Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Human-animal communication'

This study sought to understand the culture-sharing group of people working within the shelter area of a Pacific Northwest animal shelter through the Ethnography of Communication. About 63% of households in the United States live with a companion animal (Risley-Curtis et al., 2006). Recently, there has been a shift toward closer examination into the ways in which humans interact with animals, particularly companion animals. The guiding questions of this study were: RQ1: What are the cultural communication forms performed in the context of the humane society? RQ2: How do shelter workers communicate about companion animals? RQ3: What cultural meanings are instantiated through communication in this context? This qualitative research approach included 40 hours of participant observation, individual interviews and an analysis of a set of documents and artifacts. Utilizing the Ethnography of Communication components, thematic and pattern analysis, findings revealed use of three main communication forms within the shelter: verbal, written and nonverbal communication and the overarching key theme of relational bonding occurring within an animal-centric organization among 4 relational categories: A. Shelter animals and shelter animals, B. Shelter animals and shelter workers, C. Shelter workers and shelter workers and D. Shelter workers and the public. Processes leading to relational bonding are delineated including detailed speech as well as aspects of "broken bonds" and euthanasia and it's effects within a "no-kill" organization.

Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties with social communication and prosocial behaviors. Due to a lack of social communication and social interaction skills among children with ASD, special education teachers are tasked with providing meaningful social opportunities to them to facilitate their learning of these skills. Special education literature lacks research studies about how dog-based animal-assisted interventions (AAI) can improve social communication outcomes for children in a school setting. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study, guided by Bowlby's theory of attachment and the human-animal bond concept, was to explore, describe, and improve the understanding of how elementary teachers use dog-based AAI programs in their classrooms to facilitate social communication skill development for students with ASD. Data were collected through individual interviews of 10 elementary teachers and child-study team members who used AAI programs within their buildings. Data were openly coded using thematic analysis. Key findings of the study revealed that a therapy dog could act as a stimulus for social interactions as well as facilitate students' social interaction participation. The results also indicated the importance of the teacher's role in implementing AAI programs that target social communication skills. This study may contribute to the field of special education practice by promoting the implementation of more AAI programs in educational settings, not just for students with ASD, but also potentially for the whole school community.

Health communication has become recently an essential and powerful tool for public health. Its role has been largely recognized in human medicine, but it has been less considered in veterinary medicine even if this latter field is not less decisive for the human health. The One Health concept unified the two medicines recognizing that human health is inextricably connected to animal health and environment. Within this framework, we design this study to investigate the relationship between health communication and One Health. Particularly, we focused on the role of communication in veterinary medicine and how it has the potential to improve human health. Veterinary medicine competences include a broad spectrum of aspects, which can’t be covered in a single study. Moreover, we were interested in investigate if communication has a role also in the veterinary areas traditionally considered less linked to public health. Therefore, this study was focused on clinical communication, both in companion and in food-producing animals practice. This study confirmed the outcomes from previous surveys and showed the importance of communication in veterinary medicine in improving human health. Communication in veterinary medicine is not less important for human health, and is not different from what is usually considered health communication. Indeed, both of them cover the same issue (zoonoses, food safety etc.) and use the same strategies. Therefore, a “One Communication” approach appear to be the most helpful tool in improving human health in the One World-One Health-One Medicine.

