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Shetland ponies (Equus caballus) show quantity discrimination in a matching-to-sample design

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Abstract

Numerical competence is one of the aspects of animal cognition with a long history of research interest, but few results are available for the horse. In the present study, we investigated the ability of three Shetland ponies to discriminate between different quantities of geometric symbols presented on a computer screen in a matching-to-sample arrangement. In Experiment 1, the ponies had to relate two similar quantities to another, paired in contrasts (1 vs. 2, 3 vs. 4 and 4 vs. 5) of the same stimulus (dot). Specific pairs of quantities (all differing by one) of up to five different geometrical symbols were displayed in Experiment 2. In each session, both quantities (more and less) were used as sample in such a way that each of the two quantities presented in one test served as positive and as negative stimulus, respectively. The three Shetland ponies were able to discriminate between the given quantities of dots by showing more than 80 % correct responses in two consecutive sessions. Only one of the ponies distinguished different shapes of geometric symbols at a level of 4 versus 5 items. The results show that all ponies were capable of visual quantity discrimination in the present matching-to-sample design, but task solving seemed more difficult when quantities were composed of heterogeneous stimuli. The present results confirm our hypothesis that the ponies based their decision on the matching concept of sameness and were not biased by a spontaneous preference for higher quantities.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jürgen Dörl for technical support and Dr. Alexander Riek for the assistance with preparing this article.

Ethical standards

The research conducted in this study was performed in accordance with the current laws regulating animal welfare and experiments with animals in Germany. Ponies arrived at the Department’s stables half a year (2009) before the first experiments commenced and stayed there until today. They were kept in the stables for five months during winter and on pasture during summer. Water was available ad libitum, both in the stables and on pasture.

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  1. Department of Animal Sciences, Ecology of Livestock Production, University of Göttingen, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 3, 37075, Göttingen, Germany

    Vivian Gabor & Martina Gerken

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  1. Vivian Gabor
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  2. Martina Gerken
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Correspondence to Vivian Gabor.

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Gabor, V., Gerken, M. Shetland ponies (Equus caballus) show quantity discrimination in a matching-to-sample design. Anim Cogn 17, 1233–1243 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-014-0753-0

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