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Author Langbein, J.; Nurnberg, G.; Puppe, B.; Manteuffel, G.
Title Self-Controlled Visual Discrimination Learning of Group-Housed Dwarf Goats (Capra hircus): Behavioral Strategies and Effects of Relocation on Learning and Memory Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Journal of Comparative Psychology Abbreviated Journal J. Comp. Psychol.
Volume 120 Issue 1 Pages 58-66
Keywords dwarf goats; visual discrimination; operant learning; learning strategies; context
Abstract In most studies on animal learning, individual animals are tested separately in a specific learning environment and with a limited number of trials per day. An alternative approach is to test animals in a familiar environment in their social group. In this study, the authors--applying a fully automated learning device--investigated voluntary, self-controlled visual shape discrimination learning of group-housed dwarf goats (Capra hircus). The majority of the tested goats showed successful shape discrimination, which indicates the adaptive value of an effective learning strategy. However, in each group, a few individual goats developed behavioral strategies different from shape discrimination to get reward. Relocation impairs memory retrieval (probably by attention shifting) only temporarily for previously learnt shapes. The results demonstrate the usefulness of a self-controlled learning paradigm to assess learning abilities of social species in their normal social settings. This may be especially relevant for captive animals to improve their welfare.
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Call Number Serial 2140
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Author Apple, J.K.; Kegley, E.B.; Galloway, D.L.; Wistuba, T.J.; Rakes, L.K.; Yancey, J.W.S.
Title Treadmill exercise is not an effective methodology for producing the dark-cutting condition in young cattle Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Journal of Animal Science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.
Volume 84 Issue 11 Pages 3079-3088
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Abstract Holstein steer calves (n = 25) were used to evaluate the effects of treadmill exercise (TME) on blood metabolite status and formation of dark-cutting beef. Calves were blocked by BW (156 {+/-} 33.2 kg) and assigned randomly within blocks to 1 of 5 TME treatments arranged in a 2 x 2 factorial design (4 or 8 km/h for a duration of 10 or 15 min) with a nonexercised control. Venous blood was collected via indwelling jugular catheters at 10, 2, and 0 min before TME and at 2-min intervals during exercise. Nonexercised steers were placed on the treadmill but stood still for 15 min. Serum cortisol levels, as well as plasma concentrations of glucose, lactate, and NEFA, were similar (P > 0.05) before TME. Serum cortisol concentrations were unaffected (P > 0.05) during the first 6 min of TME, but between 8 and 15 min of TME, cortisol concentrations were greater (P < 0.05) in steers exercised at 8 km/h than those exercised at 4 km/h or controls (speed x time, P < 0.001). Although TME did not affect (P > 0.05) plasma glucose levels, plasma lactate concentrations in steers exercised at 8 km/h increased (P < 0.05) sharply with the onset of the TME treatment and remained elevated compared with steers exercised at 4 km/h or unexercised controls (speed x time, P < 0.001). Exercised steers had the lowest (P < 0.05) plasma NEFA concentrations during the first 6 min of TME compared with unexercised steers; however, NEFA concentrations were similar after 10 and 12 min of TME, and by the end of TME, steers exercised at 8 km/h had greater (P < 0.05) NEFA levels than nonexercised controls or steers exercised at 4 km/h (speed x time, P < 0.001). Even though muscle glycogen levels and pH decreased (P < 0.001) and muscle lactate concentrations increased (P < 0.001) with increasing time postmortem, neither treadmill speed nor TME duration altered postmortem LM metabolism. Consequently, there were no (P > 0.05) differences in the color, water-holding capacity, shear force, or incidences of dark-cutting carcasses associated with preslaughter TME. It is apparent that preslaughter TME, at the speeds and durations employed in this study, failed to alter antemortem or postmortem muscle metabolism and would not be a suitable animal model for studying the formation of the dark-cutting condition in ruminants.
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Notes 10.2527/jas.2006-137 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2947
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Author Gray, E.R.; Spetch, M.L.
Title Pigeons Encode Absolute Distance but Relational Direction From Landmarks and Walls Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes Abbreviated Journal
Volume 32 Issue 4 Pages 474-480
Keywords spatial cognition; absolute distance; relational direction; landmark configurations
Abstract In recent studies, researchers have examined animals' use of absolute or relational distances in finding a hidden goal. When trained with an array of landmarks, most animals use the default strategy of searching at an absolute distance from 1 or more landmarks. In contrast, when trained in enclosures, animals often use the relationship among walls. In the present study, pigeons were trained to find the center of an array of landmarks or a set of short walls that did not block external cues. Expansion tests showed that both groups of pigeons primarily used an absolute distance strategy. However, on rotational tests, pigeons continued to search in the center of the array, suggesting that direction was learned in relation to array.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2894
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Author Adamo, S.A.; Ehgoetz, K.; Sangster, C.; Whitehorne, I.
