Independent Study Update
Classical conditioning is not the only type of learning. Another method I would like to experiment with is operant conditioning.
For the past few weeks of my study, I have been testing the abilities of the sheep to learn through a classical conditioning method. I started off with sheep as my first group of animals to focus on because they have a false stigma of being labeled as "dumb." This perception of sheep may have developed due to their strong flocking instinct. Sheep evolved this instinct to increase their chance of survival and help protect them from predators, basically, safety in numbers.
Classical conditioning is not the only type of learning. Another method I would like to experiment with is operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is a type of learning where behavior is controlled by consequences. The key concept in operant conditioning is positive reinforcement.
While researching animal intelligence I came across a study on sheep intelligence by Jenny Morton, a neuroscientist from the University of Cambridge. Sheep intelligence was being studied in hope that they may be a useful animal model for Huntington's Disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that leads to dementia and affects muscle control. Sheep were especially considered because their brains are not only larger than rodents, but they also have the complex folds that are seen in primate brains. In addition, their brains also have basal ganglia similar to humans. The basal ganglia, along with the cerebral cortex, are responsible for important functions such as decision-making, learning and habit formation. Huntington's disease greatly effects those two areas of the brain.
Professor Morton put a flock of 7 Welsh Mountain Sheep through a test where she used a yellow and blue colored bucket to see how long it would take the animals to learn to find food in the same colored bucket each time. To her surprise, the sheep learned this in about the same time it took for monkeys to figure out the test, approximately 7 tries. When she swapped the food into different colored buckets, the sheep then adapted again in the same amount of time it took the monkeys and rodents to.
I plan on replicating this study with the sheep on the farm. I will present the sheep with 2 different colored buckets, one orange and one white. Both white and orange fall into sheep's visional range. The orange bucket will contain food and the white one will not. Both buckets will be presented to the sheep at the same time. Eventually the sheep will realize which one of the buckets contain the food. Once the sheep learn the task, with food still in the orange bucket, I will then switch the positions of the buckets and see which one they go over to first. I will do this for as many times it takes for them to learn to go straight to the orange bucket with the food.
Picture: Welsh Mountain Sheep; Breed of sheep Professor Morton used in her study.
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