| Records |
| Author |
Reid, P.J.; Shettleworth, S.J. |
| Title |
Detection of cryptic prey: search image or search rate? |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
1992 |
Publication |
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
| Volume |
18 |
Issue  |
3 |
Pages |
273-286 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Appetitive Behavior; *Attention; Color Perception; Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; Food Preferences/psychology; *Imagination; *Mental Recall; *Predatory Behavior |
| Abstract |
Animals' improvement in capturing cryptic prey with experience has long been attributed to a perceptual mechanism, the specific search image. Detection could also be improved by adjusting rate of search. In a series of studies using both naturalistic and operant search tasks, pigeons searched for wheat, dyed to produce 1 conspicuous and 2 equally cryptic prey types. Contrary to the predictions of the search-rate hypothesis, pigeons given a choice between the 2 cryptic types took the type experienced most recently. However, experience with 1 cryptic type improved accuracy on the other cryptic type, a result inconsistent with a search image specific to 1 prey type. Search image may better be thought of as priming of attention to those features of the prey type that best distinguish the prey from the background. |
| Address |
University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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0097-7403 |
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PMID:1619395 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
381 |
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| Author |
Shettleworth, S.J.; Plowright, C.M. |
| Title |
How pigeons estimate rates of prey encounter |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
1992 |
Publication |
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
| Volume |
18 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
219-235 |
| Keywords |
Analysis of Variance; Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; Columbidae; Conditioning, Operant; Food Preferences/*psychology; Motivation; *Predatory Behavior; *Probability Learning; *Reinforcement Schedule; Social Environment |
| Abstract |
Pigeons were trained on operant schedules simulating successive encounters with prey items. When items were encountered on variable-interval schedules, birds were more likely to accept a poor item (long delay to food) the longer they had just searched, as if they were averaging prey density over a short memory window (Experiment 1). Responding as if the immediate future would be like the immediate past was reversed when a short search predicted a long search next time (Experiment 2). Experience with different degrees of environmental predictability appeared to change the length of the memory window (Experiment 3). The results may reflect linear waiting (Higa, Wynne, & Staddon, 1991), but they differ in some respects. The findings have implications for possible mechanisms of adjusting behavior to current reinforcement conditions. |
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Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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English |
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0097-7403 |
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PMID:1619391 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
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382 |
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| Author |
Mendl, M. |
| Title |
Performing under pressure: stress and cognitive function |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
1999 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
65 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
221-244 |
| Keywords |
Stress; Cognition; Attention; Learning; Memory; Welfare |
| Abstract |
The way in which cognitive functioning is affected by stressors is an important area of research for applied ethologists because stress caused by captive conditions may disrupt cognitive processes and lead to welfare and husbandry problems. Such problems may be minimised through an understanding of the links between stress and cognition. The effects of stress on cognitive function have been studied in disciplines ranging from human perceptual psychology to animal neuroscience. The aim of this paper is to provide an introduction to this research, focusing on the effects of stressors on attention, memory formation and memory recall. Findings from such a diverse literature with little apparent inter-disciplinary communication are inevitably complex and often contradictory. Nevertheless, some generalities do emerge. The idea that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between an individual's state of stress or arousal and its ability to perform a cognitive task effectively, the so-called Yerkes-Dodson law, is commonly encountered. The law has limited explanatory value because it is unlikely that different stressors act on cognitive function via the same intervening, non-specific state. Furthermore, the law only provides a very general description of the relationship between stress and cognitive function. Empirical research on attention and memory processes reveals more specific findings. Stressors appear to cause shifts, lapses and narrowing of attention, and can also influence decision speed. These processes may be viewed as serving an adaptive role helping the animal to search for and scrutinise a source of danger. There is conflicting evidence as to whether hormones involved in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress response play a part in these processes. These hormones and those involved in the sympathetic-adrenomedullary stress response do appear to play an important role in memory formation. Low or moderate concentrations of circulating glucocorticoids and catecholamines can enhance memory formation, while excessively high or prolonged elevations of these hormones can lead to memory disruption. The effects of stressors on memory recall are less clear. There is evidence for disruptive effects, and for facilitatory effects indicating state-dependent memory recall; events experienced under conditions of high arousal may be best recalled under similar conditions. Applied ethologists have the opportunity to extend work in this area, which often involves studies of single stressors/stress hormones acting in isolation and limited measures of cognitive function, by focusing on real-life husbandry stressors encountered by captive animals. This will yield fundamental information which also has direct relevance to animal welfare and management issues. |
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Serial |
393 |
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| Author |
Hanggi, E.B. |
| Title |
Discrimination learning based on relative size concepts in horses (Equus caballus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
83 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
201-213 |
| Keywords |
Horse; Concept; Size transposition; Generalization; Learning; Training |
| Abstract |