Ce travail de thèse se présente comme une enquête sur les modalités de l’agir-ensemble interspécifique. L’idée qui a présidé à sa mise en œuvre repose sur la volonté d’élargir les questionnements classiques en sociologie de l’action (comment décrire le vivre-ensemble, quelle forme prend l’ordre social) et en linguistique (comment communique-t-on intelligiblement) à un objet sortant de leurs préoccupations traditionnelles : les interactions sociales entre hommes et chiens. Pour cela, nous analysons des données recueillies lors d’interactions ordinaires et quotidiennes entre chiots en éducation et éducateurs canins, ou entre chiens-guides d’aveugles et personnes non-voyantes.Il s’agit d’un travail empirique de recherche sur les ressources utilisées par hommes et chiens pour agir ensemble et communiquer. Pour cela, nous montrons que les actions communes dans lesquelles ils s’engagent sont réalisées de manière ordonnée, et sont séquentiellement organisées – de sorte qu’elles sont descriptibles avec une certaine systématicité. Cette systématicité, qui exhibe le caractère ordonné des interactions, est traitée comme l’indice d’une forme de socialité qui s’incarne dans l’ajustement mutuel. De ce point de vue, cette thèse se présente également comme un travail théorique sur les formes de la socialité interspécifique. De manière incidente, elle se veut en outre le lieu d’une réflexion épistémologique sur la prise en charge par les sciences humaines et la linguistique d’un objet par tradition réservé aux sciences dites naturelles
« Non human » is an analytical category that has now entered the realm of sociology. The fact that domestic animals might be agents, and relevant interactants has been evoked and investigated in the most recent literature. The originality of our study does not lie in these arguments. It takes them for granted, and analyzes with systematicity some of the resources used by dogs and their human co-interactants (be they educators or visually impaired persons) to communicate with intelligibility, and make each other’s actions mutually accountable. The study is structured by a leading question: what kind of sociality is at stake between dogs and humans ?The dissertation is divided into two introductory theoretical chapters, and three analytical parts. The first chapter establishes the state of the art, as far as human/animal interaction is concerned. After briefly commenting on the Animal Studies and its opposition to the so-called cartesian position, it ends by introducing the ethnomethodological program as a relevant approach to shed a new light on my object. The second chapter offers an epistemological reflection on the analytical ‘naturalist’ framework worth adopting in order to investigate dog-human sociality. It gives an occasion to discuss the transcription format usually used in CA as an adequate frame to shed light on the sequentiality of actions, as well as on conditional relevance. The three next chapters are grounded on these reflections and are more strictly empirical and analytical. Chapter 3 describes the resources used by dogs and humans to interact with intelligibility and to share perceptive knowledge. It analyzes procedures of shared attention, and mutual orientation (for instance, by mutually orienting toward a relevant object for the ongoing action). Chapter 4 goes further into the analysis of participants’ procedural competencies, and observes the systematicity of sequential formats. Chapter 5 is grounded on these analyses and addresses a “topos” as far as human-animal interaction is concerned: issues of cognition. Drawing on the EM program, it proposes a praxeological approach to cognition that does not focus on dog’s capacities or skills but on the way ordinary practices of practical reasoning are accomplished.The PhD dissertation offers an empirical work on human-animal modalities of living and acting together. It aims at showing that mutual actions participants engage in are orderly accomplished and sequentially organized – and therefore descriptible with systematicity.This systematicity, by exhibiting the orderly character of interactions, is treated as a cue of a form of sociality, embodied in mutual adjustment. In this regard, this thesis offers also some theoretical thoughts on forms of interspecific sociality.At the same time, and more incidentally, it develops epistemological considerations about the reflexive relationships between social sciences, linguistics, and natural sciences in the treatment of this “hybrid” objet

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina Veterinária
A comunicação é imprescindível na prática clínica veterinária e é uma das capacidades mais utilizadas no dia-a-dia de um veterinário. A importância de uma boa comunicação veterinário – dono surge pelo aumento da expectativa por parte do cliente no cuidado e no tratamento do seu animal. A ligação homem – animal resulta em benefícios no bem-estar emocional, social, psicológico e físico de quem possui um animal. Este facto é cada vez mais reconhecido, sendo uma das causas do aumento da população que cria uma ligação afectiva com o seu animal de companhia. Neste trabalho, a elaboração de um inquérito distribuído à população de donos de animais presente em dois estabelecimentos veterinários permitiu concluir que muitos dos portugueses consideram o seu animal de companhia como um membro da família. Regras que podem ajudar a melhorar a comunicação, assim como a relação veterinário - dono, são descritas ao longo desta dissertação. A capacidade de comunicar pode e deve ser aprendida por todos os profissionais, pois a sua utilização é benéfica para a sua relação com o cliente, assim como para a saúde e bem-estar do próprio animal. Sendo o veterinário confrontado, diariamente, com situações que requerem uma boa comunicação com o cliente, este trabalho procura também demonstrar a aplicação das regras de comunicação em várias situações vividas por médicos veterinários de uma clínica de pequenos animais. Os dilemas éticos, a eutanásia e a comunicação com determinados estratos da população, como por exemplo as crianças, foram os exemplos apresentados.
ABSTRACT - COMMUNICATION IN SMALL ANIMAL VETERINARY PRACTICE - Communication is inevitable in small animal practice, being one of the most common skills employed in a day of a veterinarian. With increasing expectations of pet owners for the highest quality medical care for their companion animals as well as compassionate care comes the need to apply an effective communication between the veterinarian and his client. The human – animal bond has several emotional, social and psychological benefits to the owners, as well as medical benefits. These benefits may be one of the reasons for the increasing number of people who build an extremely strong bond with their pets. During this study, a questionnaire was distributed among pet owners who attended two veterinary facilities. From the results we can conclude that the majority of the respondents consider their pet as a family member. Several ways of how to improve communication skills as well as the veterinarian – owner relationship, are described in this study. Learning how to communicate effectively is something that all the professionals can and, in some cases, should do in order to improve the relationship with their clients and the health and welfare of the animal itself. A veterinarian is daily confronted with situations that require the use of his ability to communicate. In order to demonstrate how these professionals can apply the rules of communication, three cases with reference to those situations are described in this thesis. Furthermore, ethical dilemma, euthanasia, and communication with children are the issues discussed in those three cases.

