Behavioural Processes最新文献

{"title":"Is choice bias in delayed matching a consequence of inter-trial interval effects?","authors":"Catarina Soares, Mairiele Santos, Carlos Pinto","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105153","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite their intended goal of simply separating trials, inter-trial intervals have been found to affect choice behavior in delayed matching-to-sample procedures, leading to choice biases. In the present study, we assessed the effects of delay on choice without the potential influence of inter-trial intervals. Sixteen pigeons learned a symbolic matching-to-sample task with samples differing in duration (3s vs. 9s) and no inter-trial intervals. In testing, a delay lasting 2.5, 5, 10 or 20s was introduced between sample and comparisons. There were two differing delay conditions: for Group Light Off, the delay was spent in darkness and, for Group Light On, the delay was illuminated by a houselight. For Group Light Off, as the delay increased, matching accuracy following both samples decreased towards indifference. For Group Light On, matching accuracy remained relatively high in short-sample trials but decreased abruptly in long-sample trials (choose-short effect). Hence, we found that a choice bias may occur even without inter-trial intervals.</p>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":" ","pages":"105153"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143121745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Individual vocal identity may be obscured following colony assembly in captive black-capped chickadees.","authors":"Sarah M L Smeltz, Moriah J Deimeke, Prateek K Sahu, Carolina Montenegro, Katharine H Stenstrom, Ilex Starenchak, Victoria Rennie, Inaara M Ebrahim, John Anthony Jones, Christopher B Sturdy","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105151","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) vocalisations remain plastic throughout their lifespans. Although fledglings employ vocal plasticity to refine their vocalisations through the use of tutor mimicry, adults employ vocal plasticity to create unique population dialects. Vocal convergence is one mechanism by which flockmates' vocalisations become increasingly similar to each other and distinct from the calls of other flocks. Chick-a-dee call plasticity via vocal convergence has been observed in wild and group aviary-housed laboratory chickadee flocks. Our study aimed to answer whether individually-housed laboratory chickadee colonies possess unique vocal dialects similar to wild populations. A group of six individually-housed chickadees from two laboratory colony rooms were introduced to a new experimental colony room. Calls were recorded at baseline and weekly thereafter for 8 weeks. We then conducted an operant conditioning study using a Go/No-go paradigm with birds not included in our experimental-colony, to determine whether black-capped chickadees could discriminate between calls from the two laboratory colonies, using four experimental-colony birds' baseline pre-assembly recordings as discriminative stimuli. We tested generalisation using novel, pre-assembly calls from the remaining two experimental-colony birds. Next, we tested whether chickadees perceived a change in calls following experimental-colony assembly, putatively indicative of vocal plasticity, marked by a decrease in discrimination accuracy. Chickadees successfully discriminated reinforced from non-reinforced calls using pre-assembly calls, but did not generalise this learning when later presented with novel pre-assembly calls from new birds. We posit that instead of employing colony-based discrimination, chickadees relied on individual-based discrimination. Chickadees were also not able to generalise their learning when presented with post-assembly calls from the same birds. Our findings suggest that chickadees were able to discriminate between individuals', but not colonies', chick-a-dee calls in an operant-conditioning procedure. Furthermore, chickadees can perceive differences in pre-versus-post assembly calls. Taken together, these findings suggest that group and individual identity information may be correlated, as post-assembly vocal plasticity impeded individual discrimination.</p>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":" ","pages":"105151"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143063458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Behavioral evidence that repetitive responses in a free-movement pattern Y-maze are associated with ageing-related deficit in working memory.","authors":"Edward S Redhead, Jude Rolfe-Tarrant, Antony Wood, Matthew O Parker","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105152","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105152","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Visuospatial working memory (VSWM) is crucial for navigating complex environments and is known to decline with ageing. The Free-Movement Pattern (FMP) Y-maze, used in animal studies, provides a robust paradigm for assessing VSWM via analyses of individual differences in repeated alternating sequences of left (L) and right (R) responses (LRLR, etc.), the predominant search pattern in many species. Previous human studies have used a honeycomb-shaped maze, designed for continuous search and trajectory-based navigation, and have shown ageing-related decline in performance of alternating responses. To date, there has been no examination of responses in the closed Y-maze in humans, faithfully replicating the discrete arm entry conditions of animal experiments. Experiment 1 replicated results observed in the honeycomb Y-maze: younger participants (18-40 years) displayed higher levels of alternating turns (LRLR/RLRL), while older participants (70 + years) exhibited predominantly sequential repetitive responses (i.e. LLLL/RRRR). Experiment 2 demonstrated that alternations reflect VSWM. Specifically, there was a significant correlation between proportion of alternating responses and higher scores on the digital Corsi test, a validated measure of VSWM. When alternating responses were reinforced in Experiment 3, older participants still alternated less and repeated more than younger participants. These findings suggest that age-related declines in VSWM underpin the repetitive search patterns observed in older adults. By faithfully replicating the conditions of animal studies, the closed FMP Y-maze offers a simple, scalable tool for assessing VSWM in humans. Its design is particularly suited for gamification, enhancing motivation, reducing stress, and personalizing interventions to improve performance in older populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":" ","pages":"105152"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143063456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Aerial urination suggests undescribed sensory modality and social function in river dolphins.","authors":"Claryana