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Degrande R, Cornilleau F, Lansade L, Jardat P, Colson V, Calandreau L. Domestic hens succeed at serial reversal learning and perceptual concept generalisation using a new automated touchscreen device. Animal 2022; 16:100607. [PMID: 35963029 DOI: 10.1016/j.animal.2022.100607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Improving the welfare of farm animals depends on our knowledge on how they perceive and interpret their environment; the latter depends on their cognitive abilities. Hence, limited knowledge of the range of cognitive abilities of farm animals is a major concern. An effective approach to explore the cognitive range of a species is to apply automated testing devices, which are still underdeveloped in farm animals. In screen-like studies, the uses of automated devices are few in domestic hens. We developed an original fully automated touchscreen device using digital computer-drawn colour pictures and independent sensible cells adapted for cognitive testing in domestic hens, enabling a wide range of test types from low to high complexity. This study aimed to test the efficiency of our device using two cognitive tests. We focused on tasks related to adaptive capacities to environmental variability, such as flexibility and generalisation capacities as this is a good start to approach more complex cognitive capacities. We implemented a serial reversal learning task, categorised as a simple cognitive test, and a delayed matching-to-sample (dMTS) task on an identity concept, followed by a generalisation test, categorised as more complex. In the serial reversal learning task, the hens performed equally for the two changing reward contingencies in only three reversal stages. In the dMTS task, the hens increased their performance rapidly throughout the training sessions. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, we present the first positive result of identity concept generalisation in a dMTS task in domestic hens. Our results provide additional information on the behavioural flexibility and concept understanding of domestic hens. They also support the idea that fully automated devices would improve knowledge of farm animals' cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Degrande
- CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC (Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), F-37380 Nouzilly, Indre-et-Loire, France.
| | - Fabien Cornilleau
- CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC (Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), F-37380 Nouzilly, Indre-et-Loire, France
| | - Léa Lansade
- CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC (Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), F-37380 Nouzilly, Indre-et-Loire, France
| | - Plotine Jardat
- CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC (Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), F-37380 Nouzilly, Indre-et-Loire, France
| | - Violaine Colson
- INRAE, LPGP (Laboratoire de Physiologie et Génomique des Poissons), Campus de Beaulieu, F-35042 Rennes cedex, Ille-et-Vilaine, France
| | - Ludovic Calandreau
- CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC (Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), F-37380 Nouzilly, Indre-et-Loire, France
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Watanabe S, Masuda S, Shinozuka K, Borlongan C. Preference and discrimination of facial expressions of humans, rats, and mice by C57 mice. Anim Cogn 2021; 25:297-306. [PMID: 34417921 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01551-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Revised: 06/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Social animals likely recognize emotional expressions in other animals. Recent studies suggest that mice can visually perceive emotional expressions of other mice. In the first experiment, we measured the preference of mice for two different facial expressions (a normal facial expression and an expression of negative emotion such as pain) of rats, mice, and humans. Results revealed that mice showed a slight preference for the normal expression over the face expressing pain in the case of rats, but no preference in the case of others. In the second experiment, we trained mice to discriminate between the two facial expressions in an operant chamber with a touch screen. They could discriminate facial expressions of mice and rats, but they did not show discrimination of human facial expressions. Principal component analysis of the images of stimuli reveals negative correlation between pixel-based dissimilarity of training stimuli and the number of sessions to criterion. The mice showed generalization to novel images of the mouse faces with and without pain but did not maintain their discriminative behavior when new rat faces were shown. These results suggest that mice display category discrimination of conspecific facial expressions but not of other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shigeru Watanabe
- Department of Psychology, Keio University, Mita 2-15-45, Minato-Ku, Tokyo, 108-8345, Japan.
