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Author Petherick, J.C.; Waddington, D.; Duncan, I.J.H. url  openurl
  Title Learning to gain access to a foraging and dustbathing substrate by domestic fowl: is `out of sight out of mind'? Type Journal Article
  Year 1991 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.  
  Volume 22 Issue 3 Pages 213-226  
  Keywords Domestic fowl; Dustbathing; Welfare; Learning; Cognition  
  Abstract Domestic fowl were deprived of the opportunity to perform litter-related behaviour for three or four days and were tested in a Y-maze (which they had previously been trained to run) for their ability to associate a coloured cue with gaining access to peat. When the goal boxes were within sight of the choice point, most birds chose peat. However, when the birds had to rely solely on the coloured cue only one bird from 12 showed learning. However, the birds seemed to have some expectation of a reward, as they ran faster if, on the previous trial, they had chosen peat. The inability of the birds to learn the association may have been an artefact of the schedule of deprivation and testing, for when they were hungry and tested in the same way they were again unable to learn an association between the same coloured cue and food reward. The experiment with peat was repeated using “massed” trials (several trials in immediate succession) during training and testing and six from 15 birds showed learning. These results suggest that the initial failure to learn was probably due to the training and testing schedule, that access to peat appears to be rewarding and that hens can learn an association between an abstract cue and a rewarding consequence. This is consistent with the possibility that domestic fowls may have some cognitive representation of peat when it is out of sight.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (down) 3609  
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Author Timney, B.; Keil, K. doi  openurl
  Title Local and global stereopsis in the horse Type Journal Article
  Year 1999 Publication Vision Research Abbreviated Journal Vision Res  
  Volume 39 Issue 10 Pages 1861-1867  
  Keywords Animals; Depth Perception/*physiology; Female; Horses/*physiology; Pattern Recognition, Visual/physiology; Psychophysics; Sensory Thresholds/physiology; Vision, Binocular/physiology; Vision, Monocular/physiology  
  Abstract Although horses have laterally-placed eyes, there is substantial binocular overlap, allowing for the possibility that these animals have stereopsis. In the first experiment of the present study we measured local stereopsis by obtaining monocular and binocular depth thresholds for renal depth stimuli. On all measures, the horses' binocular performance was superior to their monocular. When depth thresholds were obtained, binocular thresholds were several times superior to those obtained monocularly, suggesting that the animals could use stereoscopic information when it was available. The binocular thresholds averaged about 15 min arc. In the second experiment we obtained evidence for the presence of global stereopsis by testing the animals' ability to discriminate between random-dot stereograms with and without consistent disparity information. When presented with such stimuli they showed a strong preference for the cyclopean equivalent of the positive stimulus with the real depth. These results provide the first behavioral demonstration of a full range of stereoscopic skills in a lateral-eyed mammal.  
  Address Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada. timney@julian.uwo.ca  
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  ISSN 0042-6989 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:10343877 Approved yes  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (down) 3580  
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Author Kaminski, J.; Call, J.; Tomasello, M. doi  openurl
  Title Goats' behaviour in a competitive food paradigm: Evidence for perspective taking? Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Behaviour Abbreviated Journal Behaviour  
  Volume 143 Issue Pages 1341-1356  
  Keywords SOCIAL COGNITION; GOATS; VISUAL PERSPECTIVE TAKING; COMPARATIVE COGNITION  
  Abstract Many mammalian species are highly social, creating intra-group competition for such things as food and mates. Recent research with nonhuman primates indicates that in competitive situations individuals know what other individuals can and cannot see, and they use this knowledge to their advantage in various ways. In the current study, we extended these findings to a non-primate species, the domestic goat, using the conspecific competition paradigm developed by Hare et al. (2000). Like chimpanzees and some other nonhuman primates, goats live in fission-fusion societies, form coalitions and alliances, and are known to reconcile after fights. In the current study, a dominant and a subordinate individual competed for food, but in some cases the subordinate could see things that the dominant could not. In the condition where dominants could only see one piece of food but subordinates could see both, subordinates' preferences depended on whether they received aggression from the dominant animal during the experiment. Subjects who received aggression preferred the hidden over the visible piece of food, whereas subjects who never received aggression significantly preferred the visible piece. By using this strategy, goats who had not received aggression got significantly more food than the other goats. Such complex social interactions may be supported by cognitive mechanisms similar to those of chimpanzees. We discuss these results in the context of current issues in mammalian cognition and socio-ecology.  
