Visual lateralization and development of spatial and social spacing behaviour of chicks ('Gallus gallus domesticus')

Title
Visual lateralization and development of spatial and social spacing behaviour of chicks ('Gallus gallus domesticus')
Publication Date
2009
Author(s)
Wichman, A
Rogers, Lesley
Freire, Raf
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Place of publication
Netherlands
DOI
10.1016/j.beproc.2008.12.006
UNE publication id
une:5267
Abstract
We investigated whether the development of spatial behaviour of the domestic chicken is influenced by light exposure of the embryo, as is known to be the case for some other lateralized visual functions. Ninety-six chicks were incubated in the d ark or exposed to light d tiring the final days of incubation. Half of the chicks in each group had the experience of moving behind opaque screens from 10 to 12 days of age. The other half were given transparent screens as a control. Chicks were tested in a detour test and a rotated floor test and their dispersal in groups was observed in larger pens. In the rotated floor test, chicks that had had experience with opaque screens used distal cues significantly more often than chicks that had experience with transparent screens (P = 0,042), regardless of whether they had been exposed to light before hatching or incubated in the dark. There were no significant differences between treatments in the detour test or in the dispersal behaviour. Hence, visual lateratization has no influence on the development of the spatial behaviour that we tested, whereas the occlusion experience is quite specific and results in shifted attention to distal spatial cues.
Link
Citation
Behavioural Processes, 81(1), p. 14-19
ISSN
1872-8308
0376-6357
Start page
14
End page
19

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