| | - Sayako Masuda
- Jyumonji University, 2-1-28 Sugasawa, Niiza, Saitama, Japan
| | - Kazutaka Shinozuka
- RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan
| | - Cesario Borlongan
- University of South Florida, MDC 78, 12901 Bruce Downs Blvd, Tampa, FL33612, USA
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Trapp R, Fernandez-Juricic E. How visual system configuration can play a role in individual recognition: a visual modeling study. Anim Cogn 2021; 25:205-216. [PMID: 34383151 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01548-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Many species rely on individual recognition (i.e., the use of individual signals to identify and remember a conspecific) to tune their social interactions. However, little is known about how the configuration of the sensory system may affect the perception of individual recognition signals over space. Utilizing a visual modeling approach, we quantified (1) the threshold distance between the receiver and the signaler at which individual recognition can no longer accurately occur, and (2) the regions of the head most likely to contain the individual recognition signals. We used chickens (Gallus gallus) as our study species, as they use visual individual recognition and additionally have a well-studied visual system. We took pictures of different individuals and followed a visual modeling approach considering color vision, visual acuity, and pattern processing of the receiver. We found that distance degrades the quality of information in potential individual recognition signals. We estimated that the neighbor distance at which a receiver may have difficulty recognizing a conspecific was between 0.25 and 0.30 m in chickens, which may be related to a decrease in available features of the potential signal. This signal perception threshold closely matches the recognition distance predicted by previous behavioral approaches. Additionally, we found that certain regions of the head (beak, cheek, comb, eye) may be good candidates for individual recognition signals. Overall, our findings support that recognition in chickens occurs at short distances due to constraints imposed by their visual system, which can affect the costs and benefits associated with social spacing in groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Trapp
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
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Rossi N, Derégnaucourt S. Mechanisms of recognition in birds and social Hymenoptera: from detection to information processing. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190483. [PMID: 32420859 PMCID: PMC7331013 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In this opinion piece, we briefly review our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying auditory individual recognition in birds and chemical nest-mate recognition in social Hymenoptera. We argue that even though detection and perception of recognition cues are well studied in social Hymenoptera, the neural mechanisms remain a black box. We compare our knowledge of these insect systems with that of the well-studied avian 'song control system'. We suggest that future studies on recognition should focus on the hypothesis of a distributed template instead of trying to locate the seat of the template as recent results do not seem to point in that direction. This article is part of the theme issue 'Signal detection theory in recognition systems: from evolving models to experimental tests'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natacha Rossi
- Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, University of Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 99 avenue J.-B., Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
| | - Sébastien Derégnaucourt
- Laboratory Ethology Cognition Development, University Paris Nanterre, University Paris Lumières, 200 avenue de la République, 92001 Nanterre, France
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Brecht KF, Nieder A. Parting self from others: Individual and self-recognition in birds. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 116:99-108. [PMID: 32534901 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2019] [Revised: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 06/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Individual recognition is the ability to differentiate between conspecifics based on their individual features. It forms the basis of many complex communicative and social behaviours. Here, we review studies investigating individual recognition in the auditory and visual domain in birds. It is well established that auditory signals are used by many birds to discriminate conspecifics. In songbirds, the neuronal structures underpinning auditory recognition are associated with the song system. Individual recognition in the visual domain has mainly been explored in chickens and pigeons, and is less well understood. Currently it is unknown which visual cues birds use to identify conspecifics, and whether they have cortical areas dedicated to processing individual features. Moreover, whether birds can recognise themselves visually, as evidenced by mirror self-recognition, remains controversial. In the auditory domain, the responses of neurons in the song system suggest identification of the bird's own song. The surveyed behavioural and neural findings can provide a framework for more controlled investigations of individual recognition in birds and other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina F Brecht
- Animal Physiology Unit, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Andreas Nieder
- Animal Physiology Unit, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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6
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Pigeons process actor-action configurations more readily than bystander-action configurations. Learn Behav 2020; 48:41-52. [PMID: 32043271 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-020-00416-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Behavior requires an actor. Two experiments using complex conditional action discriminations examined whether pigeons privilege information related to the digital actor who is engaged in behavior. In Experiment 1, each of two video displays contained a digital model, one an actor engaged in one of two behaviors (Indian dance or martial arts) and one a neutrally posed bystander. To correctly classify the display, the pigeons needed to conditionally process the action in conjunction with distinctive physical features of the actor or the bystander. Four actor-conditional pigeons learned to correctly discriminate the actions based on the identity of the actors, whereas four bystander-conditional birds failed to learn. Experiment 2 established that this failure was not due to the latter group's inability to spatially integrate information across the distance between the two models. Potentially, the colocalization of the relevant model identity and the action was critical due to a fundamental configural or integral representation of these properties. These findings contribute to our understanding of the evolution of action recognition, the recognition of social behavior, and forms of observational learning by animals.
