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Selective attention in dairy cattle
T L Blackmore1, W Temple2, T M Foster2
1Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, Herts AL9 7TA. UK.
Behavioural Processes
|June 7, 2016
Summary
Cows learned to choose gates based on color, not shape. They avoided yellow stimuli, suggesting avoidance learning in animal behavior.
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior and cognition
- Sensory perception in livestock
Background:
- Discrimination learning is crucial for animals to navigate their environment.
- Understanding stimulus control in farm animals informs welfare and management practices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To replicate Reynolds (1961) and investigate stimulus control in cows.
- To determine if shape or color influenced cows' choices between visual stimuli.
Main Methods:
- Cows were trained to discriminate between a positive (red cross, S+) and negative (yellow triangle, S-) stimulus for food reward.
- Probe tests systematically varied stimulus shape and color to assess control.
- Further tests used red, white, and yellow stimuli to clarify avoidance vs. approach learning.
Main Results:
- Cows consistently chose the red stimulus over the yellow stimulus, irrespective of shape.
- When shapes were the same color, cows showed no preference.
- Results indicated cows learned to avoid the yellow (negative) stimulus.
Conclusions:
- Color, specifically the negative stimulus's color, controlled the cows' discriminative behavior.
- Avoidance of the negative stimulus (yellow) was the primary learning mechanism, not approach to the positive stimulus (red).
- The salience of negative stimuli may relate to avoiding aversive farm handling practices.
