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Burla, J.-B.; Siegwart, J.; Nawroth, C. |
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Title |
Human Demonstration Does Not Facilitate the Performance of Horses (Equus caballus) in a Spatial Problem-Solving Task |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2018 |
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Animal |
Abbreviated Journal |
Animal |
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8 |
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6 |
Pages |
96 |
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Keywords |
detour task; equids; social cognition; social learning; spatial cognition |
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Abstract |
Horses’ ability to adapt to new environments and to acquire new information plays an important role in handling and training. Social learning in particular would be very adaptive for horses as it enables them to flexibly adjust to new environments. In the context of horse handling, social learning from humans has been rarely investigated but could help to facilitate management practices. We assessed the impact of human demonstration on the spatial problem-solving abilities of horses during a detour task. In this task, a bucket with a food reward was placed behind a double-detour barrier and 16 horses were allocated to two test groups of 8 horses each. One group received a human demonstration of how to solve the spatial task while the other group received no demonstration. We found that horses did not solve the detour task more often or faster with human demonstration. However, both test groups improved rapidly over trials. Our results suggest that horses prefer to use individual rather than social information when solving a spatial problem-solving task |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6392 |
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Author |
McVey, A.; Wilkinson, A.; Mills, D.S. |
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Title |
Social learning in horses: the effect of using a group leader demonstrator on the performance of familiar conspecifics in a detour task |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2018 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
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Equine; Imitation; Leader; Social facilitation; Social learning |
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Abstract |
Learning through the observation of others allows the transfer of information without the costs incurred during individual trial and error learning. Horses (Equus caballus) are a highly social species, which might be expected to be capable of learning from others, but experimental findings are inconsistent, and potentially confounded by social facilitation effects not related directly to the learning of the task. We refined the methods used in previous equine social learning studies, to examine and distinguish specific social influences on learning of a task: we used predefined group leaders rather than agonistically dominant individuals to demonstrate a detour task to familiar conspecific observers; in addition we had two control groups: a non-observer (true control) and a group with the demonstrator simply present at the goal (social facilitation control). 44 socially kept horses were allocated to one of the three test conditions and took part in five trials each. Success rate, latency and detour direction were recorded. There was no significant difference between the three groups in the likelihood of them succeeding in the task nor latency to succeed; however there was a significant difference in the route chosen by the groups, with the true control choosing the side with the entrance gate significantly more than either the observer group or social facilitation group. Both of the latter two groups chose to go in the same direction relative to themselves, regardless of which side the gate was. Seven out of nine horses in the observer group chose the same direction as their demonstrator every time. Our results show a significant role of social facilitation on detour behaviour and highlight the importance of including adequate controls for simpler cognitive influences on behaviour before claims can be made about the specific learning of motor actions or goal directed behaviour. Social cues may be important to horses if the task is sufficiently challenging and motivationally important, so future work should consider more demanding, but ecologically relevant situations, in order to maximise the potential revelation of social learning effects which do not depend on simple local or stimulus enhancement effects. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6395 |
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Pongrácz, P.; Miklósi, Á.; Vida, V.; Csányi, V. |
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Title |
The pet dogs ability for learning from a human demonstrator in a detour task is independent from the breed and age |
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Journal Article |
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2005 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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90 |
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3 |
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309-323 |
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Dog; Breed differences; Social learning |
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There are many indications and much practical knowledge about the different tasks which various breeds of dogs are selected for. Correspondingly these different breeds are known to possess different physical and mental abilities. We hypothesized that commonly kept breeds will show differences in their problem solving ability in a detour task around a V-shaped fence, and also, that breed differences will affect their learning ability from a human demonstrator, who demonstrates a detour around the fence. Subjects were recruited in Hungarian pet dog schools. We compared the results of the 10 most common breeds in our sample when they were tested in the detour task without human demonstration. There was no significant difference between the latencies of detour, however, there was a trend that German Shepherd dogs were the quickest and Giant Schnauzers were the slowest in this test. For testing the social learning ability of dogs we formed three breed groups (“utility”, “shepherd” and “hunting”). There were no significant differences between these, all the breed groups learned equally well from the human demonstrator. However, we found that dogs belonging to the “shepherd” group looked back more frequently to their owner than the dogs in the “hunting” group. Further, we have found that the age of pet dogs did not affect their social learning ability in the detour task. Our results showed that the pet status of a dog has probably a stronger effect on its cognitive performance and human related behaviour than its age or breed. These results emphasize that socialization and common activities with the dog might overcome the possible breed differences, if we give the dogs common problem solving, or social learning tasks. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6584 |
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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 |
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Abbreviated Journal |
Animal Cognition |
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16 |
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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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Author |
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 |
Publication |
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Abbreviated Journal |
Animal Cognition |
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16 |
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1 |
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11-22 |
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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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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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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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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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1435-9448 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5737 |
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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 |
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Journal Article |
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2015 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
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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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1435-9448 |
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Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5885 |
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