scholarly journals Population colonization history influences behavioral responses of European starlings in personality tests

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Rodriguez ◽  
Martine Hausberger ◽  
Patricia Le Quilliec ◽  
Laurence Henri ◽  
Philippe Clergeau
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Behavioral Flexibility ◽  
The Novel ◽  
European Starlings ◽  
Novel Object ◽  
Novel Food ◽  
Novel Environment ◽  
Migrant Birds

To understand the processes involved in biological invasions, the genetic, morphological, physiological and behavioral characteristics of invasive populations need to be understood. Many invasive species have been reported to be flying species. In birds, both invaders and migrants encounter novel situations, therefore one could expect that both groups might react similarly to novelty. Here we analyzed the behavioral responses of individuals from three populations of European starling Sturnus vulgaris: a population settled for centuries in a rural region, a population that recently colonized an urban area, and a population of winter migrant birds. We conducted a social isolation test, a novel environment test, a novel food test and a novel object test to explore their reactions towards novelty. We identified and characterized different behavioral profiles for each test. The group of migratory adults appeared to be less anxious in social isolation than the group of urban young. Urban and migrant groups entered the novel environment sooner than rural birds. Shy, bold and intermediate individuals were observed in all three groups when presented with novel food. Finally, the proportion of shy individuals which did not touch the novel object was higher than the proportion of bold individuals in the rural group. Our study emphasizes that neophilia or boldness present in migrant and invasive populations may facilitate the occupation of novel habitats. Our analysis also suggests that mixed reactions of neophobia ensure behavioral flexibility in a gregarious invasive species.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Reaction to a Complex Rotated Object in the American Quarter Horse (Equus caballus)

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1383
Author(s):  
Megan Elizabeth Corgan ◽  
Temple Grandin ◽  
Sarah Matlock
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Equus Caballus ◽  
T Test ◽  
Complex Object ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Novel Object ◽  
Quarter Horse ◽  
First Pass ◽  
Young Horses ◽  
Familiar Objects

It is dangerous for both riders and horses when a horse suddenly startles. Sometimes horses do this in familiar environments because familiar objects may look different when rotated. The purpose of this study was to determine whether horses that had been habituated to a complex object (children’s playset) would react to the object as novel when rotated 90 degrees. Twenty young horses were led past the playset 15 times by a handler. Next, the rotated group was led past the rotated playset 15 times. Each time the horse was led by the object was a pass. The behavioral responses observed and analyzed were ears focused on the object, nostril flares, neck raising, snort, avoid by stopping, avoid by moving feet sideways, and avoid by flight. An increasing reactivity scale was used to quantify behavioral responses. A two-sample t-test was performed on the reactivity scores comparing the first pass by the novel object to the first pass by the rotated object. The horses in the rotated group reacted to the rotated orientation similarly to the first exposure (p = 0.001, α < 0.05). Being aware of potential reactions to changes in previously familiar environments can help keep the handler safer.

EFFECTS OF FREQUENCY AND LENGTH OF SEPARATION BOUTS BETWEEN MOTHER AND OFFSPRING ON LATER EXPLORATIVE BEHAVIOUR OF YOUNG GUINEA-PIGS (CAVIA APEREA F.PORCELLUS)

Behaviour ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 137 (11) ◽  
pp. 1487-1502
Author(s):  
J.M.H. Vossen ◽  
P.C.H. Albers ◽  
P.J.A. Timmermans
Keyword(s):  
Social Isolation ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
The Other ◽  
Maternal Behaviour ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Novel Environment ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Daily Contact ◽  
Length Of Separation ◽  
Cavia Aperea

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that maternal behaviour is correlated with later explorative behaviour of the young. Exploring the eventual effects of maternal behaviour on the explorative behaviour of young guinea pigs, we examined the effects of frequency and length of separation bouts between mother and offspring. For 39 pups daily duration of contact with the mother was kept constant (17 hours) but the frequency of daily contact (and thus the length of the separation bouts) varied. Using a split-litter design three groups were created that were separated from the mother 3, 6 or 9 times each day from day 3 until day 20. Several precautions were taken to avoid distress of the pups during separation caused by heat loss, social isolation or unfamiliarity with the separation cage. The development of the explorative behaviour was assessed by means of a series of tests representing several aspects of explorative behaviour. All groups showed equal growth during the treatment period. It is shown that the group separated 3 times for a long period scored higher in explorative behaviour than the other groups that were separated more often but for shorter periods. In particular walking, duration of presence, and sniffing in the novel environment were increased compared to the groups separated 6 or 9 times but were also increased when compared to average scores of a previous study. It could be shown that individuals were persistent in time with regard to the maximum distance they entered into a novel environment.

