Lec 10 - Cognition, Behaviour and Positive Emotions
Definitions
What is Cognition?
An individual is deemed cognitive if it can:
Acquire information
Process information
Store information
Manipulate information
Decide whether to act on this information
Involves memory processing, sensory processing, associative learning (Boissy et al., 2007).
Sentience and Cognition
A sentient animal is defined by its abilities to:
Evaluate actions of others in relation to itself and third parties.
Remember some of its actions and understand their consequences.
Assess risk.
Experience feelings and possess a degree of awareness.
Measuring Cognitive Abilities in Animals
Challenges in Measurement
Assessing cognitive abilities of animals is complex because they cannot communicate verbally.
Cognitive abilities can be gauged through:
Ability to learn tasks
Problem-solving abilities
Species comparisons can be challenging due to:
Different physical abilities
Sensory dominance
Evolutionary needs
Differences in attention focus.
Dimensions of Cognitive Processes
Humans and animals process three basic dimensions of cognition:
Time: Tracking time passage.
Space: Navigation through environments.
Number: Estimating occurrences of events or stimuli.
Cognitive testing might involve observation of natural behaviors or experiments.
It is an evolving area of research with various tests helping to understand environmental evaluations.
Links may exist between brain size, cognitive complexity, feeding innovation, and learning.
Spatial Cognition
Almost all animal species demonstrated spatial competence (Roberts, 2014).
Animals must know their locations of:
Home
Conspecifics (other individuals of the same species)
Food and water sources
Potential predators
Knowledge of prior locations often relies on spatial memory.
Case Study: Goats' Cognitive Abilities
Goats as a Subject in Problem-Solving
Research indicates goats can learn from humans in spatial problem-solving tasks (Nawroth et al., 2016).
Take-home messages include:
Domestication impacts animal cognition and behavior.
Social learning allows individuals to gain information from conspecifics or different species without incurring costs of individual learning (like predation risk).
Goats are capable of enhancing spatial task performance through demonstrations by humans.
Learning and Memory in Goats
A study on goats showed:
Improved task completion speed upon later trials compared to initial training (Briefer et al., 2014).
Domestication does not diminish physical cognitive abilities.
Cognitive drive in goats relates to foraging efficiency.
The Relationship Between Cognition and Emotion
There is a known bidirectional causal relationship:
Cognition can stimulate emotional states.
Emotions can influence cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and judgment.
This relationship alters perception and interpretation of surroundings.
Understanding animal emotions is crucial for assessing their welfare.
Historical Context of Studying Emotions in Animals
Key Developments
1872 - Charles Darwin publishes "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals", analyzing discrete emotions.
20th century onwards - Significant increases in studies surrounding animal feelings, leading to the consensus that animals experience pain and suffering.
What Are Emotions?
Emotions are characterized as:
Intense yet short-lived responses to specific events.
Naturally adaptive, facilitating the avoidance of harm and pursuit of rewards.
Contributing to the development of lasting affective states.
Studying Animal Emotions
Controversies in the Field
Animal emotion studies often face skepticism regarding anthropomorphism (attributing human traits to animals).
Clarity of definitions is crucial due to complex emotional experiences.
Investigating emotions in non-verbal subjects poses unique methodological challenges.
Dimensional Approach to Emotions
Incorporates the core affect concept, aiming to understand subjective emotional experiences.
Subjective emotional experiences correlate with measurable neural, behavioral, physiological, and cognitive changes.
Emotional Dimensions
Two core dimensions:
Valence: Emotional experiences can be positive or negative, linked to rewards or punishments.
Arousal: Varies between high and low states of activation.
Emotional responses may differ based on stimuli introduction or removal, as discussed in Mendl et al. (2010).
Indicators of Emotion in Animals
Cognitive Indicators
Emotional experiences are identified through:
Cognitive signs like increased attention towards stimuli.
Neurophysiological changes like alterations in brain activity or heart rate.
Behavioral changes, including vocalizations or facial expressions.
Studies involve examining cognitive appraisal processes that influence emotional responses (Paul et al., 2005).
Cognitive Bias Tasks
Assess emotional states through responses to ambiguous stimuli:
Attention bias: Changes in attention toward ambiguous cues.
Judgment bias: Optimistic or pessimistic interpretations based on environmental contexts.
Attention Bias
Attention bias refers to alterations in attention due to ambiguous cues, indicating possible affective changes in response to cognitive processing. (Example: Variability in focus based on emotional state).
Judgment Bias
Judgment bias indicates how optimistic or pessimistic animals assess ambiguous cues:
Animals in stressful environments may judge cues pessimistically.
Animals provided with enriching environments tend to judge cues more optimistically.
Experimental Evidence
In a study involving feed-restricted sheep, notable behaviors with objects were documented, indicating emotional responses linked to resource availability.
Behavioral Methods
Conditioning and learned responses indicate emotional reactions via stimulus reinforcement.
Various tests (novel object/open field tests, startle tests, preference tests) provide insight on animal emotional states, aiding welfare determination.
Physiological Indicators of Emotion
Indicators may include:
Changes in HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) function or sympathetic/autonomic responses.
Physiological stress measures indicating emotional states, often monitored via:
Heart rate (beats per minute)
Heart rate variability (inter-beat intervals)
Respiration rates
Hormonal indicators (cortisol, oxytocin).
Behavioral Indicators of Emotion
Assessment involves identifying behaviors reflecting emotional states, such as:
Facial expressions, eye white exposure, body language
Ear, neck, tail postures, locomotor activity, and vocal expressions.
Reliable indicators must be consistent across varying contexts.
Facial Expressions and Emotions in Rats
Research suggests facial indicators reflect emotional states (Melotti et al., 2016).
Studied rats in diverse contexts (e.g., tickling vs. stressful environments) showed measurable responses correlating with positive or negative contexts.
Vocal Indicators of Emotion
Across mammalian species, vocal indicators of arousal tend to be conserved, while valence indicators may vary.
Vocalizations change with stressor exposure, reflecting emotional states.
Interactions Between Species
Research shows that goats can discern between positive and negative emotional expressions in humans, preferring to engage with positive emotional facial expressions than negative ones (Nawroth et al., 2018).
Body Language in Dairy Cattle
Study on dairy cows (de Oliveira & Keeling, 2018) examined how body language correlated with activities:
Different ear, neck, and tail positions observed during various tasks, indicating emotional states linked to activities.
Positive Emotions and Animal Welfare
Understanding Welfare Implications
An animal's welfare relates to its current emotional state.
Positive emotions indicate good welfare; negative emotions suggest poor welfare.
Short-term emotional states can contribute to long-term moods (Mendl et al., 2010).
Defining Good Welfare
Traditionally measured by the absence of negative experiences; however:
Good welfare is increasingly linked to the presence of positive experiences, including feelings of vitality, companionship, contentment, curiosity, anticipation, and play.
Role of Play and Anticipatory Behavior
Play Behavior:
Associated with positive emotional experiences, facilitating resilience to stressors.
Anticipatory Behavior:
Represents preparatory actions typical of arousal linked to goal-directed activities, correlating with emotional engagement.
Research Implications
Investigations emphasize the intersection of cognitive abilities and emotional states for advancing animal welfare assessments.
Recognizing the necessity of addressing both mental and physical health for improving welfare conditions.