Effects of reward type and previous social experience on cognitive testing outcomes of weaned dairy calves.

Animal cognitive and behavioral testing often requires a reward to motivate task acquisition, yet reward perception may depend on reward type and previous experience. We first assessed the effects of reward types on initial discrimination and reversal learning ability in weaned dairy calves, with calves tested in a T-maze containing either a food, social, or exit reward. During the initial stage, success rate was greater for calves provided the social vs.