Visual discrimination learning of group-housed goats at an automated learning device

Franz, Hartmut; Roitberg, Evgeny S.; Löhrke, B.; Nürnberg, Gerd; Dietl, G.; Kinzelbach, Ragnar

doi:10.5194/aab-45-387-2002

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(21 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The current study broadens previous research of our group, revealing that dwarf goats are able to discriminate black and white shapes of varying complexity in a four-choice paradigm within 200–400 trials when acting voluntary at an automated learning device (Franz et al, 2002; Langbein et al, 2004). As far as we know, this is the first experimental approach to study visual shape discrimination of group-housed farm animals.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Self-controlled visual discrimination learning of group-housed dwarf goats (Capra hircus): Behavioral strategies and effects of relocation on learning and memory.

Langbein¹,

Nürnberg²,

Puppe³

et al. 2006

Journal of Comparative Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In most studies on animal learning, individual animals are tested separately in a specific learning environment and with a limited number of trials per day. An alternative approach is to test animals in a familiar environment in their social group. In this study, the authors--applying a fully automated learning device--investigated voluntary, self-controlled visual shape discrimination learning of group-housed dwarf goats (Capra hircus). The majority of the tested goats showed successful shape discrimination, which indicates the adaptive value of an effective learning strategy. However, in each group, a few individual goats developed behavioral strategies different from shape discrimination to get reward. Relocation impairs memory retrieval (probably by attention shifting) only temporarily for previously learnt shapes. The results demonstrate the usefulness of a self-controlled learning paradigm to assess learning abilities of social species in their normal social settings. This may be especially relevant for captive animals to improve their welfare.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Self-controlled visual discrimination learning of group-housed dwarf goats (Capra hircus): Behavioral strategies and effects of relocation on learning and memory.

Langbein¹,

Nürnberg²,

Puppe³

et al. 2006

Journal of Comparative Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Our device is suitable for use on semi‐tame deer and eliminates the intensive time needed to hand‐raise deer. In addition, it offered other advantages over traditional manual‐training techniques, such as absence of experimenter bias, reduction in the experimenter's time and effort, logging of inter‐trial intervals and delays, and direct downloading of data to computer spreadsheets (Meier et al 1998, Franz et al 2002, Langbein et al 2003). When considering the complex scheduling of trials, delays, food rewards, etc., needed to reinforce operant conditioning of animals, this automated training device greatly increased our ability to assess the perceptual and cognitive abilities of white‐tailed deer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An automated device for training white‐tailed deer to visual stimuli

Cohen

Osborn

Gallagher

et al. 2012

Wildlife Society Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although many aspects of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) biology and physiology have been studied thoroughly, few studies have confirmed deer cognitive perception, partly because of the difficulty of efficiently training sufficient numbers of deer to respond behaviorally in controlled experiments. We present a system that trains white-tailed deer to associate a supra-threshold, white-light stimulus with a food reward through operant conditioning techniques. The ''deer training apparatus'' (DTA) automatically dispenses food, rings a start buzzer, randomly assigns a stimulus light over 1 of 2 troughs, and registers a deer's choice. If a deer goes to a trough with the light illuminated, then a correct choice is registered. All 6 deer tested met successful training criteria by Day 19, and a performance of 88.2% AE 3.9% correct choices by Day 25. We conclude that the DTA presents an effective and efficient way of training white-tailed deer, and provides an experimental platform for future research on behavior, perception, and preference. Thus, the DTA should be useful to researchers evaluating behavioral response of deer, and possibly other wild and domestic species, to various visual and auditory stimuli. ß 2012 The Wildlife Society.

show abstract

Oddity learning by African dwarf goats ( Capra hircus )

Roitberg¹,

Franz²

2004

Animal Cognition

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Seventeen African dwarf goats (adult females) were trained on oddity tasks using an automated learning device. One odd stimulus and three identical nonodd stimuli were presented on a screen divided into four sectors; the sector for the odd stimulus was varied pseudorandomly. Responses to the odd stimulus were deemed to be correct and were reinforced with food. In phase 1, the goats were trained on eight stimulus configurations. From trial to trial the odd discriminandum was either a + symbol or the letter S, and the nonodd discriminandum was the symbol not used as the odd one. In phase 2, the animals were similarly trained using an unfilled triangle or a filled (i.e., solid black) circle. In phase 3, three new discriminanda were used, an unfilled, small circle with radiating lines, an unfilled heart-shaped symbol, and an unfilled oval; which of the three discriminanda was odd and nonodd was varied from trial to trial. Following these training phases, a transfer test was given, which involved 24 new discriminanda sets. These were presented twice for a total of 48 transfer test trials. Results early in training showed approximately 25% correct, which might be expected by chance in a four-choice task. After 500-2,000 trials, results improved to approximately 40-44% correct. The best-performing subject reached 60-80% correct during training. On the transfer test, this subject had 47.9% correct and that significantly exceeded 25% expected by chance. This finding suggests that some exceptional individuals of African dwarf goats are capable of learning the oddity concept.

show abstract

Visual discrimination learning of group-housed goats at an automated learning device

Cited by 4 publications

References 21 publications

Self-controlled visual discrimination learning of group-housed dwarf goats (Capra hircus): Behavioral strategies and effects of relocation on learning and memory.

Self-controlled visual discrimination learning of group-housed dwarf goats (Capra hircus): Behavioral strategies and effects of relocation on learning and memory.

An automated device for training white‐tailed deer to visual stimuli

Oddity learning by African dwarf goats ( Capra hircus )

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About