Title Signaling to the Enemy? Body Pattern Expression and Its Response to External Cues During Hunting in the Cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (Cephalopoda) Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Biol. Bull. Abbreviated Journal
Volume 210 Issue 3 Pages 192-200
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Abstract Abstract. Cuttlefish can rapidly alter their appearance by using neurally controlled chromatophore organs. This ability may provide a window into their cognitive capacity. We test whether the changes in body pattern that occur during hunting depend on context. If they do, then it may be possible to use these changes to study cephalopod cognition while the animal is engaged in ecologically relevant tasks. We found consistent individual differences in the tendency of cuttlefish to hunt with the first two arms raised. We also found that cuttlefish usually darken their skin after they seize a prey item. This darkening is observed regardless of the identity of the prey (fish, crab, or shrimp), prey context (buried in sand, in a bare tank, or on top of a rock pile), or the presence of a sudden stimulus. The sudden stimulus was created by presenting an overhead model bird to the cuttlefish. The model induced components of the Deimatic Display, which is a form of antipredator behavior, suggesting that the model was perceived as a potential threat. Passing Cloud displays and the Darkening of the arms were significantly reduced after exposure to the model bird. The effect of a potential predator on body pattern expression during hunting suggests it may be possible to use these changes as a sensitive indicator of ecologically relevant learning. N1 -
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2960
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Author Stich, K.P.; Winter, Y.
Title Lack of generalization of object discrimination between spatial contexts by a bat Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication J. Exp. Biol. Abbreviated Journal
Volume 209 Issue 23 Pages 4802-4808
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Abstract Discrimination and generalization are important elements of cognition in the daily lives of animals. Nectar-feeding bats detect flowers by olfaction and probably vision, but also use echolocation and echo-perception of flowers in immediate target surroundings. The echo received from an interference-rich flower corolla is a function of a bat's own relative position in space. This raises the question how easily a free-flying bat will generalize an echo stimulus from a learning situation to a new spatial context where differences in relative flight approach trajectories may lead to an unfamiliar spectral composition of the self-generated echoes. We trained free-flying Glossophaga soricina in echoacoustic discrimination in a two-alternative forced-choice (2-AFC) paradigm at location A. We then tested at location B for spontaneous transfer of discrimination ability. Bats did not spontaneously transfer the discrimination ability acquired at A to location B. This lack of spontaneous generalization may have been caused by factors of the underlying learning mechanisms. 2-AFC tasks may not be representative of the natural foraging behaviour of flower-visiting bats. In contrast to insect-eating bats that constantly evaluate the environment to detect unpredictable prey, the spatial stability of flowers may allow flower visitors to rely on spatial memory to guide foraging. The 2-AFC task requires the disregard (learned irrelevance) of salient spatial location cues that are different at each new location. In Glossophaga, a conjunction between spatial context and 2-AFC discrimination learning may have inhibited the transfer of learned irrelevance of spatial location in the 2-AFC task to new spatial locations. Alternatively, the bats may have learnt the second discrimination task completely anew, and were faster only because of an acquired learning set. We suggest a dissociation between 2-AFC task acquisition and novel object discrimination learning to resolve the issue.
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Notes 10.1242/jeb.02574 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2962
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Author Brembs, B.; Wiener, J.
Title Context and occasion setting in Drosophila visual learning Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Learn. Mem. Abbreviated Journal
Volume 13 Issue 5 Pages 618-628
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Abstract In a permanently changing environment, it is by no means an easy task to distinguish potentially important events from negligible ones. Yet, to survive, every animal has to continuously face that challenge. How does the brain accomplish this feat? Building on previous work in Drosophila melanogaster visual learning, we have developed an experimental methodology in which combinations of visual stimuli (colors and patterns) can be arranged such that the same stimuli can either be directly predictive, indirectly predictive, or nonpredictive of punishment. Varying this relationship, we found that wild-type flies can establish different memory templates for the same contextual color cues. The colors can either leave no trace in the pattern memory template, leading to context-independent pattern memory (context generalization), or be learned as a higher-order cue indicating the nature of the pattern-heat contingency leading to context-dependent memory (occasion setting) or serve as a conditioned stimulus predicting the punishment directly (simple conditioning). In transgenic flies with compromised mushroom-body function, the sensitivity to these subtle variations is altered. Our methodology constitutes a new concept for designing learning experiments. Our findings suggest that the insect mushroom bodies stabilize visual memories against context changes and are not required for cognition-like higher-order learning.
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Notes 10.1101/lm.318606 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2963
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Author Clayton NS; Dickinson A
Title Rational rats Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Science Abbreviated Journal Science
Volume 9 Issue Pages 472
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3061
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Author Saleh, N.; Chittka, L.
Title The importance of experience in the interpretation of conspecific chemical signals Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 61 Issue 2 Pages 215-220
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Abstract Abstract&nbsp;&nbsp;Foraging bumblebees scent mark flowers with hydrocarbon secretions. Several studies have found these scent marks act as a repellent to bee foragers. This was thought to minimize the risk of visiting recently depleted flowers. Some studies, however, have found a reverse, attractive effect of scent marks left on flowers. Do bees mark flowers with different scents, or could the same scent be interpreted differently depending on the bees? previous experience with reward levels in flowers? We use a simple experimental design to investigate if the scent marks can become attractive when bees forage on artificial flowers that remain rewarding upon the bees? return after having depleted them. We contrast this with bees trained in the more natural scenario where revisits to recently emptied flowers are unrewarding. The bees association between scent mark and reward value was tested with flowers scent marked from the same source. We find that the bees experience with the level of reward determines how the scent mark is interpreted: the same scent can act as both an attractant and a repellent. How experience and learning influence the interpretation of the meaning of chemical signals deposited by animals for communication has rarely been investigated.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3150
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Author Ottoni, E.; de Resende, B.; Izar, P.
Title Erratum Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages 156-156
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3258
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Author Bekoff, M.
Title Animal Passions And Beastly Virtues: Cognitive Ethology As The Unifying Science For Understanding The Subjective, Emotional, Empathic, And Moral Lives Of Animals Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Zygon Abbreviated Journal
Volume 41 Issue Pages 71-104
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Notes Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 3445
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