Individual differences in habituation: Innate covariation between habituation, exploration, and body size in naïve chicks (Gallus gallus)

Abstract

Habituation to novel stimuli has been associated with behavioural differences among individuals in numerous animal species. Because the habituation mechanisms depend on previous experiences with a stimulus, one would expect individuals to develop their habituation capacity based on the life experiences that also shape their behavioural traits. And indeed, in adult lizards, exploratory behaviour and body size correlates with habituation. However, here we show that the same factors correlate with habituation of domestic chicks reared under controlled laboratory conditions and tested in the first 3 days after hatching. This result indicates that the covariation between habituation, exploration, and body size does not necessarily depend on experience. Rather, it represents an innate association between exploratory behaviour and risk assessment, which may provide an immediate survival advantage to new-borns of this precocial avian species.

Keywords: Behavioural plasticity; Body condition; Learning; Risk-assessment; Shy-bold continuum.