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Full-Text Articles in Comparative Psychology
Judgement Bias In Goats (Capra Hircus): Investigating The Effects Of Human Grooming, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Alan G. Mcelligott
Judgement Bias In Goats (Capra Hircus): Investigating The Effects Of Human Grooming, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Alan G. Mcelligott
Alan G. McElligott, PhD
Animal emotional states can be investigated by evaluating their impact on cognitive processes. In this study, we used a judgement bias paradigm to determine if shortterm positive human-animal interaction (grooming) induced a positive affective state in goats. We tested two groups of goats and trained them to discriminate between a rewarded and a non-rewarded location over nine training days. During training, the experimental group (nD9) was gently groomed by brushing their heads and backs for five min over 11 days (nine training days, plus two testing days, total time 55 min). During training, the control group (nD10) did not experience …
Goats Display Audience-Dependent Human-Directed Gazing Behaviour In A Problem-Solving Task, Christian Nawroth, Jemma M. Brett, Alan G. Mcelligott
Goats Display Audience-Dependent Human-Directed Gazing Behaviour In A Problem-Solving Task, Christian Nawroth, Jemma M. Brett, Alan G. Mcelligott
Alan G. McElligott, PhD
Domestication is an important factor driving changes in animal cognition and behaviour. In particular, the capacity of dogs to communicate in a referential and intentional way with humans is considered a key outcome of how domestication as a companion animal shaped the canid brain. However, the lack of comparison with other domestic animals makes general conclusions about how domestication has affected these important cognitive features difficult. We investigated human-directed behaviour in an ‘unsolvable problem’ task in a domestic, but non-companion species: goats. During the test, goats experienced a forward facing or an away facing person. They gazed towards the forward …