scholarly journals Early life differences in behavioral predispositions in two Alligatoridae species

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan A. Reber ◽  
Jinook Oh ◽  
Judith Janisch ◽  
Colin Stevenson ◽  
Shaun Foggett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Comparative Cognition ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Apex Predators ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Novel Object ◽  
Novel Environment ◽  
Object A ◽  
High Predation

AbstractBehavioral predispositions are innate tendencies of animals to behave in a given way without the input of learning. They increase survival chances and, due to environmental and ecological challenges, may vary substantially even between closely related taxa. These differences are likely to be especially pronounced in long-lived species like crocodilians. This order is particularly relevant for comparative cognition due to its phylogenetic proximity to birds. Here we compared early life behavioral predispositions in two Alligatoridae species. We exposed American alligator and spectacled caiman hatchlings to three different novel situations: a novel object, a novel environment that was open and a novel environment with a shelter. This was then repeated a week later. During exposure to the novel environments, alligators moved around more and explored a larger range of the arena than the caimans. When exposed to the novel object, the alligators reduced the mean distance to the novel object in the second phase, while the caimans further increased it, indicating diametrically opposite ontogenetic development in behavioral predispositions. Although all crocodilian hatchlings face comparable challenges, e.g., high predation pressure, the effectiveness of parental protection might explain the observed pattern. American alligators are apex predators capable of protecting their offspring against most dangers, whereas adult spectacled caimans are frequently predated themselves. Their distancing behavior might be related to increased predator avoidance and also explain the success of invasive spectacled caimans in the natural habitats of other crocodilians.

scholarly journals RGS14 modulates locomotor behavior and ERK signaling induced by environmental novelty and cocaine within discrete limbic structures

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie L. Foster ◽  
Daniel J. Lustberg ◽  
Nicholas H. Harbin ◽  
Sara N. Bramlett ◽  
John R. Hepler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Locomotor Behavior ◽  
Erk Signaling ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Protein Activity ◽  
Novel Environment ◽  
Environmental Novelty ◽  
Limbic Regions

AbstractRationaleIn rodents, exposure to novel environments or psychostimulants promotes locomotor activity. Indeed, locomotor reactivity to novelty strongly predicts behavioral responses to psychostimulants in animal models of addiction. RGS14 is a plasticity restricting protein with unique functional domains that enable it to suppress ERK-dependent signaling as well as regulate G protein activity. Although recent studies show that RGS14 is expressed in multiple limbic regions implicated in psychostimulant- and novelty-induced hyperlocomotion, its function has been studied almost entirely in the context of hippocampal physiology and hippocampusdependent behaviors.ObjectiveWe sought to determine whether RGS14 modulates novelty- and psychostimulant-induced locomotion and neuronal activity.MethodsWe assessed Rgs14 knockout (RGS14 KO) mice and wild-type (WT) littermate controls using novelty-induced locomotion (NIL) and cocaine-induced locomotion (CIL) behavioral tests with subsequent quantification of c-fos and phosphorylated ERK (pERK) induction in limbic regions that express RGS14.ResultsCompared to WT controls, RGS14 KO mice exhibited attenuated locomotor responses in the NIL test, driven by avoidance of the center of the novel environment. By contrast, RGS14 KO mice demonstrated augmented peripheral locomotion in the CIL test conducted in either a familiar or novel environment. The absence of RGS14 enhanced induction of c-fos and pERK in the central amygdala and hippocampus (areas CA1 and CA2) when cocaine was administered in a novel environment.ConclusionsRGS14 regulates novelty- and psychostimulant-induced hyperlocomotion, particularly with respect to thigmotaxis. Further, our findings suggest RGS14 may reduce neuronal activity in discrete limbic subregions by inhibiting ERK-dependent signaling and transcription.

scholarly journals Individual Behavioral and Physiological Responses During Different Experimental Situations – Consistency over Time and Effects of Context

