Effects of blue- and red-enriched light on attention and sleep in typically developing adolescents
Differential effects of blue- and red-enriched light on attention and sleep have been primarily described in adults. In our cross-over study in typically developing adolescents (11–17 years old), we found attention enhancing effects of blue- compared to red-enriched light in the morning (high intensity of ca. 1000 lx, short duration: <1 h) in two of three attention tasks: […]
Preference for Heights of Feeding Troughs in Mares: A Pilot Study
Preferences for the height of feeding troughs of seven mares were evaluated and, as awareness of surroundings when feeding is adaptive for horses, the relationship between preference responses and attention behaviours was also assessed. First, feeding troughs at four heights (0, 25, 50, and 75 cm) were provided for 16 days, and the amount of […]
Cognitive bias as an indicator of animal emotion and welfare: Emerging evidence and underlying mechanisms
Accurate assessment of animal emotion (affect) is an important goal in animal welfare science, and in areas such as neuroscience and psychopharmacology. Direct measures of conscious emotion are not available, so assessment of animal affect has relied onmeasures of the behavioural and physiological components of affective states. These are important indicators but have some limitations […]
Visual attention and its relation to knowledge states in chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes
Primates rely on visual attention to gather knowledge about their environment. The ability to recognize such knowledge-acquisition activity in another may demonstrate one aspect of Theory of Mind. Using a series of experiments in which chimpanzees were presented with a choice between an experimenter whose visual attention was available and another whose vision was occluded, […]
The scientific validity of subjective concepts in models of animal welfare
This paper takes a closer look at the subjectivity/objectivity relationship, as it plays a role in the science of animal welfare. It argues that subjective, experiential states in animals such as well-being and suffering are, contrary to what is often assumed, open to empirical observation and scientific assessment. The presumably purely private, inaccessible nature of […]
Attention, noise, and implications for wildlife conservation and management
Anthropogenic stimuli are often viewed as disturbances that directly interfere with signal processing or communication, or directly harm animals. However, such sounds may also distract individuals and thus potentially interfere with their ability to make biologically important decisions about food selection, mate selection, and predator detection. This is because all of these decisions require animals […]
Attention to emotional scenes including whole-body expressions in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Real-life situations provide rich sets of cues that viewers evaluate in terms of their emotional significance. In this study, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) viewed a movie depicting naturalistic scenes involving the whole-body expressions of conspecifics to examine how nonhuman primates perceived the combination of these cues and how each cue contributed to the overall perception. Viewing […]
Measuring emotional processes in animals: the utility of a cognitive approach
Contemporary researchers regard emotional states as multifaceted, comprising physiological, behavioural, cognitive and subjective components. Subjective, conscious experience of emotion can be inferred from linguistic report in humans, but is inaccessible to direct measurement in non-human animals. However, measurement of other components of emotion is possible, and a variety of methods exist for monitoring emotional processes […]
Attention to combined attention in New World monkeys (Cebus apella, Saimiri sciureus)
Co-orientation by capuchin (Cebus apella) and squirrel (Saimiri sciureus) monkeys in response to familiar humans abruptly switching the direction of their visual attention was recorded. Co-orientation occurred more frequently overall in capuchins than squirrel monkeys. Capuchins showed a tendency to habituate within trials involving consecutive attention switches performed by 2 different people, whereas squirrel monkeys […]
There are no known differences in brain mechanisms of consciousness between humans and other mammals
Recent scientific findings indicate that consciousness is a fundamental biological adaptation. The known brain correlates of consciousness appear to be ancient phylogenetically, going back at least to early mammals. In all mammals alertness and sensory consciousness are required for the goal-directed behaviors that make species survival and reproduction possible. In all mammals the anatomy, physiology, […]