Here I am, why don't you answer me? Sensitivity to social responsiveness in domestic chicks.
iScience 2022;
26:105863. [PMID:
36632061 PMCID:
PMC9826874 DOI:
10.1016/j.isci.2022.105863]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Newborn domestic chicks shortly exposed to a conspecific learn to recognize and prefer it over unfamiliar individuals. We assessed whether lack of physical contact or social feedback during familiarization affects affiliative preference, hypothesizing a crucial role of social responsiveness. Four-day-old chicks were tested for their preference between a familiar and an unfamiliar chick. In Exp. 1, we replicated the well-known preference for the familiar individual, even when (Exp. 2) a transparent glass prevented haptic interaction during familiarization. No preference was scored in Exp. 3, using a one-way glass, i.e., the subject could never be seen by its cagemate. The development of preferences toward a familiar but socially unresponsive cagemate was assessed by testing chicks twice (Exp. 4). While behaving at chance on day 2, birds showed a preference for the unfamiliar individual on day 4 of life. Our results highlight the importance of social interaction already in the first stages of life, irrespective of familiarity.
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