Araújo-Wang, Mauricio Cantor, John Y Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105149","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105149","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Scent marking through urine spraying is known to aid mate selection, territory marking and chemical communication in terrestrial, but not in aquatic mammals. We quantify an unusual aerial urination behaviour in botos (Inia geoffrensis) and discuss its potential functions. Between 2014 and 2018, we conducted land-based behavioural surveys on wild botos in central Brazil, recording the sequence, duration and social context of aerial urination. Aerial urination starts with a boto slowly positioning itself upside down, exposing its penis above water, and ejecting a stream of urine into the air. When a 'receiver' male is present, it either approaches the urine stream with its rostrum (sometimes pursuing it) or stays where the stream contacts the water. We recorded 36 aerial urination events during 218.9 observation hours, with 67 % occurring in the presence of receivers. The events were short (11.6 ± 9.6 SD s), highly variable (range 1-41 s) and involved only males-urinators and receivers. We hypothesize that the bristles on botos' rostrums can serve a chemical sensory role (haptosense) in detecting urine streams and that aerial urination, often occurring in the presence of other males, serves social or communicative functions beyond the physiological need for waste elimination.</p>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":" ","pages":"105149"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143045518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The temporal copulatory patterns of female rat sexual behavior.","authors":"John C Oyem, Roy Heijkoop, Eelke M S Snoeren","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105148","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105148","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Female sexual behavior is a naturally rewarding activity that plays an important role in reproduction and species survival. For female rats, regulating the timing of sexual interactions is essential for optimizing mating satisfaction and enhancing the physiological conditions needed for successful fertilization. So far, traditional research on female sexual behavior has relied on a limited set of behavioral parameters, which has certain shortcomings. To address this, our study aimed to develop a more detailed behavioral framework for assessing temporal copulatory patterns in female rats. We compared fully receptive females and less-receptive females, while also investigating the effects of (R)-(+)-8-OH-DPAT, a 5-HT_1A receptor agonist known for its inhibitory impact on female sexual behavior. Additionally, we examined how sexual experience and pacing conditions influence these copulatory patterns. Our results revealed that female rats engage in structured patterns of sexual bouts and time-outs, with higher receptivity leading to more sexual bouts and shorter time-outs. This suggests that sexual bouts can be viewed as an indicator of copulatory speed, while time-outs reflect motivation to continue mating. Sexual experience did not enhance sexual performance but did result in females receiving more copulatory events from males. Lastly, we found that the conditions under which mating occurs (paced vs. non-paced) may not significantly impact copulatory behavior in fully-receptive females, but could be more relevant for less-receptive females. Despite this, paced mating conditions remain preferable for studying female sexual behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":" ","pages":"105148"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142997785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The influence of guided tours on the welfare of white-handed gibbons and capuchin monkeys at Maia Zoo.","authors":"Catarina Cunha, Sofia N Wasterlain","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105150","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105150","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Zoo animals are regularly exposed to a plethora of sensorial stimuli beyond their control, which can adversely impact their behaviour and welfare, including unfamiliar faces, excessive noise and intrusive visitor interaction. Zoos have implemented various measures, such as enrichments and regulation of visitor behaviour, to mitigate these effects. However, guided tours have not been used to simultaneously control visitor behaviour and maintain animal welfare. In this study, we investigated how visitors influence the behaviour of two non-human primate species: white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) and capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella), by observing primate behaviour and visitor noise and behaviour under guided and self-guided tour conditions. The main focus was to assess visitor impact on animal welfare and investigate whether guided tours helped regulate visitors' unwanted noise and behaviour. Observational data on several behaviours were obtained through instantaneous sampling intervals lasting 15-minutes each. Results indicate that in the gibbons' enclosure, guided tours, compared to self-guided tours, were associated with lower noise levels (mean reduction of 3.0 dB) and reduced self-grooming frequencies. Conversely, capuchin monkeys exhibited similar behavioural responses between tour types, likely influenced by the presence of an infant born during the study. Although results varied, they suggest guided tours might be associated to reduced visitor noise and may provide a familiar presence for the animals, due to the presence of a guide, which could potentially influence welfare outcomes. However, evidence of enhanced welfare remains inconclusive. Furthermore, integrating guided tours as educational and conservation initiatives could effectively engage visitors and ensure zoo animal welfare.