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Author Galef, J., Bennett G.; Whiskin, E.E.
Title Effects of environmental stability and demonstrator age on social learning of food preferences by young Norway rats Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Animal Behaviour Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume (down) 68 Issue 4 Pages 897-902
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Abstract We used socially learned food preferences of Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus, to examine two common predictions of formal models of social learning in animals: (1) that animals living in relatively stable environments should be more attentive to socially acquired information than animals living in highly variable environments, and (2) that older demonstrators should have greater influence than younger demonstrators on the behaviour of young observers. Old and young demonstrators were equally effective in modifying the food preferences of juveniles that interacted with them. However, food choices of rats that were moved daily from one cage to another and fed at unpredictable times for unpredictable periods were less affected by demonstrators than were rats maintained in stable environments. Our results thus provided experimental support for the first, but not the second, prediction from theory.
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ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5610
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Author Friedrich, A.M.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Pigeons shift their preference toward locations of food that take more effort to obtain Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Behavioural processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume (down) 67 Issue 3 Pages 405-415
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Choice Behavior; Columbidae; *Exertion; *Feeding Behavior; Reward
Abstract Although animals typically prefer to exert less effort rather than more effort to obtain food, the present research shows that requiring greater effort to obtain food at a particular location appears to increase the value of that location. In Experiment 1, pigeons' initial preference for one feeder was significantly reduced by requiring 1 peck to obtain food from that feeder and requiring 30 pecks to obtain food from the other feeder. In Experiment 2, a similar decrease in preference was not found when pigeons received reinforcement from both feeders independently of the amount of effort required. These results are consistent with the within-trial contrast effect proposed by in which the relative hedonic value of a reward depends on the state of the animal immediately prior to the reward. The greater the improvement from that prior state the greater the value of the reinforcer.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA
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ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:15518990 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 227
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Author Friedrich, A.M.; Clement, T.S.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Functional equivalence in pigeons involving a four-member class Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Behavioural processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume (down) 67 Issue 3 Pages 395-403
Keywords Animals; *Association Learning; *Behavior, Animal; *Cognition; Columbidae; *Concept Formation
Abstract Research suggests that animals are capable of forming functional equivalence relations or stimulus classes of the kind usually demonstrated by humans (e.g., the class defined by an object and the word for that object). In pigeons, such functional equivalences are typically established using many-to-one matching-to-sample in which two samples are associated with one comparison stimulus and two different samples are associated with the other. Evidence for the establishment of functional equivalences between samples associated with the same comparison comes from transfer tests. In Experiment 1, we found that pigeons can form a single class consisting of four members (many-to-one matching) when the alternative class has only one member (one-to-one matching). In Experiment 2, we ruled out the possibility that the pigeons acquired the hybrid one-to-one/many-to-one task by developing a single-code/default coding strategy as earlier research suggested that it might. Thus, pigeons can develop a functional class consisting of as many as four members, with the alternative class consisting of a single member.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA
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Notes PMID:15518989 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 228
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Author Miklósi, Á.; Topál, J.; Csányi, V.
Title Comparative social cognition: what can dogs teach us? Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume (down) 67 Issue 6 Pages 995-1004
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Abstract Research in comparative social cognition addresses how challenges of social living have formed the cognitive structures that control behaviours involved in communication, social learning and social understanding. In contrast to the traditional psychological approach, recent investigations take both evolutionary and functional questions into account, but the main emphasis is still on the mechanisms of behaviour. Although in traditional research `comparative' meant mainly comparisons between humans and other primates, ethological influences have led to a broadening of the spectrum of species under study. In this review, we evaluated how the study of dogs broadens our understanding of comparative social cognition. In the early days of ethology, dogs enjoyed considerable interest from ethologists, but during the last 20 years, dogs have rarely been studied by ethological methods. Through a complex evolutionary process, dogs became adapted for living in human society; therefore, the human environment and social setting now represents a natural ecological niche for this species. We have evidence that dogs have been selected for adaptations to human social life, and that these adaptations have led to marked changes in their communicative, social, cooperative and attachment behaviours towards humans. Until now, the study of dogs was hindered by the view that they represent an `artificial' species, but by accepting that dogs are adapted to their niche, as are other `natural' species, comparative investigations can be put into new light.
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 406
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Author Caro, T.M.; Graham, C.M.; Stoner, C.J.; Vargas, J.K.
