Facial recognition has been show in the behaviour of many species. Cows (Bostaurus) of the breed Prim Holstein were studied to measure this trait. Cows were shown two pictures, one of a member of their own social group and one of an unfamiliar cow of the same breed. They were rewarded with food when they walked towards the unfamiliar cow’s picture. The cows were first trained, using the same pictures of a familiar cow and an unfamiliar cow. Then, in ‘generalisation’ tests, experimental subjects were shown different angles of familiar cows’ faces and unfamiliar cows’ faces (examples are shown below). The number of sessions required for cows to reliably choose the correct picture was recorded. The * sign indicates a statistically significant difference.
What conclusion can be drawn from the data?
Facial recognition has been show in the behaviour of many species. Cows (Bostaurus) of the breed Prim Holstein were studied to measure this trait. Cows were shown two pictures, one of a member of their own social group and one of an unfamiliar cow of the same breed. They were rewarded with food when they walked towards the unfamiliar cow’s picture. The cows were first trained, using the same pictures of a familiar cow and an unfamiliar cow. Then, in ‘generalisation’ tests, experimental subjects were shown different angles of familiar cows’ faces and unfamiliar cows’ faces (examples are shown below). The number of sessions required for cows to reliably choose the correct picture was recorded. The * sign indicates a statistically significant difference.
What conclusion can be drawn from the data?
The correct option is B Cows show recognition of familiar individuals
According to the given data, the training cows show less number of session to recognise familiar individual. This shows that cows show recognition of familiar individuals.
According to the given data, the training cows show less number of session to recognise familiar individual. This shows that cows show recognition of familiar individuals.
