Murphy Jack
School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Vet J. 2009 Jul;181(1):24-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2009.03.028. Epub 2009 Apr 23.
Eight horses were tested in a Y-maze to see if they would approach the side on which they had seen and heard food being delivered into a food trough. The horses were tested in five experimental contexts: immediate release (IR), delayed release 3s (3DR), 6s (6DR), 9s (9DR) and 12s (12DR) after food delivery. Individual subjects performed five IR trials, followed by five each of 3DR, 6DR, 9DR and 12DR trials. A re-rest was performed 1 week later. Data were analysed by log-linear analysis of frequencies. The results showed that the horses were capable of achieving the correct choice during IR trials, were successful during the DR trials and improved marginally during the re-test. The findings suggest that horses could have a trainable form of prospective memory and benefit from incremental memory-training exercises. However, there is a risk of overestimating equine cognitive ability and unnecessary reinforcement delays are likely to lead to welfare and training setbacks within equitation.
八匹马在Y型迷宫中接受测试，以观察它们是否会靠近它们看到和听到有食物被送入食槽的那一侧。这些马在五种实验情境下接受测试：食物投放后立即释放（IR）、延迟3秒释放（3DR）、6秒释放（6DR）、9秒释放（9DR）和12秒释放（12DR）。每只受试马先进行五次IR试验，然后依次进行五次3DR、6DR、9DR和12DR试验。一周后进行重新测试。数据通过频率的对数线性分析进行分析。结果表明，马在IR试验中能够做出正确选择，在DR试验中取得成功，并且在重新测试中略有进步。研究结果表明，马可能具有可训练的前瞻性记忆形式，并能从渐进性记忆训练练习中受益。然而，存在高估马认知能力的风险，并且不必要的强化延迟可能会导致马术训练中的福利和训练挫折。