It is generally accepted that comparative studies on animal communication can provide insights into the coevolution of social life, vocal communication, cognitive capacities and notably the emergence of some human language features. Recent studies suggested that non-human primates possess combinatorial abilities that may allow a diversification of vocal repertoires or a richer communication in spite of limited articulatory capacities. However, the functions of combined calls and the information that receivers can extract remain poorly understood. This thesis investigated call combination systems in two species of guenons: Campbell's monkey (Cercopithecus Campbelli) and Diana monkey (Cercopithecus Diana). Firstly, I studied the combinatorial structure and relevance to receivers of combined calls in of both species using playback experiments. Results confirmed the presence of a suffixation mechanism reducing the emergency of danger signaled by calls of male Campbell's monkeys. Also, they showed that combined calls of females Diana monkeys convey linearly information via their two units, which signal respectively caller's emotional state and identity. Secondly, focusing on the context associated with the emission of simple and combined female Campbell's monkey calls, results revealed flexible use of combination reflecting the immediate need to remain cryptic (i.e. simple calls) or to signal caller's identity (i.e. combined calls). Finally, I compared females' communication systems of both species to identify their similarities and differences. As predicted by their close phylogenetic relatedness, their repertoires are mostly based on homologous structures. However, the females differ strongly in their use of those structures. In particular, the great number of calls combined by Diana monkeys increases considerably their vocal repertoire compared to Campbell's monkeys. Given that the combinations are non-random, meaningful to receivers and used flexibly with the context, I propose a parallel with a rudimentary form of semantic morphosyntax and discuss more generally the possible existence of similar capacities in other non-human animals.

La relation homme-animal se construit à partir des interactions entre chacun des partenaires qui se transmettent des informations via les signaux sensoriels. Mieux comprendre l’effet de ces interactions passe par la détermination de la sensibilité des animaux aux signaux émis par l’homme. Les interactions vocales entre l’homme et le porc domestique ont été peu étudiées, alors que ce canal est utilisé par l’homme dans les pratiques d’élevage.La thèse a donc cherché à déterminer (1) la sensibilité des porcelets aux variations du signal vocal, (2) les effets de son utilisation dans la mise en place de la relation homme-animal et (3) son utilisation dans la communication référentielle avec l’animal. Les réponses des porcs ont été évaluées (1) dans des tests de discrimination de stimuli vocaux, (2) lors de la mise en place de la relation et de tests de réponse à la présence humaine et (3) lors de tests de choix en présence de signaux humains.Les porcelets se sont révélés sensibles à la voix féminine neutre, sans montrer d’attirance particulière pour cette voix. Néanmoins, une voix féminine aigüe et parlant lentement les a attirés physiquement. Associée à la présence répétée de l’homme, la voix féminine aigüe et lente est associée par l’animal à une valence positive. Les résultats suggèrent que la voix pourrait être impliquée dans la reconnaissance de l’homme par les animaux. Enfin, il est possible d’apprendre aux animaux à utiliser les propriétés référentielles de la voix, mais uniquement lorsqu’elle est combinée à des signaux visuels (pointage du doigt statique et dynamiq
The human-animal relationship is based on the exchange of information via sensorial signals between both partners. Identifying the sensitivity of animals to human signals would help understanding the effect of these interactions. Although auditory interactions are common in breeding practices, vocal interactions between humans and pigs were poorly studied.This thesis studied (1) the sensitivity of piglets to vocal signal variations, (2) the effect of their use during the development of the humPiglets were sensitive to a neutral feminine voice, without showing a specific attraction for it. Nevertheless, a high-pitched feminine voice, slowly speaking attracted them physically. Combined with a repeated human presence, the high-pitched-slow-feminine voice was associated to a positive valence by piglets. Piglets could use the voice to recognize humans, as suggested by our results. Eventually, animals can learn to use the referential property of the voice but only when it is combined to visual referential signals (dynamic and static pointing gestures). Our results offer promising opportunities for the use of human voice while working with animals