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Safryghin ◽  
Denise V. Hebesberger ◽  
Claudia A.F. Wascher
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Behavioral Activity ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Behavioral Experiments ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Novel Object

AbstractIn a number of species, consistent behavioral differences between individuals have been described in standardized tests, e.g. novel object exploration, open field test. Different behavioral expressions are reflective of different coping strategies of individuals in stressful situations. A causal link between behavioral responses and the activation of the physiological stress response is assumed but not thoroughly studied. Also, most standard paradigms investigating individual behavioral differences, are framed in a fearful context, therefore the present study aimed to add a test in a more positive context, the feeding context. We assessed individual differences in physiological (heart rate, HR) and behavioral responses (presence or absence of pawing, startle response, defecation, snorting) of twenty domestic horses (Equus caballus) in two behavioral experiments, a novel object presentation and a pre-feeding excitement test. Experiments were conducted twice, in summer and autumn. Both experiments caused higher mean HR in the first ten seconds after stimulus presentation compared to a control condition, but mean HR did not differ between the experimental conditions. Interestingly, in the novel object experiment, horses displaying stress-related behaviors during the experiments also showed a significantly higher HR increase compared to horses which did not display any stress-related behaviors, reflecting a correlation between behavioral and physiological responses to the novel object. On the contrary, in the pre-feeding experiments, horses that showed fewer behavioral responses had a greater HR increase, indicating the physiological response being due to emotional arousal and not behavioral activity. Moreover, HR response to experimental situations varied significantly between individuals, and although we found HR to be significantly repeatable across experiments, repeatability indices were low. In conclusion, our findings show that horses’ behavioral and physiological responses differed between test situations and that high emotional reactivity, shown via mean HR and HR increase, is not always displayed behaviorally.

scholarly journals The Embodiment of Insult: A Theory of Biobehavioral Response to Workplace Incivility

2021 ◽  
pp. 014920632198979
Author(s):  
Lilia M. Cortina ◽  
M. Sandy Hershcovis ◽  
Kathryn B. H. Clancy
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Workplace Incivility ◽  
The Body ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Target Response ◽  
Organizational Life ◽  
New Science ◽  
Broad Theory

This article builds a broad theory to explain how people respond, both biologically and behaviorally, when targeted with incivility in organizations. Central to our theorizing is a multifaceted framework that yields four quadrants of target response: reciprocation, retreat, relationship repair, and recruitment of support. We advance the novel argument that these behaviors not only stem from biological change within the body but also stimulate such change. Behavioral responses that revolve around affiliation and produce positive social connections are most likely to bring biological benefits. However, social and cultural features of an organization can stand in the way of affiliation, especially for employees holding marginalized identities. When incivility persists over time and employees lack access to the resources needed to recover, we theorize, downstream consequences can include harms to their physical health. Like other aspects of organizational life, this biobehavioral theory of incivility response is anything but simple. But it may help explain how seemingly “small” insults can sometimes have large effects, ultimately undermining workforce well-being. It may also suggest novel sites for incivility intervention, focusing on the relational and inclusive side of work. The overarching goal of this article is to motivate new science on workplace incivility, new knowledge, and ultimately, new solutions.

scholarly journals Disfluencies signal reference to novel objects for adults but not children

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. OWENS ◽  
Justine M. THACKER ◽  
Susan A. GRAHAM
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Novel Object ◽  
Filled Pauses ◽  
Novel Objects ◽  
Novel Targets ◽  
The Way ◽  
Familiar Objects

AbstractSpeech disfluencies can guide the ways in which listeners interpret spoken language. Here, we examined whether three-year-olds, five-year-olds, and adults use filled pauses to anticipate that a speaker is likely to refer to a novel object. Across three experiments, participants were presented with pairs of novel and familiar objects and heard a speaker refer to one of the objects using a fluent (“Look at the ball/lep!”) or disfluent (“Look at thee uh ball/lep!”) expression. The salience of the speaker's unfamiliarity with the novel referents, and the way in which the speaker referred to the novel referents (i.e., a noun vs. a description) varied across experiments. Three- and five-year-olds successfully identified familiar and novel targets, but only adults’ looking patterns reflected increased looks to novel objects in the presence of a disfluency. Together, these findings demonstrate that adults, but not young children, use filled pauses to anticipate reference to novel objects.

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