Numerical abilities have been observed in many species and they are closely related to the socialisation of animals, such as when they form groups, engage in cooperative hunting, or establish hierarchies. Newborn domestic chicks ( Gallus gallus ) are a highly social species and display various numerical abilities. In different experiments, chicks have shown skills such as quantity discrimination, and ordinal competence. Furthermore, their precocial nature makes them an excellent choice to understand how early social interactions affect numerical cognition. This thesis aimed to explore the impact of early rearing conditions—being raised alone or in pairs—on the numerical abilities of chicks by examining their performance on the ordinal task. Specifically, it examines whether early social conditions affect the ordinal abilities of chicks. Forty newly hatched male chicks were divided into two groups based on their rearing conditions after birth: socially reared (in pairs) and isolated (alone). After going through a standardised learning procedure, their performance on an ordinal task (sagittal test) was assessed. The task required the chicks to identify a target (the 4th element) based on its ordinal position in a series of identical objects. The hypothesis was that chicks raised in pairs would select the target element more often, indicating that early social interactions improve their numerical abilities. Statistical analysis, including descriptive statistics, one-sample t-tests, independent t-tests, and paired samples t-tests revealed no significant variation in the performance between the two groups. These findings suggest that early social interactions may not impact the numerical abilities of the chicks. Nonetheless, there are several limitations to consider, including the experimental design, the measurement of learning level, and environmental controls, which can suggest potential directions for future research.
Numerical abilities have been observed in many species and they are closely related to the socialisation of animals, such as when they form groups, engage in cooperative hunting, or establish hierarchies. Newborn domestic chicks ( Gallus gallus ) are a highly social species and display various numerical abilities. In different experiments, chicks have shown skills such as quantity discrimination, and ordinal competence. Furthermore, their precocial nature makes them an excellent choice to understand how early social interactions affect numerical cognition. This thesis aimed to explore the impact of early rearing conditions—being raised alone or in pairs—on the numerical abilities of chicks by examining their performance on the ordinal task. Specifically, it examines whether early social conditions affect the ordinal abilities of chicks. Forty newly hatched male chicks were divided into two groups based on their rearing conditions after birth: socially reared (in pairs) and isolated (alone). After going through a standardised learning procedure, their performance on an ordinal task (sagittal test) was assessed. The task required the chicks to identify a target (the 4th element) based on its ordinal position in a series of identical objects. The hypothesis was that chicks raised in pairs would select the target element more often, indicating that early social interactions improve their numerical abilities. Statistical analysis, including descriptive statistics, one-sample t-tests, independent t-tests, and paired samples t-tests revealed no significant variation in the performance between the two groups. These findings suggest that early social interactions may not impact the numerical abilities of the chicks. Nonetheless, there are several limitations to consider, including the experimental design, the measurement of learning level, and environmental controls, which can suggest potential directions for future research.
The Impact of Early Social Interactions on Numerical Abilities in Domestic Chicks ( Gallus gallus )
KARADUMAN, DOGA
2023/2024
Abstract
Numerical abilities have been observed in many species and they are closely related to the socialisation of animals, such as when they form groups, engage in cooperative hunting, or establish hierarchies. Newborn domestic chicks ( Gallus gallus ) are a highly social species and display various numerical abilities. In different experiments, chicks have shown skills such as quantity discrimination, and ordinal competence. Furthermore, their precocial nature makes them an excellent choice to understand how early social interactions affect numerical cognition. This thesis aimed to explore the impact of early rearing conditions—being raised alone or in pairs—on the numerical abilities of chicks by examining their performance on the ordinal task. Specifically, it examines whether early social conditions affect the ordinal abilities of chicks. Forty newly hatched male chicks were divided into two groups based on their rearing conditions after birth: socially reared (in pairs) and isolated (alone). After going through a standardised learning procedure, their performance on an ordinal task (sagittal test) was assessed. The task required the chicks to identify a target (the 4th element) based on its ordinal position in a series of identical objects. The hypothesis was that chicks raised in pairs would select the target element more often, indicating that early social interactions improve their numerical abilities. Statistical analysis, including descriptive statistics, one-sample t-tests, independent t-tests, and paired samples t-tests revealed no significant variation in the performance between the two groups. These findings suggest that early social interactions may not impact the numerical abilities of the chicks. Nonetheless, there are several limitations to consider, including the experimental design, the measurement of learning level, and environmental controls, which can suggest potential directions for future research.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12608/81100