Visual Stimulation and Memory:
Relationship in Chickens

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Heather Adams, Kevin Alexander and Kristin Orf.
Dr. Mark Campbell, Faculty Mentor, 1999.

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The link between visual stimulation and memory in children has been frequently researched. The link between visual stimulation and memory in farm animals has not and has become the focus of our study. We exposed two groups of chickens to different black and white pictures affixed to identical water vessels. We hypothesized that the chickens would continue to favor the water vessel with the picture they were initially exposed to, after the groups were combined and placed in an area with both water vessels. If correct, this behavior may be helpful when wanting to treat only certain chickens with medication, feed rations, or other substances without having to separate the groups.