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  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial (down) 3430  
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Author Griffin, D.R. doi  openurl
  Title From cognition to consciousness Type Journal Article
  Year 1998 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 3-16  
  Keywords Animal minds – Cognitive ethology – Cognition – Consciousness  
  Abstract This paper proposes an extension of scientific horizons in the study of animal behavior and cognition to include conscious experiences. From this perspective animals are best appreciated as actors rather than passive objects. A major adaptive function of their central nervous systems may be simple, but conscious and rational, thinking about alternative actions and choosing those the animal believes will get what it wants, or avoid what it dislikes or fears. Versatile adjustment of behavior in response to unpredictable challenges provides strongly suggestive evidence of simple but conscious thinking. And especially significant objective data about animal thoughts and feelings are already available, once communicative signals are recognized as evidence of the subjective experiences they often convey to others. The scientific investigation of human consciousness has undergone a renaissance in the 1990s, as exemplified by numerous symposia, books and two new journals. The neural correlates of cognition appear to be basically similar in all central nervous systems. Therefore other species equipped with very similar neurons, synapses, and glia may well be conscious. Simple perceptual and rational conscious thinking may be at least as important for small animals as for those with large enough brains to store extensive libraries of behavioral rules. Perhaps only in “megabrains” is most of the information processing unconscious.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (down) 3088  
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Author Duncan, I.J.H. url  openurl
  Title D.G.M. Wood-Gush Memorial Lecture: An applied ethologist looks at the question “Why?” Type Journal Article
  Year 1995 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 44 Issue 2-4 Pages 205-217  
  Keywords Causation; Cognition; Function; Future research; Ontogeny; Phylogeny; States of suffering; Welfare  
  Abstract The question “Why does an animal behave as it does?” can be answered in terms of ontogeny, function, phylogeny and causation. The achievements of applied ethology relative to those four approaches are reviewed, gaps in our knowledge are identified and predictions for fruitful avenues of future research are made. Ontogenic studies have been useful in the past and it is suggested that studies of the effects of early experience on the sexual behaviour of animals used in artificial breeding schemes might pay dividends. It is proposed that functional studies should be approached cautiously. More information is required on the process of domestication in order to increase the chances of success in the trend to farm exotic species. Studies on causation are likely to continue to be the mainstay of applied ethological research. It is suggested that within this category, studies on states of suffering, motivation and cognition are urgently required to answer the most pressing questions on animal welfare.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (down) 2919  
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Author Spinka, M.; Duncan, I.J.H.; Widowski, T.M. url  openurl
  Title Do domestic pigs prefer short-term to medium-term confinement? Type Journal Article
  Year 1998 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 58 Issue 3-4 Pages 221-232  
  Keywords Cognition; Pig-housing; Preference tests  
  Abstract A preference test was used to demonstrate that gilts have the ability to associate two sets of neutral cues with two different periods of confinement and water deprivation and to anticipate the long-term consequences of their choice in the test. Twelve gilts housed in two large, straw-bedded pens were trained to go to two sets of 12 crates, positioned on each side of a choice point, for feeding twice a day. Following initial training, the two sets of crates were marked with contrasting visual patterns and the patterns were associated with either 30 min (`short' confinement) or 240 min (`long' confinement) of confinement in the crates after entry. During 16 days of preference testing, the gilts were sent alternately to one side or the other in the mornings and allowed to choose in the afternoons. Eight gilts chose the short confinement side more often, two, the long confinement side more often and two, each side an equal number of times, indicating that most gilts learned the association and preferred to be released shortly after feeding. However, gilts still chose the long confinement side on occasion, suggesting that they did not find 240 min of confinement very aversive. When the gilts were sent to the crates in the morning, their behaviour indicated that they expected to be released or confined depending on which crate they were in. The cognitive abilities of animals with respect to perception of time and anticipation of future events have important implications for their welfare. This study demonstrates that methods can be developed to ask animals about such things.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (down) 2910  
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Author McLean, A.N. url  openurl
  Title Cognitive abilities -- the result of selective pressures on food acquisition? Type Journal Article
  Year 2001 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 71 Issue 3 Pages 241-258  
  Keywords Adaptive intelligence; Animal cognition; Darwinian selection; Insightful learning  
  Abstract Locating and capturing food are suggested as significant selection pressures for the evolution of various cognitive abilities in mammals and birds. The hypothesis is proposed that aspects of food procuring behaviour should be strongly indicative of particular cognitive abilities. Experimental data concerning higher mental abilities in mammals and birds are reviewed. These data deal with self-recognition studies, rule-learning experiments, number concept, deceptive abilities, tool-use and observational learning. A Darwinian approach reveals: (1) the adaptiveness of particular abilities for particular niches, (2) that in complex foraging environments, increases in foraging efficiencies in animals should result from the evolution of particular cognitive abilities, (3) that phenomena such as convergent mental evolution should be expected to have taken place across taxonomic groups for species exploiting similar niches, (4) that divergence in mental ability should also have taken place where related species have exploited dissimilar niches. Experimental data of higher mental abilities in animals concur with a Darwinian explanation for the distribution of these cognitive abilities and no anomalies have been found. There are, as a consequence, significant implications for the welfare of animals subject to training when training methodology gives little or no consideration to the various mental abilities of species.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (down) 2907  