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7
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Bushby EV, Friel M, Goold C, Gray H, Smith L, Collins LM. Factors Influencing Individual Variation in Farm Animal Cognition and How to Account for These Statistically. Front Vet Sci 2018; 5:193. [PMID: 30175105 PMCID: PMC6107851 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2018.00193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2018] [Accepted: 07/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
For farmed species, good health and welfare is a win-win situation: both the animals and producers can benefit. In recent years, animal welfare scientists have embraced cognitive sciences to rise to the challenge of determining an animal's internal state in order to better understand its welfare needs and by extension, the needs of larger groups of animals. A wide range of cognitive tests have been developed that can be applied in farmed species to assess a range of cognitive traits. However, this has also presented challenges. Whilst it may be expected to see cognitive variation at the species level, differences in cognitive ability between and within individuals of the same species have frequently been noted but left largely unexplained. Not accounting for individual variation may result in misleading conclusions when the results are applied both at an individual level and at higher levels of scale. This has implications both for our fundamental understanding of an individual's welfare needs, but also more broadly for experimental design and the justification for sample sizes in studies using animals. We urgently need to address this issue. In this review, we will consider the latest developments on the causes of individual variation in cognitive outcomes, such as the choice of cognitive test, sex, breed, age, early life environment, rearing conditions, personality, diet, and the animal's microbiome. We discuss the impact of each of these factors specifically in relation to recent work in farmed species, and explore the future directions for cognitive research in this field, particularly in relation to experimental design and analytical techniques that allow individual variation to be accounted for appropriately.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily V Bushby
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Mary Friel
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Conor Goold
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Helen Gray
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Lauren Smith
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Lisa M Collins
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
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Brecht KF, Ostojić L, Legg EW, Clayton NS. Difficulties when using video playback to investigate social cognition in California scrub-jays ( Aphelocoma californica). PeerJ 2018; 6:e4451. [PMID: 29576946 PMCID: PMC5857174 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2017] [Accepted: 02/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research has suggested that videos can be used to experimentally manipulate social stimuli. In the present study, we used the California scrub-jays' cache protection strategies to assess whether video playback can be used to simulate conspecifics in a social context. In both the lab and the field, scrub-jays are known to exhibit a range of behaviours to protect their caches from potential pilferage by a conspecific, for example by hiding food in locations out of the observer's view or by re-caching previously made caches once the observer has left. Here, we presented scrub-jays with videos of a conspecific observer as well as two non-social conditions during a caching period and assessed whether they would cache out of the observer's "view" (Experiment 1) or would re-cache their caches once the observer was no longer present (Experiment 2). In contrast to previous studies using live observers, the scrub-jays' caching and re-caching behaviour was not influenced by whether the observer was present or absent. These findings suggest that there might be limitations in using video playback of social agents to mimic real-life situations when investigating corvid decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina F Brecht
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ljerka Ostojić
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Edward W Legg
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Nicola S Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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9
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Marino L. Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken. Anim Cogn 2017; 20:127-147. [PMID: 28044197 PMCID: PMC5306232 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-1064-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2015] [Revised: 11/30/2016] [Accepted: 12/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Domestic chickens are members of an order, Aves, which has been the focus of a revolution in our understanding of neuroanatomical, cognitive, and social complexity. At least some birds are now known to be on par with many mammals in terms of their level of intelligence, emotional sophistication, and social interaction. Yet, views of chickens have largely remained unrevised by this new evidence. In this paper, I examine the peer-reviewed scientific data on the leading edge of cognition, emotions, personality, and sociality in chickens, exploring such areas as self-awareness, cognitive bias, social learning and self-control, and comparing their abilities in these areas with other birds and other vertebrates, particularly mammals. My overall conclusion is that chickens are just as cognitively, emotionally and socially complex as most other birds and mammals in many areas, and that there is a need for further noninvasive comparative behavioral research with chickens as well as a re-framing of current views about their intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lori Marino
- The Someone Project, The Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy, 4100 Kanab Canyon Road, Kanab, UT, 84741, USA.
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10
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Discrimination of human faces by archerfish (Toxotes chatareus). Sci Rep 2016; 6:27523. [PMID: 27272551 PMCID: PMC4895153 DOI: 10.1038/srep27523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2015] [Accepted: 05/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Two rival theories of how humans recognize faces exist: (i) recognition is innate, relying on specialized neocortical circuitry, and (ii) recognition is a learned expertise, relying on general object recognition pathways. Here, we explore whether animals without a neocortex, can learn to recognize human faces. Human facial recognition has previously been demonstrated for birds, however they are now known to possess neocortex-like structures. Also, with much of the work done in domesticated pigeons, one cannot rule out the possibility that they have developed adaptations for human face recognition. Fish do not appear to possess neocortex-like cells, and given their lack of direct exposure to humans, are unlikely to have evolved any specialized capabilities for human facial recognition. Using a two-alternative forced-choice procedure, we show that archerfish (Toxotes chatareus) can learn to discriminate a large number of human face images (Experiment 1, 44 faces), even after controlling for colour, head-shape and brightness (Experiment 2, 18 faces). This study not only demonstrates that archerfish have impressive pattern discrimination abilities, but also provides evidence that a vertebrate lacking a neocortex and without an evolutionary prerogative to discriminate human faces, can nonetheless do so to a high degree of accuracy.
