Horses prefer to solicit a person who previously observed a food-hiding process to access this food: A possible indication of attentional state attribution.
Abstract: Inferring what others witnessed provides important benefits in social contexts, but evidence remains scarce in nonhuman animals. We investigated this ability in domestic horses by testing whether they could discriminate between two experimenters who differed in what they previously witnessed and decide whom to solicit when confronted with an unreachable food source based on that information. First, horses saw food being hidden in a closed bucket (impossible for them to open) in the presence of two experimenters who behaved identically but differed in their attention to the baiting process (the "witness" experimenter faced the bucket, the "non-witness" faced away). Horses were then let free with both experimenters, and their interest towards each (gaze and touch) was measured. They gazed at and touched the witness significantly more than the non-witness (n = 15, gaze: p = 0.004; touch: p = 0.003). These results might suggest that horses inferred the attentional state of the experimenters during the baiting process and used this information to adapt their later behavior. Although further study would be necessary to conclude, our study provides new insight into attentional state attribution in horses and might hint to the existence of precursors of a Theory of Mind in horses.
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2019-07-10 PubMed ID: 31301426DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103906Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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This research article investigates the perception and reasoning abilities of horses, by determining if they can deduce which human observer knows the location of a hidden food source. The study suggests that horses can identify the attentional state of individuals around them and adapt their behavior accordingly.
Objective of the Study
- The study aimed to explore the cognitive abilities of horses in social contexts, focusing particularly on whether they can infer attention states of others based on observed behavior. This involved discerning if horses could discriminate between a person who witnessed where food was hidden (‘witness’) and someone who did not (‘non-witness’).
Methodology of the Experiment
- Horses observed a food-hiding process where an experimenter hid food in a bucket that the horses couldn’t open. This process was witnessed by two people, one facing the bucket (‘witness’) and the other facing away (‘non-witness’).
- Both ‘witness’ and ‘non-witness’ experimenters behaved identically, maintaining a neutral stance to prevent any biased behavior.
- After the food was hidden, the horses were allowed to interact with both experimenters. The researchers measured the horses’ interest in each experimenter through their gaze and touch.
Results
- The results indicated that horses showed a significant preference for the ‘witness’ experimenter than the ‘non-witness’. They gazed at and touched the ‘witness’ experimenter more frequently, suggesting that they may have inferred who had the information about the hidden food.
Conclusion and Implication
- This study suggests that horses might be capable of inferring attentional states and adapting their behavior based on this information. This inference may hint at potential precursors of a Theory of Mind in horses.
- Despite these intriguing findings, further research is required to validate these conclusions definitively. Nevertheless, this study provides valuable new insights into horse cognition and behavior in social contexts.
Cite This Article
APA
Trösch M, Ringhofer M, Yamamoto S, Lemarchand J, Parias C, Lormant F, Lansade L.
(2019).
Horses prefer to solicit a person who previously observed a food-hiding process to access this food: A possible indication of attentional state attribution.
Behav Processes, 166, 103906.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103906 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- INRA, PRC, CNRS, IFCE, Université de Tours, 37380, Nouzilly, France. Electronic address: milena.trosch@gmail.com.
- Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study, Yoshida Ushinomiya-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. Electronic address: monamie.ringhofer@gmail.com.
- Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study, Yoshida Ushinomiya-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. Electronic address: shinyayamamoto1981@gmail.com.
- INRA, PRC, CNRS, IFCE, Université de Tours, 37380, Nouzilly, France. Electronic address: julie.lemarchand@inra.fr.
- INRA, PRC, CNRS, IFCE, Université de Tours, 37380, Nouzilly, France. Electronic address: celine.parias@inra.fr.
- INRA, PRC, CNRS, IFCE, Université de Tours, 37380, Nouzilly, France. Electronic address: flore.lormant@orange.fr.
- INRA, PRC, CNRS, IFCE, Université de Tours, 37380, Nouzilly, France. Electronic address: lea.lansade@inra.fr.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Attention / physiology
- Behavior, Animal / physiology
- Food
- Horses / psychology
- Problem Solving / physiology
- Social Perception
Citations
This article has been cited 7 times.- Gouyet C, Ringhofer M, Yamamoto S, Jardat P, Parias C, Reigner F, Calandreau L, Lansade L. Horses cross-modally recognize women and men.. Sci Rep 2023 Mar 8;13(1):3864.
- Jardat P, Ringhofer M, Yamamoto S, Gouyet C, Degrande R, Parias C, Reigner F, Calandreau L, Lansade L. Horses form cross-modal representations of adults and children.. Anim Cogn 2023 Mar;26(2):369-377.
- Jardat P, Lansade L. Cognition and the human-animal relationship: a review of the sociocognitive skills of domestic mammals toward humans.. Anim Cogn 2022 Apr;25(2):369-384.
- Ringhofer M, Trösch M, Lansade L, Yamamoto S. Horses with sustained attention follow the pointing of a human who knows where food is hidden.. Sci Rep 2021 Aug 10;11(1):16184.
- Lansade L, Trösch M, Parias C, Blanchard A, Gorosurreta E, Calandreau L. Horses are sensitive to baby talk: pet-directed speech facilitates communication with humans in a pointing task and during grooming.. Anim Cogn 2021 Sep;24(5):999-1006.
- Trösch M, Flamand A, Chasles M, Nowak R, Calandreau L, Lansade L. Horses Solve Visible but Not Invisible Displacement Tasks in an Object Permanence Paradigm.. Front Psychol 2020;11:562989.
- Trösch M, Cuzol F, Parias C, Calandreau L, Nowak R, Lansade L. Horses Categorize Human Emotions Cross-Modally Based on Facial Expression and Non-Verbal Vocalizations.. Animals (Basel) 2019 Oct 24;9(11).
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