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Home / Equine Research Bank / Anim Cogn / Evidence of heterospecific referential communication from do...
Animal cognition2016; 19(5); 899-909; doi: 10.1007/s10071-016-0987-0

Evidence of heterospecific referential communication from domestic horses (Equus caballus) to humans.

Abstract: Referential communication occurs when a sender elaborates its gestures to direct the attention of a recipient to its role in pursuit of the desired goal, e.g. by pointing or showing an object, thereby informing the recipient what it wants. If the gesture is successful, the sender and the recipient focus their attention simultaneously on a third entity, the target. Here we investigated the ability of domestic horses (Equus caballus) to communicate referentially with a human observer about the location of a desired target, a bucket of food out of reach. In order to test six operational criteria of referential communication, we manipulated the recipient's (experimenter) attentional state in four experimental conditions: frontally oriented, backward oriented, walking away from the arena and frontally oriented with other helpers present in the arena. The rate of gaze alternation was higher in the frontally oriented condition than in all the others. The horses appeared to use both indicative (pointing) and non-indicative (nods and shakes) head gestures in the relevant test conditions. Horses also elaborated their communication by switching from a visual to a tactile signal and demonstrated perseverance in their communication. The results of the tests revealed that horses used referential gestures to manipulate the attention of a human recipient so to obtain an unreachable resource. These are the first such findings in an ungulate species.
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Publication Date: 2016-04-20 PubMed ID: 27098164DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-0987-0Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • Journal Article

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research investigates whether domestic horses can use referential communication, signaling their wants through gestures, to interact with humans, specifically regarding the location of out-of-reach food. Evidence showed that horses do utilize gestures to draw human attention to a desired object.

Concept of Referential Communication

  • Referential communication refers to the process by which the sender of a message uses specific gestures to direct the recipient’s attention towards achieving a certain goal. This could involve pointing or showing an object to the recipient to inform them about what the sender wants.
  • If this form of communication is successful, the sender and the recipient’s attention are simultaneously focused on a third entity, the target.

Research Aim and Methodology

  • The goal of this study was to examine if domestic horses have the capability to use referential communication with a human observer, specifically focusing on the location of out-of-reach food.
  • To test six operational criteria for referential communication, the researchers manipulated the recipient’s (experimenter’s) attentional state under four different conditions: frontally oriented, backward oriented, walking away from the arena and frontally oriented with other helpers present in the arena.

Findings and Conclusions

  • Results showed that the rate of gaze alternation was higher when the recipient was frontally oriented compared to the other conditions. This suggests that the horses were capable of manipulating human attention depending on their orientation.
  • The research also revealed that horses use both indicative (like pointing) and non-indicative gestures (such as nods and shakes) in suitable test conditions.
  • Furthermore, horses were found to switch from visual to tactile signals in their communication and exhibited perseverance in their attempt to communicate.
  • The study concluded that horses indeed utilize referential gestures to manipulate human attention to obtain an unreachable resource. This is the first evidence of such capabilities in an ungulate species (hoofed mammals).

Cite This Article

APA
Malavasi R, Huber L. (2016). Evidence of heterospecific referential communication from domestic horses (Equus caballus) to humans. Anim Cogn, 19(5), 899-909. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-016-0987-0

Publication

Animal cognition
ISSN: 1435-9456
NlmUniqueID: 9814573
Country: Germany
Language: English
Volume: 19
Issue: 5
Pages: 899-909

Researcher Affiliations

Malavasi, Rachele
  • Study Center for Ethical Equitation, Equiluna A.S.D., Moncigoli Di Fivizzano, MS, Italy. rachele.malavasi@gmail.com.
Huber, Ludwig
  • Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

MeSH Terms

  • Animal Communication
  • Animals
  • Attention
  • Horses
  • Humans
  • Motivation
  • Touch Perception
  • Visual Perception

Citations

This article has been cited 19 times.
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