This study explored whether or not horses (Equus caballus) could respond to stimuli using a concept based on relative size. In Experiment 1, after learning to respond to the larger of the two stimuli for six sets of two-dimensional (2D) training exemplars, one horse was tested for size transposition that used novel larger and smaller stimuli as well as three-dimensional (3D) objects (5 two-dimensional sets and 5 three-dimensional sets with large, medium, small, and tiny sizes). The horse correctly chose (significantly above chance) the larger of two stimuli regardless of novelty or dimension or combination. In Experiment 2, two additional horses were tested using a subset of the stimuli from Experiment 1. One horse was required to select the larger stimulus--as in Experiment 1--and the other the smaller stimulus. After learning the task, both horses responded correctly to new stimuli and showed size transposition. These results suggest that at least some horses are capable of solving problems based on relative size concepts. Moreover, they are able to generalize across situations that vary from flat, black shapes to objects of different materials and colors including balls, flower pots, and PVC connectors. These findings support earlier research that showed that horses could categorize certain stimuli, and provide new evidence that they are capable of using some form of concept for problem solving. Understanding that horses have more advanced learning abilities than was previously believed should help improve training methods and management. |
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Serial |
398 |
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| Author |
Lindberg, A.C.; Kelland, A.; Nicol, C.J. |
| Title |
Effects of observational learning on acquisition of an operant response in horses |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
1999 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
61 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
187-199 |
| Keywords |
Horse; Observational learning; Stereotyped behaviour; Operant behaviour; Breed influence; Age influence |
| Abstract |
The effect of observational learning on the acquisition of an operant response was examined in eighteen riding horses and ponies. The test horses were randomly divided into three groups of six and individually exposed to one of three treatments. An additional horse was trained as a demonstrator, to perform the operant response. The observer horses watched either the demonstrator performing the bin-opening response (Group D+B); the demonstrator standing passively (Group D); or the operant bin in the absence of the demonstrator (Group B). Observers had access to and were free to interact with an identical bin during testing. Observers in Groups D+B and D were socially familiar with the demonstrator. Each test horse was tested once a day for 10 days. An ANOVA revealed no significant differences between treatment groups in the number of responses or the time taken to reach the learning criterion. However, there were highly significant differences between breed types, with non-warmbloods performing more bouts of opening the bin and feeding (p=0.02), feeding from the bin sooner (p=0.01) and reaching the criterion for learning sooner than warmbloods (p=0.05). There was also a significant negative linear relationship between horses' ages and time spent investigating the bin, with younger horses performing more investigative behaviour (y=-3.08x+106.86; p=0.02). |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
562 |
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| Author |
Horner, V.; Whiten, A. |
| Title |
Causal knowledge and imitation/emulation switching in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and children (Homo sapiens) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Animal cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
8 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
164-181 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; *Concept Formation; Female; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; Pan troglodytes; *Problem Solving; Psychomotor Performance; *Social Environment; Species Specificity |
| Abstract |
This study explored whether the tendency of chimpanzees and children to use emulation or imitation to solve a tool-using task was a response to the availability of causal information. Young wild-born chimpanzees from an African sanctuary and 3- to 4-year-old children observed a human demonstrator use a tool to retrieve a reward from a puzzle-box. The demonstration involved both causally relevant and irrelevant actions, and the box was presented in each of two conditions: opaque and clear. In the opaque condition, causal information about the effect of the tool inside the box was not available, and hence it was impossible to differentiate between the relevant and irrelevant parts of the demonstration. However, in the clear condition causal information was available, and subjects could potentially determine which actions were necessary. When chimpanzees were presented with the opaque box, they reproduced both the relevant and irrelevant actions, thus imitating the overall structure of the task. When the box was presented in the clear condition they instead ignored the irrelevant actions in favour of a more efficient, emulative technique. These results suggest that emulation is the favoured strategy of chimpanzees when sufficient causal information is available. However, if such information is not available, chimpanzees are prone to employ a more comprehensive copy of an observed action. In contrast to the chimpanzees, children employed imitation to solve the task in both conditions, at the expense of efficiency. We suggest that the difference in performance of chimpanzees and children may be due to a greater susceptibility of children to cultural conventions, perhaps combined with a differential focus on the results, actions and goals of the demonstrator. |
| Address |
Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9JU, UK. vkh1@st-andrews.ac.uk |
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1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:15549502 |
Approved |
no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
732 |
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Stoinski, T.S.; Wrate, J.L.; Ure, N.; Whiten, A. |
| Title |
Imitative learning by captive western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in a simulated food-processing task |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2001 |
Publication |
Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Comp Psychol |
| Volume |
115 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
272-281 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; *Discrimination Learning; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; Gorilla gorilla; *Imitative Behavior; Social Behavior |
| Abstract |
Although field studies have suggested the existence of cultural transmission of foraging techniques in primates, identification of transmission mechanisms has remained elusive. To test experimentally for evidence of imitation in the current study, we exposed gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) to an artificial fruit foraging task designed by A. Whiten and D. M. Custance (1996). Gorillas (n=6) watched a human model remove a series of 3 defenses around a fruit. Each of the defenses was removed using 1 of 2 alternative techniques. Subsequent video analysis of gorillas' behavior showed a significant tendency to copy the observed technique on 1 of the individual defenses and the direction of removal on another defense. This is the first statistically reliable evidence of imitation in gorillas. Sequence of defense removal was not replicated. The gorillas' responses were most similar to those of chimpanzees. |
