Smith Amy Victoria, Wilson Clara, McComb Karen, Proops Leanne
Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK.
Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 2DY, UK.
Anim Cogn. 2018 Mar;21(2):307-312. doi: 10.1007/s10071-017-1140-4. Epub 2017 Oct 13.
Signals of dominance and submissiveness are central to conspecific communication in many species. For domestic animals, sensitivities to these signals in humans may also be beneficial. We presented domestic horses with a free choice between two unfamiliar humans, one adopting a submissive and the other a dominant body posture, with vocal and facial cues absent. Horses had previously been given food rewards by both human demonstrators, adopting neutral postures, to encourage approach behaviour. Across four counterbalanced test trials, horses showed a significant preference for approaching the submissive posture in both the first trial and across subsequent trials, and no individual subject showed an overall preference for dominant postures. There was no significant difference in latency to approach the two postures. This study provides novel evidence that domestic horses may spontaneously discriminate between, and attribute communicative significance to, human body postures of dominance; and further, that familiarity with the signaller is not a requirement for this response. These findings raise interesting questions about the plasticity of social signal perception across the species barrier.
支配和顺从信号是许多物种种内交流的核心。对于家畜而言，人类对这些信号的敏感度可能也有益处。我们让家养马在两个不熟悉的人之间自由选择，其中一人采取顺从的身体姿势，另一人采取支配的身体姿势，且没有声音和面部线索。此前两位人类示范者都曾以中立姿势给马喂食奖励，以鼓励其接近行为。在四项平衡测试试验中，马在第一次试验以及随后的试验中都表现出明显倾向于接近顺从姿势，没有个体受试者总体上表现出对支配姿势的偏好。接近两种姿势的潜伏期没有显著差异。这项研究提供了新的证据，表明家养马可能会自发地区分人类的支配性身体姿势，并赋予其交流意义；此外，对信号发出者的熟悉程度并非这种反应的必要条件。这些发现引发了关于跨物种障碍的社会信号感知可塑性的有趣问题。