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Barber ALA, Randi D, Müller CA, Huber L. The Processing of Human Emotional Faces by Pet and Lab Dogs: Evidence for Lateralization and Experience Effects. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0152393. [PMID: 27074009 PMCID: PMC4830442 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2015] [Accepted: 03/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
From all non-human animals dogs are very likely the best decoders of human behavior. In addition to a high sensitivity to human attentive status and to ostensive cues, they are able to distinguish between individual human faces and even between human facial expressions. However, so far little is known about how they process human faces and to what extent this is influenced by experience. Here we present an eye-tracking study with dogs emanating from two different living environments and varying experience with humans: pet and lab dogs. The dogs were shown pictures of familiar and unfamiliar human faces expressing four different emotions. The results, extracted from several different eye-tracking measurements, revealed pronounced differences in the face processing of pet and lab dogs, thus indicating an influence of the amount of exposure to humans. In addition, there was some evidence for the influences of both, the familiarity and the emotional expression of the face, and strong evidence for a left gaze bias. These findings, together with recent evidence for the dog's ability to discriminate human facial expressions, indicate that dogs are sensitive to some emotions expressed in human faces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anjuli L. A. Barber
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- * E-mail:
| | - Dania Randi
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Corsin A. Müller
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ludwig Huber
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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12
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Ploeger A, van der Hoort B. Evolutionary Psychology as a Metatheory for the Social Sciences: How to Gather Interdisciplinary Evidence for a Psychological Adaptation. REVIEW OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 2015. [DOI: 10.1037/gpr0000052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary psychology has been proposed as a new metatheory for the social sciences ( Buss, 1995 ). Evolutionary psychology is an approach that emphasizes the evolutionary background of psychological phenomena (e.g., cognition, motivation, perception), with the expectation that knowledge about this background enhances our understanding of the working of the present human mind. This proposal has met with both enthusiasm and criticism. An important criticism is that it is hard, if possible at all, to find empirical evidence for a hypothesized psychological adaptation. This criticism has been addressed with the proposal to build a nomological network of evidence around a hypothesized psychological adaptation ( Schmitt & Pilcher, 2004 ). In this article, we show that it is possible to use this nomological network of evidence to support the hypothesis that face recognition is an adaptation. We reviewed the literature on face recognition from different disciplines (psychology, medicine, neuroscience, genetics, primatology, and anthropology) and conclude that there is an extensive network of evidence for the proposed hypothesis. We argue that building a nomological network of evidence is a promising way to address several criticisms of evolutionary psychology, and that such a network can serve as a metatheoretical framework for the social sciences.
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Pigeons (Columba livia) fail to connect dots in learning biological motion. Anim Cogn 2015; 18:1187-91. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-015-0880-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2014] [Revised: 04/30/2015] [Accepted: 05/21/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Abstract
Forming categories is a basic cognitive operation allowing animals to attain concepts, i.e. to represent various classes of objects, natural or artificial, physical or social. Categories can also be formed about the relations holding among these objects, notably similarity and identity. Some of the cognitive processes involved in categorisation will be enumerated. Also, special reference will be made to a much neglected area of research, that of social representations. Here, animals conceive the natural class of their conspecifics as well as the relationships established between them in groups. Two types of social categories were mentioned: (1) intraspecies recognition including recognition of individual conspecifics; and (2) representation of dominance hierarchies and of their transitivity in linear orders.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Zayan
- Faculté de Psychologie, Université de Louvain, Place Désiré Mercier, 10, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - J Vauclair
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences Cognitives, CNRS, 31 Chemin Joseph-Aiguier, F-13402 Marseille Cedex 20, France
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15
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16
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Lemasson A, Mikus MA, Blois-Heulin C, Lodé T. Social partner discrimination based on sounds and scents in Asian small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinereus). Naturwissenschaften 2013; 100:275-9. [PMID: 23397263 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-013-1022-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2012] [Revised: 01/24/2013] [Accepted: 01/30/2013] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Ability to discriminate familiar conspecifics is an essential competence in any group-living species, ensuring socio-spatial cohesion, but in many animals, such as mustelids, the relative importance of the different communicative modalities for discrimination is poorly understood. In otters, there is evidence of intra-specific variation in physical appearance and in feces chemical profile, but the potential for acoustic identity coding as well as for identity decoding in visual, acoustic and olfactive domains remains unexplored. We investigated the acoustic structure of contact calls in five captive groups of small-clawed otters and found that it is possible to reliably assign one particular call to a given adult male caller. Females discriminated between familiar and unfamiliar adult males based on their sound (playback) and smell (feces) but not based on their picture, suggesting abilities to memorize and use acoustic and olfactive signatures in their daily social life.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Lemasson
- Laboratoire d'éthologie animale et humaine, UMR 6552, Université de Rennes 1-CNRS, Station Biologique, Paimpont, France.
