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Abstract tasks in birds - spatial vs non-spatial tasks
Janská, Iveta ; Landová, Eva (advisor) ; Vlček, Kamil (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to compare spatial cognitive tasks (radial maze and analogs, geometry and features) and non-spatial abstract cognitive task (concept formation and categorization, transitive inference) in birds. Because each of tasks have different testing methods they are compared according to method types in separate thematic groups, which are discussed each other. The extension of this thesis on theories derived from human psychology such as self-recognition, episodic-like memory, and theory of mind.
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Food neophobia and food preference in rodents (Rodentia) and its interaction with social learning.
Rudolfová, Veronika ; Landová, Eva (advisor) ; Telenský, Petr (referee)
Neophobia (fear of novelty) is first protection from ingesting potentially dangerous food in rodents. After overcoming the fear an animal begins to sample the food (take small parts). The animal then forms an aversion to dangerous food and preference for safe and nutritionally favourable food on the grounds of its experience with its ingestion. These mechanisms of behaviour towards food can be learned individually but an individual's behaviour is also influenced by other animals, especially in social animals. Whether an individual will act on its own experiences and therefore learn or if it will learn from others, depends on the situation and the environment in which the animal currently is. Key words: food neophobia, food preferences, social learning, individual learning, Rodentia, Rattus
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Evolution of brain size and encephalization in birds
Straková, Barbora ; Němec, Pavel (advisor) ; Landová, Eva (referee)
Vertebrates show dramatic interspecific variation in the size of their brains. Large and complex brains evolved independently in birds and mammals. Despite many fundamental differences in their anatomical organization, recent evidence indicates that extensive regions of the avian cerebrum are homologous to pallial components of the mammalian brain. Birds have brains that are comparable in their relative size to the brains of mammals, and much larger than the brains of non avian reptiles. However, the selection pressures that have driven evolution of avian brains remain poorly understood. Comparative analyses identified various traits such as body size, metabolic rate, maternal investment, parental care, prolonged development, mating system and migratory behaviour as important correlates of relative brain size. By contrast, there seems to be a little evidence that sociality favour the evolution of large brains in birds. It has also been shown that particular behaviours such as song learning or food-hoarding correlate with size of those brain regions that participate in these behaviours. Future studies should not only look for novel determinants of brain size but also include known correlates and utilize path analysis modelling to describe the direct, indirect and spurious dependencies among these...
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Mirror-induced behaviour in animals
Forštová, Tereza ; Exnerová, Alice (advisor) ; Landová, Eva (referee)
The topic of self-awareness and mirror self-recognition has been more discussed since 1970, when the new procedure named mark test showed the self-recognition in chimpanzees. Although the theory that mirror self-recognition provides evidence of self-awareness is generally accepted, it was showed in the recent studies that it is not necessarily always true, and that the transition between "having self-awareness" and "not having self-awareness" is gradual. There are more mirror tests dealing with mirror self-recognition in animals, such as mirror-mediated spatial location task. Almost all tested species passed well this kind of mirror tests and showed that there was a certain degree of mirror-image understanding. However not all of them show mirror induced self-recognition. There are several reasons of negative results of mark test such as improper methods and procedures applied to particular species, as well as individual differences, e.g. in social isolation and previous experience with mirror. Problems appear in comparative testing of species with different body morphology, e.g. cetaceans, birds, and fish which have forelimbs in form of wings and fins. They are not able to show the same behavioral responses as primates, for which the original mark test was developed. Applied methods should be always...
