Learning and organization of within-session sequences by pigeons (Columba livia)

Animal Cognition - Most animals engage in complex activities that are the combination of simpler actions expressed over a period of time. The mechanisms organizing such sequential behavior have...     

Visual orienting in dynamic broadband (1/f) noise sequences

Visual orienting has typically been characterized using simple displays—for example, displays with a static target placed on a homogeneous background. In the present study, visual orienting was investigated using a dynamic broadband (1/f) noise display that should mimic a more naturalistic setting and that should allow saccadic orienting experiments to be performed with fewer constraints. In Experiment 1, it was shown that the noise movie contains gaze-attracting features that are almost as distinct as the ones measured for (static) real-word scenes. The movie can therefore serve as a strong distractor. In Experiment 2, observers carried out a luminance target search that showed that saccadic amplitude errors were substantially higher (18%) than the ones measured in simple displays. That error is certainly one of the primary factors making gaze-fixation prediction in complex scenes difficult. Supplemental figures for this study may be downloaded from http://app.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.     

Interplay between environmental and genetic factors in temperament/personality traits in horses (Equus caballus)

The aim of the present study was to broach the question of the relative influence of different genetic and environmental factors on different temperament/personality traits of horses (Equus caballus). The researchers submitted 702 horses to standardized experimental tests and investigated 9 factors, either genetic or environmental. Genetic factors, such as sire or breed, seemed to influence more neophobic reactions, whereas environmental factors, such as the type of work, seemed to play a more dominant role in reactions to social separation or learning abilities. Additive effects were evident, showing how environmental factors may modulate behavioral traits. This study constitutes a first step toward understanding the relative weights of genetic factors and how the environment may intervene in determining individual behavioral characteristics.     

Dynamic averaging and foraging decisions in horses (Equus callabus)

The variability of most environments taxes foraging decisions by increasing the uncertainty of the information available. One solution to the problem is to use dynamic averaging, as do some granivores and carnivores. Arguably, the same strategy could be useful for grazing herbivores, even though their food renews and is more homogeneously distributed. Horses (Equus callabus) were given choices between variable patches after short or long delays. When patch information was current, horses returned to the patch that was recently best, whereas those without current information matched choices to the long-term average values of the patches. These results demonstrate that a grazing species uses dynamic averaging and indicate that, like granivores and carnivores, they can use temporal weighting to optimize foraging decisions.     

Discrimination of familiar human faces in dogs (Canis familiaris)

Faces are an important visual category for many taxa, and the human face is no exception to this. Because faces differ in subtle ways and possess many idiosyncratic features, they provide a rich source of perceptual cues. A fair amount of those cues are learned through social interactions and are used for future identification of individual humans. These effects of individual experience can be studied particularly well in hetero-specific face perception. Domestic dogs represent a perfect model in this respect, due to their proved ability to extract important information from the human face in socio-communicative interactions. There is also suggestive evidence that dogs can identify their owner or other familiar human individuals by using visual information from the face. However, most studies have used only dogs’ looking behavior to examine their visual processing of human faces and it has been demonstrated only that dogs can differentiate between familiar and unknown human faces. Here, we examined the dog's ability to discriminate the faces of two familiar persons by active choice (approach and touch). Furthermore, in successive stages of the experiment we investigated how well dogs discriminate humans in different representations by systematically reducing the informational richness and the quality of the stimuli. We found a huge inter-individual and inter-stage variance in performance, indicating differences across dogs in their learning ability as well as their selection of discriminative cues. On a group level, the performance of dogs significantly decreased when they were presented with pictures of human heads after having learned to discriminate the real heads, and when – after relearning – confronted with the same pictures showing only the inner parts of the heads. However, as two dogs quickly mastered all stages, we conclude that dogs are in principle able to discriminate people on the basis of visual information from their faces and by making active choices.     

