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Rivas-Blanco D, Monteiro T, Virányi Z, Range F. Going back to "basics": Harlow's learning set task with wolves and dogs. Learn Behav 2024:10.3758/s13420-024-00631-6. [PMID: 38780876 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-024-00631-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
To survive and reproduce, animals need to behave adaptively by adjusting their behavior to their environment, with learning facilitating some of these processes. Dogs have become a go-to model species in comparative cognition studies, making our understanding of their learning skills paramount at multiple levels, not only with regards to basic research on their cognitive skills and the effects of domestication, but also with applied purposes such as training. In order to tackle these issues, we tested similarly raised wolves and dogs in a serial learning task inspired by Harlow's "learning set." In Phase 1, different pairs of objects were presented to the animals, one of which was baited while the other was not. Both species' performance gradually improved with each new set of objects, showing that they "learnt to learn," but no differences were found between the species in their learning speed. In Phase 2, once subjects had learned the association between one of the objects and the food reward, the contingencies were reversed and the previously unrewarded object of the same pair was now rewarded. Dogs' performance in this task seemed to be better than wolves', albeit only when considering just the first session of each reversal, suggesting that the dogs might be more flexible than wolves. Further research (possibly with the aid of refined methods such as computer-based tasks) would help ascertain whether these differences between wolves and dogs are persistent across different learning tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dániel Rivas-Blanco
- Domestication Lab, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- William James Center for Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
| | - Tiago Monteiro
- Domestication Lab, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- William James Center for Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Zsófia Virányi
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Friederike Range
- Domestication Lab, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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Soares C, Pinto C, Machado A. Giving time a chance in the midsession reversal task. Learn Behav 2023:10.3758/s13420-023-00606-z. [PMID: 37985603 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-023-00606-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
The midsession reversal task involves a simultaneous discrimination between stimuli S1 and S2. Choice of S1 but not S2 is reinforced during the first 40 trials, and choice of S2 but not S1 is reinforced during the last 40 trials. Trials are separated by a constant intertrial interval (ITI). Pigeons learn the task seemingly by timing the moment of the reversal trial. Hence, most of their errors occur around trial 40 (S2 choices before trial 41 and S1 choices after trial 40). It has been found that when the ITI is doubled on a test session, the reversal trial is halved, a result consistent with timing. However, inconsistent with timing, halving the ITI on a test session did not double the reversal trial. The asymmetry of ITI effects could be due to the intrusion of novel cues during testing, cues that preempt the timing cue. To test this hypothesis, we ran two types of tests after the regular training in the midsession reversal task, one with S1 and S2 choices always reinforced, and another with S1 always reinforced but S2 reinforced only after 20 trials when the ITI doubled or 40 trials when the ITI halved. For most pigeons, performance was consistent with timing both when the ITI doubled and when it was halved, but some pigeons appeared to follow strategies based on counting or on reinforcement contingencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catarina Soares
- School of Psychology, University of Minho, Gualtar Campus, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal.
| | - Carlos Pinto
- School of Psychology, University of Minho, Gualtar Campus, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal
| | - Armando Machado
- William James Center for Research, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal
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Machado A, de Carvalho MP, Vasconcelos M. Midsession reversal task with starlings: A quantitative test of the timing hypothesis. Behav Processes 2023; 208:104862. [PMID: 36967092 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
Abstract
In the Mid-Session Reversal task (MSR), an animal chooses between two options, S1 and S2. Rewards follow S1 but not S2 from trials 1-40, and S2 but not S1 from trials 41-80. With pigeons, the psychometric function relating S1 choice proportion to trial number starts close to 1 and ends close to 0, with indifference (PSE) close to trial 40. Surprisingly, pigeons make anticipatory errors, choosing S2 before trial 41, and perseverative errors, choosing S1 after trial 40. These errors suggest that they use time into the session as the preference reversal cue. We tested this timing hypothesis with 10 Spotless starlings. After learning the MSR task with a T-s Inter-Trial Interval (ITI), they were exposed to either 2 T or T/2 ITIs during testing. Doubling the ITI should shift the psychometric function to the left and halve its PSE, whereas halving the ITI should shift the function to the right and double its PSE. When the starlings received one pellet per reward, the ITI manipulation was effective: The psychometric functions shifted in the direction and by the amount predicted by the timing hypothesis. However, non-temporal cues also influenced choice.
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Assessing human performance during contingency changes and extinction tests in reversal-learning tasks. Learn Behav 2022; 50:494-508. [PMID: 35112316 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-022-00513-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Serial reversal-learning procedures are simple preparations that allow for a better understanding of how animals learn about environmental changes, including flexibly shifting responding to adapt to changing reinforcement contingencies. The present study examined serial reversal learning with humans by arranging both midsession and variable contingency reversals across two experiments. We also examined the effects of extinction by adding nonreinforced trials at the end of later sessions and provided the first evaluation of effects of win-stay/lose-shift versus counting strategies on accuracy and response latency of humans' reversal-learning performance. In each experiment, responding tracked contingency reversals, primarily with participants using either win-stay/lose-shift or counting strategies. Introducing variable reversal points in the second experiment resulted in near-exclusive win-stay/lose-shift responding among participants and eliminated counting of trials. Each experiment also revealed an immediate shift from S2 to S1 after experiencing extinction during the initial test trial, indicating resurgence of the initial response through a win-stay/lose-shift response pattern. Therefore, the present study replicates and extends prior findings of a win-stay/lose shift response pattern in situations of greater uncertainty. These findings suggest that differences in environmental certainty induce qualitatively different decision-making strategies.
