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Author |
Griffin, A.S. |
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Title |
Socially acquired predator avoidance: Is it just classical conditioning? |
Type |
Journal Article |
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Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Brain Research Bulletin |
Abbreviated Journal |
Special Issue:Brain Mechanisms, Cognition and Behaviour in Birds |
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Volume |
76 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
264-271 |
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Keywords |
Learning; Classical (Pavlovian) conditioning; Social learning; Ecological specialization; General process theory; Ecology; Predation; Backward conditioning |
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Abstract |
Associative learning theories presume the existence of a general purpose learning process, the structure of which does not mirror the demands of any particular learning problem. In contrast, learning scientists working within an Evolutionary Biology tradition believe that learning processes have been shaped by ecological demands. One potential means of exploring how ecology may have modified properties of acquisition is to use associative learning theory as a framework within which to analyse a particular learning phenomenon. Recent work has used this approach to examine whether socially transmitted predator avoidance can be conceptualised as a classical conditioning process in which a novel predator stimulus acts as a conditioned stimulus (CS) and acquires control over an avoidance response after it has become associated with alarm signals of social companions, the unconditioned stimulus (US). I review here a series of studies examining the effect of CS/US presentation timing on the likelihood of acquisition. Results suggest that socially acquired predator avoidance may be less sensitive to forward relationships than traditional classical conditioning paradigms. I make the case that socially acquired predator avoidance is an exciting novel one-trial learning paradigm that could be studied along side fear conditioning. Comparisons between social and non-social learning of danger at both the behavioural and neural level may yield a better understanding of how ecology might shape properties and mechanisms of learning. |
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0361-9230 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4697 |
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Author |
Greco, B.J.; Brown, T.K.; Andrews, J.R.M.; Swaisgood, R.R.; Caine, N.G. |
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Title |
Social learning in captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana africana) |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2013 |
Publication |
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Abbreviated Journal |
Animal Cognition |
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Volume |
16 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
459-469 |
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Keywords |
Elephants; Loxodonta; Social learning; Imitation; Animal cognition |
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Abstract |
Social learning is a more efficient method of information acquisition and application than trial and error learning and is prevalent across a variety of animal taxa. Social learning is assumed to be important for elephants, but evidence in support of that claim is mostly anecdotal. Using a herd of six adult female African bush elephants (Loxodonta africana africana) at the San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park, we evaluated whether viewing a conspecific’s interactions facilitated learning of a novel task. The tasks used feeding apparatus that could be solved in one of two distinct ways. Contrary to our hypothesis, the method the demonstrating animal used did not predict the method used by the observer. However, we did find evidence of social learning: After watching the model, subjects spent a greater percentage of their time interacting with the apparatus than they did in unmodeled trials. These results suggest that the demonstrations of a model may increase the motivation of elephants to explore novel foraging tasks. |
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Springer-Verlag |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5668 |
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Abramson, J.Z.; Hernández-Lloreda, V.; Call, J.; Colmenares, F. |
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Title |
Experimental evidence for action imitation in killer whales (Orcinus orca) |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2013 |
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Abbreviated Journal |
Animal Cognition |
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16 |
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1 |
Pages |
11-22 |
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Keywords |
Social learning; Imitation; ‘Do-as-other-does’ test; Animal culture; Killer whales |
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Abstract |
Comparative experimental studies of imitative learning have focused mainly on primates and birds. However, cetaceans are promising candidates to display imitative learning as they have evolved in socioecological settings that have selected for large brains, complex sociality, and coordinated predatory tactics. Here we tested imitative learning in killer whales, Orcinus orca. We used a ‘do-as-other-does’ paradigm in which 3 subjects witnessed a conspecific demonstrator’s performance that included 15 familiar and 4 novel behaviours. The three subjects (1) learned the copy command signal ‘Do that’ very quickly, that is, 20 trials on average; (2) copied 100 % of the demonstrator’s familiar and novel actions; (3) achieved full matches in the first attempt for 8–13 familiar behaviours (out of 15) and for the 2 novel behaviours (out of 2) in one subject; and (4) took no longer than 8 trials to accurately copy any familiar behaviour, and no longer than 16 trials to copy any novel behaviour. This study provides experimental evidence for body imitation, including production imitation, in killer whales that is comparable to that observed in dolphins tested under similar conditions. These findings suggest that imitative learning may underpin some of the group-specific traditions reported in killer whales in the field. |
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Springer-Verlag |
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1435-9448 |
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no |
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Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5695 |
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Author |
Krueger, K.; Farmer, K.; Heinze, J. |
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Title |
The effects of age, rank and neophobia on social learning in horses |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