Long-term memory for categories and concepts in horses (Equus caballus)

Three horses (Equus caballus) with a history of performing cognitive tasks including discrimination learning, categorization, and concept use were tested to evaluate their long-term memory (LTM) in three experiments. In addition, use of LCD multi-displays for stimulus presentation was incorporated into cognition testing protocol for the first time with horses. Experiment 1 tested LTM for discrimination learning that originally occurred 6 years earlier. Five sets of stimuli were used and the two horses tested showed no decrement in performance on four of the sets; however, both horses did score below chance on one set. Experiment 2 examined long-term categorization recall 10 years after horses had demonstrated the ability to make stimulus selections based on shared characteristics within a given category. The horse tested for LTM after the decade-long interval immediately and consistently applied the previously learned categorization rule to not only familiar but also novel sets of stimuli. Experiment 3 tested another horse for LTM for a relative size concept. This horse had originally demonstrated concept rule use in order to select stimuli based on their relative size to one another. More than 7 years later and without further training, this horse reliably applied the previously established size concept to both familiar and novel sets of stimuli. These findings are the first reports of long-term categorical and conceptual memory in horses and are consistent with observations of domestic and wild horses, which indicate that behavioral and ecological events may be remembered for long periods of time. These studies also demonstrate the adaptive nature of horses with regard to their ability to generalize over several different testing conditions.     

Comprehension of human pointing gestures in horses (Equus caballus)

Twenty domestic horses (Equus caballus) were tested for their ability to rely on different human gesticular cues in a two-way object choice task. An experimenter hid food under one of two bowls and after baiting, indicated the location of the food to the subjects by using one of four different cues. Horses could locate the hidden reward on the basis of the distal dynamic-sustained, proximal momentary and proximal dynamic-sustained pointing gestures but failed to perform above chance level when the experimenter performed a distal momentary pointing gesture. The results revealed that horses could rely spontaneously on those cues that could have a stimulus or local enhancement effect, but the possible comprehension of the distal momentary pointing remained unclear. The results are discussed with reference to the involvement of various factors such as predisposition to read human visual cues, the effect of domestication and extensive social experience and the nature of the gesture used by the experimenter in comparative investigations.     

Development of a frequency dimension in chickens (Gallus gallus)

Multidimensional scaling is used to examine the consistency of neonates' responses to frequency changes. Chickens at 0 and 4 days of age were presented with all possible transitions between pairs of five pure tones at 500, 525, 551, 578, and 608 Hz. Subjects were habituated to one stimulus, and the duration of an unconditioned delay in their otherwise ongoing peeps was measured after the frequency of the stimulus was changed. Durations of these delays can be used as measures of how different animals perceive two frequencies to be. Scaling solutions show that a nonrandom, adult-like ordering of frequencies emerges between 0 and 4 days of age.     

Use of human-given cues by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and horses (Equus caballus)

Sixteen domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and four horses (Equus caballus) were tested for their ability to use human-given manual and facial cues in an object-choice task. Two of the four horses used touch as a cue and one horse successfully used pointing. The performance of the dogs was considerably better, with 12 subjects able to use pointing as a cue, 4 able to use head orientation and 2 able to use eye gaze alone. Group analysis showed that the dogs performed significantly better in all experimental conditions than during control trials. Dogs were able to use pointing cues even when the cuer’s body was closer to the incorrect object. Working gundogs with specialised training used pointing more successfully than pet dogs and gundog breeds performed better than non-gundog breeds. The results of this experiment suggest that animals’ use of human given communicative signals depends on cognitive ability, the evolutionary consequences of domestication and enculturation by humans within the individual’s lifetime. Received: 15 July 1999 / Accepted after revision: 10 January 2000     

Visual expertise does not predict the composite effect across species: A comparison between spider (Ateles geoffroyi) and rhesus (Macaca mulatta) monkeys

Humans are subject to the composite illusion: two identical top halves of a face are perceived as “different” when they are presented with different bottom halves. This observation suggests that when building a mental representation of a face, the underlying system perceives the whole face, and has difficulty decomposing facial features. We adapted a behavioural task that measures the composite illusion to examine the perception of faces in two nonhuman species. Specifically we had spider (Ateles geoffroyi) and rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) perform a two-forced choice, match-to-sample task where only the top half of sample was relevant to the task. The results of Experiment 1 show that spider monkeys (N = 2) process the faces of familiar species (conspecifics and humans, but not chimpanzees, sheep, or sticks), holistically. The second experiment tested rhesus monkeys (N = 7) with the faces of humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, sheep, and sticks. Contrary to prediction, there was no evidence of a composite effect in the human (or familiar primate) condition. Instead, we present evidence of a composite illusion in the chimpanzee condition (an unfamiliar primate). Together, these experiments show that visual expertise does not predict the composite effect across the primate order.     