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Author Ligout, S.; Porter, R.H.; Bon, R. url  openurl
  Title Social discrimination in lambs: persistence and scope Type Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 239-248  
  Keywords Social discrimination; Social cognition; Persistence of recognition; Lambs  
  Abstract Social recognition among familiar unrelated lambs was assessed in a series of tests. Lambs and their mothers were housed together in small groups for 1 week (Original groups; O) then reorganized into new groupings (Recent-groups; R) for the remainder of the experiment. During test series 1, lambs that were paired with a familiar O-group partner, from which they had been separated for 5 days, emitted fewer distress bleats than did those tested with an unfamiliar partner. This same effect was not evident when the test was repeated several hours later, indicating that the animals had become habituated to the testing procedures. Two days later, when given the choice between an O- versus a R-partner (test series 2), lambs did not display a preference for either of the stimulus lambs. However, in an additional two-choice test (test series 3) the subject lambs responded discriminatively to a recent familiar partner that was simultaneously present with an unfamiliar lamb. Overall, the results suggest that lambs are capable of developing discriminative relationships with age-mates from different sub-groups, and that such social discrimination persists over a separation period lasting at least several days. It is not clear whether lambs recognize several individual conspecifics per se or discriminate between members of higher order social categories (e.g. familiar versus unfamiliar individuals). Proximal and distal social discrimination may be mediated by different combinations of sensory modalities.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (down) 2906  
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Author McKinley, S.; Young, R.J. url  openurl
  Title The efficacy of the model-rival method when compared with operant conditioning for training domestic dogs to perform a retrieval-selection task Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 357-365  
  Keywords Dogs; Learning; Operant conditioning; Model-rival; Cognition  
  Abstract Traditionally, dogs have been trained by operant conditioning techniques; that is, dogs make a desired behavioural response and this response is reinforced by a reward such as food. This type of training is very effective in training dogs to perform basic obedience behaviours (e.g. `stay'). However, dogs are social animals and should be predisposed to learn from social stimuli. In the present study, we used a modified version of the model-rival technique that has been extensively used in experiments investigating the cognitive ability of parrots. In this technique, social stimuli are used to create in the animal an interest in the object without the use of food or other rewards. Therefore, the animal learns the name of the object (intrinsic reward) and not that the object's name means food. In this experiment we compared the learning ability of nine pet dogs to solve the same retrieval-selection task having been previously trained using operant conditioning or model-rival techniques. The retrieval-selection task was the dogs had to correctly select the commanded object to bring to the experimenter from a group of three similar objects. The results show no difference in the speeds with which the dogs solved the test--demonstrating the efficacy of the model-rival method. This is the first time that the effectiveness of the model-rival technique has been experimentally demonstrated with dogs. Furthermore, we believe that the methodology reported in this paper has applications in dog training and in experiments into dog cognition.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (down) 2900  
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Author Ernst, K.; Puppe, B.; Schon, P.C.; Manteuffel, G. url  openurl
  Title A complex automatic feeding system for pigs aimed to induce successful behavioural coping by cognitive adaptation Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 91 Issue 3-4 Pages 205-218  
  Keywords Learning; Cognition; Reward; Welfare; Pig  
  Abstract In modern intensive husbandry systems there is an increasing tendency for animals to interact with technical equipment. If the animal-technology interface is well-designed this may improve animal welfare by offering challenges for cognitive adaptation. Here a system and its application is presented that acoustically calls individual pigs out of a group (n = 8) to a feeding station. In three different learning phases, the computer-controlled “call-feeding-station” (CFS) trained the animals to recognize a specific acoustic signal as a summons for food, using a combination of classical and operant conditioning techniques. The experimental group's stall contained four CFSs, at each of which one animal at a time was able to feed. When an animal had learned to discriminate and recognize its individual acoustic signal it had to localize the particular CFS that was calling and to enter inside it. Then, it received a portion of feed, the amount of which was adapted to the respective age of the animals. Each animal was called at several, unpredictable times each day and the computer programme ensured that the total feed supply was sufficient for each animal. In the last phase of the experiment the animals, in addition, had to press a button with an increasing fixed ratio for the delivery of feed. It was demonstrated that the pigs were able to adapt quickly to the CFSs. Although they were challenged over 12 h daily by requirements of attention, sensory localization and motor efforts to gain comparatively low amounts of feed, they performed well and reached fairly constant success rates between 90 and 95% and short delays between 14 and 16 s between a summons and the food release in the last phase of the experiment. The weight gain during the experiment was the same as in a conventionally fed control group (n = 8). We therefore conclude that CFSs present a positive challenge to the animals with no negative effects on performance but with a potentially beneficial role for welfare and against boredom. The system is also a suitable experimental platform for research on the effects of successful adaptation by rewarded cognitive processes in pigs.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (down) 2898  
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