Human-Animal
Interactions
Human-Animal Interactions
What is the field of Human-Animal Interactions?
The interdisciplinary master's program primarily takes into account the scientific research questions of the following disciplines: animal husbandry, animal welfare, behavioral and cognitive biology, comparative medicine, ethics, neurosciences, philosophy, psychology and philosophy of science. Through this study program I was trained to describe, examine, analyze and explain human-animal relationships on a scientific basis, ethically reflected and in different academic and social contexts.
„Quantity Discrimination in Kea (Nestor notabilis)“
In the course of my master's thesis, I investigated the ability of New Zealand mountain parrots (kea) to discriminate different sized numbers under three different conditions. In the first part it was shown that the greater the difference in the number of elements, measured both in absolute and relative terms, the more successful the kea were. In the second part of the first experiment, it was shown that the greater the difference in the number of elements, the more successful the kea were, but only measured relatively. It was also shown that the "real life" stimuli were chosen with higher success compared to the depicted stimuli. In Experiment II, it was shown that the kea were also correct above chance level in higher combinations than in the first experiment. This lets kea stand out in their ability to discriminate quantities compared to other species.