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Author |
Lansade, L.; Pichard, G.; Leconte, M. |
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Title |
Sensory sensitivities: Components of a horse's temperament dimension |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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114 |
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3-4 |
Pages |
534-553 |
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Horse; Equus caballus; Temperament; Sensory sensitivity; Behavioural tests |
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Temperament is an important factor when working with horses. Behavioural tests have already been developed to measure certain dimensions of a horse's temperament (fearfulness, gregariousness, etc.). In order to measure the temperament more precisely, our work aimed to identify a dimension which has already been described in several species but not yet in horses, namely sensory sensitivity. Our study was based on the definition of a temperament dimension as “a behavioural characteristic stable across situations and over time”. We designed several tests for each sense and then determined whether the responses observed were correlated between situations and in time. The principle of the tests was to generate two stimuli of different intensities for each sense (e.g. two different sounds) and to measure the intensity of the horse's response (N = 26). Using Spearman rank correlations, we tested whether the responses to these different stimuli were inter-correlated. We repeated the same tests 5 months later to determine whether the responses were correlated over time. Within each sense, results show that the greater the horses' response to one stimulus, the greater their response to the other. For example, the reaction to the odour of cinnamon (time spent near the source of the odour) was significantly correlated to the reaction to lavender (R = 0.53, p = 0.004). The reactions to two different sounds or to two different tactile stimuli (von Frey filaments, or contact of a brush on the body), were also significantly correlated (R = 0.59, p < 0.0001; R = 0.38, p = 0.029). Finally, the reactions to two different tastes or to two visual stimuli tended to be correlated (R = 0.27, p = 0.09; R = 0.27, p = 0.09). However, there was no significant correlation between the responses to stimuli relating to different senses. Finally, except for the responses to odour, the responses to other sensory stimuli showed stability over a 5-month period (e.g. tactile stimulation: R = 0.71, p < 0.0001). In conclusion, our study revealed characteristics which were stable across situations and over time. The absence of links between the characteristics measured for the different senses suggests that a dimension for each sense exists (e.g. tactile sensitivity) rather than a general sensory sensitivity dimension covering all the senses. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4779 |
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Author |
Heitor, F.; Vicente, L. |
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Title |
Maternal care and foal social relationships in a herd of Sorraia horses: Influence of maternal rank and experience |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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113 |
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1-3 |
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189-205 |
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Horse; Rank; Experience; Maternal care; Social relationships |
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The influence of maternal rank and experience on patterns of maternal care and social relationships of foals were investigated in a managed herd of Sorraia horses, Equus caballus. Social interactions and spatial relationships of 13 foals (seven females and six males) born to seven mares were examined from birth to 10 months of life, within the three major periods of foal development. Conflict over suckling between dam and foal was not generally affected by rank and experience, but higher-ranking mothers allowed more suckling during late lactation than lower-ranking mothers. Foals of higher-ranking mares spent more time in proximity to the mother during socialization. Maternal rank and experience did not significantly affect maternal protectiveness, foal independence from the mother or the development of affiliative relationships between foals and group members. Foals of higher-ranking mares received lower frequencies of aggression from other horses only in the first month of life. Dominance relationships among foals depended mainly on aggressiveness and were not associated with maternal rank. The large variability in maternal behaviour, the absence of a significant association between maternal rank and body condition at parturition and the stable social environment within this herd may partly account for the reported results. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4778 |
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Benhajali, H.; Richard-Yris, M. -A.; Leroux, M.; Ezzaouia, M.; Charfi, F.; Hausberger, M. |
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A note on the time budget and social behaviour of densely housed horses: A case study in Arab breeding mares |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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112 |
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1-2 |
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196-200 |
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Keywords |
Behavioural repertoire; Time budget; Mare; Social behaviour; Density |
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We observed a high-density herd (200 mares/ha) of 44 Arab breeding mares, while in a bare paddock in Tunisia. Twenty-minute animal focal samples and scan sampling were used to determine the time budget of the mares during the period from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and study their social behaviour. The data obtained reveal restricted behavioural repertoires with missing behaviour like rolling, allogrooming and lying down; unusual time budgets with a high frequency of locomotion that constitutes the most frequent activity (27.9 ± 19.47%) of the mares. Social interactions were restricted to agonistic interactions but despite the high stocking density, aggressions were not that frequent among mares. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4774 |