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Burke D, Sulikowski D. The evolution of holistic processing of faces. Front Psychol 2013; 4:11. [PMID: 23382721 PMCID: PMC3560284 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2012] [Accepted: 01/07/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper we examine the holistic processing of faces from an evolutionary perspective, clarifying what such an approach entails, and evaluating the extent to which the evidence currently available permits any strong conclusions. While it seems clear that the holistic processing of faces depends on mechanisms evolved to perform that task, our review of the comparative literature reveals that there is currently insufficient evidence (or sometimes insufficiently compelling evidence) to decide when in our evolutionary past such processing may have arisen. It is also difficult to assess what kinds of selection pressures may have led to evolution of such a mechanism, or even what kinds of information holistic processing may have originally evolved to extract, given that many sources of socially relevant face-based information other than identity depend on integrating information across different regions of the face – judgments of expression, behavioral intent, attractiveness, sex, age, etc. We suggest some directions for future research that would help to answer these important questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren Burke
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Information Technology, University of Newcastle Ourimbah, NSW, Australia
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18
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Gieling ET, Musschenga MA, Nordquist RE, van der Staay FJ. Juvenile pigs use simple geometric 2D shapes but not portrait photographs of conspecifics as visual discriminative stimuli. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2012.10.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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19
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Picture recognition of food by macaques (Macaca silenus). Anim Cogn 2011; 15:313-25. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-011-0455-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2011] [Revised: 08/29/2011] [Accepted: 08/31/2011] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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20
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Woo KL, Rieucau G. From dummies to animations: a review of computer-animated stimuli used in animal behavior studies. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-011-1226-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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21
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Leopold DA, Rhodes G. A comparative view of face perception. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011; 124:233-51. [PMID: 20695655 DOI: 10.1037/a0019460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 154] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Face perception serves as the basis for much of human social exchange. Diverse information can be extracted about an individual from a single glance at their face, including their identity, emotional state, and direction of attention. Neuropsychological and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments reveal a complex network of specialized areas in the human brain supporting these face-reading skills. Here we consider the evolutionary roots of human face perception by exploring the manner in which different animal species view and respond to faces. We focus on behavioral experiments collected from both primates and nonprimates, assessing the types of information that animals are able to extract from the faces of their conspecifics, human experimenters, and natural predators. These experiments reveal that faces are an important category of visual stimuli for animals in all major vertebrate taxa, possibly reflecting the early emergence of neural specialization for faces in vertebrate evolution. At the same time, some aspects of facial perception are only evident in primates and a few other social mammals, and may therefore have evolved to suit the needs of complex social communication. Because the human brain likely utilizes both primitive and recently evolved neural specializations for the processing of faces, comparative studies may hold the key to understanding how these parallel circuits emerged during human evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Leopold
- Unit on Cognitive Neurophysiology and Imaging, Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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Dzieweczynski TL, Leopard AK. The effects of stimulus type on consistency of responses to conflicting stimuli in Siamese fighting fish. Behav Processes 2010; 85:83-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2010.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2009] [Revised: 06/07/2010] [Accepted: 06/09/2010] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Railton RCR, Foster TM, Temple W. Transfer of stimulus control from a TFT to CRT screen. Behav Processes 2010; 85:111-5. [PMID: 20600697 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2010.06.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2009] [Revised: 06/17/2010] [Accepted: 06/22/2010] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The use of television and computer screens for presenting stimuli to animals is increasing as it is non-invasive and can provide precise control over stimuli. Past studies have used cathode ray tube (CRT) screens; however, there is some evidence that these give different results to non-flickering thin film transistor (TFT) screens. Hens' critical flicker fusion frequency ranges between 80 and 90 Hz--above standard CRT screens. Thus, stimuli presented on CRT screens may appear distorted to hens. This study aimed to investigate whether changing the flicker rate of CRT screens altered hens' discrimination. Hens were trained (in a conditional discrimination) to discriminate between two stimuli on a TFT (flickerless) screen, and tested with the stimuli on a CRT screen at four flicker rates (60, 75, 85, and 100 Hz). The hens' accuracy generally decreased as the refresh rate of the CRT screen decreased. These results imply that the change in flicker rate changed the appearance of the stimuli enough to affect the hens' discrimination and stimulus control is disrupted when the stimuli appear to flicker.
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Dittrich W, Lea S, Barrett J, Gurr P. Categorization of natural movements by pigeons: visual concept discrimination and biological motion. J Exp Anal Behav 2010; 70:281-99. [PMID: 16812887 PMCID: PMC1284687 DOI: 10.1901/jeab.1998.70-281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Dittrich L, Adam R, Ünver E, Güntürkün O. Pigeons identify individual humans but show no sign of recognizing them in photographs. Behav Processes 2010; 83:82-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2009.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2009] [Revised: 10/03/2009] [Accepted: 10/24/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Schweitzer C, Poindron P, Arnould C. Social motivation affects the display of individual discrimination in young and adult Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). Dev Psychobiol 2009; 51:311-21. [PMID: 19277976 DOI: 10.1002/dev.20370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
