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Author Regolin, L.; Tommasi, L.; Vallortigara, G. doi  openurl
  Title Visual perception of biological motion in newly hatched chicks as revealed by an imprinting procedure Type Journal Article
  Year 2000 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages 53-60  
  Keywords (up)  
  Abstract Day-old chicks were exposed to point-light animation sequences depicting either a walking hen or a rotating cylinder. On a subsequent free-choice test (experiment 1) the chicks approached the novel stimulus, irrespective of this being the hen or the cylinder. In order to obtain equivalent local motion vectors, in experiments 2 and 3 newly hatched chicks were exposed either to a point-light animation sequence depicting a walking hen, or to a positionally scrambled walking hen (i.e. an animation in which exactly the same set of dots in motion as that employed for the walking hen was presented, but with spatially randomized starting positions). Chicks tested on day 1 (experiment 2) or on day 2 (i.e. after a period in the dark following exposure on day 1 (experiment 3)) proved able to discriminate the two animation sequences: males preferentially approached the novel stimulus, females the familiar one. These results indicate that discrimination was not based on local motion vectors, but rather on the temporally integrated motion sequence.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3314  
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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 1998 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 17-24  
  Keywords (up)  
  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.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3347  
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Author Ghirlanda, S.; Vallortigara, G. url  doi
openurl 
  Title The evolution of brain lateralization: a game-theoretical analysis of population structure Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 271 Issue 1541 Pages 853-857  
  Keywords (up)  
  Abstract In recent years, it has become apparent that behavioural and brain lateralization at the population level is the rule rather than the exception among vertebrates. The study of these phenomena has so far been the province of neurology and neuropsychology. Here, we show how such research can be integrated with evolutionary biology to understand lateralization more fully. In particular, we address the fact that, within a species, left– and right–type individuals often occur in proportions different from one–half (e.g. hand use in humans). The traditional explanations offered for lateralization of brain function (that it may avoid unnecessary duplication of neural circuitry and reduce interference between functions) cannot account for this fact, because increased individual efficiency is unrelated to the alignment of lateralization at the population level. A further puzzle is that such an alignment may even be disadvantageous, as it makes individual behaviour more predictable to other organisms. Here, we show that alignment of the direction of behavioural asymmetries in a population can arise as an evolutionarily stable strategy when individual asymmetrical organisms must coordinate their behaviour with that of other asymmetrical organisms. Brain and behavioural lateralization, as we know it in humans and other vertebrates, may have evolved under basically ‘social’ selection pressures.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5345  
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Author Ghirlanda, S.; Frasnelli, E.; Vallortigara, G. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Intraspecific competition and coordination in the evolution of lateralization Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Abbreviated Journal Phil. Trans. Biol. Sci.  
  Volume 364 Issue 1519 Pages 861-866  
  Keywords (up)  
  Abstract Recent studies have revealed a variety of left–right asymmetries among vertebrates and invertebrates. In many species, left- and right-lateralized individuals coexist, but in unequal numbers (‘population-level’ lateralization). It has been argued that brain lateralization increases individual efficiency (e.g. avoiding unnecessary duplication of neural circuitry and reducing interference between functions), thus counteracting the ecological disadvantages of lateral biases in behaviour (making individual behaviour more predictable to other organisms). However, individual efficiency does not require a definite proportion of left- and right-lateralized individuals. Thus, such arguments do not explain population-level lateralization. We have previously shown that, in the context of prey–predator interactions, population-level lateralization can arise as an evolutionarily stable strategy when individually asymmetrical organisms must coordinate their behaviour with that of other asymmetrical organisms. Here, we extend our model showing that populations consisting of left- and right-lateralized individuals in unequal numbers can be evolutionarily stable, based solely on strategic factors arising from the balance between antagonistic (competitive) and synergistic (cooperative) interactions.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5346  
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Author Ventolini, N.; Ferrero, E.A.; Sponza, S.; Della Chiesa, A.; Zucca, P.; Vallortigara, G. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Laterality in the wild: preferential hemifield use during predatory and sexual behaviour in the black-winged stilt Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Animal Behaviour Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.  