Fantasy creatures are an essential part of many games, but while there are several studies focusing on body language and how expressive gaming companions may enhance the player’s experience, creatures and animals are rarely the focal points. Personality is closely related to believability, which is what most game developers work towards hence believability may improve the gaming experience. The purpose of this paper was to explore how the personality of a fantasy creature would be perceived by the observer when using different animal motion references. A 3D-model was created and animated in three different styles using motion references from a cat and lizard. A survey with Likert-scales was then formed with the intention to evaluate the animations. The participants in the survey were assigned one of the three animations to rate statements regarding personality and believability. Rather than a certain type of animal being associated with a certain type of personality, the result suggests that it was mainly certain motion cues and postures that affected the participants’ ratings. The study was deemed to be insufficient for a reliable result. In the discussion part, there are ideas on how the study could be improved with the aim of continuing the research to gain a clearer insight into the subject of personality and creatures.

Negative reinforcement can be a powerful tool for behavior analysts, yet it is often overlooked as a treatment method. Pryor (1999) outlines a method for approaching a "timid" animal using a combination of negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement. When the animal stands still, the human operates a clicker, and then retreats from the animal. Gradually, the human moves closer to the animal through the clicking and retreating shaping process. Once the human is standing close enough, food may be offered as a positive reinforcer, and the negative reinforcer is canceled out. The purpose of this study was to experimentally demonstrate the click-retreat technique with cows. A multiple-baseline design across subjects was used to test this technique. Results show that the click and retreat technique was effective. Results are discussed in terms of the difference between the click-retreat technique and systematic desensitization.

I en skola för alla finns olika behov och elever med olika förmågor. Trots att det finns två skolformer i Sverige för att möta allas behov, så behövs det ibland extrainsatser för att specialläraren ska nå fram. Det finns verksamheter där människorna som arbetar där, har djur som samarbetspartner och där djuren fungerar som ett pedagogiskt stöd i kommunikationen mellan djur och människa. Genom detta självständiga arbete avses att vetenskapligt undersöka vad det är som sker i kommunikationen människa – djur som kan berika livsvärlden för människor, framförallt människor som reagerar på kravfyllda situationer. I studien undersöks, med hjälp av ett försök till en fenomenologisk ansats och semistrukturerade intervjuer, hur arbetet med människor i behov av särskilt stöd upplevs enligt de som i olika verksamheter arbetar med djur som samarbetspartner. Studien avser att studera de upplevelser som de som arbetar i dessa verksamheter har. Dessa upplevelser undersöktes tillsammans med vad forskare bidragit med redan på detta område i forskarvärlden. Resultatet visar att både hästar och hundar kan fungera som stöd vid läs och skrivundervisning. Djuren minskar stress för människan genom beröring. Slutsatsen är att djur har positiv effekt som pedagogiskt stöd, särskilt för personer som den traditionella skolmiljön inte fungerat som lärmiljö för. I kommunikationen mellan människa och djur uppstår en osynlig, ordlös kommunikation som är kravlös och skapar trygghet. Andra effekter är stärkt självkänsla och att naturupplevelser tillsammans med djuren hjälper människan tillbaka till sin sanna, ursprungliga natur i ett digitaliserat, stressande samhälle.
In a school there is different needs and students with different abilities. Even if there is two school forms in Sweden to meet the needs of everybody, sometimes extra measures is needed for the special needs teacher to get across. There are facilities where people who work there, have animals as co-workers and where the animals act as a pedagogical support in the communication between animal and human. The purpose of this degree project is to scientifically examine what is happening in the communication people and animal that can enrich the lifeworld for the people, especially people who react on situations filled with demands. In the study, it is examined, with an attempt to a phenomenological approach and the help of semi-structured interviews, how the work with people in need of special support.appears according to the people working in various facilities with animals as co-workers. The purpose of the study is to highlight those effects that those who work in these facilities have experienced. These experiences were examined together with what researchers have contributed with already in this field in the world of research. The result shows that both horses and dogs can be of help with the literacy teaching. Animals lower the stress level for humans through touch. The conclusion is that animals have a positive effect as a pedagogical support, especially for people that the traditional school environment didn´t work out as a lerning environment for. In the communication between people and animal an invisible, non-verbal communication emerge, that is undemanding and brings security. Other effects is strengthened self-confidence and that nature experiences together with the animals helps the human back to her true, primordial nature in a digitalized, stressful society.Sökord/

