Detour behaviour in the domestic chick: searching for a disappearing prey or a disappearing social partner
1995
Regolin, L. | Vallortigara, G. | Zanforlin, M.
Chicks, Gallus gallus domesticus, of 2 and 6 days of age were presented with a goal-object that was made to disappear behind one of two screens opposite each other. Chicks proved able to choose the correct screen when the goal-object was a social partner (i.e. a red ball on which they had been imprinted), whereas they searched at random behind either screen when the goal-object was a palatable prey (i.e. a mealworm). Chicks, however, appeared able to make use of the directional cue provided by the movement of the mealworm when tested in the presence of a cagemate. These results suggest that previous failure to obtain detour behaviour in the double screen test in the chick was not due to a cognitive limitation, but rather to the evocation of tear responses to the novel environment that interfered with the correct execution of the spatial task.
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