  Volume 69 Issue 5 Pages 1077-1084  
  Keywords (up)  
  Abstract We recorded preferential use of the left and right monocular visual field in black-winged stilts, Himantopus himantopus, during predatory pecking and during courtship and mating behaviour in a naturalistic setting. The stilts had a population-level preference for using their right monocular visual field before predatory pecking; pecks that followed right-hemifield detection were more likely to be successful than pecks that followed left-hemifield detection, as evinced by the occurrence of swallowing and shaking head movements after pecking. In contrast, shaking behaviour, a component of courtship displays, and copulatory attempts by males were more likely to occur when females were seen with the left monocular visual field. Asymmetric hemifield use observed in natural conditions raises interesting issues as to the costs and benefits of population-level behavioural lateralization in wild animals.  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5589  
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Author Vallortigara, G.; Chiandetti, C.; Sovrano, V.A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Brain asymmetry (animal) Type Journal Article
  Year 2011 Publication Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science Abbreviated Journal WIREs Cogn Sci  
  Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 146-157  
  Keywords (up)  
  Abstract Once considered a uniquely human attribute, brain asymmetry has been proved to be ubiquitous among non-human animals. A synthetic review of evidence of animal lateralization in the motor, sensory, cognitive, and affective domains is provided, together with a discussion of its development and possible biological functions. It is argued that investigation of brain asymmetry in a comparative perspective may favor the link between classical neuropsychological studies and modern developmental and evolutionary biology approaches. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 146–157 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.100 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website  
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  Publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Place of Publication Editor  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1939-5086 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5687  
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Author Quaranta, A.; Siniscalchi, M.; Vallortigara, G. url  doi
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  Title Asymmetric tail-wagging responses by dogs to different emotive stimuli Type Abstract
  Year 2007 Publication Current biology : CB Abbreviated Journal Curr Biol  
  Volume 17 Issue 6 Pages R199-R201  
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  Publisher Cell Press Place of Publication Editor  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0960-9822 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5733  
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Author Siniscalchi, M.; Lusito, R.; Vallortigara, G.; Quaranta, A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Seeing Left- or Right-Asymmetric Tail Wagging Produces Different Emotional Responses in Dogs Type Journal Article
  Year 2013 Publication Current Biology Abbreviated Journal Curr Biol  
  Volume 23 Issue 22 Pages  
  Keywords (up)  
  Abstract Summary Left-right asymmetries in behavior associated with asymmetries in the brain are widespread in the animal kingdom [1], and the hypothesis has been put forward that they may be linked to animals’ social behavior [2, 3]. Dogs show asymmetric tail-wagging responses to different emotive stimuli [4]—the outcome of different activation of left and right brain structures controlling tail movements to the right and left side of the body. A crucial question, however, is whether or not dogs detect this asymmetry. Here we report that dogs looking at moving video images of conspecifics exhibiting prevalent left- or right-asymmetric tail wagging showed higher cardiac activity and higher scores of anxious behavior when observing left- rather than right-biased tail wagging. The finding that dogs are sensitive to the asymmetric tail expressions of other dogs supports the hypothesis of a link between brain asymmetry and social behavior and may prove useful to canine animal welfare theory and practice.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0960-9822 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5734  
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Author Quaresmini, C.; Forrester, G.S.; Spiezio, C.; Vallortigara, G. doi  openurl
  Title Social environment elicits lateralized behaviors in gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Type Journal Article
  Year 2014 Publication Journal of Comparative Psychology Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 128 Issue 3 Pages 276-284  
  Keywords (up) *Animal Ethology; *Animal Social Behavior; *Chimpanzees; *Gorillas; *Social Influences; Cerebral Dominance; Lateral Dominance; Social Environments  
  Abstract The influence of the social environment on lateralized behaviors has now been investigated across a wide variety of animal species. New evidence suggests that the social environment can modulate behavior. Currently, there is a paucity of data relating to how primates navigate their environmental space, and investigations that consider the naturalistic context of the individual are few and fragmented. Moreover, there are competing theories about whether only the right or rather both cerebral hemispheres are involved in the processing of social stimuli, especially in emotion processing. Here we provide the first report of lateralized social behaviors elicited by great apes. We employed a continuous focal animal sampling method to record the spontaneous interactions of a captive zoo-living colony of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and a biological family group of peer-reared western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). We specifically focused on which side of the body (i.e., front, rear, left, right) the focal individual preferred to keep conspecifics. Utilizing a newly developed quantitative corpus-coding scheme, analysis revealed both chimpanzees and gorillas demonstrated a significant group-level preference for focal individuals to keep conspecifics positioned to the front of them compared with behind them. More interestingly, both groups also manifested a population-level bias to keep conspecifics on their left side compared with their right side. Our findings suggest a social processing dominance of the right hemisphere for context-specific social environments. Results are discussed in light of the evolutionary adaptive value of social stimulus as a triggering factor for the manifestation of group-level lateralized behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)  
  Address Quaresmini, Caterina: Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, Rovereto, Italy, 38068, caterina.quaresmini@gmail.com  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher American Psychological Association Place of Publication Us Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
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  ISSN 1939-2087(Electronic),0735-7036(Print) ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ 2014-13828-001 Serial 6396  
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Author Siniscalchi, M.; Sasso, R.; Pepe, A.M.; Dimatteo, S.; Vallortigara, G.; Quaranta, A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Sniffing with the right nostril: lateralization of response to odour stimuli by dogs Type Journal Article
  Year Publication Animal Behaviour Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.  
  Volume In Press, Corrected Proof Issue Pages  
  Keywords (up) animal welfare; Canis familiaris; dog; emotion; laterality olfaction; physiology  
  Abstract Lateralization in dogs, Canis familiaris, has been reported for paw usage and response to visual and acoustic stimuli. Surprisingly, however, no investigation of possible lateralization for the most relevant sensory domain of dogs, namely olfaction, has been carried out. Here we investigated left and right nostril use in dogs freely sniffing different emotive stimuli in unrestrained conditions. When sniffing novel nonaversive stimuli (food, lemon, vaginal secretion and cotton swab odours), dogs showed initial preferential use of the right nostril and then a shift towards use of the left nostril with repeated stimulus presentation. When sniffing arousal stimuli such as adrenaline and veterinary sweat odorants, dogs showed a consistent right nostril bias all over the series of stimulus presentations. Results suggest initial involvement of the right hemisphere in processing of novel stimuli followed by the left hemisphere taking charge of control of routine behaviour. Sustained right nostril response to arousal stimuli appears to be consistent with the idea that the sympathetic hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is mainly under the control of the right hemisphere. The implications of these findings for animal welfare are discussed.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5394  
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