CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, University of Tours, PRC, 37380, Nouzilly, France.
Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, IFM Biology, Linköping University, 581 83 15, Linköping, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2022 Mar 11;12(1):4297. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-08109-z.
In a recent experiment, we showed that horses are sensitive to pet-directed speech (PDS), a kind of speech used to talk to companion animals that is characterized by high pitch and wide pitch variations. When talked to in PDS rather than adult-directed speech (ADS), horses reacted more favorably during grooming and in a pointing task. However, the mechanism behind their response remains unclear: does PDS draw horses' attention and arouse them, or does it make their emotional state more positive? In this study, we used an innovative paradigm in which female horses watched videos of humans speaking in PDS or ADS to better understand this phenomenon. Horses reacted differently to the videos of PDS and ADS: they were significantly more attentive and their heart rates increased significantly more during PDS than during ADS. We found no difference in the expressions of negative or positive emotional states during PDS and ADS videos. Thus, we confirm that horses' perception of humans can be studied by means of video projections, and we conclude that PDS attracts attention and has an arousing effect in horses, with consequences on the use of PDS in daily interactions with them.
在最近的一项实验中，我们表明马对宠物导向的言语（PDS）敏感，这是一种用于与伴侣动物交流的言语，其特点是音高高且音高变化大。当马被用 PDS 而不是成人导向的言语（ADS）交流时，它们在梳理和指向任务中反应更积极。然而，它们反应背后的机制尚不清楚：PDS 是否吸引了马的注意力并引起了它们的反应，还是使它们的情绪状态更加积极？在这项研究中，我们使用了一种创新的范式，让母马观看人类用 PDS 或 ADS 说话的视频，以更好地理解这一现象。马对 PDS 和 ADS 视频的反应不同：它们在 PDS 视频中明显更加专注，心率也比 ADS 视频中明显升高。我们在 PDS 和 ADS 视频中没有发现负面或正面情绪状态表达的差异。因此，我们确认可以通过视频投影来研究马对人类的感知，我们得出结论，PDS 吸引了马的注意力并产生了唤醒作用，这对在与它们的日常互动中使用 PDS 有影响。