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Kea (Nestor notabilis) show flexibility and individuality in within-session reversal learning tasks. Anim Cogn 2021; 24:1339-1351. [PMID: 34110523 PMCID: PMC8492579 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01524-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2020] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The midsession reversal paradigm confronts an animal with a two-choice discrimination task where the reward contingencies are reversed at the midpoint of the session. Species react to the reversal with either win-stay/lose-shift, using local information of reinforcement, or reversal estimation, using global information, e.g. time, to estimate the point of reversal. Besides pigeons, only mammalian species were tested in this paradigm so far and analyses were conducted on pooled data, not considering possible individually different responses. We tested twelve kea parrots with a 40-trial midsession reversal test and additional shifted reversal tests with a variable point of reversal. Birds were tested in two groups on a touchscreen, with the discrimination task having either only visual or additional spatial information. We used Generalized Linear Mixed Models to control for individual differences when analysing the data. Our results demonstrate that kea can use win-stay/lose-shift independently of local information. The predictors group, session, and trial number as well as their interactions had a significant influence on the response. Furthermore, we discovered notable individual differences not only between birds but also between sessions of individual birds, including the ability to quite accurately estimate the reversal position in alternation to win-stay/lose-shift. Our findings of the kea’s quick and flexible responses contribute to the knowledge of diversity in avian cognitive abilities and emphasize the need to consider individuality as well as the limitation of pooling the data when analysing midsession reversal data.
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Sex differences in learning flexibility in an avian brood parasite, the shiny cowbird. Behav Processes 2021; 189:104438. [PMID: 34087347 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Females of brood parasitic shiny cowbirds, Molothrus bonariensis, search and prospect host nests, synchronizing parasitism with host laying. This behavior is sex-specific, as females perform this task without male's assistance. Host nests must be removed from the female's memory "library" after being parasitized, to avoid repeated parasitism, or when they become unavailable because of predation. Thus, females must adjust their stored information about host nest status more dynamically than males, possibly leading to differences in learning flexibility. We tested for sex differences in a visual (local cues) and a spatial discrimination reversal learning task, expecting females to outperform males as an expression of greater behavioral flexibility. Both sexes learned faster the spatial than the visual task during both acquisition and reversal. In the visual task there were no sex differences in acquisition, but females reversed faster than males. In the spatial task there were no sex differences during either acquisition or reversal, possibly because of a ceiling effect: both sexes learned too fast for differences in performance to be detectable. Faster female reversal in a visual but not spatial task indicates that the greater behavioral flexibility in females may only be detectable above some level of task difficulty.
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Within-session reversal learning in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Anim Cogn 2017; 20:975-983. [PMID: 28755139 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-017-1117-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2016] [Revised: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 07/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
In a midsession reversal (MSR) task, animals are typically presented with a simple, simultaneous discrimination (S1+, S2-) where contingencies are reversed (S1-, S2+) half-way through each session. This paradigm creates multiple, relevant cues that can aid in maximizing overall reinforcement. Recent research has shown that pigeons show systematic anticipatory and perseverative errors across the session, which increase as a function of proximity to the reversal trial. This behavior has been theorized to indicate primary control by temporal cues across the session, instead of the cues provided by recent reinforcement history that appear to control behavior shown by humans. Rats, however, appear to be guided by recent reinforcement history when tested in an operant context, thereby demonstrating behavior that parallels that seen in humans, but they appear to be guided by temporal cues when tested in an open-field apparatus, showing behavior more akin to that seen in pigeons. We tested rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) on the MSR with a computerized simultaneous visual discrimination to assess whether they would show errors indicative of control by time or by recent reinforcement history. When a single reversal point occurred midsession, rhesus macaques showed no anticipation of the reversal and a similar level of perseveration to rats tested in an operant setting. Nearly identical results also were observed when the monkeys were trained with a single, variable reversal point or with multiple, variable reversal points within a session. These results indicate that temporal cues are not guiding response flexibility in rhesus macaque visual discrimination.