Cross-modal recognition of human individuals in domestic horses (Equus caballus)

This study has shown that domestic horses are capable of cross-modal recognition of familiar humans. It was demonstrated that horses are able to discriminate between the voices of a familiar and an unfamiliar human without seeing or smelling them at the same moment. Conversely, they were able to discriminate the same persons when only exposed to their visual and olfactory cues, without being stimulated by their voices. A cross-modal expectancy violation setup was employed; subjects were exposed both to trials with incongruent auditory and visual/olfactory identity cues and trials with congruent cues. It was found that subjects responded more quickly, longer and more often in incongruent trials, exhibiting heightened interest in unmatched cues of identity. This suggests that the equine brain is able to integrate multisensory identity cues from a familiar human into a person representation that allows the brain, when deprived of one or two senses, to maintain recognition of this person.     

Personality in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus): Temporal stability and social rank

Tracing the evolutionary origins of species-specific personality structures requires comparative personality research. We used a 51 item questionnaire to examine the personality structure of 26 semi-free-ranging Barbary macaques assessed at two time points. Principal-components analysis revealed four dimensions: Friendliness, Activity/Excitability, Confidence, and Opportunism. These dimensions were reliable across raters, stable over time, and both similar to and different from the personality dimensions of free-ranging rhesus macaques and male Hanuman langurs. We modeled the relationships between Confidence and a behavioral measure of rank at both time points. The stability of rank over time could be explained by Confidence but not vice versa. These findings highlight how interspecies differences in personality structure reflect personality evolution and how rank is related to personality.     

Preference for rich,random tactile stimulation in woodlice (Porcellio scaber)

All living beings exhibit preferences for a variety of biologically significant stimuli. Interestingly, stimuli without biological significance, such as saccharine, are also able to induce preferences in vertebrates. Can invertebrates show preferences for biologically neutral cues as well – i.e. independently of any conditioning process? Experiment 1 aimed to determine the preference of woodlice (Porcellio scaber Latreille 1804) exposed to floor textures that differed in tactile cues, how they expressed their tactile preference, and whether they were able to inhibit that preference when a shelter of variable quality was available on the non-preferred floor texture. Experiment 2 provided additional information relative to the strength of woodlice's tactile preference as well as the way of measuring it. Experiment 3 complemented the previous one in attempting to determine woodlice's preference for regular versus random tactile cues. Taken together, the results suggest that (i) woodlice are able to process sensory information relative to biologically non-significant stimuli and (ii) that, because the motivation induced can interact with sheltering as a survival-related behavior, the processing of both types of motivation might depend on the same brain systems.     

Natural choice in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Perceptual and temporal effects on selective value

In three experiments, four chimpanzees made choices between two visible food options to assess the validity of the selective value effect (the assignment of value to only the most preferred type of food presented in a comparison). In Experiment 1, we established that all chimpanzees preferred single banana pieces to single apple pieces before presenting the critical test. In this test two chimpanzees preferred a mix of one banana piece and one apple piece to a single banana piece when both banana pieces were approximately the same size, but two chimpanzees were indifferent between the two options, exhibiting the selective value effect. In Experiment 2, when the banana pieces in both options were more closely equated in size, the chimpanzees were biased to choose the single banana piece over the mixed array even though this was the smaller total amount of food. However, in Experiment 3, when we introduced longer intervals between each trial, the chimpanzees preferred the mixed set and thus the larger total amount of food. The results demonstrate that only some chimpanzees exhibit the choice pattern indicative of the selective value effect, and they do so only when item size is not carefully controlled and trials are presented quickly in succession. Thus, the behavior pattern originally labeled the selective value effect may actually be explained by a combination of chimpanzees’ sensitivity to small differences in preferred food amount and chimpanzees tendency to avoid less preferred foods that would delay the acquisition of further preferred food items.     

