A “How-To” Guide for Designing Judgment Bias Studies to Assess Captive Animal Welfare

Bethell, Emily

doi:10.1080/10888705.2015.1075833

Cited by 121 publications

(137 citation statements)

References 127 publications

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“…The females' responses are, therefore, consistent with those expected of animals with positive affect (Bethell, 2015). Males, in contrast, were as quick to approach the unrewarded location in the test as they were to approach either the rewarded or the ambiguous locations (also see Brydges et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…Cognitive biases may also provide information about affective state in nonhuman animals (Paul et al, 2005;Mendl et al, 2009). To quantify cognitive bias, animals are trained to discriminate between rewarded and unreward stimuli, and then tested with ambiguous stimuli that are intermediate in characteristic (Mendl et al, 2009;Bethell, 2015). Animals exposed to stressors or impoverished environments have been shown to respond more 'pessimistically' (i.e., with lower expectation of reward) than non-stressed conspecifics to the ambiguous stimuli, and the stressed animals are thus assumed to be exhibiting a negative affective state (e.g., Brydges et al, 2011;Rygula et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sex differences in performance on a cognitive bias task in Norway rats

Brown

Cullum

Martin

et al. 2016

Behavioural Processes

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Cognitive biases, which are defined as distortions in cognitive processes that are influenced by a background emotional state, can provide information about an individual's affective state. For instance, negative cognitive biases, where individuals assess ambiguous situations as unrewarding, are commonly found in humans suffering from anxiety disorders. Cognitive biases are also increasingly used as indicators of affective state in animals. As it is not clear whether female and male animals differ in performance on cognitive bias tasks, we used a spatial location task to examine cognitive bias in female and male adult Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). We trained the rats to distinguish between reward and unrewarded locations, and then provided food pots at ambiguous, intermediate positions. We found that, during testing, females were slowest to approach the unrewarded location, while they approached ambiguous and rewarded locations similarly quickly. In contrast, the males approached all locations quickly. This sex difference is consistent with previous evidence that male rats are quicker than females to extinguish previously learned associations. Cognitive bias tasks could therefore be used to examine sex differences in learning strategies, as well as providing opportunities to test predictions about sex differences in welfare requirements.Brown et al.Sex differences in cognitive bias 3

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex differences in performance on a cognitive bias task in Norway rats

Brown

Cullum

Martin

et al. 2016

Behavioural Processes

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“…It is still unknown at what age dogs develop a stable paw preference, however measuring the lateral and cognitive biases of such animals during their first year of life may help to establish whether paw preferences develop before or after cognitive bias. Care does need to be taken with this approach, however, since it is possible that training for cognitive bias may actually influence an animal's emotional state (see Bethell, 2015). Further work is certainly needed, ideally using larger numbers of subjects, to determine the causal mechanisms underlying preferred paw use in dogs and its complex relationship with other variables.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive bias and paw preference in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris).

Wells¹,

Hepper²,

Milligan³

et al. 2017

Journal of Comparative Psychology

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Limb use, an indicator of hemispheric functioning, may be a useful predictor of cognitive bias and hence vulnerability to welfare risk. The relationship between cognitive bias and motor asymmetry, however, has been subject to little investigation. This study explored the association between motor asymmetry and cognitive bias in the domestic dog, a species that displays lateral bias in the form of paw preferences and exhibits positive and negative affective states. Thirty pet dogs had their paw preferences assessed using the Kong ball test. The subjects' affective state was assessed using a cognitive bias test in which the animals' latency to approach a bowl placed in 1 of 3 ambiguous positions was recorded. Animals veering more toward a left-paw preference were found to be significantly slower to approach the bowl placed in 1 of the ambiguous positions than ambilateral or right-pawed dogs. Left-pawed subjects approached the bowl located at the 3 ambiguous positions at roughly the same speed, while ambilateral and right-pawed animals became increasingly slower to approach the bowl the further it was located from the baited food bowl. The study points to a possible relationship between cognitive bias and paw preference in the dog, with left-pawed animals being more negative or "pessimistic" in their cognitive outlook than right-pawed or ambilateral individuals. It is proposed that limb preference testing might offer a more practical and straightforward way of identifying individuals at risk from poor welfare by virtue of how they perceive the world than more time-consuming cognitive bias tests.

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“…A long-term dataset would also allow for sampling that may better maximize the independence of behavioural observations and allow researchers to disentangle abnormal behaviours that may be a result of reproductive experience from those that were present prior to the onset of reproductive maturity. It will also be imperative to broaden the scope of welfare measures (for example to include hormonal and psychological indicators; e.g., Bethell, 2015;Palme, 2012). Although we included several measures here, we were limited to the behavioural domain in this initial study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the relationship between welfare and rearing young in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Cronin

West

Ross

2016

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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a b s t r a c tWhether the opportunity to breed and rear young improves the welfare of captive animals is currently debated. However, there is very little empirical data available to evaluate this relationship and this study is a first attempt to contribute objective data to this debate. We utilized the existing variation in the reproductive experiences of sanctuary chimpanzees at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust in Zambia to investigate whether breeding and rearing young was associated with improved welfare for adult females (N = 43). We considered several behavioural welfare indicators, including rates of luxury behaviours and abnormal or stress-related behaviours under normal conditions and conditions inducing social stress. Furthermore, we investigated whether spending time with young was associated with good or poor welfare for adult females, regardless of their kin relationship. We used generalized linear mixed models and found no difference between adult females with and without dependent young on any welfare indices, nor did we find that time spent in proximity to unrelated young predicted welfare (all fullnull model comparisons likelihood ratio tests P > 0.05). However, we did find that coprophagy was more prevalent among mother-reared than non-mother-reared individuals, in line with recent work suggesting this behaviour may have a different etiology than other behaviours often considered to be abnormal. In sum, the findings from this initial study lend support to the hypothesis that the opportunity to breed and rear young does not provide a welfare benefit for chimpanzees in captivity. We hope this investigation provides a valuable starting point for empirical study into the welfare implications of managed breeding.

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A “How-To” Guide for Designing Judgment Bias Studies to Assess Captive Animal Welfare

Cited by 121 publications

References 127 publications

Sex differences in performance on a cognitive bias task in Norway rats

Sex differences in performance on a cognitive bias task in Norway rats

Cognitive bias and paw preference in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris).

Investigating the relationship between welfare and rearing young in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

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