All humans have language. This capacity is a complex biological trait whose evolu- tion is currently an active research topic, especially in recent years. This thesis is an attempt at contributing to this enterprise in two ways, from different angles. The first one is a critical assessment of a prominent theory of language evolution, whereby the “core properties of language” can be reduced to a single computational operation, for- mally irreducible, which evolved suddenly as a result of a single genetic mutation. The second one is an exploration of vocal learning, a trait present in many species which in the case of humans is part of the language capacity as the functional provider of speech. Chapter 2 identifies a fallacious line of argument associated with the aforemen- tioned theory of language evolution, i.e. that from the formal simplicity of an opera- tion — in the case of this particular hypothesis, the Merge operation — one can derive the evolutionary steps it took for it to emerge. This argument is named here the “no nalf-Merge” fallacy. After a summary of independent reasons to doubt this hypothesis for how language evolved, it is shown why the argument is biologically untenable in the first place. This chapter lends support to the idea that language evolved gradually. The greater part of this thesis (chapters 3 and 4) focuses on vocal learning. Vo- cal learning, the capacity to modify auditory output on the basis of experience, is displayed by several species, across different families. In humans, it is crucial for speech. This thesis looks at vocal learning in two ways, by first offering an extension to the Vocal Learning Continuum, an influential framework, and secondly by using genomic information in the human lineage to suggest that vocal learning could have been present in at least some of our ancestors, narrowing the gap between them and modern humans regarding language components. The Vocal Learning Continuum helped move past the dichotomic view according to which species are either vocal learners or non vocal learners, proposing instead a typology with a more nuanced, gradual distribution of this phenotype. However, several issues remain, namely the reliance on a particular brain connection for estab- lishing a vocal learning circuit (forebrain control of phonatory muscles), as well as the primacy given to imitation, which is but one example of vocal learning and not iii iv the whole behavioral spectrum of this phenotype. In chapter 3. after identifying and assessing these limitations, by pointing out conceptual and empirical problems, an extension to the framework is offered, called the Vocal Learning Contiguum, which eschews reliance on particular brain circuits and behaviors, favoring a broader per- spective and welcoming more factors as sources of variation across species. Chapter 4 explores a link between the SRGAP2 gene and the emergence of vocal learning in the Homo lineage. SRGAP2C, a duplication of this gene found in Nean- derthals and Denisovans and also in Modern Humans (but no other extant mammals), inhibits SRGAP2A, the ancestral version of the gene, which modulates axon guidance associated with the SLIT-ROBO molecular pathway. A connection is drawn between the downregulatory effect on axon guidance and the formation of a cortico-laryngeal connection associated with the human vocal learning circuit. The thesis is complemented by a series of appendices that delve in more detail into some conceptual issues surrounding the field of language evolution, namely those coming from linguistics.
Tots els humans tenen llenguatge. Aquesta capacitat és un tret biològic complex, l’evolució del qual és actualment un tema de recerca molt actiu, especialment en els darrers anys. Aquesta tesi és un intent de contribuir en aquesta línia de recerca de dues maneres. La primera és una apreciació crítica d’una teoria prominent d’evolució del llenguatge, segons la qual les “propietats nuclears del llenguatge” es poden reduïr a una sola operació computacional, formalment irreductible, la qual va evolucionar de sobte com a resultat d’una sola mutació genètica. La segona és una exploració del aprenentatge vocal, un tret que forma part de la capacitat del llenguatge com a proveïdor funcional de la parla. El capítol 2 identifica una línia argumental fal·losa associada amb la teoria susdita d’evolució del llenguatge, i.e. que des de la simplicitat formal d’una operació — en el cas d’aquesta hipòtesi, la operació Fusió — es poden derivar els passos evolutius necesaris per al seu sorgiment. Aquest argument s’anomena en aquest capítol “no nalf-Merge fallacy”. Després d’exposar raons independents per dubtar d’aquesta hipòtesi de la evolució del llenguatge, es mostra per què l’argument és biològicament insostenible. Aquest capítol dona suport a la idea de que el llenguatge va evolucionar gradualment. La part preponderant d’aquesta tesi (capítols 3 i 4) es centra en l'aprenentatge vocal: la capacitat de modificar l’output auditiu en base a l’experiència. L’aprenentatge vocal està present en diverses espècies, de diferents famílies taxonòmiques. En humans, és crucial per a la capacitat de la parla. Aquesta tesi analitza aquest tema de dues maneres. En primer lloc s’ofereix una extensió d’un marc influent, el Contínuum de l’Aprenentatge Vocal. En segon lloc s’utilitza informació genòmica del llinatge humà per suggerir que l’aprenentatge vocal podria haver estat present en com a mínim alguns dels nostres ancestres, reduint el buit entre aquests i els humans moderns pel que fa a components del llenguatge. El Contínuum de l’Aprenentatge Vocal va ajudar a superar la visió dicotòmica segons la qual les espècies són “aprenedors vocals” o no ho són, proposant en el seu lloc una tipologia amb una distribució més matisada i gradual d’aquest fenotip. Tanmateix, queden certs aspectes per resoldre. Un d’ells és la dependència en una connexioó cerebral particular per establir un circuit de aprenentatge vocal (control prosencèfalic dels músculs fonatoris). Un altre és la primacia donada a l’imitació, la qual, tot i ser un exemple de aprenentatge vocal, no representa la totalitat de l’espectre comporamenmtal d’aquest fenotip. En el capítol 3, després d’identificar i valorar aquestes limitacions, assenyalant problemes conceptuals i empírics, s’ofereix una extensió a aquest marc. Aquesta extensió rep aquí el nom de Contíguum de l’Aprenentatge Vocal. Aquest abordatge evita la centralitat d’un circuit cerebral o comportament particulars, afavorint una perspectiva més ampla i donant la benvinguda a més factors com a fonts de variació entre espècies. El capítol 4 explora un nexe entre el gen SRGAP2 i el sorgiment de l’aprenentatge vocal en el llinatge Homo. SRGAP2C, una duplicació d’aquest gen, present tant en neandertals i denissovans com en humans moderns (però no en altres mamífers existents), inhibeix la versió ancestral del gen (SRGAP2A), la qual modula el guiatge axonal associat amb la ruta molecular SLIT-ROBO. Com a resultat d’aquesta exploració , es proposa una associació entre l’efecte de regulació negativa en el guiatge axonal i la formació d’una connexió cortico-laríngia vinculada al circuit humà d’aprenentatge vocal. La tesi es complementa amb una sèrie d’apèndixs que s’enfoquen amb més detall en algunes qüestions conceptuals que envolten el camp de l’evolució del llenguatge, principalment aquelles que provenen del àmbit de la lingüística.