Use of gesture sequences in captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) play

This study examined the use of sensory modalities relative to a partner’s behavior in gesture sequences during captive chimpanzee play at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute. We hypothesized that chimpanzees would use visual gestures toward attentive recipients and auditory/tactile gestures toward inattentive recipients. We also hypothesized that gesture sequences would be more prevalent toward unresponsive rather than responsive recipients. The chimpanzees used significantly more auditory/tactile rather than visual gestures first in sequences with both attentive and inattentive recipients. They rarely used visual gestures toward inattentive recipients. Auditory/tactile gestures were effective with and used with both attentive and inattentive recipients. Recipients responded significantly more to single gestures than to first gestures in sequences. Sequences often indicated that recipients did not respond to initial gestures, whereas effective single gestures made more gestures unnecessary. The chimpanzees thus gestured appropriately relative to a recipient’s behavior and modified their interactions according to contextual social cues.     

Tight and loose are not created equal: An asymmetry underlying the representation of fit in English- and Korean-speakers

Research concerning the spatial dimension fit (tight versus loose) has been based on a tacit but untested assumption that the dimension fit is symmetrical, with tight- and loose-fitting relations highlighting the dimension fit with equal force. We propose a reformulation, documenting that adult speakers of English (Experiment 1) and Korean (Experiment 2) are sensitive to the dimension fit, but that their representation is asymmetric, with tight-fitting events highlighting fit with greater force than loose-fitting events. We propose that sensitivity to the dimension fit is more resilient than has previously been suggested, and that the asymmetry documented here provides a foundation upon which to pursue nuanced questions about the relationship between language and our underlying representations of space.     

Getting rid of blinkers: the case of mirror self-recognition in horses (Equus caballus)

Animal Cognition - The commentary by Gallup and Anderson (Anim Cogn https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-021-01538-9 , 2021) on the original article by Baragli, Scopa, Maglieri, and Palagi (Anim Cogn...     

Mainstreams and Perspectives in Research on Learning (Mathematics) From Instruction

Le domaine de l’enseignement et de l’apprentissage des mathématiques est un exemple des plus représentatives de l’orientation des recherches sur l’apprentissage et l’instruction dans les différentes matières. Au cours du dernier quart de siècle écoulé, ce champ de questionnement a produit nombre d’investigations qui résultent d’une conception de l’apprentissage des mathématiques comme construction sociale de la signification et de la comprehension basée sur la modélisation de la réalité. Dans cet article, quelques tendances majeures et perspectives de recherche s.0s principalement aux Etats‐Unis et en Europe. Il y sera montré que d’une part, les investigations empiriques ont déjà produit des blocs de construction pour l’élaboration d’une théorie de l’apprentissage des mathématiques à partir d’instructions mais que, d’autre part, des questions et des problèmes majeurs requièrent d’être démêlés par la poursuite d’investigations. Ceci y sera documenté de façon exemplaire en utilisant comme cadre de référence quatre composants principaux d’une théorie de l’apprentissage des mathématiques à partir d’instructions: une théorie de l’expertise visant à analyser des compétences dans un domaine; une théorie de l’acquisition tendant à comprendre et expliquer les processus d’apprentissage qui conduisent à la réalisation de compétences; une théorie de l’intervention, focalisée sur la conception d’environnements enseignement‐apprentissage puissants pour provoquer ces processus d’acquisition; et une théorie de l’évaluation s’adressant au développement de méthodes et techniques pour la construction et l’application d’outils et instruments d’évaluation. The domain of mathematics learning and teaching is one of the most representative examples of the subject‐matter orientation in research on learning and instruction. During the last quarter of the past century this field of inquiry has produced a vast body of investigations, resulting in an enriched conception of mathematics learning as involving the (social) construction of meaning and understanding based on modeling of reality. In this article some of the main trends and perspectives in the field of research on mathematics learning and instruction are discussed, and illustrated with examples of empirical research, mainly carried out in Europe and the United States. It will be shown that, on the one hand, the available empirical investigations have already yielded substantial building blocks for the elaboration of a theory of mathematics learning from instruction, but that, on the other hand, major issues and problems need to be unravelled by continued inquiry. This will be documented in an exemplary way, using as a frame of reference four main components of a theory of learning mathematics from instruction: a theory of expertise, aiming at analysing competence in a domain; a theory of acquisition, attempting to understand and explain the processes of learning that are conducive to the attainment of competence; a theory of intervention, focusing on the design of powerful teaching–learning environments for eliciting those acquisition processes; and a theory of assessment, addressing the development of methods and techniques for the construction and application of assessment tools and instruments.