Asking Animals: An Introduction to Animal Behaviour Testing
Contemporary, thought-provoking yet utterly practical, this book provides an introductory text covering the use and misuse of behaviour tests applied to animals. By including illustrative examples from a variety of species, the book inspires the animal scientist to think about what a given behavioural test can be used for and how the results can be […]
Preparing for Life After Birth: Introducing the Concepts of Intrauterine and Extrauterine Sensory Entrainment in Mammalian Young
Presented is an updated understanding of the development of sensory systems in the offspring of a wide range of terrestrial mammals, the prenatal exposure of those systems to salient stimuli, and the mechanisms by which that exposure can embed particular sensory capabilities that prepare newborns to respond appropriately to similar stimuli they may encounter after […]
Perception of the ethical acceptability of live prey feeding to aquatic species kept in captivity
Previous research into public perceptions of live prey feeding has been focused on terrestrial animals. The reasons for this likely relate to the difficulty humans have in being compassionate to animals who are phylogenetically distantly related. In order to test these assumptions, the general public (two groups; one who had just visited an aquarium; and […]
Does environmental enrichment affect the behaviour of fish commonly used in laboratory work?
Housing conditions can have significant effects on the behaviour and physiology of captive animals. Enriching barren environments, for example by providing structural complexity or companionship, are generally considered beneficial as they can decrease the occurrence of abnormal behaviours and physiology and as such, it is argued that enrichment helps to improve welfare for captive animals […]
The implications of cognitive processes for animal welfare
In general, codes that have been designed to safeguard the welfare of animals emphasize the importance of providing an environment that will ensure good health and a normal physiological and physical state, that is, they emphasize the animals’ physical needs. If mental needs are mentioned, they are always relegated to secondary importance. The argument is […]
Costs of acquiring and forgetting information affect spatial memory and its susceptibility to interference
Acquiring and storing information in memory is constrained by the limited capacity of attentional and short-term memory systems. Therefore, processes that prioritize information for storage in memory according to its survival value to the organism are likely to have evolved. Information incurring energy or time costs to acquire, or if forgotten, should be stored and […]
Pain experience in hermit crabs?
Pain may be inferred when the responses to a noxious stimulus are not reflexive but are traded off against other motivational requirements, the experience is remembered and the situation is avoided in the future. To investigate whether decapods feel pain we gave hermit crabs, Pagurus bernhardus, small electric shocks within their shells. Only crabs given […]
Gender differences, responsiveness and memory of a potentially painful event in hermit crabs
Nonreflexive responses to a noxious event and prolonged memory are key criteria of a pain experience. In a previous study, hermit crabs, Pagurus bernhardus, that received a small electric shock within their shell often temporarily evacuated the shell and some groomed their abdomen and/or moved away from their vital resource. Most, however, returned to the […]
Positive interactions lead to lasting positive memories in horses, Equus caballus
Social relationships are important in social species. These relationships, based on repeated interactions, define each partner’s expectations during the following encounters. The creation of a relationship implies high social cognitive abilities which require that each partner is able to associate the positive or negative content of an interaction with a specific partner and to recall […]
Cognitive testing of pigs (Sus scrofa) in translational biobehavioral research
Within neuroscience and biobehavioral research, the pig (Sus scrofus) is increasingly being acknowledged as a valuable large animal species. Compared to the rodent brain, the pig brain more closely resembles the human brain in terms of both anatomy and biochemistry, which associates the pig with a higher translational value. Several brain disorders have been fully […]