Title Adaptive significance of antipredator behaviour in artiodactyls Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume (down) 67 Issue 2 Pages 205-228
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Abstract We used comparative data to test functional hypotheses for 17 antipredator behaviour patterns in artiodactyls. We examined the literature for hypotheses about auditory and visual signals, defensive behaviour and group-related antipredator behaviour in this taxon and derived a series of predictions for each hypothesis. Next, we documented occurrences of these behaviour patterns and morphological, ecological and behavioural variables for 200 species and coded them in binary format. We then pitted presence of an antipredator behaviour against presence of an independent variable for cervids, bovids and all artiodactyls together using nonparametric tests. Finally, we reanalysed the data using Maddison's (1990, Evolution, 44, 539-557) concentrated-changes tests and a consensus molecular and taxonomic phylogeny. We found evidence that snorting is both a warning signal to conspecifics and a pursuit-deterrent signal, lack of evidence that whistling alerts conspecifics and indications that foot stamping is a visual signal to warn group members. Evidence suggested that tail flagging was a signal to both conspecifics and predators, that bounding, leaping and stotting were used both as a signal and to clear obstacles and that prancing functioned similarly to foot stamping. Analyses of tail flicking, zigzagging and tacking were equivocal. We confirmed that inspection occurs in large groups, freezing enhances crypticity, and species seeking refuge in cliffs tend to be small. Entering water and attacks on predators had few correlates. Finally, group living, a putative antipredator adaptation, was associated with large body size and species living in open habitats, confirming Jarman's (1974, Behaviour, 48, 215-267) classic hypothesis. Bunching and group attack apparently deter predators. Despite limitations, comparative and systematic analyses can bolster adaptive hypotheses and raise new functional explanations for antipredator behaviour patterns in general.
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 522
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Author Powell, F.; Banks, P.B.
Title Do house mice modify their foraging behaviour in response to predator odours and habitat? Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume (down) 67 Issue 4 Pages 753-759
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Abstract Predator odours and habitat structure are thought to influence the behaviour of small mammalian prey, which use them as cues to reduce risks of predation. We tested this general hypothesis for house mice, Mus domesticus, by manipulating fox odour density via addition of fox scats and habitat via patchy mowing of vegetation, for populations in 15 x 15-m field enclosures. Using giving-up densities (GUDs), the density of food remaining when an animal quits harvesting a patch, we measured foraging behaviours in response to these treatments. Mice consistently avoided open areas, leaving GUDs two to four times greater in these areas than in densely vegetated patches. However, mouse GUDs did not change in response to the addition of fox scats, even immediately after fresh scats were added. There was no interaction between fox odour and habitat use. We then tested whether habituation to fox odours had occurred, by comparing the individual responses to scats of eight mice born into enclosures with fox scats to those of eight mice born into scat-free enclosures and five wild mice. In smaller enclosures, GUDs of trays with scats did not differ from GUDs of trays without scats for any treatment. We conclude that exposure to high levels of fox odours did not alter the foraging behaviour of mice, but that mice did reduce foraging in areas where habitat was removed, perceiving predation risk to be greater in these areas than controls. We suggest further that studies using the `scat-at-trap' technique, which have shown avoidance of predator odours by mice and other small mammals, may overestimate the general avoidance of predator odours by free-living prey, which must forage with a constant background of predator odours.
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Call Number Serial 2142
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Author Allcroft, D. J.; Tolkamp, B. J.; Glasbey, C. A.; Kyriazakis, I.
Title The importance of `memory' in statistical models for animal feeding behaviour Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume (down) 67 Issue 1 Pages 99-109
Keywords Cow; Feeding data; Bouts; Memory; Satiety; Latent structure; Model comparison
Abstract We investigate models for animal feeding behaviour, with the aim of improving understanding of how animals organise their behaviour in the short term. We consider three classes of model: hidden Markov, latent Gaussian and semi-Markov. Each can predict the typical `clustered' feeding behaviour that is generally observed, however they differ in the extent to which `memory' of previous behaviour is allowed to affect future behaviour. The hidden Markov model has `lack of memory', the current behavioural state being dependent on the previous state only. The latent Gaussian model assumes feeding/non-feeding periods to occur by the thresholding of an underlying continuous variable, thereby incorporating some `short-term memory'. The semi-Markov model, by taking into account the duration of time spent in the previous state, can be said to incorporate `longer-term memory'. We fit each of these models to a dataset of cow feeding behaviour. We find the semi-Markov model (longer-term memory) to have the best fit to the data and the hidden Markov model (lack of memory) the worst. We argue that in view of effects of satiety on short-term feeding behaviour of animal species in general, biologically suitable models should allow `memory' to play a role. We conclude that our findings are equally relevant for the analysis of other types of short-term behaviour that are governed by satiety-like principles.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2350
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Author Sands, J.; Creel, S.
