Animal learning is the alternation of behaviour as a result of individual experience. Just as there is much to learn about human cognition, the cognitive aspects of other animals remains of interest and this leads to new insights and understanding.
Animal learning comes in different forms. These include habituation, which is a simple form of learning and occurs in many animal taxa. There is also associative learning, which is any learning process in which a new response becomes associated with a particular stimulus. Plus there are forms of imprinting, cultural learning, and teaching. Playing is another way that mammals and other animals learn how to behave.
This week’s ‘Essential Science’ take a peak at the latest research in animal behaviour studies.
Applying artificial intelligence
Advanced forms of computing can aid scientists in understanding pattern in animal behaviour. In studies, researchers have brought together knowledge drawn from the fields of artificial intelligence, ethology and the psychology of learning in order to solve multiple problems relating to the behavior and intelligence of animals.
How does an oystercatcher open mussels quickly? Why does a baboon take every opportunity going to steal food from tourists? Precisely how does a rat navigate with ease between the bins in a park? By applying advanced computing some of these answers can be revealed.
This type of analysis, for example, has found many animals go through a process of weighing up the cost of a certain behaviour against the what they might gain to the highest degree in terms of seeking to make optimal decisions.
The application of digital technology appears in the publication Royal Society Open Science. The associated paper is titled “The power of associative learning and the ontogeny of optimal behaviour.”
Cognitive flexibility of goats
When it comes to adapting to new situations, which animals show the highest cognitive ability: Goats or sheep? New data suggests that goats are ahead of sheep. Trends indicate that unlike sheep, goats can adapt more quickly to the changing environment. The research based the investigation upon how well the two species of animals were able to navigate around obstacles in order to reach supplies of food.
The study, run out of Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, the animals’ behaviour, specifically, whether they moved directly towards the gap, was observed. The scientists recorded the time it took the animals (21 goats and 28 sheets) to get to the food against different challenges posed. This revealed that the goats were more cognitively flexible than sheep.
The research has been published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. The paper is titled “Goats show higher behavioural flexibility than sheep in a spatial detour task.”
Stock market models help researchers predict animal behaviour
Tracking fluctuations with the stock market can help researchers to gain insights into animal behaviours and activities. Through this modeling has been deployed based on forecasting fluctuations in the stock market. From this it has been demonstrated that robust models can be used to predict aspects of animal behavior.
As an example, the movement of zebrafish has been shown to be remarkably similar to the stochastic jump process. This is a mathematical model deployed by financial engineers. It is anticipated that this model could be used to improve the effectiveness of biological experiments. Furthermore, the model can help to minimize the number of fish used in future studies and maximize the potential findings and observations.
Further information is provided in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. See: “A jump persistent turning walker to model zebrafish locomotion.”
Sounding bigger
Some animals fake their body size by attempting to sound ‘bigger’ than they actually are. This seems to be a learned activity based on the new inquiries. Here researchers have studied 164 different mammals. This has shown that animals who lower their voice to sound bigger are those classed as skilled vocalists.
Both of these strategies, sounding bigger and learning sounds, appear to be driven by sexual selection. Furthermore, this and may play a role in explaining the origins of human speech evolution.
The research appears in Biology Letters, in a paper titled “Acoustic allometry and vocal learning in mammals.”
Essential Science
This article forms part of Digital Journal’s long running Essential Science series. Each week we take a more detailed look at an important and topical science subject.
Last week, the subject considered a commonly grown plant, and one that attracts the interest of some felines, could provide the basis for addressing insect problems. The plant of interest is catnip and this mint related plant can repel mosquitoes.
The week before the subject was soft robotics. For super-sensitive touch to advances in soft materials that curls under pressure or expands when stretched, such innovations in materials science are enabling soft robotics to be advanced. Digital Journal considered look at three advances in the field.