A simultaneous two-choice test was used to investigate discrimination between a familiar (F) and an unfamiliar conspecific (U) in Japanese quail, selected for high (HSR) or low (LSR) social reinstatement behavior (tendency to rejoin and stay close to conspecifics). Animals were 1-week unsexed and 6-week-old male quail. One-week-old LSR quail and 6-week-old male HSR quail displayed discrimination after 24 hr of pair contact (p < 0.05), and a tendency to discriminate (p < 0.10) was found in adult male LSR quail. After 1 week of pair contact, results were similar in LSR quail chicks, but no discrimination was evidenced in adult quail of either line. Therefore, Japanese quail are able to discriminate between a familiar cagemate and an unfamiliar conspecific after only 24 hr of pair contact. Moreover, this study reveals for the first time in this species that social motivation and age both influence the display of individual discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Schweitzer
- INRA, UMR 85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Nouzilly, France
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Individual recognition in domestic cattle (Bos taurus): evidence from 2D-images of heads from different breeds. PLoS One 2009; 4:e4441. [PMID: 19212439 PMCID: PMC2636880 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2008] [Accepted: 01/09/2009] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In order to maintain cohesion of groups, social animals need to process social information efficiently. Visual individual recognition, which is distinguished from mere visual discrimination, has been studied in only few mammalian species. In addition, most previous studies used either a small number of subjects or a few various views as test stimuli. Dairy cattle, as a domestic species allow the testing of a good sample size and provide a large variety of test stimuli due to the morphological diversity of breeds. Hence cattle are a suitable model for studying individual visual recognition. This study demonstrates that cattle display visual individual recognition and shows the effect of both familiarity and coat diversity in discrimination. Methodology/Principal Findings We tested whether 8 Prim'Holstein heifers could recognize 2D-images of heads of one cow (face, profiles, ¾ views) from those of other cows. Experiments were based on a simultaneous discrimination paradigm through instrumental conditioning using food rewards. In Experiment 1, all images represented familiar cows (belonging to the same social group) from the Prim'Holstein breed. In Experiments 2, 3 and 4, images were from unfamiliar (unknown) individuals either from the same breed or other breeds. All heifers displayed individual recognition of familiar and unfamiliar individuals from their own breed. Subjects reached criterion sooner when recognizing a familiar individual than when recognizing an unfamiliar one (Exp 1: 3.1±0.7 vs. Exp 2: 5.2±1.2 sessions; Z = 1.99, N = 8, P = 0.046). In addition almost all subjects recognized unknown individuals from different breeds, however with greater difficulty. Conclusions/Significance Our results demonstrated that cattle have efficient individual recognition based on categorization capacities. Social familiarity improved their performance. The recognition of individuals with very different coat characteristics from the subjects was the most difficult task. These results call for studies exploring the mechanisms involved in face recognition allowing interspecies comparisons, including humans.
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McLeman MA, Mendl MT, Jones RB, Wathes CM. Social discrimination of familiar conspecifics by juvenile pigs, Sus scrofa: Development of a non-invasive method to study the transmission of unimodal and bimodal cues between live stimuli. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2008. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2008.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Bird CD, Emery NJ. Using video playback to investigate the social preferences of rooks, Corvus frugilegus. Anim Behav 2008. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Croney CC, Prince-Kelly N, Meller CL. A note on social dominance and learning ability in the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus). Appl Anim Behav Sci 2007. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2006.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Lombardi CM. Matching and oddity relational learning by pigeons (Columba livia): transfer from color to shape. Anim Cogn 2007; 11:67-74. [PMID: 17516101 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-007-0087-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2006] [Revised: 12/21/2006] [Accepted: 03/19/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Relational learning, as opposed to perceptual learning, is based on the abstract properties of the stimuli. Although at present there is no doubt that pigeons are capable of relational behavior, this study aims to further disclose the conditions under which it occurs. Pigeons were trained in an outdoor cage on a matching-to-sample or an oddity-from-sample task, with colored cardboard stimuli presented horizontally. The apparatus involved three sliding lids on which the stimuli were drawn and which, when displaced, revealed the reinforcement. The lids were either adjacent to each other or somewhat separated. Training sessions involved two colors, and test sessions six different colors (same dimension test), or six different shapes (different dimension test). One group of birds trained under the 'adjacent' condition failed when tested with new stimuli, but succeeded in both dimension tests after training under the 'separate' condition. Two other groups of birds succeeded in all tests after training under the latter condition. These results show that depending on procedural details, pigeons are or are not able to transfer from one visual dimension to another, thus extending previous related findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Celia M Lombardi
- Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales (CONICET), Av. A. Gallardo 470, 1405 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Watanabe S, Troje NF. Towards a "virtual pigeon": a new technique for investigating avian social perception. Anim Cogn 2006; 9:271-9. [PMID: 17024508 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-006-0048-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2005] [Revised: 01/06/2006] [Accepted: 08/04/2006] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of the present study is to examine the applicability of a computer-generated, virtual animal to study animal cognition. Pigeons were trained to discriminate between movies of a real pigeon and a rat. Then, they were tested with movies of the computer-generated (CG) pigeon. Subjects showed generalization to the CG pigeon, however, they also responded to modified versions in which the CG pigeon was showing impossible movement, namely hopping and walking without its head bobbing. Hence, the pigeons did not attend to these particular details of the display. When they were trained to discriminate between the normal and the modified version of the CG pigeon, they were able to learn the discrimination. The results of an additional partial occlusion test suggest that the subjects used head movement as a cue for the usual vs. unusual CG pigeon discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shigeru Watanabe
- Department of Psychology, Keio University, Mita 2-15-45, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108, Japan.
