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Pet-directed speech improves horses' attention toward humans
Plotine Jardat1, Ludovic Calandreau2, Vitor Ferreira2,3
1CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, University of Tours, PRC, 37380, Nouzilly, France. plotine.jardat@gmail.com.
Scientific Reports
|March 12, 2022
Summary
Horses are sensitive to pet-directed speech (PDS), a vocalization style with high pitch. PDS grabs horses' attention and increases arousal, but doesn't necessarily improve their emotional state.
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior
- Ethology
- Animal cognition
Background:
- Horses exhibit differential responses to pet-directed speech (PDS) compared to adult-directed speech (ADS).
- The underlying mechanisms for these responses, specifically attention, arousal, or emotional state changes, remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of PDS on horses' attention, arousal, and emotional state.
- To determine if PDS attracts horses' attention and influences their physiological arousal.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an innovative video-based paradigm where horses observed humans speaking in PDS versus ADS.
- Monitored horses' attentiveness and heart rate responses during video presentations.
Main Results:
- Horses showed significantly higher attention levels when exposed to PDS compared to ADS.
- Heart rates of horses significantly increased during PDS exposure relative to ADS.
- No significant differences were observed in the expression of positive or negative emotional states between PDS and ADS conditions.
Conclusions:
- Video-based paradigms are effective for studying equine perception of human vocalizations.
- Pet-directed speech (PDS) primarily serves to capture horses' attention and induce arousal.
- Findings have implications for understanding and utilizing PDS in human-horse interactions.
