Vivian Gabor

• University of Göttingen

Inattentional Blindness (IB) is a phenomenon which has been widely researched in humans. If attention is highly focused, humans may become blind to other environmental cues. To further understand the perception of horses, we applied the well-tested experimental design of human IB studies to the first study of this kind in horses. Since the use of c...

Farm animal welfare is a major concern for society and food production. To more accurately evaluate animal farming in general and to avoid exposing farm animals to poor welfare situations, it is necessary to understand not only their behavioral but also their cognitive needs and capacities. Thus, general knowledge of how farm animals perceive and i...

Three Shetland ponies were tested in memorizing a quantity discrimination task with a computer based learning device. One year before, they had learned to relate a quantity of geometric symbols to another on a computer flat screen presented in a matching to sample design. All three of the ponies solved the task to discriminate between the quantitie...

Numerical competence is one of the aspects of animal cognition with a long history of research interest, but few results are available for the horse. In the present study, we investigated the ability of three Shetland ponies to discriminate between different quantities of geometric symbols presented on a computer screen in a matching-to-sample arra...

For the study of higher order cognition, the matching to sample procedure presents an established method to test relational concept learning in several species. In the present study we designed a method of testing ponies via a computer based model. We used the advantages of an automatic stimulus control system which enabled a better standardization...

Research into higher cognitive abilities of the horse may be limited by developing the adequate experimental design. In this study four pony mares between 8 and 19 years old were included. Three of them reached the criterion to be tested in a new design of matching to sample using a black circle and a cross as visual cues attached to an apparatus....