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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Perceptual Lateralization Of Vocal Stimuli In Goats, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott Feb 2019

Perceptual Lateralization Of Vocal Stimuli In Goats, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Communication Skills Collection

Functional asymmetries, for example, the preferential involvement of 1 brain hemisphere to process stimuli, may increase brain efficiency and the capacity to carry out tasks simultaneously. We investigated which hemisphere was primarily involved in processing acoustic stimuli in goats using a head-orienting paradigm. Three playbacks using goat vocalizations recorded in different contexts: food anticipation (positive), isolation (negative), food frustration (negative), as well as 1 playback involving dog barks (negative) were presented on the left and right sides of the test subjects simultaneously. The head-orienting response (left or right) and latency to resume feeding were recorded. The direction of the head-orienting …


Vocal Expression Of Emotions In Mammals: Mechanisms Of Production And Evidence, Elodie Briefer Sep 2012

Vocal Expression Of Emotions In Mammals: Mechanisms Of Production And Evidence, Elodie Briefer

Communication Skills Collection

Emotions play a crucial role in an animal’s life because they facilitate responses to external or internal events of significance for the organism. In social species, one of the main functions of emotional expression is to regulate social interactions. There has recently been a surge of interest in animal emotions in several disciplines, ranging from neuroscience to evolutionary zoology. Because measurements of subjective emotional experiences are not possible in animals, researchers use neurophysiological, behavioural and cognitive indicators. However, good indicators, particularly of positive emotions, are still lacking. Vocalizations are linked to the inner state of the caller. The emotional state …


It Pays To Cheat: Tactical Deception In A Cephalopod Social Signalling System, Culum Brown, Martin P. Garwood, Jane E. Williamson Jul 2012

It Pays To Cheat: Tactical Deception In A Cephalopod Social Signalling System, Culum Brown, Martin P. Garwood, Jane E. Williamson

Communication Skills Collection

Signals in intraspecific communication should be inherently honest; otherwise the system is prone to collapse. Theory predicts, however, that honest signalling systems are susceptible to invasion by cheats, the extent of which is largely mediated by fear of reprisal. Cuttlefish facultatively change their shape and colour, an ability that evolved to avoid predators and capture prey. Here, we show that this ability is tactically employed by male mourning cuttlefish (Sepia plangon) to mislead conspecifics during courtship in a specific social context amenable to cheating 39 per cent of the time, while it was never employed in other social contexts. Males …


A Simple Reason For A Big Difference: Wolves Do Not Look Back At Humans, But Dogs Do, Ádám Miklósi, Eniko Kubinyi, József Topál, Márta Gácsi, Zsófia Virányi, Vilmos Csányi Apr 2003

A Simple Reason For A Big Difference: Wolves Do Not Look Back At Humans, But Dogs Do, Ádám Miklósi, Eniko Kubinyi, József Topál, Márta Gácsi, Zsófia Virányi, Vilmos Csányi

Communication Skills Collection

The present investigations were undertaken to compare interspecific communicative abilities of dogs and wolves, which were socialized to humans at comparable levels. The first study demonstrated that socialized wolves were able to locate the place of hidden food indicated by the touching and, to some extent, pointing cues provided by the familiar human experimenter, but their performance remained inferior to that of dogs. In the second study, we have found that, after undergoing training to solve a simple manipulation task, dogs that are faced with an insoluble version of the same problem look/gaze at the human, while socialized wolves do …


Geographic Variation In Alarm Calls Of Gunnison's Prairie Dogs, C. N. Slobodchikoff, S. H. Ackers, M. Van Ert Dec 1998

Geographic Variation In Alarm Calls Of Gunnison's Prairie Dogs, C. N. Slobodchikoff, S. H. Ackers, M. Van Ert

Communication Skills Collection

Geographic variation in alarm calls of Gunnison's prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) was analyzed at regional and local scales. Alarm calls in response to a common stimulus (the same human) were recorded at four colonies near Flagstaff, Arizona, and at six sites throughout the southwestern United States. The acoustic structure of calls was analyzed for seven call variables. Regional differences fit the prediction of greater differences with increased geographical separation. Differences between colonies at a local scale were not related to geographical distance, suggesting that local dialects exist within a region. Differences in the level of predation by humans …


Vocalizations By Isolated Piglets: A Reliable Indicator Of Piglet Need Directed Towards The Sow, Daniel M. Weary, Stephen Ross, David Fraser Jul 1997

Vocalizations By Isolated Piglets: A Reliable Indicator Of Piglet Need Directed Towards The Sow, Daniel M. Weary, Stephen Ross, David Fraser

Communication Skills Collection

When suckling piglets are isolated from the sow and litter-mates they vocalize a great deal. Sows also call when isolated from their piglets. In one experiment, we found that isolated piglets doubled their call rate in response to playback of sow calls, indicating that piglets are directing calls towards the sow. In a second experiment, we found that variation in the piglet isolation calls related to aspects of the piglet's condition: piglets isolated for 13 min in an enclosure kept at approximately 14°C called more, used higher frequency calls and longer calls, than litter-mates isolated in an enclosure kept at …


Calling By Domestic Piglets: Reliable Signals Of Need?, Daniel M. Weary, David Fraser Jan 1995

Calling By Domestic Piglets: Reliable Signals Of Need?, Daniel M. Weary, David Fraser

Communication Skills Collection

Two manipulations were performed on domestic piglets to determine whether differences in calling during periods of separation from the mother can indicate differences in need. In both cases, the aim was to manipulate the piglet's need for the sow's attention. In the first manipulation a 'thriving' piglet (i.e. the piglet with the heaviest weight and most rapid weight gain) and a 'non-thriving' one (lightest and slowest weight gain) were selected from each of 15 litters. The two piglets were removed from the sow and litter and recorded for 13 min in separate isolated enclosures. For the second manipulation, two piglets …


Vocalizations Of Isolated Piglets. Ii. Some Environmental Factors, D. Fraser Dec 1975

Vocalizations Of Isolated Piglets. Ii. Some Environmental Factors, D. Fraser

Communication Skills Collection

The vocalizations of suckling piglets were studied during brief tests which involved social isolation, restriction of movement, and exposure to unfamiliar surroundings. Similar trends were shown in most cases by the three classes of call studied - closed mouth grunts, open mouth grunts, and squeals. The rate of calling was much lower when a piglet was in the home pen than when alone in an unfamiliar pen, and more calls were given in both situations when the animal’s movement was restricted by caging. The presence of the dam and four littermates in unfamiliar surroundings caused a large reduction in calling, …


Vocalizations Of Isolated Piglets. I. Sources Of Variation And Relationships Among Measures, D. Fraser Oct 1975

Vocalizations Of Isolated Piglets. I. Sources Of Variation And Relationships Among Measures, D. Fraser

Communication Skills Collection

The vocalizations and activity of suckling piglets aged 4 to 25 days were studied during 5-min periods of social isolation in an unfamiliar enclosure. The animals became very active and vocalized repeatedly during the test, but the reaction was attenuated among older litters. Calls were predominantly closed mouth grunts at low rates of calling, and mainly squeals and open mouth grunts at high overall rates. Squealing correlated with open mouth grunting and with the activity measure both within and between litters. Even so, the measures appeared to be affected independently by the piglets’ behaviour in the home pen just before …