A test of the risk allocation hypothesis: tadpole responses to temporal change in predation risk

The risk allocation hypothesis predicts that temporal variation in predation risk can influence how animals allocate feeding behavior among situations that differ in danger. We tested the risk allocation model with tadpoles of the frog Rana lessonae, which satisfy the main assumptions of this model because they must feed to reach metamorphosis within a single season, their behavioral defense against predators is costly, and they can respond to changes in risk integrated over time. Our experiment switched tadpoles between artificial ponds with different numbers of caged dragonfly larvae and held them at high and low risk for different portions of their lives. Tadpoles responded strongly to predators, but they did not obey the risk allocation hypothesis: as the high-risk environment became more dangerous, there was no tendency for tadpoles to allocate more feeding to the low-risk environment, and as tadpoles spent more time at risk, they did not increase feeding in both environments. Our results suggest that the model might be more applicable when the time spent under high predation risk is large relative to the time required to collect resource

Inhibitory control, but not prolonged object-related experience appears to affect physical problem-solving performance of pet dogs

Human infants develop an understanding of their physical environment through playful interactions with objects. Similar processes may influence also the performance of non-human animals in physical problem-solving tasks, but to date there is little empirical data to evaluate this hypothesis. In addition or alternatively to prior experiences, inhibitory control has been suggested as a factor underlying the considerable individual differences in performance reported for many species. Here we report a study in which we manipulated the extent of object-related experience for a cohort of dogs (Canis familiaris) of the breed Border Collie over a period of 18 months, and assessed their level of inhibitory control, prior to testing them in a series of four physical problem-solving tasks. We found no evidence that differences in object-related experience explain variability in performance in these tasks. It thus appears that dogs do not transfer knowledge about physical rules from one physical problem-solving task to another, but rather approach each task as a novel problem. Our results, however, suggest that individual performance in these tasks is influenced in a complex way by the subject’s level of inhibitory control. Depending on the task, inhibitory control had a positive or a negative effect on performance and different aspects of inhibitory control turned out to be the best predictors of individual performance in the different tasks. Therefore, studying the interplay between inhibitory control and problem-solving performance will make an important contribution to our understanding of individual and species differences in physical problem-solving performance

The predictive value of early behavioural assessments in pet dogs: a longitudinal study from neonates to adults

Studies on behavioural development in domestic dogs are of relevance for matching puppies with the right families, identifying predispositions for behavioural problems at an early stage, and predicting suitability for service dog work, police or military service. The literature is, however, inconsistent regarding the predictive value of tests performed during the socialisation period. Additionally, some practitioners use tests with neonates to complement later assessments for selecting puppies as working dogs, but these have not been validated. We here present longitudinal data on a cohort of Border collies, followed up from neonate age until adulthood. A neonate test was conducted with 99 Border collie puppies aged 2–10 days to assess activity, vocalisations when isolated and sucking force. At the age of 40–50 days, 134 puppies (including 93 tested as neonates) were tested in a puppy test at their breeders' homes. All dogs were adopted as pet dogs and 50 of them participated in a behavioural test at the age of 1.5 to 2 years with their owners. Linear mixed models found little correspondence between individuals' behaviour in the neonate, puppy and adult test. Exploratory activity was the only behaviour that was significantly correlated between the puppy and the adult test. We conclude that the predictive validity of early tests for predicting specific behavioural traits in adult pet dogs is limited

Behavioural responses to unexpected changes in reward quality

Successive negative contrast (SNC) effects are changes in anticipatory or consummatory behaviour when animals unexpectedly receive a lower value reward than they have received previously. SNC effects are often assumed to reflect frustration and appear to be influenced by background affective state. However, alternative explanations of SNC, such as the functional-search hypothesis, do not necessarily imply an aversive affective state. We tested 18 dogs in a SNC paradigm using a patch foraging task. Dogs were tested in two conditions, once with the low value reward in all of five trials (unshifted) and once when reward value was altered between high and low (shifted). Following a reward downshift, subjects showed a SNC effect by switching significantly more often between patches compared to the unshifted condition. However, approach latency, foraging time and quantity consumed did not differ between conditions, suggesting non-affective functional search behaviour rather than frustration. There was no relationship between strength of SNC and anxiety-related behaviours as measured in a novel object test and a personality questionnaire (C-BARQ). However, associations with the C-BARQ scores for Trainability and Stranger directed aggression suggest a possible link with behavioural flexibility and coping style. While reward quality clearly affects incentive motivation, the relationship between SNC, frustration and background affective state requires further exploration

Environmental knowledge in the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo)

