Inter-species social learning in cattle?

The area of social learning/social transmission of information is within cattle an under-researched area. The aim of this study is to investigate if cattle are able to utilise inter-species information (learn from observing humans), in a task developed and tested in horses. The task will be instrumental i.e. opening a box/container to obtain a food reward. The human will demonstrate the task and half of the cows will see this while the other half will not. The study will be carried out on a dairy farm and hence include dairy cows. The study will be done either indoor or outdoor depending on season and the farm restrictions. Each cow will be tested separately, and hence long working hours to prepare each cow can be expected.