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Author Zhou, W.-X.; Sornette, D.; Hill, R.A.; Dunbar, R.I.M. doi  openurl
  Title Discrete hierarchical organization of social group sizes Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci  
  Volume 272 Issue 1561 Pages 439-444  
  Keywords Anthropology, Cultural; *Group Structure; Humans; *Models, Biological; *Social Behavior; *Social Environment  
  Abstract The 'social brain hypothesis' for the evolution of large brains in primates has led to evidence for the coevolution of neocortical size and social group sizes, suggesting that there is a cognitive constraint on group size that depends, in some way, on the volume of neural material available for processing and synthesizing information on social relationships. More recently, work on both human and non-human primates has suggested that social groups are often hierarchically structured. We combine data on human grouping patterns in a comprehensive and systematic study. Using fractal analysis, we identify, with high statistical confidence, a discrete hierarchy of group sizes with a preferred scaling ratio close to three: rather than a single or a continuous spectrum of group sizes, humans spontaneously form groups of preferred sizes organized in a geometrical series approximating 3-5, 9-15, 30-45, etc. Such discrete scale invariance could be related to that identified in signatures of herding behaviour in financial markets and might reflect a hierarchical processing of social nearness by human brains.  
  Address State Key Laboratory of Chemical Reaction Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15734699 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 549  
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Author Moehlman, P.D. url  openurl
  Title Endangered wild equids Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Scientific American Abbreviated Journal Sci Am  
  Volume 292 Issue 3 Pages 74-81  
  Keywords Africa; Americas; Animals; *Animals, Wild/physiology; Asia; *Conservation of Energy Resources; Environment; *Equidae/physiology; Food Chain; Humans; Male; Reproduction  
  Abstract  
  Address IUCN-The World Conservation Union/Species Survival Commission Equid Specialist Group  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0036-8733 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15859216 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 551  
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Author Boyd, L. openurl 
  Title Behavior problems of equids in zoos Type Journal Article
  Year 1986 Publication The Veterinary clinics of North America. Equine practice Abbreviated Journal Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract  
  Volume 2 Issue 3 Pages 653-664  
  Keywords Aerophagy/veterinary; Aggression/psychology; Animals; *Animals, Zoo; *Behavior, Animal; Coprophagia/psychology; Female; *Horses; Impotence/veterinary; Male; Mastication; Motor Activity; *Perissodactyla; Pregnancy; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Social Environment  
  Abstract Behavior problems in zoo equids commonly result from a failure to provide for needs basic to equine nature. Equids are gregarious, and failure to provide companions may result in pacing. Wild equids spend 60 to 70 per cent of their time grazing, and failure to provide ad libitum roughage contributes to the problems of pacing, cribbing, wood chewing, and coprophagia. Mimicking the normal processes of juvenile dispersal, bachelor-herd formation, and mate acquisition reduces the likelihood of agonistic and reproductive behavior problems. Infanticide can be avoided by introducing new stallions to herds containing only nonpregnant mares and older foals.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0749-0739 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:3492252 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 660  
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Author Sondergaard, E.; Ladewig, J. url  openurl
  Title Group housing exerts a positive effect on the behaviour of young horses during training Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 87 Issue 1-2 Pages 105-118  
  Keywords Horses; Housing; Human-animal relationship; Social environment; Training; Learning  
  Abstract In an experiment on the effects of social environment and training on the human-animal relationship, 20 horses were handled according to a defined schedule. Eight horses were housed singly and 12 horses were housed in four groups of 3 horses. Horses were handled three times per week in 10 min sessions from an age of 6 months until 2 years of age during two winter periods. A total of 50 and 70 sessions were given in the first and second period, respectively. Five randomly allocated people performed the training. The training scheme involved leading, tying up, touching, lifting feet, etc. in 43 stages. The horse had to fulfil the performance criteria of each stage in order to get to the next stage. In the first winter period, horses were led to the stable when they had “passed” a stage or after 10 min of training. In the second winter period, horses would start off at stage 1 again, and when they “passed” a stage they went on to the next stage within the same training session. Because of the change in training procedure results were analysed separately for the two winter periods. There was a significant difference between trainers in the number of times they allowed a horse to “pass” a stage within each winter period (χ32, P<0.05; χ32, P<0.001 for the first and the second winter period, respectively). Group housed horses “passed” more stages than single housed horses (17 versus 14; 27 versus 18 in the first and second winter period, respectively; P<0.05 for the interaction). Singly housed horses bit the trainer more frequently than did group housed horses (P<0.01). The responses of group housed horses to training clearly demonstrate the benefits of raising young horses in groups.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 724  
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Author Whiten, A.; Horner, V.; Litchfield, C.A.; Marshall-Pescini, S. url  doi
openurl 
  Title How do apes ape? Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Learning & Behavior Abbreviated Journal Learn. Behav.  
  Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 36-52  
  Keywords Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Hominidae/*psychology; *Imitative Behavior; Imprinting (Psychology); *Learning; Psychological Theory; *Social Environment; *Social Facilitation  
  Abstract In the wake of telling critiques of the foundations on which earlier conclusions were based, the last 15 years have witnessed a renaissance in the study of social learning in apes. As a result, we are able to review 31 experimental studies from this period in which social learning in chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans has been investigated. The principal question framed at the beginning of this era, Do apes ape? has been answered in the affirmative, at least in certain conditions. The more interesting question now is, thus, How do apes ape? Answering this question has engendered richer taxonomies of the range of social-learning processes at work and new methodologies to uncover them. Together, these studies suggest that apes ape by employing a portfolio of alternative social-learning processes in flexibly adaptive ways, in conjunction with nonsocial learning. We conclude by sketching the kind of decision tree that appears to underlie the deployment of these alternatives.  
  Address Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. a.whiten@st-and.ac.uk  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1543-4494 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15161139 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 734  
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Author Caldwell, C.A.; Whiten, A. doi  openurl
  Title Testing for social learning and imitation in common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus, using an artificial fruit Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Animal cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 7 Issue 2 Pages 77-85  
  Keywords Animals; *Association Learning; Callithrix/*psychology; Discrimination Learning; *Feeding Behavior; Female; Food Preferences; Fruit; *Imitative Behavior; Male; *Social Behavior; Social Environment  
  Abstract We tested for social learning and imitation in common marmosets using an artificial foraging task and trained conspecific demonstrators. We trained a demonstrator marmoset to open an artificial fruit, providing a full demonstration of the task to be learned. Another marmoset provided a partial demonstration, controlling for stimulus enhancement effects, by eating food from the outside of the apparatus. We thus compared three observer groups, each consisting of four animals: those that received the full demonstration, those that received the partial demonstration, and a control group that saw no demonstration prior to testing. Although none of the observer marmosets succeeded in opening the artificial fruit during the test periods, there were clear effects of demonstration type. Those that saw the full demonstration manipulated the apparatus more overall, whereas those from the control group manipulated it the least of the three groups. Those from the full-demonstration group also contacted the particular parts of the artificial fruit that they had seen touched (localised stimulus enhancement) to a greater extent than the other two groups. There was also an interaction between the number of hand and mouth touches made to the artificial fruit for the full- and partial-demonstration groups. Whether or not these data represent evidence for imitation is discussed. We also propose that the clear differences between the groups suggest that social learning mechanisms provide real benefits to these animals in terms of developing novel food-processing skills analogous to the one presented here.  
  Address Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution and Scottish Primate Research Group, University of St Andrews, KY16 9JU, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. C.A.Caldwell@exeter.ac.uk  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15069606 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 735  
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Author Whiten, A.; Custance, D.M.; Gomez, J.C.; Teixidor, P.; Bard, K.A. doi  openurl
  Title Imitative learning of artificial fruit processing in children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Type Journal Article
  Year 1996 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol  
  Volume 110 Issue 1 Pages 3-14  
  Keywords Animals; Child, Preschool; Discrimination Learning; Female; Food Preferences/*psychology; *Fruit; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; Male; Mental Recall; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; Social Environment  
  Abstract Observational learning in chimpanzees and young children was investigated using an artificial fruit designed as an analog of natural foraging problems faced by primates. Each of 3 principal components could be removed in 2 alternative ways, demonstration of only one of which was watched by each subject. This permitted subsequent imitation by subjects to be distinguished from stimulus enhancement. Children aged 2-4 years evidenced imitation for 2 components, but also achieved demonstrated outcomes through their own techniques. Chimpanzees relied even more on their own techniques, but they did imitate elements of 1 component of the task. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence of chimpanzee imitation in a functional task designed to simulate foraging behavior hypothesized to be transmitted culturally in the wild.  