</p>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":" ","pages":"105150"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142999288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of tourism on bird behavior: A comparison of flight initiation distance between birds in areas of tourist and non-tourist attraction.","authors":"Shuang Yang, Wei Liang","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105140","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105140","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tourism, as an important manifestation of urbanization, is becoming increasingly popular. Although it offers numerous advantages for the local community, it also exerts a multifaceted impact on local wildlife. Previous research on the effects of tourism has mainly focused on protected areas or tourist spots, rarely considering the surrounding non-tourist attraction areas. Therefore, exploring the behavioral differences of wildlife in response to different levels of human disturbance in areas of tourist and non-tourist attraction will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of tourism activities on animals. This study compared the differences in the flight initiation distance (FID) of Eurasian tree sparrows (Passer montanus) between areas of tourist attraction (Xijiang Miao Village and Zhaoxing Dong Village) and non-tourist attraction (surrounding villages) in Guizhou Province, southwestern China. We found that Eurasian tree sparrows in areas of tourist attraction exhibited shorter FIDs than those in areas of non-tourist attraction, suggesting that Eurasian tree sparrows inhabiting areas with higher levels of human disturbance demonstrate a greater ability to adapt to anthropogenic disturbance. Moreover, the FID of Eurasian tree sparrows was less influenced by flock size than by tourist attraction category. It highlights the notable impact of human activities on wildlife, contributing to the scientific management and protection of birds in urban environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":" ","pages":"105140"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142977434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Neophobia and exploration behavior in urban gulls: The Kelp Gulls (Larus dominicanus) as a study case.","authors":"M Candelaria Biagiotti Barchiesi, German O Garcia, Melina V Castano, Laura M Biondi","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105147","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105147","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neophobia and exploratory behavior are personality traits through which organisms evaluate and respond to environment changes by adjusting their behavior. The Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus) is a generalist seabird that consumes a wide variety of prey. Neophobia levels and exploratory behavior in novel circumstances were analyzed in urban adult (n = 13) and immature (n = 15) Kelp Gulls captured in the landfill of Mar del Plata city. These personality traits were not significantly affected by the age of the bird. Longer feeding latencies were observed in presence of novel objects, and neophobia levels were higher in the presence of a transparent box. The exploratory events were brief and influenced by the physical properties of the objects; gulls favored complex and yellow objects. Higher neophobia levels were associated with a longer time to start the exploration and spending less time investigating the objects. Exposure to an urban environment can modulate the novelty response, partially explaining lack of difference in neophobia levels and exploratory behavior between ages, as well as the apparent absence of intrinsic attraction to unfamiliar objects when not associated with a food source. Furthermore, in relation to complex objects, unfamiliar objects likely offer richer information, driving gulls' exploratory preference.</p>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":" ","pages":"105147"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142969532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Emergent relations and competing behavior: Effects on interruptions, accuracy and reaction time.","authors":"Elizabeth D Lovitz, Daniele Ortu","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2024.105138","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2024.105138","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study investigated the impact of engaging in concurrent behaviors on the emergence of untrained stimulus-stimulus relations, specifically examining interruptions, accuracy, and reaction times during test. Six participants completed a computerized matching-to-sample task under three conditions: a baseline condition, a singing condition hypothesized to be incompatible with covert verbal behavior, and a foot tapping condition hypothesized to be compatible with covert verbal behavior. The tempo was kept consistent across both singing and foot tapping tasks. Results indicated a higher average number of interruptions in the foot tapping condition compared to the singing condition. Accuracy and reaction time results varied between participants, indicating individual differences in the impact of the concurrent behaviors. Some participants showed decreased accuracy and increased reaction times during the foot tapping condition, while others demonstrated consistent performance across both conditions. These findings highlight the potential role of response fluency in the execution of concurrent tasks and the influence of verbal mediation on complex behaviors. These insights have implications for the design of experimental tasks and the interpretation of results in studies involving complex behavior and concurrent tasks.</p>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":" ","pages":"105138"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142943528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Are domestic chickens born with predator recognition? Validation of a sound playback experiment.","authors":"Li Zhang, Zihui Zhang, Wei Liang","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105139","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105139","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Predation risk can influence behavioral decisions of animals in various ways. Prey animals have the opportunity to choose antipredation behaviors and escape strategies only by quickly and accurately identifying predators. As precocial birds, domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) have no adaptation period after hatching and must immediately survive under predation risk. They possess a strong ability to identify threats through vocalizations. To explore whether domestic chickens have innate predator recognition ability and whether the antipredation behavior of breeding chickens is stronger than that of non-breeding chickens. We tested the antipredation behaviors of three types of flocks (non-breeding chickens; hen with chicks; isolated chicks) of domestic chickens in response to sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) calls using playback experiments, while Oriental turtle dove (Streptopelia orientalis) calls were used as a control. We found that breeding hens are significantly more vigilant than non-breeding chickens. We also found that although isolated chicks can exhibit antipredator behavior, they cannot accurately identify the calls of predators and non-predators. Therefore, it can be concluded that domestic chickens exhibit varying degrees of vigilance towards predator calls at different stages of their life history. Reproductive costs can lead to increased vigilance in domestic chickens. The accurate identification of predators by domestic chickens is not innate, but gradually formed over time.</p>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":" ","pages":"105139"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142943526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}