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TECHlab, Zoo Atlanta, Georgia 30315, USA. stoinskit@mindspring.com |
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0735-7036 |
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PMID:11594496 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
738 |
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| Author |
Whiten, A. |
| Title |
Imitation of the sequential structure of actions by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
1998 |
Publication |
Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Comp Psychol |
| Volume |
112 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
270-281 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Appetitive Behavior/physiology; *Ceremonial Behavior; Exploratory Behavior/physiology; Female; Fruit; Imitative Behavior/*physiology; Learning/*physiology; Male; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; Practice (Psychology); Problem Solving/*physiology |
| Abstract |
Imitation was studied experimentally by allowing chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) to observe alternative patterns of actions for opening a specially designed “artificial fruit.” Like problematic foods primates deal with naturally, with the test fruit several defenses had to be removed to gain access to an edible core, but the sequential order and method of defense removal could be systematically varied. Each subject repeatedly observed 1 of 2 alternative techniques for removing each defense and 1 of 2 alternative sequential patterns of defense removal. Imitation of sequential organization emerged after repeated cycles of demonstration and attempts at opening the fruit. Imitation in chimpanzees may thus have some power to produce cultural convergence, counter to the supposition that individual learning processes corrupt copied actions. Imitation of sequential organization was accompanied by imitation of some aspects of the techniques that made up the sequence. |
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Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. a.whiten@st-andrews.ac.uk |
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0735-7036 |
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PMID:9770315 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
743 |
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Levy, F.; Keller, M.; Poindron, P. |
| Title |
Olfactory regulation of maternal behavior in mammals |
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Journal Article |
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2004 |
Publication |
Hormones and Behavior |
Abbreviated Journal |
Horm Behav |
| Volume |
46 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
284-302 |
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Accessory olfactory bulb; Main olfactory bulb; Olfactory learning and memory; Vomeronasal organ; Social recognition; Oxytocin |
| Abstract |
In mammals, olfactory cues are extensively used in many aspects of maternal care to ensure the coordination of mother-infant interactions and consequently the normal development of the offspring. Outside the period of parturition and lactation, when the young are not a behavioral priority, olfactory cues play an inhibitory role on maternal responsiveness since in most mammalian species studied so far, nonpregnant females find the odor of young aversive. On the contrary at the time of parturition, a shift in the hedonic value of infantile odors occurs so that the young now become a very potent stimulus and this sensorial processing constitutes an important part of the maternal motivational system. Moreover, infants' odors provide a basis for individual recognition by their mothers and some species (ungulates) have developed highly specialized mechanisms for processing of the infant signals. Perception of the smell of the young also regulates various aspects of maternal behavior. Dodecyl propionate, a compound released by of pup's preputial glands, has been shown to influence anogenital licking behavior, a fundamental pattern of maternal behavior in rodents. While there is no functional specificity of either the main or the accessory olfactory systems in the development of maternal behavior amongst species, it appears that only the main olfactory system is implicated when individual odor discrimination of the young is required. Neural structures, such as the main olfactory bulb, undergo profound changes when exposed to offspring odors at parturition. These changes in synaptic circuitry contribute both to maternal responsiveness to these odors, to their memorization, and to effects of long-term maternal experience. |
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794 |
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Sappington, B.K.F.; McCall, C.A.; Coleman, D.A.; Kuhlers, D.L.; Lishak, R.S. |
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A preliminary study of the relationship between discrimination reversal learning and performance tasks in yearling and 2-year-old horses |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
1997 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
53 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
157-166 |
| Keywords |
Cognition; Learning; Horse; Training |
| Abstract |
A study was conducted to determine the relationship between discrimination reversal learning and performance tasks in horses. Ten yearling and seven 2-year-old mares and geldings of Arabian (n = 4), Quarter Horse (n = 9), and Thoroughbred (n = 4) breeding were given a two-choice discrimination task in which either a black or a white bucket contained a food reward for ten trials per day during 19 test days. The spatial position of the buckets was varied on a random schedule. The rewarded bucket color was reversed each time a subject met criterion of eight correct choices per day for 2 consecutive days. Discrimination reversal testing was followed by 6 days of performance tasks: three crossing a wooden bridge and three jumping an obstacle to reach food and conspecifics, within a maximum allotted time of 15 min day-1. Total reversals attained by the horses were low (x = 1.5 +/- 0.9). All subjects did attain at least one reversal, and six had two or more reversals. No differences (P > .05) were detected between ages or sexes, nor among breeds in discrimination reversal learning or performance test measurements. However, there was a trend towards a breed difference (P <= 0.09) in the mean number of correct responses to the first reversal criterion. Correlations between reversal learning results and performance task results were extremely low, indicating that the discrimination reversal learning test was not useful for predicting success at these performance tasks. Results from the two performance tasks also showed little correlation (r = 0.04, P < 0.91), indicating that horses might not use the same approach when solving the problem of crossing these two obstacles. The overall poor performance of the horses on the discrimination reversal task suggests horses may have difficulty reversing previously learned tasks. |
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