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Spatial orientation in reptiles focused on methods of testing of allothetic navigation
Voňavková, Monika ; Landová, Eva (advisor) ; Telenský, Petr (referee)
Recently are known several different navigational systems in reptiles, mainly large scale navigational abilities based on sun and magnetic compass. The turtles are frequently used species in studies of spatial cognition, however, informations about spatial cognitive abilities in snakes and lizards (order Squamata) are only a few. Current knowledge concerning mechanism of small scale navigation based on allothetic orientation in snakes and lizards is only poorly understood. Aim of this thesis is review the literature about the mechanisms of reptile spatial orientation focused on allothetic navigation (using of external landmarks). As extension of this thesis is review of the principles of testing allothetic orientation in other groups (e. g. mammals) that were frequently used as a subject for testing allothetic orientation). The design of tests of allothetic orientation in model species of lizards (Eublepharis macularius) is one of the results of this thesis. Keywords: reptiles, spatial orientation, allothetic navigation
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Ontogeny of personality or repeatability in behavioral and cognitive tests
Pšeničková, Eliška ; Landová, Eva (advisor) ; Sedláček, František (referee)
Individual stability is important for the development of personality, and above all two patterns of consistency - structural and differential. The main goal of this diploma thesis was to monitor changes in the repeatability of behavior over time (i.e., differential consistency) during ontogenesis and to compare the consistency of selected elements of behavior in behavioral tests and a selected cognitive test. Testing of a model species of squamate reptile, the common leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius), in standard behavioral tests and in a selected cognitive test across ontogenesis over three life stages (juvenile, subadult and adult phase) showed, after statistical examination, high estimates of repeatability and significant influence of ontogenetic phase. Behavioral consistency between juveniles and adults could increase or decrease for certain behaviors or remain consistent in only one phase of life. In the subadult period, the behavior was generally inconsistent, except for vocalization in the reactivity test, where it was demonstrated by high estimates of repeatability. The aim of testing in the selected cognitive test was to determine the non-cognitive component of variability, which could be explained by different personalities. Yet, cognitive styles associated with personality have not...
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Evolutionary consequences of species specific learning strategies:importance of processes resulting in food aversion and special case of social transmission.
Landová, Eva
This PhD. thesis contributes to the investigation of aposematism - the phenomenon explaining the occurrence of warning colouration in nature. Aposematism is an antipredatory strategy usually based on predator learning to avoid a noxious prey with a conspicuous signal. However, not only particular aspects of aposematic prey signalling (warning colour pattern, conspicuousness, unpalatability), but also predator's psychology leading to avoidance behaviour is an important factor for explaining the evolution of aposematism. The differential species-specific response of our common passerine birds to living aposematic prey (the firebug) and corresponding underlying variation in predator's ecology requirements has been the starting point of this PhD. thesis. The next parts of the present thesis have been focused mainly on the species responding positively (innate biases, learning, memory etc.) to the warning signal of aposematic prey. We investigate the diversity of psychological processes leading to avoidance behaviour in these species. Firstly, we investigate if the avoidance behaviour is acquired by learning or if the prey is avoided on the basis of innate biases in several species of the family Paridae. We focused on the mode of avoidance learning and the durability of the acquired behaviour in the...
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Interaction between hierarchy, personality traits and melanin-based colouration in pigeons (Columba livia domestica)
Vohralíková Houšková, Markéta ; Landová, Eva (advisor) ; Sedláček, František (referee)
An individual position in social hierarchy is the key mechanism, how an individual could gain a priority access to more quality food resources, find an attractive sexual partner to reproduce and find territory with low predation risk and maintain its fitness in total. Personality is supposed to be an important factor how an individuals keep their positions in social groups. The consistent individual variability in aggressive behaviour is closely related to the expression of melanin-based colouration and testosterone levels in blood. More explorative, aggressive, bolder and darker-coloured individuals are supposed to achieve higher dominance rank in social structures. But this prediction was barely tested. The main aims of this diploma thesis were: to find consistent individual variability in social and non-social context to confirm personality traits and to define connection between an individual variability in agonistic and explorative behaviour and melanin-based colouration in relation to social rank in experimental group of domestic pigeons (Columba liva f. domestica) under human care. Unfortunately, personality could not be defined and even more, there was no significant correlation between dominant position in social hierarchy and individual behavioural variability in social and non-social...
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