http://cogprints.org/5272/
Chickens prefer beautiful humans
We trained chickens to react to an average human female face but not to an average male face (or vice-versa). In a subsequent test, the animals showed preferences for faces consistent with human sexual preferences (obtained from university students). This suggests that human preferences arise from general properties of nervous systems, rather than from face-specific adaptations. We discuss this result in the light of current debate on the meaning of sexual signals, and suggest further tests of existing hypotheses about the origin of sexual preferences.
Ghirlanda, Stefano
Jansson, Liselotte
Enquist, Magnus
Ethology
Animal Cognition
Philosophy of Mind
Evolutionary Psychology
Animal Behavior
Stefano
Ghirlanda
Liselotte
Jansson
Magnus
Enquist