The eyes and ears are visual indicators of attention in domestic horses.
Abstract: Sensitivity to the attentional states of others has adaptive advantages, and in social animals, attending to others is important for predator detection, as well as a pre-requisite for normal social functioning and more complex socio-cognitive abilities. Despite widespread interest in how social species perceive attention in others, studies of non-human animals have been inconclusive about the detailed cues involved. Previous work has focused on head and eye direction, overlooking the fact that many mammals have obvious and mobile ears that could act as a visual cue to attention. Here we report that horses use the head orientation of a conspecific to locate food, but that this ability is disrupted when parts of the face (the eyes and ears) are covered up with naturalistic masks. The ability to correctly judge attention also interacted with the identity of the model horse, suggesting that individual differences in facial features may influence the salience of cues. Our results indicate that a combination of head orientation with facial expression, specifically involving both the eyes and ears, is necessary for communicating social attention. These findings emphasise that in order to understand how attention is communicated in non-human animals, it is essential to consider a broad range of cues.
Publication Date: 2014-08-06 PubMed ID: 25093554PubMed Central: PMC4123162DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.06.023Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Letter
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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The study investigates how horses perceive attention in other horses by judging their head orientation, as well as the position of their eyes and ears. The research finds that the attention perceived by horses relies on a combination of head orientation and facial expressions, which highlights the importance of multiple cues in determining attention in non-human animals.
Research Purpose and Methodology
- The main aim of the study was to explore sensitivity to the attentional states of others in horses, and to identify which cues, specifically, horses use to perceive attention in other horses.
- A secondary aim was to consider the influence of individual differences in facial features on the perception of attention.
- To carry out the research, horses were presented with model horses in different physical states – with and without masks covering parts of the face (eyes and ears).
- A food location task was performed wherein horses used the head orientation of a model horse to locate food.
Findings
- The investigators found that when parts of the model horse’s face (the eyes and ears) were covered up with masks, the ability of horses to locate food based on the head orientation of the model horse was disrupted.
- This suggests that apart from head orientation, the eyes and ears of horses are also necessary to communicate social attention.
- The study also discovered that the ability to accurately judge attention interacted with the identity of the model horse, indicating that individual differences in facial features can influence the salience of cues.
Conclusion
- The results of this study underline the importance of a range of cues, including head orientation, eye position, and ear orientation, in signaling social attention in horses.
- This study highlights the need for further research into the multiple cues used by animals to communicate attention.
Cite This Article
APA
Wathan J, McComb K.
(2014).
The eyes and ears are visual indicators of attention in domestic horses.
Curr Biol, 24(15), R677-R679.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.06.023 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK. Electronic address: j.wathan@sussex.ac.uk.
- Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK. Electronic address: karenm@sussex.ac.uk.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Attention
- Cues
- Ear / physiology
- Eye Movements
- Facial Expression
- Female
- Horses / physiology
- Male
- Visual Perception
Grant Funding
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
References
This article includes 8 references
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Citations
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