The cognitive capabilities of farm animals: categorisation learning in dwarf goats (Capra hircus)
The cognitive capabilities of farm animals: categorisation learning in dwarf goats (Capra hircus)
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DOI：
10.1007/s10071-012-0485-y
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发表时间：
2012-07-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Langbein, Jan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Meyer, Susann;Nuernberg, Gerd;Langbein, Jan
建立类别的能力使生物体能够通过评估感知、联想或理性相似性对刺激、物体和事件进行分类，并为更高层次的认知处理提供基础。农场动物的认知能力在应用动物行为学中受到越来越多的关注，这一发展主要是由改善动物福利的科学努力推动的。本研究通过使用安装在动物围栏中的自动学习设备，调查了尼日利亚矮山羊（Capra hircus）感知类别的学习情况。十三只群养的山羊接受了封闭经济方法的训练，以区分四项选择设计中呈现的人工二维符号。这些符号属于两个类别：I 类，带有开放中心的黑色符号（奖励）和 II 类，相同的符号，但填充黑色（无奖励）。使用第一类中的一个符号和第二类中的三个不同符号来定义歧视问题。经过八个问题的训练后，向动物呈现一系列转移，其中包含训练问题，其中散布着由属于同一类别的新符号组成的全新问题。结果清楚地表明，矮山羊能够根据人工符号视觉外观的相似性形成类别，并能够概括新符号。然而，山羊在辨别特定符号方面存在困难。这些困难很可能是由于感知问题造成的。然而，目前的研究表明，在农业条件下饲养的山羊具有良好的认知能力，包括学习开放式类别。这一结果可能有助于动物适应有利于其认知能力的居住环境。
The ability to establish categories enables organisms to classify stimuli, objects and events by assessing perceptual, associative or rational similarities and provides the basis for higher cognitive processing. The cognitive capabilities of farm animals are receiving increasing attention in applied ethology, a development driven primarily by scientifically based efforts to improve animal welfare. The present study investigated the learning of perceptual categories in Nigerian dwarf goats (Capra hircus) by using an automated learning device installed in the animals' pen. Thirteen group-housed goats were trained in a closed-economy approach to discriminate artificial two-dimensional symbols presented in a four-choice design. The symbols belonged to two categories: category I, black symbols with an open centre (rewarded) and category II, the same symbols but filled black (unrewarded). One symbol from category I and three different symbols from category II were used to define a discrimination problem. After the training of eight problems, the animals were presented with a transfer series containing the training problems interspersed with completely new problems made from new symbols belonging to the same categories. The results clearly demonstrate that dwarf goats are able to form categories based on similarities in the visual appearance of artificial symbols and to generalise across new symbols. However, the goats had difficulties in discriminating specific symbols. It is probable that perceptual problems caused these difficulties. Nevertheless, the present study suggests that goats housed under farming conditions have well-developed cognitive abilities, including learning of open-ended categories. This result could prove beneficial by facilitating animals' adaptation to housing environments that favour their cognitive capabilities.