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Abstract
The contributions of different monocular depth cues to performance of a scene perception task were investigated in 4 pigeons. They discriminated the sequential depth ordering of three geometric objects in computer-rendered scenes. The orderings of these objects were specified by the combined presence or absence of the pictorial cues of relative density, occlusion, and relative size. In Phase 1, the pigeons learned the task as a direct function of the number of cues present. The three monocular cues contributed equally to the discrimination. Phase 2 established that differential shading on the objects provided an additional discriminative cue. These results suggest that the pigeon visual system is sensitive to many of the same monocular depth cues that are known to be used by humans. The theoretical implications for a comparative psychology of picture processing are considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian R Cavoto
- Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
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Lea SEG, Wills AJ, Ryan CME. Why are artificial polymorphous concepts so hard for birds to learn? Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2006; 59:251-67. [PMID: 16618633 DOI: 10.1080/02724990544000031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Stimulus sets defined in terms of artificial polymorphous concepts have frequently been used in experiments to investigate the mechanisms of discrimination of natural concepts, both in humans and in other animals. However, such stimulus sets are frequently difficult for either animals or humans to discriminate. Properties of artificial polymorphous stimulus sets that might explain this difficulty include the complexity of the individual stimuli, the unreliable reinforcement of individual positive features, attentional load, difficulties in discriminating some stimulus dimensions, memory load, and a lack of the correlation between features that characterizes natural concepts. An experiment using chickens as subjects and complex artificial visual stimulus sets investigated these hypotheses by training the birds in discriminations that were not polymorphous but did have some of the properties listed above. Discriminations that involved unreliable reinforcement or high attentional load were found to approach the difficulty of polymorphous concept discriminations, and these two factors together were sufficient to account for the entire difficulty. The usual kind of artificial polymorphous concept may not be a good model for natural concepts as they are perceived and discriminated by birds. A RULEX account of natural concept learning may be preferable.
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Partan S, Yelda S, Price V, Shimizu T. Female pigeons, Columba livia, respond to multisensory audio/video playbacks of male courtship behaviour. Anim Behav 2005. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Nakamura T, Croft DB, Westbrook RF. Domestic pigeons (Columba livia) discriminate between photographs of individual pigeons. Learn Behav 2004; 31:307-17. [PMID: 14733480 DOI: 10.3758/bf03195993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In two experiments, we examined the discrimination of photographs of individual pigeons by pigeons, using go/no-go discrimination procedures. In Experiments 1A and 1B, the pigeons were trained to discriminate 4 photographs of one pigeon from those of a number of pigeons. The subjects learned the discrimination, but their discriminative behavior did not transfer to new photographs taken from novel perspectives. When the pigeons were trained to discriminate between 20 photographs of five pigeons taken from four perspectives as the S+ and 20 photographs of five different pigeons as the S-, the subjects learned the discrimination, and this discriminative behavior partially transferred to new photographs taken from novel perspectives (Experiments 2A-2C). The results suggest that pigeons are able to discriminate among conspecific individuals, using stationary visual cues. This strengthens the assumption in evolutionary theory that animals can discriminate among individuals and encourages further investigation as to how this ability is used in various behaviors of animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamo Nakamura
- University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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Aust U, Huber L. Elemental versus configural perception in a people-present/people-absent discrimination task by pigeons. Learn Behav 2003; 31:213-24. [PMID: 14577546 DOI: 10.3758/bf03195984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
In the present experiment, we investigated whether pigeons rely exclusively on elemental information or whether they are also able to exploit configural information in a people-present/people-absent discrimination task. Six pigeons were trained in a go/no-go procedure to discriminate between 800 color photographs characterized by the presence or absence of people. The people-present stimuli were designated as positive, and the people-absent stimuli were designated as negative. After training and a subsequent generalization test, the pigeons were presented with both familiar and novel people-present stimuli containing human figures that were distorted in one of seven different ways. All the pigeons learned the initial discrimination and also showed generalization to novel stimuli. In the subsequent test, performance on all types of distorted stimuli was diminished in comparison with that on the intact original pictures from which they had been derived. At the same time, however, peck rates clearly exceeded the level of responding found for regular people-absent stimuli. This result strongly suggests that responding was controlled by both the constituting target components and their spatial relations and, therefore, points to the dual importance of elemental and configural information.
