The effect of stimulus height on visual discrimination in horses

Hall, CA ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5916-311X, Cassaday, HJ and Derrington, AM, 2003. The effect of stimulus height on visual discrimination in horses. Journal of Animal Science, 81 (7), pp. 1715-1720. ISSN 0021-8812

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Abstract

This study investigated the effect of stimulus height on the ability of horses to learn a simple visual discrimination task. Eight horses were trained to perform a two-choice black/white discrimination with stimuli presented at one of two heights: at ground level or at a height of 70cm from the ground. The height at which the stimuli were presented was alternated from one session to the next. All trials within a single session were presented at the same height. The criterion for learning was four consecutive sessions of 70% correct responses. Performance was found to be significantly better when stimuli were presented at ground level with respect to number of trials taken to reach the criterion, percentage of correct first choices and repeated errors made. Thus training horses to carry out tasks of visual discrimination could be enhanced by placing the stimuli on the ground. In addition, the results of the present study suggest that the visual appearance of ground surfaces is an important factor in both horse management and training.

Item Type: Journal article
Publication Title: Journal of Animal Science
Creators: Hall, C.A., Cassaday, H.J. and Derrington, A.M.
Publisher: Amer. Soc. Animal Science
Place of Publication: Savoy, IL
Date: 2003
Volume: 81
Number: 7
ISSN: 0021-8812
Identifiers:
Number
Type
10.2527/2003.8171715x
DOI
Rights: © 2003 American Society of Animal Science
Divisions: Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by: EPrints Services
Date Added: 09 Oct 2015 10:04
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2023 09:48
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/7182

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