| Records |
| Author |
De Giorgio, F.; Schoorl, J.M. |
| Title |
Why isolate during training? Social learning and social cognition applied as training approach for young horses (Equus caballus) |
Type |
Conference Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 2. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg |
| Volume |
in press |
Issue  |
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Pages |
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| Keywords |
Cognitive approach; Horse training; Horse-Human relationship; Social environment; Social learning |
| Abstract |
In the last decade an increasing number of studies has been oriented towards equine social learning and their social behavior within the herd (Kruger‚ 2006-2008). In social species, social learning is important to learn and gain useful skills to move and live in their own social and environmental context. Group housing has been recognized as an important element to fulfill the physical and behavioral needs of horses, especially their need for social contact (Søndergaard‚ 2011). Still‚ when it comes to horse training, the social aspect and‚ in general‚ cognitive abilities of the horse are rarely taken into account. Although it is widely accepted that social isolation is stressful for horse (Mal et al, 1991a and 1991b) still isolating a young horse is the first step when it comes to training methods. Due to tradition and culture and our performance-oriented society it is both difficult to accept and apply a different social/cognitive training approach. Training sessions are focused on immediate results whereas in cognitive learning part of the process is latent and will not be visible immediately‚ but taking the cognitive skills into account plays an important role in avoiding tension both in the horse as in the human-horse interaction (Baragli and De Giorgio, 2011). In this study we tested the possibility to apply social learning by creating a social environment‚ favoring a cognitive learning approach‚ for the training of six young horses. The group existed in three males and three females, between two and three years old. All six showed initial difficulties and defense to human interaction. They were housed in two groups in adjacent spacious paddocks where they had ample opportunity to move and express their individual and social behavioral repertoire. Each horse had one training session per week without isolating it from the others. The training sessions were held following a cognitive-relational model defined as the equine-zooanthropologic approach (De Giorgio, 2010 – Marchesini, 2011). The learning objectives were to be able to handle each horse‚ conduct it‚ saddle and ride it within a maximum time-frame of two years. Every time a defensive or alert behavior would occur the training activity was re-arranged to not over-pressure the horse. Therefore the persons working with the horses carried out the activities without tight expectations focusing on the horses’ positive attention. After eighteen months all six horses were used to the saddle and to riding. None of the horses ever fled or showed defense behavior and in the case of unexpected events they showed no emotional reactivity/reactive behavior. Today the horses show the same calm behavior whenever worked individually. This preliminary study highlights how social learning applied to equestrian activity can be fundamental for safety and welfare and the establishment of a more problem-free relationship between horse and human. Safety as the defensive behavior seems to have been reduced and welfare as the horses have been trained in a social context without being isolated and thus without being stressed during the training experience. |
| Address |
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| Corporate Author |
De Giorgio, F. |
Thesis |
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| Publisher |
Xenophon Publishing |
Place of Publication |
Wald |
Editor |
Krueger, K. |
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Summary Language |
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Original Title |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
978-3-9808134-26 |
ISBN |
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Expedition |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
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Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5528 |
| Permanent link to this record |
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| Author |
Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L. |
| Title |
Signalers and receivers in animal communication |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Annual review of psychology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Annu Rev Psychol |
| Volume |
54 |
Issue |
|
Pages |
145-173 |
| Keywords |
Affect; *Animal Communication; Animals; Arousal; Auditory Perception; Motivation; *Social Behavior; Social Environment; Species Specificity; *Vocalization, Animal |
| Abstract |
In animal communication natural selection favors callers who vocalize to affect the behavior of listeners and listeners who acquire information from vocalizations, using this information to represent their environment. The acquisition of information in the wild is similar to the learning that occurs in laboratory conditioning experiments. It also has some parallels with language. The dichotomous view that animal signals must be either referential or emotional is false, because they can easily be both: The mechanisms that cause a signaler to vocalize do not limit a listener's ability to extract information from the call. The inability of most animals to recognize the mental states of others distinguishes animal communication most clearly from human language. Whereas signalers may vocalize to change a listener's behavior, they do not call to inform others. Listeners acquire information from signalers who do not, in the human sense, intend to provide it. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. seyfarth@psych.upenn.edu |
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Thesis |
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Place of Publication |
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Editor |
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| Language |
English |
Summary Language |
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Original Title |
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Series Title |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0066-4308 |
ISBN |
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Medium |
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Expedition |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:12359915 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
690 |
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| Author |
Kalin, N.H.; Shelton, S.E. |
| Title |
Nonhuman primate models to study anxiety, emotion regulation, and psychopathology |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ann N Y Acad Sci |
| Volume |
1008 |
Issue |
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Pages |
189-200 |
| Keywords |
Affect/*physiology; Amygdala/blood supply; Animals; Anxiety/genetics/*psychology; Brain/*blood supply; Brain Stem/blood supply; Carrier Proteins/genetics; Electroencephalography; *Inhibition (Psychology); Macaca mulatta; Membrane Glycoproteins/genetics; *Membrane Transport Proteins; *Nerve Tissue Proteins; Prefrontal Cortex/blood supply; Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; Social Environment; Temperament; Tomography, Emission-Computed |
| Abstract |
This paper demonstrates that the rhesus monkey provides an excellent model to study mechanisms underlying human anxiety and fear and emotion regulation. In previous studies with rhesus monkeys, stable, brain, endocrine, and behavioral characteristics related to individual differences in anxiety were found. It was suggested that, when extreme, these features characterize an anxious endophenotype and that these findings in the monkey are particularly relevant to understanding adaptive and maladaptive anxiety responses in humans. The monkey model is also relevant to understanding the development of human psychopathology. For example, children with extremely inhibited temperament are at increased risk to develop anxiety disorders, and these children have behavioral and biological alterations that are similar to those described in the monkey anxious endophenotype. It is likely that different aspects of the anxious endophenotype are mediated by the interactions of limbic, brain stem, and cortical regions. To understand the brain mechanisms underlying adaptive anxiety responses and their physiological concomitants, a series of studies in monkeys lesioning components of the neural circuitry (amygdala, central nucleus of the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex) hypothesized to play a role are currently being performed. Initial findings suggest that the central nucleus of the amygdala modulates the expression of behavioral inhibition, a key feature of the endophenotype. In preliminary FDG positron emission tomography (PET) studies, functional linkages were established between the amygdala and prefrontal cortical regions that are associated with the activation of anxiety. |
| Address |
Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School, 6001 Research Park Boulevard, Madison, WI 53711, USA. nkalin@facstaff.wisc.edu |
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Thesis |
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Place of Publication |
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Editor |
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| Language |
English |
Summary Language |
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Original Title |
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Series Title |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0077-8923 |
ISBN |
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Medium |
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Expedition |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:14998885 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
4133 |
| Permanent link to this record |
