To see or not to see: Horses’ ability to find the hidden treat

IF 2.2 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Applied Animal Behaviour Science Pub Date : 2025-02-25 DOI:10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106577

Clemence Lesimple , Ewa Jastrzębska , Katarzyna Paszek , Magdalena Drewka , Aleksandra Górecka-Bruzda

{"title":"To see or not to see: Horses’ ability to find the hidden treat","authors":"Clemence Lesimple , Ewa Jastrzębska , Katarzyna Paszek , Magdalena Drewka , Aleksandra Górecka-Bruzda","doi":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106577","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In animal cognition, the acquisition of object permanence is critical in many species to apprehend the physical world, including the position of conspecifics, alimentary resources or potential dangers. If most of the “highly cognitive” species, including great apes and some birds were shown to reach stage 6 (retrieving an object hidden invisibly at a new location) of Piagetian development, the ability of other species to reach stage 4 (retrieve an object entirely hidden) is more at stake. Domestic horses are exposed to a highly partitioned environment, and being able to mentally figure out the presence of a hidden object represents a particularly relevant challenge. In this study, we used a simple Piagetian-like task to determine whether horses would be able to retrieve a hidden treat when the displacement was not visible. Sixty-three horses, distributed amongst three groups, were tested. The Experimental (E) and first control (C1) horses were familiarised with the task of searching for the treat (a carrot) hidden under an upside-down bucket. During the test procedure, a carrot was placed under the bucket for E horses, but not for C1 horses. The second control group (C2) did not follow the familiarisation procedure and was presented with the upside-down bucket only to test a potential intrinsic effect of the bucket for exploration. In the groups that followed the familiarisation procedure, the success rate achieved 93.1 % (E group, the horses exposed and ate the treat) and 100 % (C1 group, the horses pushed the bucket enough to uncover the location of the theoretical position of the treat) which was significantly above chance (p < 0.001in both cases). In the C2 group, only 60.0 % of the horses touched and/or pushed the bucket, which was not above chance (p = 0.303) Our results show that horses are able to locate and find a hidden treat, even when the displacement was performed out of their sight, suggesting that they can at least reach Piaget’s stage 4 of object permanence task.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8222,"journal":{"name":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","volume":"285 ","pages":"Article 106577"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159125000759","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

In animal cognition, the acquisition of object permanence is critical in many species to apprehend the physical world, including the position of conspecifics, alimentary resources or potential dangers. If most of the “highly cognitive” species, including great apes and some birds were shown to reach stage 6 (retrieving an object hidden invisibly at a new location) of Piagetian development, the ability of other species to reach stage 4 (retrieve an object entirely hidden) is more at stake. Domestic horses are exposed to a highly partitioned environment, and being able to mentally figure out the presence of a hidden object represents a particularly relevant challenge. In this study, we used a simple Piagetian-like task to determine whether horses would be able to retrieve a hidden treat when the displacement was not visible. Sixty-three horses, distributed amongst three groups, were tested. The Experimental (E) and first control (C1) horses were familiarised with the task of searching for the treat (a carrot) hidden under an upside-down bucket. During the test procedure, a carrot was placed under the bucket for E horses, but not for C1 horses. The second control group (C2) did not follow the familiarisation procedure and was presented with the upside-down bucket only to test a potential intrinsic effect of the bucket for exploration. In the groups that followed the familiarisation procedure, the success rate achieved 93.1 % (E group, the horses exposed and ate the treat) and 100 % (C1 group, the horses pushed the bucket enough to uncover the location of the theoretical position of the treat) which was significantly above chance (p < 0.001in both cases). In the C2 group, only 60.0 % of the horses touched and/or pushed the bucket, which was not above chance (p = 0.303) Our results show that horses are able to locate and find a hidden treat, even when the displacement was performed out of their sight, suggesting that they can at least reach Piaget’s stage 4 of object permanence task.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Applied Animal Behaviour Science 农林科学-行为科学

CiteScore

4.40

自引率

21.70%

发文量

191

审稿时长

18.1 weeks

期刊介绍： This journal publishes relevant information on the behaviour of domesticated and utilized animals. Topics covered include: -Behaviour of farm, zoo and laboratory animals in relation to animal management and welfare -Behaviour of companion animals in relation to behavioural problems, for example, in relation to the training of dogs for different purposes, in relation to behavioural problems -Studies of the behaviour of wild animals when these studies are relevant from an applied perspective, for example in relation to wildlife management, pest management or nature conservation -Methodological studies within relevant fields The principal subjects are farm, companion and laboratory animals, including, of course, poultry. The journal also deals with the following animal subjects: -Those involved in any farming system, e.g. deer, rabbits and fur-bearing animals -Those in ANY form of confinement, e.g. zoos, safari parks and other forms of display -Feral animals, and any animal species which impinge on farming operations, e.g. as causes of loss or damage -Species used for hunting, recreation etc. may also be considered as acceptable subjects in some instances -Laboratory animals, if the material relates to their behavioural requirements