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Author |
Napolitano, F.; De Rosa, G.; Braghieri, A.; Grasso, F.; Bordi, A.; Wemelsfelder, F. |
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Title |
The qualitative assessment of responsiveness to environmental challenge in horses and ponies |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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Volume |
109 |
Issue |
2-4 |
Pages |
342-354 |
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Keywords |
Horse; Pony; Behavioural expression; Qualitative measurements; Free choice profiling; Generalised Procrustes analysis |
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The responsiveness of 10 horses and 10 ponies to environmental challenge (represented by an open field test) was assessed using a qualitative approach based on free choice profiling methodology (FCP), which gives observers complete freedom to choose their own descriptive terms. Data were analysed with generalised Procrustes analysis (GPA), a multivariate statistical technique associated with FCP. A cross-validation of the outcomes of this approach to data recorded through quantitative behaviour analysis, and through a questionnaire given to the animals' owner/riding instructor, was also performed using principal component analysis (PCA). Twelve undergraduate students generated their own descriptive vocabularies, by watching 20 horse/pony video clips lasting 2.5 min each. GPA showed that the consensus profile explained a high percentage of variation among the 12 observers, and differed significantly from the mean randomised profile (p < 0.001). Two main dimensions of the consensus profile were identified, explaining 60% and 5.2% of the variation between animals, respectively. The 12 observer word charts interpreting these dimensions were semantically consistent, as they all converged towards the same meaning, albeit using different terms. The most used term to describe the positive end of axis 1 was “quiet”, whereas “attentive” was the best positive descriptor of axis 2. The most frequently used descriptors for the negative ends of axes 1 and 2 were “nervous” and “bored”, respectively. Thus, axis 1 was labelled as “quiet/nervous” and axis 2 was named as “attentive/bored”. A marked effect of animal category was observed on the scores of the animals on the first dimension (p < 0.001). Horses received significantly higher scores, and were thus assessed as more quiet and calm, than ponies. Conversely, ponies tended to receive lower scores on the second dimension (p < 0.12), therefore they appeared less curious and attentive. The results of the PCA showed that the variables from different types of measurement clearly had meaningful relationships. For instance, the variables with the highest loading on the positive end of axis 1 were all indicative of tractable and docile animals, whereas axis 2 showed high loadings on the positive end for variables indicating attentive animals. Qualitative behaviour assessment proved to be an appropriate methodology for the study of horse behavioural responsiveness, in that it provided a multifaceted characterisation of horse behavioural expression that was in agreement with other quantitative and subjective assessments of the animals' behaviour. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4769 |
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Author |
Clegg, H.A.; Buckley, P.; Friend, M.A.; McGreevy, P.D. |
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Title |
The ethological and physiological characteristics of cribbing and weaving horses |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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109 |
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1 |
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68-76 |
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Horse; Stereotypy; Digestion; Gut transit; Stress |
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Data were gathered on the behavioural and physiological characteristics of five cribbers, six weavers and six non-stereotypic (control) mature Thoroughbred geldings for a period of 16 weeks. The horses were hired from their owners and stabled individually throughout the trial. Cribbers and weavers had been known to stereotype for at least 12 months prior to commencement of the study. Behavioural data were collected using video surveillance. Cribbers stereotyped most frequently (PÂ <Â 0.001) in the period 2-8Â h following delivery of concentrated food, reinforcing the suggestion that diet is implicated in cribbing behaviour. Weavers stereotyped most frequently (PÂ <Â 0.001) during periods of high environmental activity such as during routine pre-feeding activities and in the hour prior to daily turnout, presumably when anticipation and stimulation were at their highest levels. Cribbers and weavers took longer than control horses to fully consume their ration, suggesting possible differences in motivation to feed, distress levels, satiety mechanisms or abdominal discomfort. Physiological data were collected throughout the trial and there were no differences in oro-caecal transit time, digestibility, plasma cortisol concentration or heart rate among the three behavioural groups. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4768 |
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VanDierendonck, M.C.; de Vries, H.; Schilder, M.B.H.; Colenbrander, B.; Þorhallsdóttir, A.G. and Sigurjónsdóttir, H. |
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Title |
Interventions in social behaviour in a herd of mares and geldings |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2009 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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116 |
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1 |
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67-73 |