  Address Scottish Primate Research Group, University of St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. aw2@st-andrews.ac.uk  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:8851548 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 744  
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Author Devenport, J.A.; Patterson, M.R.; Devenport, L.D. doi  openurl
  Title Dynamic averaging and foraging decisions in horses (Equus callabus) Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Journal of Comparative psychology Abbreviated Journal J. Comp. Psychol.  
  Volume 119 Issue 3 Pages 352-358  
  Keywords Animals; *Decision Making; *Feeding Behavior; Female; Horses/*psychology; Male; *Memory, Short-Term; Motivation; Orientation; *Social Environment  
  Abstract The variability of most environments taxes foraging decisions by increasing the uncertainty of the information available. One solution to the problem is to use dynamic averaging, as do some granivores and carnivores. Arguably, the same strategy could be useful for grazing herbivores, even though their food renews and is more homogeneously distributed. Horses (Equus callabus) were given choices between variable patches after short or long delays. When patch information was current, horses returned to the patch that was recently best, whereas those without current information matched choices to the long-term average values of the patches. These results demonstrate that a grazing species uses dynamic averaging and indicate that, like granivores and carnivores, they can use temporal weighting to optimize foraging decisions.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of Central Oklahoma, 73034, USA. jdevenport@ucok.edu  
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  ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16131264 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 752  
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Author Kendrick, K.M. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Intelligent perception Type Journal Article
  Year 1998 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 57 Issue 3-4 Pages 213-231  
  Keywords Intelligent perception; Environmental changes; Primates  
  Abstract For an animal from any species to exhibit intelligent perception it must be capable of being consciously aware of what it perceives and capable of learning from this experience. Although many organisms, and for that matter machines, are capable of rapid adaptive learning in response to perception of environmental changes, such adaptations can occur without them being consciously aware either of external stimuli or their response to them. While behavioural and neurophysiological evidence suggests that, apart from ourselves, other higher primates must also be capable of such awareness, an important central question is whether such awareness is a characteristic of primate evolution or if it also occurs in sub-primate mammals as well. In this review I will examine our behavioural and neurophysiological evidence from visual and olfactory recognition studies in the sheep to support the argument that they are likely to be aware of and learn about both social and non-social objects and that they are therefore capable of intelligent perception. However, the impact of motivational changes on these perceptual processes suggests that they may be limited in terms of both prospection and retrospection and dealing with symbolic associations.  
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  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 796  
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Author Fragaszy, D.; Visalberghi, E. openurl 
  Title Socially biased learning in monkeys Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Learning & behavior : a Psychonomic Society publication Abbreviated Journal Learn Behav  
  Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 24-35  
  Keywords Adaptation, Psychological; Animal Communication; Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Feeding Behavior/psychology; Food Preferences/psychology; Haplorhini/*psychology; *Imitative Behavior; Imprinting (Psychology); *Learning; *Social Environment; *Social Facilitation  
  Abstract We review socially biased learning about food and problem solving in monkeys, relying especially on studies with tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and callitrichid monkeys. Capuchin monkeys most effectively learn to solve a new problem when they can act jointly with an experienced partner in a socially tolerant setting and when the problem can be solved by direct action on an object or substrate, but they do not learn by imitation. Capuchin monkeys are motivated to eat foods, whether familiar or novel, when they are with others that are eating, regardless of what the others are eating. Thus, social bias in learning about foods is indirect and mediated by facilitation of feeding. In most respects, social biases in learning are similar in capuchins and callitrichids, except that callitrichids provide more specific behavioral cues to others about the availability and palatability of foods. Callitrichids generally are more tolerant toward group members and coordinate their activity in space and time more closely than capuchins do. These characteristics support stronger social biases in learning in callitrichids than in capuchins in some situations. On the other hand, callitrichids' more limited range of manipulative behaviors, greater neophobia, and greater sensitivity to the risk of predation restricts what these monkeys learn in comparison with capuchins. We suggest that socially biased learning is always the collective outcome of interacting physical, social, and individual factors, and that differences across populations and species in social bias in learning reflect variations in all these dimensions. Progress in understanding socially biased learning in nonhuman species will be aided by the development of appropriately detailed models of the richly interconnected processes affecting learning.  
  Address Psychology Department, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA. doree@uga.edu  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1543-4494 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15161138 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 828  
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