Dolphins use stereotyped, individually distinctive, frequency modulated whistles, referred to as signature whistles, in order to broadcast their identity. In this study, we trained six dolphins at Kolmården Zoo, Sweden, to be called over, either upon hearing their own signature whistle (SW) or upon hearing a biologically irrelevant ”trivial” sound (TS), with the aim to prove the Whistle caller concept. The Whistle caller concept is based on the fact that dolphins occasionally use other dolphins’ signature whistles in order to address specific group members and convene.  Our hypotheses were that (1) dolphins call-over trained using their SW would learn the behaviour faster than dolphins trained using TSs, and (2) dolphins trained with their SW would be able to discriminate between different SWs better than dolphins trained with a TS would be at discriminating between different TSs.  Three out of three dolphins were successfully call-over trained using their SW, and two out of three dolphins using their assigned TS. When discriminating between different sounds, two of the dolphins trained using their SW performed significantly better than one of the dolphins trained using a TS. However, there were large intra-group differences in the results, indicating that we cannot eliminate the possibility that these results stem from individual differences in these dolphins’ ability to learn new behaviours overall, rather than an understanding of the sounds they heard. We suggest that future studies focus on (1) male-female differences in discrimination success when applying the Whistle caller concept, (2) how the characteristics of the trivial sounds affect discrimination success, and (3) the option of calling more than one animal at a time by sending out several SWs in succession.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006.
Advisor: J. Anthony Stallins, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Dept. of Geography. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 7, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 284 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

