Emotions and Personality

True or False: Humans used to believe animals did not possess emotions

True

True or False: Animals do not possess emotions or personalities

False

Do most animals exhibit a personality?

Yes

What types of animals do not exhibit emotions?

Fish and reptiles

Based on observation, it is believed that emotions evolved…

Later in the animal kingom

The field of animal personality and emotions is currently…

Developing

What are emotions?

Subjective states that are experienced in response to internal or external stimuli

What does the term affective state describe?

How an animal feels

What is an affective state?

Longer-lasting emotions that are not based on stimuli but instead are based on prior experiences

Affective states can first be studied by looking at…

The emotions of humans

Why can we use human psychology and neuroscience to study the affective state of animals?

We share a common ancestor

Many animals have different behavioral responses based on their…

Physical anatomy and instincts

What does arousal mean in the context of animal emotions?

How intense the emotion is

What does valence describe?

How pleasant an emotion is

What are some examples of high-arousal, high-valence emotions?

Happiness, excitement, elation, and delight

What are some examples of high-arousal, low-valence emotion?

Anger, frustration, and tenseness

What are some examples of low-valence, low arousal emotions?

Sadness, depression, boredom, and exhaustion

What are some examples of low-arousal, high-valence emotions?

Relaxation, contentment, and calmness

What nervous systems do high-arousal and low-arousal emotions activate, respectively?

Autonomic, sympathetic

Some researchers argue emotions are not important unless they lead to…

Changes in behavior

What do cognitive bias tests measure?

How the attention, memory, or judgment of an animal can be changed by its affective state

What do novel seeking vs. novel adverse mean, respectively?

Optimistic, pessimistic

Why are cognitive bias tests often used and on what kinds of animals?

Assessing psychological welfare, typically on zoo and farm animals

What are the 3 phases of the Cognitive bias test?

Training, Testing, and Priming

Describe each phase of the cognitive bias test

1) The animal is trained with positive and negative cues, indicating an award

2) The animal is presented with ambiguous cues in between the positive and negative cues

3) Animal response to the ambiguous cue is measured

What is a personality?

A consistent and predictable reaction an animal has to stimuli

What is another name for a personality?

Behavioral syndrome

Some of the earliest research on animal personalities looked at the difference between…

Bold and shy animals

In what type of environment may it be beneficial for an animal to be bold in?

One with few predators

Why are multiple personalities needed in a population?

So that there are diverse responses to a changing environment

Early scientists hypothesized that animal personalities were the result of….

Changes in genetics and environmental experience and products of evolutionary processes

What animal has been observed to inherit aggression as a genetic trait?

Rhesus macaques (Maccaca mulatta)

What is the scientific name for zebrafish?

Danio rerio

What is the scientific name for Amazon mollies?

Poecilia formosa

Zebrafish and Amazon mollies are often studied in order to..

Parse apart the evolutionary benefit of different personalities

Study of the zebrafish genome shows that the genetic differences between bold and shy personalities effect…

The structure of the brain and the ability to learn

Why are Amazon mollies excellent models for studying how the environment affects personality?

They have the same genetic code as their mother

Critics of animal personality research believe that the field relies too much on…

Human psychology

Critics of the field of animal personality research believe that animal personality is just an extension of…

Behavioral plasticity

How do animal researchers examine personality today?

By using many different tests and examining one individual