Do zoo visitors induce attentional bias effects in primates completing cognitive tasks?
While previous research has focused on the impact of visitors on zoo-housed animals’ behavior, here, we evaluated the impact of visitors on the performance of four zoo-housed Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in a cognitive task. The macaques completed a touchscreen-based match-to-sample task in glass-sided booths at the perimeter of their enclosure, adjacent to a visitor […]
Assessing the potential impact of zoo visitors on the welfare and cognitive performance of Japanese macaques
The influence of visitors on zoo-housed primate behavior and welfare is relatively well-studied but less is known about the possible impact of zoo visitor presence on primates’ cognition. The Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) at Lincoln Park Zoo, USA, participate in voluntary cognitive research sessions in two touchscreen testing booths adjacent to their home enclosure, which […]
Emotion Evaluation and Response Slowing in a Non-Human Primate: New Directions for Cognitive Bias Measures of Animal Emotion?
The cognitive bias model of animal welfare assessment is informed by studies with humans demonstrating that the interaction between emotion and cognition can be detected using laboratory tasks. A limitation of cognitive bias tasks is the amount of training required by animals prior to testing. A potential solution is to use biologically relevant stimuli that […]