This study explores principles of motion based communication in animal and human group behavior. It develops models of cooperative control that involve communication through actions aimed at a shared objective. Moreover, it aims at understanding the collective motion in multi-agent models towards a desired objective which requires interaction with the environment. In conducting a formal study of these problems, first we investigate the leader-follower interaction in a dance performance. Here, the prototype model is salsa. Salsa is of interest because it is a structured interaction between a leader (usually a male dancer) and a follower (usually a female dancer). Success in a salsa performance depends on how effectively the dance partners communicate with each other using hand, arm and body motion. We construct a mathematical framework in terms of a Dance Motion Description Language (DMDL). This provides a way to specify control protocols for dance moves and to represent every performance as sequences of letters and corresponding motion signals. An enhanced form of salsa (intermediate level) is discussed in which the constraints on the motion transitions are described by simple rules suggested by topological knot theory. It is shown that the proficiency hierarchy in dance is effectively captured by proposed complexity metrics. In order to investigate the group behavior of animals that are reacting to environmental features, we have analyzed a large data set derived from 3-d video recordings of groups of Myotis velifer emerging from a cave. A detailed statistical analysis of large numbers of trajectories indicates that within certain bounds of animal diversity, there appear to be common characteristics of the animals' reactions to features in a clearly defined flight corridor near the mouth of the cave. A set of vision-based motion control primitives is proposed and shown to be effective in synthesizing bat-like flight paths near groups of obstacles. A comparison of synthesized paths and actual bat motions culled from our data set suggests that motions are not based purely on reactions to environmental features. Spatial memory and reactions to the movement of other bats may also play a role. It is argued that most bats employ a hybrid navigation strategy that combines reactions to nearby obstacles and other visual features with some combination of spatial memory and reactions to the motions of other bats.

In this study, the intersections between Equine Assisted Psychotherapeutic interventions and adolescence are explored. Equine Assisted therapeutic work has recently gained much popularity in the field of psychology, due to many reported benefits, which include the value of the use of the horse as a tool in psychotherapy. Adolescence is acknowledged to be a difficult transitional phase, punctuated with many challenges, such as identity development. As this study is conducted by a trainee psychotherapist and researcher, the work also contains a reflexive exploration of these fields, with personal reflections regarding the researcher‟s own experience in the fields. This study is framed as a transtheoretical bricolage, which includes elements of reflexivity, heuristics, transpersonal, and phenomenological research approaches. Data was gathered from individual interviews with co-researchers, focus group interviews, personal reflections, and inclusion of non-verbal information from the horses who formed part of this study. Data analysis was done by means of a Thematic Data Analysis. The research findings reflect themes on different levels, which are: content themes, process themes, meta-reflections on the research process, and a meta-analysis of the research and individual developmental process which took place in the production of this work
Psychology
M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

In this study, the intersections between Equine Assisted Psychotherapeutic interventions and adolescence are explored. Equine Assisted therapeutic work has recently gained much popularity in the field of psychology, due to many reported benefits, which include the value of the use of the horse as a tool in psychotherapy. Adolescence is acknowledged to be a difficult transitional phase, punctuated with many challenges, such as identity development. As this study is conducted by a trainee psychotherapist and researcher, the work also contains a reflexive exploration of these fields, with personal reflections regarding the researcher‟s own experience in the fields. This study is framed as a transtheoretical bricolage, which includes elements of reflexivity, heuristics, transpersonal, and phenomenological research approaches. Data was gathered from individual interviews with co-researchers, focus group interviews, personal reflections, and inclusion of non-verbal information from the horses who formed part of this study. Data analysis was done by means of a Thematic Data Analysis. The research findings reflect themes on different levels, which are: content themes, process themes, meta-reflections on the research process, and a meta-analysis of the research and individual developmental process which took place in the production of this work
Psychology
M. A. (Clinical Psychology)

This dissertation employs a case study research design and reviews literature from the field of animal assisted therapy (AAT) with an emphasis on equine facilitated psychotherapy (EFP), as a possible therapeutic alternative for treating inappropriate aggressive behaviour in a young boy. The research suggests that Horse Whispering can indeed be regarded as a viable therapeutic technique when intent on breaking the aggressive behaviour cycle.
Educational Studies
M.Ed.

