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At least 667 records · Page 37Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Effects of odor familiarity on the development of systematic exploration in the spiny mouse, Acomys cahirinus.

Developmental changes in patterns of exploration by infant spiny mice, Acomys cahirinus are described. These were investigated using an unbaited radial maze and under three odor conditions; that is, animals were tested in the presence of either familiar (own) odors, unfamiliar conspecific odors, or no odors (washed floor). Two hypotheses were tested. The first was based on the results of a pilot study, and was that adult animals would explore the radial maze in a systematic and predictable fashion tending to move from one arm to the next sequentially. It was hypothesized that infants would adopt this sequential strategy only gradually, as they matured. The second hypothesis was that such patterns of exploration would depend upon the olfactory environment; the presence of familiar odors might facilitate systematic patterns of exploration in very young Acomys. The results showed that both adults and juveniles were less likely to move sequentially when tested with no conspecific odor present; sequential patterns of movement were most likely in the presence of unfamiliar odor, however. The only significant change with age in infants was found for animals tested with unfamiliar odors; these animals showed a dramatic increase in sequential behavior between 3 and 7 days of age. Two additional experiments are reported, which investigated the preferences of infant Acomys for unfamiliar conspecific odors, and it was found that very young (about 3 days) animals exhibit a preference for odors derived from unfamiliar conspecific litters, even when tested in the physical presence of their own parents. The results are discussed with reference to the use of olfactory information as directional cues for animals exploring the radial maze.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2006

Humans do not switch between path knowledge and landmarks when learning a new environment.

Using a metric shortcut paradigm, we have found that like honeybees (Dyer in Animal Behaviour 41:239-246, 1991), humans do not seem to build a metric "cognitive map" from path integration. Instead, observers take novel shortcuts based on visual landmarks whenever they are available and reliable (Foo, Warren, Duchon, & Tarr in Journal of Experimental Psychology-Learning Memory and Cognition 31(2):195-215, 2005). In the present experiment we examine whether humans, like ants (Wolf & Wehner in Journal of Experimental Biology 203:857-868, 2000), first use survey-type path knowledge, built up from path integration, and then subsequently shift to reliance on landmarks. In our study participants walked in an immersive virtual environment while head position and orientation were recorded. During training, participants learned two legs of a triangle with feedback: paths from Home to Red and Home to Blue. A configuration of colored posts surrounded the Red location. To test reliance on landmarks, these posts were covertly translated, rotated, or left unchanged during six probe trials. These probe trials were interspersed during the training procedure to measure changes over learning. Dependence on visual landmarks was immediate and sustained during training, and no significant learning effects were observed other than a decrease in hesitation time. Our results suggest that while humans have at least two distinct navigational strategies available to them, unlike ants, a computationally-simpler landmark strategy dominates during novel shortcut navigation.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Competitive equivalence maintains persistent inter-clonal boundaries.

Clear boundaries often separate adjacent conspecific competitors. These boundaries may reflect bordering animal territories or regions of inter-organism contact in mobile and non-mobile organisms, respectively. Sessile, clonal organisms often form persistent inter-clonal boundaries despite great variation in competitive ability among genotypes within a population. I show that neighboring clones in the sea anemone Anthopleura elegantissima and three species of the marine hydroid genus Hydractinia are more evenly matched in terms of competitive ability than expected by chance. Hypotheses of genetic relatedness or similar environmental regime shared by neighboring clones are inconsistent with the observed similarities between adjacent competitors in one or both taxa. Instead, inter-clonal borders evidently persist as standoffs between evenly matched competitors. Large differences in competitive ability between bordering clones were rarely observed, suggesting that dominant clones quickly displace or eliminate others in competitive mismatches. This ecological parallel between taxa (i.e., competitive equivalence) exists despite several fundamental differences (e.g., geographical distribution, habitat, body size, longevity), suggesting that competitive equivalence may be a widespread determinant of boundary persistence between adjacent competitors.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2005

Do chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) understand single invisible displacement?

Previous research suggests that chimpanzees understand single invisible displacement. However, this Piagetian task may be solvable through the use of simple search strategies rather than through mentally representing the past trajectory of an object. Four control conditions were thus administered to two chimpanzees in order to separate associative search strategies from performance based on mental representation. Strategies involving experimenter cue-use, search at the last or first box visited by the displacement device, and search at boxes adjacent to the displacement device were systematically controlled for. Chimpanzees showed no indications of utilizing these simple strategies, suggesting that their capacity to mentally represent single invisible displacements is comparable to that of 18-24-month-old children.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Some factors affecting mother-infant relations in rhesus monkeys.

The effects of six independent variables on rhesus mother-infant relations are examined by comparing sub-groups of mother-infant pairs differing in only one of the variables. Variables compared and discussed include mother's parity, previous experience and social status, sex of the infant and the presence of peers. All variables except maternal parity appeared to affect the relationship, but none produced effects that were wholly consistent over all comparisons. Further tentative analyses were made of some age effects and interactions between variables which may have accounted for the inconsistencies.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Differential alcohol drinking behaviour and dependence in the Naples low- and high-excitability rat lines.