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Kelly DM, Bischof WF, Wong-Wylie DR, Spetch ML. Detection of glass patterns by pigeons and humans: implications for differences in higher-level processing. Psychol Sci 2001; 12:338-42. [PMID: 11476103 DOI: 10.1111/1467-9280.00362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Glass patterns have been used to examine mechanisms underlying form perception. The current investigation compared detection of Glass patterns by pigeons and humans and provides evidence for substantial species differences in global form perception. Subjects were required to discriminate, on a simultaneous display, a random dot pattern from a Glass pattern. Four different randomly presented Glass patterns were used (concentric, radial, parallel-vertical, and parallel-horizontal). Detection thresholds were measured by degrading the Glass patterns through the addition of random noise. For both humans and pigeons, discrimination decreased systematically with the addition of noise. Humans showed detection differences among the four patterns, with lowest thresholds to radial and concentric patterns and highest thresholds to the parallel-horiZontal pattern. Pigeons did not show a detection difference across the four patterns. Implications for differences in neural processing of complex forms are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- D M Kelly
- University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
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Gonçalves DM, Oliveira RF, Körner K, Poschadel JR, Schlupp I. Using video playbacks to study visual communication in a marine fish, Salaria pavo. Anim Behav 2000; 60:351-357. [PMID: 11007644 DOI: 10.1006/anbe.2000.1459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Video playbacks have been successfully applied to the study of visual communication in several groups of animals. However, this technique is controversial as video monitors are designed with the human visual system in mind. Differences between the visual capabilities of humans and other animals will lead to perceptually different interpretations of video images. We simultaneously presented males and females of the peacock blenny, Salaria pavo, with a live conspecific male and an online video image of the same individual. Video images failed to elicit appropriate responses. Males were aggressive towards the live male but not towards video images of the same male. Similarly, females courted only the live male and spent more time near this stimulus. In contrast, females of the gynogenetic poecilid Poecilia formosa showed an equal preference for a live and video image of a P. mexicana male, suggesting a response to live animals as strong as to video images. We discuss differences between the species that may explain their opposite reaction to video images. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- DM Gonçalves
- Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Unidade de Investigação em Eco-Etologia, Lisboa
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Abstract
The question of object-picture recognition has received relatively little attention in both human and comparative psychology; a paradoxical situation given the important use of image technology (e. g. slides, digitised pictures) made by neuroscientists in their experimental investigation of visual cognition. The present review examines the relevant literature pertaining to the question of the correspondence between and/or equivalence of real objects and their pictorial representations in animals and humans. Two classes of reactions towards pictures will be considered in turn: acquired responses in picture recognition experiments and spontaneous responses to pictures of biologically relevant objects (e.g. prey or conspecifics). Our survey will lead to the conclusion that humans show evidence of picture recognition from an early age; this recognition is, however, facilitated by prior exposure to pictures. This same exposure or training effect appears also to be necessary in nonhuman primates as well as in other mammals and in birds. Other factors are also identified as playing a role in the acquired responses to pictures: familiarity with and nature of the stimulus objects, presence of motion in the image, etc. Spontaneous and adapted reactions to pictures are a wide phenomenon present in different phyla including invertebrates but in most instances, this phenomenon is more likely to express confusion between objects and pictures than discrimination and active correspondence between the two. Finally, given the nature of a picture (e.g. bi-dimensionality, reduction of cues related to depth), it is suggested that object-picture recognition be envisioned in various levels, with true equivalence being a limited case, rarely observed in the behaviour of animals and even humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Bovet
- Centre de recherche en Neurosciences Cognitives, CNRS-CRNC, 31, chemin Joseph-Aiguier, 13402, Marseille, France
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Recognition of moving video images of conspecifics by pigeons: Effects of individuals, static and dynamic motion cues, and movement. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1999. [DOI: 10.3758/bf03199729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Troje NF, Huber L, Loidolt M, Aust U, Fieder M. Categorical learning in pigeons: the role of texture and shape in complex static stimuli. Vision Res 1999; 39:353-66. [PMID: 10326141 DOI: 10.1016/s0042-6989(98)00153-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Pigeons are known to be able to categorize a wide variety of visual stimulus classes. However, it remains unclear which are the characteristics of the perceptually relevant features employed to reach such good performance. Here, we investigate the relative contributions of texture and shape information to categorization decisions about complex natural classes. We trained three groups of pigeons to discriminate between sets of photorealistic frontal images of human faces according to sex and subsequently, tested them on different stimulus sets. Only the pigeons that were presented with texture information were successful at the discrimination task. Pigeons seem to possess a sophisticated texture processing system but are less capable in discriminating shapes. The results are discussed in terms of the possible evolutionary advantages of utilizing texture as a very general and potent perceptual dimension in the birds' visual environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- N F Troje
- Max-Planck-Institut für biologische Kybernetik, Tübingen, Germany.
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Fleishman LJ, McCLINTOCK WJ, D'EATH RB, Brainard DH, Endler JA. Colour perception and the use of video playback experiments in animal behaviour. Anim Behav 1998; 56:1035-1040. [PMID: 9790716 DOI: 10.1006/anbe.1998.0894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- LJ Fleishman
- Department of Biological Sciences, Union College
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Jitsumori M, Ohkubo O. Orientation discrimination and categorization of photographs of natural objects by pigeons. Behav Processes 1996; 38:205-26. [DOI: 10.1016/s0376-6357(96)00030-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/18/1996] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Kendrick KM, Atkins K, Hinton MR, Heavens P, Keverne B. Are faces special for sheep? Evidence from facial and object discrimination learning tests showing effects of inversion and social familiarity. Behav Processes 1996; 38:19-35. [DOI: 10.1016/0376-6357(96)00006-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/19/1996] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
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