Text in English
Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) is a form of Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) used to treat individuals’ psychological problems. EAP is an interactive process in which a licensed mental health practitioner, a credentialed equine professional and suitable equines work together to address psychotherapy goals. Since the 1990s, research on EAP has grown rapidly in the United States of America (USA) and Europe, however research in the South African context is lacking. This descriptive and exploratory research study explored and described the experiences of licensed mental health practitioners and/or credentialed equine specialists who have included EAP within their practise by focusing on the role that equines play within the psychotherapeutic process. The knowledge of this study was derived from a Constructivistic epistemology. Constructivism argues that humans attain and build knowledge and meaning from their experiences. Participants were selected based on purposeful criterion sampling. Only licensed mental health practitioners or credentialed equine specialists who included EAP within their practise, registered at the Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy Institute of South Africa (EAPISA) or the Equine-Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) were considered for participation. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with six participants. A post-interview follow-up email was used to gain additional feedback from each participant. Finally, data was analysed using thematic analysis. As EAP is a fairly new modality of therapy within South Africa, the contribution of this study is to add to the growing body of professional EAP literature. Thematic analysis identified seven main themes: shifting dynamics in the therapeutic relationship, setting the scene for storytelling, the equine as an intermediary and therapeutic tool, what the equine sees is what you get, instantaneous but lasting results, variations and similarities in approach and activities, the emotive motives of EAP practitioners. These themes are discussed in relation to the research findings. Findings of this study showed substantial agreement in what the equine brings to the psychotherapeutic session: unique equine attributes, opportunities for metaphorical learning, and relational aspects. The participants demonstrated a consensus in the belief that EAP can be beneficial to a large spectrum of psychotherapeutic populations in South Africa. A recommendation for future research is for larger, international studies that explore the viewpoints of psychotherapists who practice equine therapies in other countries in order to expand the knowledge base and address the competency and standards discussion in the EAP field.
Psychology
M.A. (Psychology)

Service provision in veterinary oncology in Ontario was examined using a mixed methods approach. First, an interview-based qualitative study explored the service expectations of oncology clients at a tertiary referral centre. Next, a survey-based quantitative study established an understanding of oncology service in primary care practice and investigated the treatment recommendations of practitioners for dogs diagnosed with cancer. The first study, which involved 30 individual and dyadic interviews, identified “uncertainty” (attributable to the unpredictable nature of cancer and its treatment) as an overarching psychological feature of clients’ experience. Consequently, “the communication of information” (both content and process) was the foremost service expectation. For clients, it enabled confidence in the service, the ability to make informed patient care decisions, and preparedness for the potential outcomes of those decisions; it also contributed to creating a humanistic environment, which enhanced client resiliency. Findings suggest that services can support client efforts to manage uncertainty through strategic design and delivery of service, and incorporate intentional communication strategies to support clients’ psychological fortitude in managing the cancer journey. The second study, a vignette-based survey of primary care practitioners across Ontario (N=1071) which investigated veterinarian decision-making in relation to oncology care, determined that 56% of practitioners recommended referral as their first choice of intervention, while 28% recommended palliative care, 13% in-clinic treatment, and 3% euthanasia. Recommendations were associated with patient, client and veterinarian factors. Specifically, referral and treatment were recommended for younger dogs, healthier dogs, and dogs with lymphoma versus osteosarcoma; for strongly bonded clients, and financially secure clients; and by veterinarians who graduated from a North American college, had experience with treating cancer, felt confident in the referral centre, and believed treatment was worthwhile, with variation in relation to practitioner gender and the type of medicine practiced. The human-animal bond appeared to be the primary factor associated with practitioners’ advocacy for quality of medical care for patients. Through a blend of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, this thesis contributes to the evidence upon which best practices may be built so as to enhance the quality of patient and client care in veterinary oncology.
Ontario Veterinary College Pet Trust Fund 049406 and 049854