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Fuhrer N, Gygax L. From minutes to days-The ability of sows (Sus scrofa) to estimate time intervals. Behav Processes 2017; 142:146-155. [PMID: 28735073 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2017] [Revised: 07/11/2017] [Accepted: 07/16/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Time estimation helps allocating time to different tasks and to plan behavioural sequences. It may also be relevant to animal welfare if it enables animals assessing the duration of a negative situation. Here, we investigated the ability of dry sows to estimate short and long time periods. We used a variant of the peak-interval procedure and the choice between 2 resources of different quality and replenishment rates to assess time periods in the order of minutes and days, respectively. In the minute-experiment, the sows were trained to expect an interruption while feeding at the end of an interval. Heart rate and heart rate variability slightly and continuously increased and decreased, respectively, towards the end of that interval. In the day-experiment, lasting about 60days, the sows were increasingly more likely to open the door to a high food reward on the correct day when this food reward was presented every fifth day. We conclude that the sows learnt to estimate time intervals of 5days after lengthy training but did not accurately learn intervals in the range of minutes. Therefore, they might re-visit replenishing resources after several days, but may not base short-term decisions solely on the passing of time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natascha Fuhrer
- Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Agroscope, Tänikon, CH-8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland; Animal Behaviour, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lorenz Gygax
- Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Agroscope, Tänikon, CH-8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland.
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Brucks D, Marshall-Pescini S, Wallis LJ, Huber L, Range F. Measures of Dogs' Inhibitory Control Abilities Do Not Correlate across Tasks. Front Psychol 2017; 8:849. [PMID: 28596749 PMCID: PMC5443147 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2016] [Accepted: 05/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Inhibitory control, the ability to overcome prepotent but ineffective behaviors, has been studied extensively across species, revealing the involvement of this ability in many different aspects of life. While various different paradigms have been created in order to measure inhibitory control, only a limited number of studies have investigated whether such measurements indeed evaluate the same underlying mechanism, especially in non-human animals. In humans, inhibitory control is a complex construct composed of distinct behavioral processes rather than of a single unified measure. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the validity of inhibitory control paradigms in dogs. Sixty-seven dogs were tested in a battery consisting of frequently used inhibitory control tests. Additionally, dog owners were asked to complete an impulsivity questionnaire about their dog. No correlation of dogs' performance across tasks was found. In order to understand whether there are some underlying behavioral aspects explaining dogs' performance across tests, we performed principle component analyses. Results revealed that three components (persistency, compulsivity and decision speed) explained the variation across tasks. The questionnaire and dogs' individual characteristics (i.e., age and sex) provided only limited information for the derived components. Overall, results suggest that no unique measurement for inhibitory control exists in dogs, but tests rather measure different aspects of this ability. Considering the context-specificity of inhibitory control in dogs and most probably also in other non-human animals, extreme caution is needed when making conclusions about inhibitory control abilities based on a single test.
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Affiliation(s)
- Désirée Brucks
- Comparative Cognition Unit, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, University of ViennaVienna, Austria
| | - Sarah Marshall-Pescini
- Comparative Cognition Unit, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, University of ViennaVienna, Austria
| | - Lisa Jessica Wallis
- Comparative Cognition Unit, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, University of ViennaVienna, Austria.,Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd UniversityBudapest, Hungary
| | - Ludwig Huber
- Comparative Cognition Unit, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, University of ViennaVienna, Austria
| | - Friederike Range
- Comparative Cognition Unit, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, University of ViennaVienna, Austria
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Rayburn-Reeves RM, Qadri MA, Brooks DI, Keller AM, Cook RG. Dynamic cue use in pigeon mid-session reversal. Behav Processes 2017; 137:53-63. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2015] [Revised: 09/02/2016] [Accepted: 09/07/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Cowie S, Davison M, Blumhardt L, Elliffe D. Learning in a changing environment: Effects of the discriminability of visual stimuli and of time. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2016.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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12
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Mongillo P, Pitteri E, Sambugaro P, Carnier P, Marinelli L. Global bias reliability in dogs (Canis familiaris). Anim Cogn 2016; 20:257-265. [PMID: 27738840 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-1044-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2016] [Revised: 09/28/2016] [Accepted: 10/07/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Dogs enrolled in a previous study were assessed two years later for reliability of their local/global preference in a discrimination test with the same hierarchical stimuli used in the previous study (Experiment 1) and with a novel stimulus (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, dogs easily re-learned to discriminate the positive stimulus; their individual global/local choices were stable compared to the previous study; and an overall clear global bias was found. In Experiment 2, dogs were slower in acquiring the initial discrimination task; the overall global bias disappeared; and, individually, dogs tended to make inverse choices compared to the original study. Spontaneous attention toward the test stimulus resembling the global features of the probe stimulus was the main factor affecting the likeliness of a global choice of our dogs, regardless of the type of experiment. However, attention to task-irrelevant elements increased at the expense of attention to the stimuli in the test phase of Experiment 2. Overall, the results suggest that the stability of global bias in dogs depends on the characteristics of the assessment contingencies, likely including the learning requirements of the tasks. Our results also clearly indicate that attention processes have a prominent role on dogs' global bias, in agreement with previous findings in humans and other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Mongillo
- Laboratory of Applied Ethology, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy
| | - Elisa Pitteri
- Laboratory of Applied Ethology, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy
| | - Pamela Sambugaro
- Laboratory of Applied Ethology, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy
| | - Paolo Carnier
- Laboratory of Applied Ethology, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy
| | - Lieta Marinelli
- Laboratory of Applied Ethology, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy.
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