Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2006-3-22
pubmed:abstractText
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.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
0735-7036
pubmed:author
pubmed:copyrightInfo
((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
120
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
58-66
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2006
pubmed:articleTitle
Self-controlled visual discrimination learning of group-housed dwarf goats (Capra hircus): behavioral strategies and effects of relocation on learning and memory.
pubmed:affiliation
Research Unit Behavioural Physiology, Genetics and Biometry, Research Institute for the Biology of Farm Animals, Gerd Nurnberg: Research Unit, Dummerstorf, Germany. langbein@fbn-fbndummerstorf.de
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article