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Psychology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2017

Animal Sciences

Selected Works

Domestic pig

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Are Juvenile Domestic Pigs (Sus Scrofa Domestica) Sensitive To The Attentive States Of Humans? The Impact Of Impulsivity On Choice Behaviour, Christian Nawroth, Mirjam Ebersbach, Eberhard Von Borell Jul 2017

Are Juvenile Domestic Pigs (Sus Scrofa Domestica) Sensitive To The Attentive States Of Humans? The Impact Of Impulsivity On Choice Behaviour, Christian Nawroth, Mirjam Ebersbach, Eberhard Von Borell

Christian Nawroth, PhD

Previous studies have shown that apes, dogs and horses seem to be able to attribute attentive states to humans. Subjects chose successfully between two persons: one who was able to see the animal and one who was not. Using a similar paradigm, we tested a species that does not rely strongly on visual cues, the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica). Subjects could choose between two unfamiliar persons, with only one showing attention, in three different conditions (body, head away, body turned - head front). Subjects (n = 16) only showed a tendency towards …


Juvenile Domestic Pigs (Sus Scrofa Domestica) Use Human-Given Cues In An Object Choice Task, Christian Nawroth, Mirjam Ebersbach, Eberhard Von Borell Jul 2017

Juvenile Domestic Pigs (Sus Scrofa Domestica) Use Human-Given Cues In An Object Choice Task, Christian Nawroth, Mirjam Ebersbach, Eberhard Von Borell

Christian Nawroth, PhD

Research on the comprehension of human-given cues by domesticated as well as non-domesticated species has received considerable attention over the last decade. While several species seem to be capable of utilizing these cues, former work with domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) has shown inconclusive results. In this study, we investigated the use of human-given cues in an object choice task by young domestic pigs (N = 17; seven weeks of age) who had very limited human contact prior to the experiments. Subjects had to choose between two bowls of which only one was baited with a reward. Over the course …