Alcoholism is composed of a series of phenomena, which can be approached in model systems. Our aim was to investigate psychogenetics of alcohol drinking behaviour and dependence in the Naples rat lines. Thus, adult male rats of the Naples low- (NLE), high-excitability (NHE) and random-bred control (NRB) lines had 24-h access to a four-bottle system with tap water and 5, 10 and 20% alcohol solutions. Total voluntary alcohol intake and preference were measured during a 6-week period. In order to analyze behavioural dependence, two abstinence periods were introduced, followed by re-exposure to the bottles. The first was a pure re-test and the second was a quinine test (adding 0.02% quinine alcohol solution). Finally, to verify the role of opioids on alcohol drinking behaviour, rats received naltrexone (5 mg/kg i.p.). Thirty minutes later, they had access for 2 h to a three-bottle system with water, 5 and 20% alcohol solution, respectively. Results indicate that (i) total alcohol intake on day 1 was higher in both NLE/NHE, becoming higher in NLE rats during the 6-week period, (ii) different alcohol preference patterns in the Naples lines were observed over time of testing, (iii) during re-test, NLE rats showed neither reversibility nor alcohol deprivation effect, (iv) during quinine test, only NLE rats reduced alcohol intake to a lower extent and (v) naltrexone reduced by 50% the intake of the preferred solution. Therefore, the NLE rats appear as a new model for studying the neural substrates of the dependence behaviour.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed2006

Motor activity (exploration) and formation of home bases in mice (C57BL/6) influenced by visual and tactile cues: modification of movement distribution, distance, location, and speed.

The motor activity of mice in tests of "exploration" is organized. Mice establish home bases, operationally defined as places where they spend long periods of time, near physical objects and nesting material from which they make excursions. This organization raises the question of the extent to which mouse motoric activity is modulated by innate predispositions versus environmental influences. Here the influence of contextual cues (visual and tactile) on the motor activity of C57BL/6 mice was examined: (1) on an open field that had no walls, a partial wall, or a complete wall, (2) in the presence of distinct visual cues, room cues, or in the absence of visual cues (infrared light), and (3) in the presence of configurations of visual and tactile cues. Mice were generally less active in the presence of salient cues and formed home bases near those cues. In addition, movement speed, path distribution, and the number and length of stops were modulated by contextual cues. With repeated tests, mice favored tactile cues over visual cues as their home base locations. Although responses to cues were robust over test days, conditioning to context was generally weak. That the exploratory behavior of mice is affected by experience and context provides insights into performance variability and may prove useful in investigating the genetic and neural influences on mouse behavior.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Preschoolers' use of reflective properties: identification of reflections on partially transparent surfaces.

This exploratory study extended past studies of children's ability to reference the mirror as a tool in locating the source of reflected images to preschoolers' ability to use the affordances of a transparency. Thirty-six children (3.5 to 5 years old) were shown nonreflected lights and lights reflected on a partially transparent, glassy surface. Children did not spontaneously locate the source of the reflected image. However, they were able to verbally discriminate reflected from nonreflected images following training. These findings indicate that, although preschoolers may not spontaneously use transparencies as a perceptual tool, the ability to distinguish visual differences of reflected from nonreflected images on transparencies is likely within preschool children's developmental capacity.

Child Behavior↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Diet and feeding behaviour of the black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata variegata) in the Betampona Reserve, eastern Madagascar.

The feeding behaviour and diet of the black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata variegata) was investigated in the Betampona Reserve, eastern Madagascar. The highly frugivorous diet of this subspecies was confirmed - feeding on fruits accounting for 92.0% of feeding records. Most feeding at Betampona was observed at 10-25 m above the forest floor amongst flexible, small (0.5-5.0 cm diameter) and oblique/horizontal (0-45 degrees ) supports. The Varecia spent on average 21.7% (+/- 1.5) of their daily activity budget feeding and employ a variety of postures that enable them to harvest fruits in the rain forest canopy. The suspensory postures were the most important in allowing Varecia to compete with other smaller-bodied frugivores.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of prolonged hypergravity on the vestibular system: a behavioural study.

Golden hamsters were exposed to conditions of 2.5 times normal gravity (hypergravity, HG) for 4 months. During this period, tests were carried out to study equilibrium maintenance, swimming behaviour and open-field behaviour of these HG hamsters and of control hamsters living in a normal-gravity environment. The tests proved to be useful devices for detecting differences in perceptive-motor behaviour between HG hamsters and control hamsters. The HG hamsters had more difficulties in balancing on tubes and orientation during swimming. In the open-field study, the HG hamsters showed less locomotor activity than control hamsters. However, no differences were observed between the groups in washing, rearing and number of times having defaecation. These findings indicate that the daily transition from 2.5 to 1 g was not experienced as stressful by the hamsters, although performance on several perceptive-motor tasks was decreased, especially during the first weeks.

Animals↗