Title Social dominance, aggression and faecal glucocorticoid levels in a wild population of wolves, Canis lupus Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume (down) 67 Issue 3 Pages 387-396
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Abstract Adrenal glucocorticoid (GC) secretion is an important component of the response to stress in vertebrates. A short-term increase in circulating GCs serves to redirect energy from processes that can be briefly curtailed without harm, allowing energy to be directed towards eliminating or avoiding the stressor. In contrast, prolonged elevation of GCs can cause a broad range of pathologies, including reproductive suppression. We examined whether social subordination in wolves leads to chronically elevated GC levels, and whether this [`]social stress' causes reproductive suppression of subordinates in cooperatively breeding species. Behavioural and endocrine data collected over 2 years from three packs of free-living wolves in Yellowstone National Park did not support this hypothesis. GC levels were significantly higher in dominant wolves than in subordinates, for both sexes, in all packs, in both years of study. Unlike other cooperatively breeding carnivores (e.g. dwarf mongooses, Helogale parvula, and African wild dogs, Lycaon pictus), high GCs in dominant wolves were not associated with high rates of aggression or agonistic interaction. Aggression increased for wolves of all ranks during mating periods, accompanied by a significant rise in GC levels. If chronic elevation of GCs carries fitness costs, then social stress in wolves (and many other social species) is a cost of dominance, not a consequence of subordination. The specific behavioural correlates of dominance that affect GC levels appear to vary among species, even those with similar social systems.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5222
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Author Virányi, Z.; Topál, J.; Gácsi, M.; Miklósi, Á.; Csányi, V.
Title Dogs respond appropriately to cues of humans' attentional focus Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume (down) 66 Issue 2 Pages 161-172
Keywords Animals; *Attention; Bonding, Human-Pet; Communication; *Cues; Dogs; Humans; Recognition (Psychology)
Abstract Dogs' ability to recognise cues of human visual attention was studied in different experiments. Study 1 was designed to test the dogs' responsiveness to their owner's tape-recorded verbal commands (Down!) while the Instructor (who was the owner of the dog) was facing either the dog or a human partner or none of them, or was visually separated from the dog. Results show that dogs were more ready to follow the command if the Instructor attended them during instruction compared to situations when the Instructor faced the human partner or was out of sight of the dog. Importantly, however, dogs showed intermediate performance when the Instructor was orienting into 'empty space' during the re-played verbal commands. This suggests that dogs are able to differentiate the focus of human attention. In Study 2 the same dogs were offered the possibility to beg for food from two unfamiliar humans whose visual attention (i.e. facing the dog or turning away) was systematically varied. The dogs' preference for choosing the attentive person shows that dogs are capable of using visual cues of attention to evaluate the human actors' responsiveness to solicit food-sharing. The dogs' ability to understand the communicatory nature of the situations is discussed in terms of their social cognitive skills and unique evolutionary history.
Address Department of Ethology, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary. zsofi.viranyi@freemail.hu
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ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:15110918 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4957
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Author Cloutier, S.; Newberry, R.C.; Honda, K.
Title Comparison of social ranks based on worm-running and aggressive behaviour in young domestic fowl Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume (down) 65 Issue 1 Pages 79-86
Keywords Aggression; Social behaviour; Dominance; Play; Chickens; Animal welfare
Abstract Worm-running is behaviour in which a chick runs carrying a worm-like object while flock mates follow and attempt to grab the object from its beak. We hypothesised that social ranks based on worm-running frequency are stable over time and are positively correlated with social ranks based on success in aggressive interactions when older. At 8-12 days of age, we scored worm-running in 17 groups of 12 female White Leghorn chicks during three 10-min tests. Based on instantaneous scans at 5-s intervals, the bird carrying the `worm' most often was placed in rank one and so on down the rank order. These tests were repeated at 68-70 days of age. An aggression index for each bird was calculated as the number of aggressive acts given, divided by the number given and received, during three 1-h observation periods when the birds were 68-70 days. Ranks obtained in worm-running tests were positively correlated over the two age periods (P<0.05) but were not correlated with ranks based on the aggression index (P>0.05). Our results indicate that worm-running ranks are not predictive of success in aggressive interactions. Instead, worm-running fits some criteria for play.
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Call Number Serial 2090
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