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Volume |
17 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
645-655 |
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Keywords |
Horse; Social learning; Sociality; Ecology; Social relationships |
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Abstract |
Social learning is said to meet the demands of complex environments in which individuals compete over resources and co-operate to share resources. Horses (Equus caballus) were thought to lack social learning skills because they feed on homogenously distributed resources with few reasons for conflict. However, the horse’s social environment is complex, which raises the possibility that its capacity for social transfer of feeding behaviour has been underestimated. We conducted a social learning experiment using 30 socially kept horses of different ages. Five horses, one from each group, were chosen as demonstrators, and the remaining 25 horses were designated observers. Observers from each group were allowed to watch their group demonstrator opening a feeding apparatus. We found that young, low ranking, and more exploratory horses learned by observing older members of their own group, and the older the horse, the more slowly it appeared to learn. Social learning may be an adaptive specialisation to the social environment. Older animals may avoid the potential costs of acquiring complex and potentially disadvantageous feeding behaviours from younger group members. We argue that horses show social learning in the context of their social ecology, and that research procedures must take such contexts into account. Misconceptions about the horse’s sociality may have hampered earlier studies. |
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Springer Berlin Heidelberg |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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no |
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Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5737 |
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Permanent link to this record |
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Author |
Merola, I.; Lazzaroni, M.; Marshall-Pescini, S.; Prato-Previde, E. |
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Title |
Social referencing and cat–human communication |
Type |
Journal Article |
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Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
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Volume |
18 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
639-648 |
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Keywords |
Social referencing; Cats; Gaze alternation; Social learning; Human–cat communication |
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Cats’ (Felis catus) communicative behaviour towards humans was explored using a social referencing paradigm in the presence of a potentially frightening object. One group of cats observed their owner delivering a positive emotional message, whereas another group received a negative emotional message. The aim was to evaluate whether cats use the emotional information provided by their owners about a novel/unfamiliar object to guide their own behaviour towards it. We assessed the presence of social referencing, in terms of referential looking towards the owner (defined as looking to the owner immediately before or after looking at the object), the behavioural regulation based on the owner’s emotional (positive vs negative) message (vocal and facial), and the observational conditioning following the owner’s actions towards the object. Most cats (79 %) exhibited referential looking between the owner and the object, and also to some extent changed their behaviour in line with the emotional message given by the owner. Results are discussed in relation to social referencing in other species (dogs in particular) and cats’ social organization and domestication history. |
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Springer Berlin Heidelberg |
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English |
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1435-9448 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5885 |
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Author |
Leadbeater, E. |
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Title |
What evolves in the evolution of social learning? |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Journal of Zoology |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Zool |
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Volume |
295 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
4-11 |
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Keywords |
social learning; associative learning; social information use |
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Abstract |
Social learning is fundamental to social life across the animal kingdom, but we still know little about how natural selection has shaped social learning abilities on a proximate level. Sometimes, complex social learning phenomena can be entirely explained by Pavlovian processes that have little to do with the evolution of sociality. This implies that the ability to learn socially could be an exaptation, not an adaptation, to social life but not that social learning abilities have been left untouched by natural selection. I discuss new empirical evidence for associative learning in social information use, explain how natural selection might facilitate the associative learning process and discuss why such studies are changing the way that we think about social learning. |
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1469-7998 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6015 |
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Author |
De Giorgio, F.; Schoorl, J.M. |
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Title |
Why isolate during training? Social learning and social cognition applied as training approach for young horses (Equus caballus) |
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Conference Article |
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Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 2. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg |
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in press |
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Keywords |
Cognitive approach; Horse training; Horse-Human relationship; Social environment; Social learning |
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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. |
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Corporate Author |
De Giorgio, F. |
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Publisher |
Xenophon Publishing |
Place of Publication |
Wald |
Editor |
Krueger, K. |
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978-3-9808134-26 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5528 |
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