymmetry was also influenced by previous prey capture experiences, as spiders increased the lower region of the web if it intercepted the most prey over a period of 6 days. Consequently, spiders may be able to use long-term web-building experience as well as short-term prey capture experience to build better traps. In contrast to previous views of spiders, experience can contribute to intraspecific as well as to individual variations in web design.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3154  
Permanent link to this record
Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print