Soziale Raubtiere sind für die Kognitionsforschung besonders interessant, da komplexe Sozialsysteme die Evolution von speziellen kognitiven Fähigkeiten und von Intelligenz im Allgemeinen begünstigt haben könnten (‚social intelligence’ Hypothese). Daher habe ich grundlegende kognitive Fähigkeiten von freilebenden Zebramangusten (Mungos mungo), einer kleinen sozialen Raubtierart, in ihrem natürlichen Lebensraum im Queen Elizabeth Nationalpark, Uganda studiert. Meine Dissertation zeigt, welche Informationen Zebramangusten aus ihrer Umwelt entnehmen, aber auch welche an sich verfügbare Information von ihnen nicht genutzt wird. Ich diskutiere diese Erkenntnisse hinsichtlich Grenzen des sensorischen und kognitiven Systems, und hinsichtlich der situationsabhängigen Relevanz bestimmter Informationen. Weiter diskutiere ich meine Ergebnisse im Zusammenhang von spezifischen Gegebenheiten der ökologischen und sozialen Umwelt, welche die Nutzung von Information und die dazugehörigen kognitiven Fähigkeiten fördern. Social carnivores are of particular interest in the study of cognition because complex social systems are thought to promote the evolution of specialized cognitive abilities and intelligence in general (social intelligence hypothesis). Therefore, I explored basic cognitive abilities of free-ranging banded mongooses (Mungos mungo), small social carnivores, in their natural habitat in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. My thesis shows what specific information banded mongooses extract from their environment, but it also provides examples of available information that is not used. I discuss these findings with regard to limitations of the sensory and cognitive apparatus and to the relevance of information in particular situations. I further discuss the use of information and the associated cognitive abilities in the context of demands of the ecological and social environment

Dogs (Canis familiaris) can learn to attend to connectivity in string pulling tasks

String pulling tasks are commonly used to investigate recognition of means–end connections. Previous studies suggested that dogs base their choice on proximity rather than connectivity (Osthaus, Lea, & Slater, 2005), nonetheless, dogs performed successfully in the related support problem (Range, Hentrup, & Virányi, 2011). To reinvestigate dogs’ means–end understanding, we tested 34 Border collies in string pulling tasks in which the proximity of the reward to the connected string’s end was varied. First, subjects were presented with a four-string task (four parallel perpendicular strings, one baited, with the reward in line with the correct string’s end). Dogs that performed above chance in this task were tested with a curved string task, involving one straight and one curved string. When the reward was attached to the curved string, it was equidistant from both strings’ ends so that choosing by proximity was not possible. Although group level performance was significantly above chance, only three of 20 dogs met criterion individually, of which one dog subsequently solved a broken string task upon its first presentation. However, the dogs seemed to be unable to overcome their proximity bias in a parallel diagonal string task where proximity of the unconnected string’s end to the reward was misleading. We conclude that although dogs may not demonstrate means–end understanding spontaneously, some can learn to pay attention to connectivity when proximity is not a confounding factor. This study supports the notion that animals may apply several alternative strategies to solve physical problems, which are influenced by the test-setup. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved

The use of a displacement device negatively affects the performance of dogs (Canis familiaris) in visible object displacement tasks

Visible and invisible displacement tasks have been used widely for comparative studies of animals’ understanding of object permanence, with evidence accumulating that some species can solve invisible displacement tasks and, thus, reach Piagetian stage 6 of object permanence. In contrast, dogs appear to rely on associative cues, such as the location of the displacement device, during invisible displacement tasks. It remains unclear, however, whether dogs, and other species that failed in invisible displacement tasks, do so because of their inability to form a mental representation of the target object, or simply because of the involvement of a more salient but potentially misleading associative cue, the displacement device. Here we show that the use of a displacement device impairs the performance of dogs also in visible displacement tasks: their search accuracy was significantly lower when a visible displacement was performed with a displacement device, and only two of initially 42 dogs passed the sham-baiting control conditions. The negative influence of the displacement device in visible displacement tasks may be explained by strong associative cues overriding explicit information about the target object’s location, reminiscent of an overshadowing effect, and/or object individuation errors as the target object is placed within the displacement device and moves along a spatiotemporally identical trajectory. Our data suggest that a comprehensive appraisal of a species’ performance in object permanence tasks should include visible displacement tasks with the same displacement device used in invisible displacements, which typically has not been done in the past. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved

Individual and group level trajectories of behavioural development in Border collies.

In order to assess dogs’ personality changes during ontogeny, a cohort of 69 Border collies was followed up from six to 18–24 months. When the dogs were 6, 12, and 18–24 months old, their owners repeatedly filled in a dog personality questionnaire (DPQ), which yielded five personality factors divided into fifteen facets. All five DPQ factors were highly correlated between the three age classes, indicating that the dogs’ personality remained consistent relative to other individuals. Nonetheless, at the group level significant changes with age were found for four of the five DPQ factors. Fearfulness, Aggression towards People, Responsiveness to Training and Aggression towards Animals increased with age; only Activity/Excitability did not change significantly over time. These changes in DPQ factor scores occurred mainly between the ages of 6 and 12 months, although some facets changed beyond this age. No sex differences were found for any of the tested factors or facets, suggesting that individual variation in personality was greater than male/female differences. There were significant litter effects for the factors Fearfulness, Aggression towards People and Activity/Excitability, indicating either a strong genetic basis for these traits or a high influence of the shared early environment. To conclude, from the age of six months, consistency in personality relative to other individuals can be observed in Border collies. However, at the group level, increases in fearful and aggressive behaviours occur up to 12 months and for some traits up to two years, highlighting the need for early interventions. Follow-up studies are needed to assess trajectories of personality development prior to six months and after two years, and to include a wider variety of breeds

Li₄B₁₀H₁₀B₁₂H₁₂as solid electrolyte for solid-state lithium batteries

The ionic conductivity of Li 4 B 10 H 10 B 12 H 12 exceeds that of its parent compounds Li 2 B 10 H 10 and Li 2 B 12 H 12 by several orders of magnitude. It is stable against lithium metal and has been incorporated into solid-state batteries. </p