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Horses; Social relationships; Interventions; Mares; Geldings; Play; Allogrooming; Social network |
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Social dynamics and maintenance of social cohesion were studied by analysing social interventions in two groups of horses consisting of adult mares, their offspring, adult geldings and sub-adults. The animals were observed for a total of 1316 h. All relevant dyadic and triadic social interactions, including initial behaviour, possible intervention and outcome, were recorded. The main question was: do horses use interventions in affiliative interactions to safeguard their social network? Horses were significantly more likely to intervene in allogrooming or play interactions that involved a preferred partner. The stronger the preferred association in allogrooming, the higher the likelihood the intervener took over allogrooming with an initial dyad member. Interveners originating from two newly introduced groups (n = 3 and 5), intervened significantly more often when a member of their own group allogroomed with an unfamiliar horse. In play, no correlation with unfamiliarity was found. Overall, the intervening horses stopped more than half of the initial allogrooming interactions, and a third of all interactions. Therefore, social facilitation cannot sufficiently explain interference behaviour. This study shows that maintaining relationships with preferred partners is important to horses and has implications for equine husbandry and management. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4766 |
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Whistance, L.K.; Sinclair, L.A.; Arney, D.R.; Phillips, C.J.C. |
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Title |
Trainability of eliminative behaviour in dairy heifers using a secondary reinforcer |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2009 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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Volume |
117 |
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3-4 |
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128-136 |
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Cattle; Eliminative behaviour; Learning; Clicker training; Clean bedding |
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Soiled bedding influences cleanliness and disease levels in dairy cows and there is no evidence of an inherent latrine behaviour in cattle. If cows were trained to use a concrete area of the housing system as a latrine, a cleaner bed could be maintained. Thirteen group-housed, 14-16-month-old Holstein-Friesian heifers, were clicker trained with heifer-rearing concentrate pellets as a reward. Training was carried out in four phases. (Phase 1) Association of feed reward with clicker, criterion: 34/40 correct responses. (Phase 2) Simple task (nose-butting a disc) to reinforce phase 1 association, criterion: 17/20 correct responses. (Phase 3) Association of eliminative behaviour with reward where criterion was four sessions with only one incorrect response: criteria for each heifer in phases 1-3 were set using binomial tests. (Phase 4) Shaping eliminative behaviour to occur on concrete. Possible responses were, eliminating on concrete (C) or straw (S), or moving from one substrate to another immediately before eliminating: C --> S, S --> C. Heifers were rewarded for the desired behaviours C and S --> C and ignored when S and C --> S occurred. If learning was achieved, C should increase as C --> S decreased and S --> C should increase as S decreased: tested with Spearman rank correlations. All heifers achieved criterion by day 4 of phase 1 (P = 0.001); day 1 of phase 2 (P = 0.001) and day 10 of phase 3 (P < 0.009). Responses changed throughout phase 3 beginning with (i) looking at the trainer whilst voiding then moving to trainer after the click, and later including (ii) moving to trainer immediately before- or (iii) during voiding. No relationship was found between S and S --> C (rs = -0.14; P = 0.63) or C and C --> S (rs = -0.33; P = 0.25). All group members eliminated more often on concrete (580) than on straw (141) but four heifers with consistently longer lying bouts also showed more C --> S before lying down (Mann-Whitney, P = 0.007). The present study is believed to be the first reported work to show that cattle can be trained to show an awareness of their own eliminative behaviour. This was not successfully shaped to latrine behaviour, however, and it is suggested that floor type may not have been a sufficiently salient cue. Voiding on straw occurred largely with response C --> S (0.73) and general behaviour suggested that this was strongly linked to lying patterns of individual heifers. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4765 |
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Feuerstein, N.; Terkel, J. |
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Interrelationships of dogs (Canis familiaris) and cats (Felis catus L.) living under the same roof |
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Journal Article |
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2008 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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113 |
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1-3 |
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150-165 |
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Cats; Dogs; Shared home; Interrelationship; Aggression; Amicability; Indifference; Adaptation |
