Friedrich, A. M., & Zentall, T. R. (2004). Pigeons shift their preference toward locations of food that take more effort to obtain. Behav. Process., 67(3), 405–415.
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.
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Fureix, C., Pagès, M., Bon, R., Lassalle, J. - M., Kuntz, P., & Gonzalez, G. (2009). A preliminary study of the effects of handling type on horses' emotional reactivity and the human-horse relationship. Behav. Process., 82(2), 202–210.
Abstract: Handling is a crucial component of the human-horse relationship. Here, we report data from an experiment conducted to assess and compare the effect of two training methods. Two groups of six Welsh mares were trained during four sessions of 50 min, one handled with traditional exercises (halter leading, grooming/brushing, lifting feet, lunging and pseudo-saddling (using only girth and saddle pad) and the second group with natural horsemanship exercises (desensitization, yielding to body pressure, lunging and free-lunging). Emotional reactivity (ER) and the human-horse relationship (HHR) were assessed both prior to and following handling. A social isolation test, a neophobia test and a bridge test were used to assess ER. HHR was assessed through test of spontaneous approach to, and forced approach by, an unknown human. Horses' ER decreased after both types of handling as indicated by decreases in the occurrence of whinnying during stressful situations. Head movement (jerk/shake) was the most sensitive variable to handling type. In the spontaneous approach tests, horses in the traditional handling group showed higher latencies to approach a motionless person after handling than did the natural horsemanship group. Our study suggests that natural horsemanship exercises could be more efficient than traditional exercises for improving horses' HHR.
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Galef, B. G. (2013). Imitation and local enhancement: Detrimental effects of consensus definitions on analyses of social learning in animals. Behavioural Processes, 100, 123–130.
Abstract: Development of a widely accepted vocabulary referring to various types of social learning has made important contributions to decades of progress in analyzing the role of socially acquired information in the development of behavioral repertoires. It is argued here that emergence of a consensus vocabulary, while facilitating both communication and research, has also unnecessarily restricted research on social learning. The article has two parts. In the first, I propose that Thorndike, 1898, Thorndike, 1911 definition of imitation as “learning to do an act from seeing it done” has unduly restricted studies of the behavioral processes involved in the propagation of behavior. In part 2, I consider the possibility that success in labeling social learning processes believed to be less cognitively demanding than imitation (e.g. local and stimulus enhancement, social facilitation, etc.) has been mistaken for understanding of those processes, although essentially nothing is known of their stimulus control, development, phylogeny or substrate either behavioral or physiological.
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Giljov, A., & Karenina, K. (2019). Differential roles of the right and left brain hemispheres in the social interactions of a free-ranging ungulate. Behav. Process., 168, 103959.
Abstract: Despite the abundant empirical evidence on lateralized social behaviours, a clear understanding of the relative roles of two brain hemispheres in social processing is still lacking. This study investigated visual lateralization in social interactions of free-ranging European bison (Bison bonasus). The bison were more likely to display aggressive responses (such as fight and side hit), when they viewed the conspecific with the right visual field, implicating the left brain hemisphere. In contrast, the responses associated with positive social interactions (female-to-calf bonding, calf-to-female approach, suckling) or aggression inhibition (fight termination) occurred more likely when the left visual field was in use, indicating the right hemisphere advantage. The results do not support either assumptions of right-hemisphere dominance for control of various social functions or hypotheses about simple positive (approach) versus negative (withdrawal) distinction between the hemispheric roles. The discrepancy between the studies suggests that in animals, the relative roles of the hemispheres in social processing may be determined by a fine balance of emotions and motivations associated with the particular social reaction difficult to categorize for a human investigator. Our findings highlight the involvement of both brain hemispheres in the control of social behaviour.
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Goodwin, D. (2007). Equine learning behaviour: What we know, what we don't and future research priorities. Behav. Process., 76, 17–19.
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Griffin, A. S., & Guez, D. (2014). Innovation and problem solving: A review of common mechanisms. Behav. Process., 109, 121–134.
Abstract: Behavioural innovations have become central to our thinking about how animals adjust to changing environments. It is now well established that animals vary in their ability to innovate, but understanding why remains a challenge. This is because innovations are rare, so studying innovation requires alternative experimental assays that create opportunities for animals to express their ability to invent new behaviours, or use pre-existing ones in new contexts. Problem solving of extractive foraging tasks has been put forward as a suitable experimental assay. We review the rapidly expanding literature on problem solving of extractive foraging tasks in order to better understand to what extent the processes underpinning problem solving, and the factors influencing problem solving, are in line with those predicted, and found, to underpin and influence innovation in the wild. Our aim is to determine whether problem solving can be used as an experimental proxy of innovation. We find that in most respects, problem solving is determined by the same underpinning mechanisms, and is influenced by the same factors, as those predicted to underpin, and to influence, innovation. We conclude that problem solving is a valid experimental assay for studying innovation, propose a conceptual model of problem solving in which motor diversity plays a more central role than has been considered to date, and provide recommendations for future research using problem solving to investigate innovation. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cognition in the wild.
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Gärdenfors P. (1995). Cued and detached representations in animal cognition. Behav. Process., 35, 263–273.
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Hall, C. (2007). The impact of visual perception on equine learning. Behav. Process., 76, 29–33.
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Hanggi, E. B., & Ingersoll, J. F. (2012). Lateral vision in horses: A behavioral investigation. Behav. Process., 91(1), 70–76.
Abstract: This study investigated lateral vision in horses (Equus caballus) for the first time from a behavioral point of view. Three horses were tested using a novel experimental design to determine the range of their lateral and caudolateral vision with respect to stimulus detection and discrimination. Real-life stimuli were presented along a curvilinear wall in one of four different positions (A, B, C, D) and one of two height locations (Top, Bottom) on both sides of the horse. To test for stimulus detection, the correct stimulus was paired against a control; for stimulus discrimination, the correct stimulus was paired against another object. To indicate that the correct stimulus was detected or discriminated, the horses pushed one of two paddles. All horses scored significantly above chance on stimulus detection trials regardless of stimulus position or location. They also accurately discriminated between stimuli when objects appeared in positions A, B, and C for the top or bottom locations; however, they failed to discriminate these stimuli at position D. This study supports physiological descriptions of the equine eye and provides new behavioral data showing that horses can detect the appearance of objects within an almost fully encompassing circle and are able to identify objects within most but not all of their panoramic field of view.
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Hanggi, E. B., & Ingersoll, J. F. (2009). Stimulus discrimination by horses under scotopic conditions. Behav. Process., 82(1), 45–50.
Abstract: Scotopic vision in horses (Equus caballus) was investigated using behavioral measurements for the first time. Four horses were tested for the ability to make simple visual discriminations of geometric figures (circles and triangles) under various brightness levels within an enclosed building. Measurements of brightness ranging from 10.37 to 24.12 magnitudes per square arcsecond (mag/arcsec2; in candelas per square meter--7.70 to 2.43E-05 cd/m2) were taken using a Sky Quality Meter. These values approximated outdoor conditions ranging from twilight in open country to a dark moonless night in dense forest. The horses were able to solve the discrimination problems in all brightness settings up to 23.77 mag/arcsec2 (3.35E-05 cd/m2). Moreover, they easily navigated their way around obstacles located within the testing area in extremely dim light (>23.50 mag/arcsec2; 4.30E-05 cd/m2), which were in conditions too dark for the human experimenters to see. These findings support physiological data that reveal a rod-dominated visual system as well as observations of equine activity at night.
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