Degree of social isolation affects behavioural and vocal response patterns in dwarf goats (Capra hircus)
Separation from the group presents a serious challenge for social animals. This stressful and disagreeable situation can impair animal welfare and may have an undesirable impact on experimental data in scientific studies. In the present study, we observed whether different degrees of social isolation induced different behavioural and vocal responses in a gregarious animal species, […]
Investigations on Training, Recall and Reversal Learning of a Y-Maze by Dwarf Goats (Capra hircus): The Impact of Lateralisation
We investigated maze learning in dwarf goats (Capra hircus) and the impact of lateralisation on learning. Lateralisation refers to the collection of phenomena in which external stimuli are perceived and processed differentially on the two sides of the brain and/or certain behaviours are preferentially performed by one side of the body. We trained 29 dwarf […]
Learning to learn during visual discrimination in group housed dwarf goats (Capra hircus)
Using an automated learning device, we investigated “learning to learn” by dwarf goats (Capra hircus) in what was for them a familiar environment and normal social settings. Nine problems, each consisting of four discriminable black symbols, each with one S and three different S , were presented on a computer screen. Mean daily learning success […]