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In the process of domestication, dogs (Canis familiaris) and cats (Felis catus) have undergone thousands of years of genetic changes that have adapted them to the human environment. Both species have acquired a global distribution and it has become quite common to find homes with the two living side by side. Nevertheless, there is widespread belief that interspecific communication between dogs and cats is problematic, stemming from their separate evolutionary development and different social structures. Consequently, many people considering possible adoption of both species are concerned about their ability to get along. Interrelationships of dogs and cats living together were studied here in an attempt to determine the main factors influencing the type of relationship likely to develop between the two species. Two approaches were used: (1) a questionnaire completed by owners of both dog(s) and cat(s), which provided a broad database of the animals' behaviors; and (2) observations carried out in participants' homes on their dog-cat interactions. Two separate ethograms for dogs and cats served for analyses of their body language. The findings revealed the following: Both species showed a similar ability to establish a relatively amicable relationship with the other species; the animals' gender had little influence on the nature of their interrelationship; and adoption of the cat prior to the dog appears to conduce to establishing an amicable relationship, as does their first encounter taking place at an early age (up to 6 months of age in cats and up to 1 year in dogs). The findings also suggest that the majority of these dogs and cats understood the particular body language displayed by one animal that has an opposite meaning for the other species; and that the earlier the age of first encounter between the two, the better this understanding. It can be concluded that exposure of both species at an early age to the presence of the other facilitates the learning of each other's body language, and the consequent establishment of an amicable relationship. A better understanding of the various factors that contribute to determining the two species' relationship should not only improve the quality of life of these pets, but also reassure and encourage more people to adopt both cat and dog. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4757 |
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Christensen, J.W.; Zharkikh, T.; Ladewig, J. |
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Title |
Do horses generalise between objects during habituation? |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2008 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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Volume |
114 |
Issue |
3-4 |
Pages |
509-520 |
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Horse; Stimulus generalisation; Habituation; Fear |
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Habituation to frightening stimuli plays an important role in horse training. To investigate the extent to which horses generalise between different visual objects, 2-year-old stallions were habituated to feeding from a container placed inside a test arena and assigned as TEST (n=12) or REFERENCE horses (n=12). In Experiment 1, TEST horses were habituated to six objects (ball, barrel, board, box, cone, cylinder) presented in sequence in a balanced order. The objects were of similar size but different colour. Each object was placed 0.5m in front of the feed container, forcing the horses to pass the object to get to the food. TEST horses received as many 2min exposures to each object as required to meet a habituation criterion. We recorded behavioural reactions to the object, latency to feed, total eating time, and heart rate (HR) during all exposures. There was no significant decrease in initial responses towards a novel object with increasing object number, indicating that habituation was stimulus-specific. REFERENCE horses were exposed to the test arena without objects in the same period, and reactions of TEST and REFERENCE horses were subsequently compared in a fear-test (2m2.5m rubber mat placed under the feed container, forcing the horses to step on the mat to get food). There were no significant differences between the treatment groups, i.e. previous habituation of TEST horses to six visual objects did not reduce responses in a fear-test involving visual and tactile stimulation. Due to the lack of generalisation in Experiment 1, we designed a supplemental experiment (Experiment 2), in which REFERENCE horses were exposed to the same six objects except that object colour was kept constant. We found a significant reduction in response (behaviour and HR) with increasing object number, indicating that horses generalise between similarly coloured objects of varying shape. We conclude that a high degree of object similarity, e.g. identical colouring, appears to be crucial for object generalisation in horses. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4756 |
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Lefebvre, L.; Whittle, P.; Lascaris, E.; Finkelstein, A. |
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Feeding innovations and forebrain size in birds |
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Journal Article |
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1997 |
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Animal Behaviour. |
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Anim. Behav. |
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53 |
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3 |
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549-560 |
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The links between ecology, behavioural plasticity and brain size are often tested via the comparative method. Given the problems in interpretating comparative tests of learning and cognition, however, alternative measures of plasticity need to be developed. From the short notes section of nine ornithological journals, two separate, exhaustive data sets have been collated on opportunistic foraging innovations in birds of North America (1973-1993;N=196) and the British Isles (1983-1993;N=126). Both the absolute and relative frequencies (corrected for species number per order) of innovations differ between bird orders in a similar fashion in the two geographical zones. Absolute and relative frequency of innovations per order are also related to two measures of relative forebrain size in the two zones. The study confirms predicted trends linking opportunism, brain size and rate of structural evolution. It also suggests that innovation rate in the field may be a useful measure of behavioural plasticity. |
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0003-3472 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4740 |
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