| Records |
| Author |
Ward, C.; Smuts, B.B. |
| Title |
Quantity-based judgments in the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
10 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
71-80 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Choice Behavior; Dogs; Female; Food; Male; *Size Perception |
Abstract  |
We examined the ability of domestic dogs to choose the larger versus smaller quantity of food in two experiments. In experiment 1, we investigated the ability of 29 dogs (results from 18 dogs were used in the data analysis) to discriminate between two quantities of food presented in eight different combinations. Choices were simultaneously presented and visually available at the time of choice. Overall, subjects chose the larger quantity more often than the smaller quantity, but they found numerically close comparisons more difficult. In experiment 2, we tested two dogs from experiment 1 under three conditions. In condition 1, we used similar methods from experiment 1 and tested the dogs multiple times on the eight combinations from experiment 1 plus one additional combination. In conditions 2 and 3, the food was visually unavailable to the subjects at the time of choice, but in condition 2, food choices were viewed simultaneously before being made visually unavailable, and in condition 3, they were viewed successively. In these last two conditions, and especially in condition 3, the dogs had to keep track of quantities mentally in order to choose optimally. Subjects still chose the larger quantity more often than the smaller quantity when the food was not simultaneously visible at the time of choice. Olfactory cues and inadvertent cuing by the experimenter were excluded as mechanisms for choosing larger quantities. The results suggest that, like apes tested on similar tasks, some dogs can form internal representations and make mental comparisons of quantity. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 1012 East Hall, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043, USA. rameses@unich.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 |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
| Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
| Notes |
PMID:16941158 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2440 |
| Permanent link to this record |
| |
|
| |
| Author |
Clement, T.S.; Zentall, T.R. |
| Title |
Choice based on exclusion in pigeons |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Psychonomic bulletin & review |
Abbreviated Journal |
Psychon Bull Rev |
| Volume |
10 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
959-964 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Appetitive Behavior; *Association Learning; *Choice Behavior; *Color Perception; Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; Memory, Short-Term; *Problem Solving; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Transfer (Psychology) |
| Abstract |
When humans acquire a conditional discrimination and are given a novel-sample-comparison choice, they often reject a comparison known to be associated with a different sample and choose the alternative comparison by default (or by exclusion). In Experiment 1, we found that if, following matching training, we replaced both of the samples, acquisition took five times longer than if we replaced only one of the samples. Apparently, the opportunity to reject one of the comparisons facilitated the association of the other sample with the remaining comparison. In Experiment 2, we first trained pigeons to treat two samples differently (to associate Sample A with Comparison 1 and Sample B with Comparison 2) and then trained them to associate one of those samples with a new comparison (e.g., Sample A with Comparison 3) and to associate a novel sample (Sample C) with a different, new comparison (Comparison 4). When Sample B then replaced Sample C, the pigeons showed a significant tendency to choose Comparison 4 over Comparison 3. Thus, when given the opportunity, pigeons will choose by exclusion. |
| Address |
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA |
| 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 |
1069-9384 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
| Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
| Notes |
PMID:15000545 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
233 |
| Permanent link to this record |
