scholarly journals Computational animal welfare: towards cognitive architecture models of animal sentience, emotion and wellbeing

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 201886
Author(s):  
Sergey Budaev ◽  
Tore S. Kristiansen ◽  
Jarl Giske ◽  
Sigrunn Eliassen
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Formal Framework ◽  
Internal States ◽  
Animal Welfare Science ◽  
Definition Of

To understand animal wellbeing, we need to consider subjective phenomena and sentience. This is challenging, since these properties are private and cannot be observed directly. Certain motivations, emotions and related internal states can be inferred in animals through experiments that involve choice, learning, generalization and decision-making. Yet, even though there is significant progress in elucidating the neurobiology of human consciousness, animal consciousness is still a mystery. We propose that computational animal welfare science emerges at the intersection of animal behaviour, welfare and computational cognition. By using ideas from cognitive science, we develop a functional and generic definition of subjective phenomena as any process or state of the organism that exists from the first-person perspective and cannot be isolated from the animal subject. We then outline a general cognitive architecture to model simple forms of subjective processes and sentience. This includes evolutionary adaptation which contains top-down attention modulation, predictive processing and subjective simulation by re-entrant (recursive) computations. Thereafter, we show how this approach uses major characteristics of the subjective experience: elementary self-awareness, global workspace and qualia with unity and continuity. This provides a formal framework for process-based modelling of animal needs, subjective states, sentience and wellbeing.

scholarly journals Redefining human-animal relationships: an evaluation of methods to allow their empirical measurement in zoos

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Patel ◽  
K Whitehouse-Tedd ◽  
SJ Ward
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Content Quality ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Voluntary Approach ◽  
Literature Searches ◽  
Animal Welfare Science ◽  
Welfare Implications ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Potential Methods ◽  
Definition Of

Scientific studies of human-animal interactions (HAIs) and how these develop into human-animal relationships (HARs) now represent some of the most significant contributions to animal welfare science. However, due to the current definition of HAR, studies have only been able to measure HAIs and infer its impact on HARs and animal welfare. Here, we redefine HARs as a series of repeated HAIs between two individuals known to each other, the nature of which is influenced by their historical HAIs and where consideration to the content, quality and the pattern of the interactions is also vital. With a new definition, it is now feasible to empirically measure HARs, however, first, it is important to evaluate current methods utilised in animal industries to allow standardisation across HAR research in zoos. Here, we review the current methods that have been used to assess HAIs in animals and determine their overall suitability for measuring HARs and their use in a zoo environment. Literature searches were conducted using the search terms 'human-animal' AND 'interaction', 'human-animal' AND 'relationship', 'human-animal' AND 'bond'. Subsequently, 'zoo', 'companion', 'agriculture', 'laboratory' and 'wild' were added to each combination yielding five potential methods to evaluate. These methods were assessed according to a panel of indicators including reliability, robustness, practical application and feasibility for use in a zoo environment. Results indicated that the methods utilising 'latency', 'qualitative behaviour assessment' and the 'voluntary approach test' were potentially viable to assess HARs in a zoo environment and could subsequently contribute to the assessment of welfare implications of these HARs for the animals involved. These methods now require empirical testing and comparisons within a zoo environment.

Knowledge and opinions of veterinary students in Italy toward animal welfare science and law

2017 ◽  
Vol 180 (9) ◽  
pp. 225-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Magnani ◽  
N. Ferri ◽  
A. Dalmau ◽  
S. Messori
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Educational Strategies ◽  
Veterinary Students ◽  
Professional Interest ◽  
Animal Welfare Science ◽  
Level Of Knowledge ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
University Training ◽  
High Degree

Animal welfare (AW) is a growing concern worldwide and veterinary students are expected to demonstrate a high degree of professional interest in the welfare of animals. However, previous studies have highlighted gaps in the teaching of AW teaching in different countries, possibly impairing veterinary competency in the area. This survey aimed to assess the opinions of Italian veterinary students towards AW, as well as their knowledge on the issue. Questions were divided into different sections, investigating the definition of, and information on, AW, knowledge about AW legislation, and the level of tolerance towards AW in regard to the use of animals for different purposes. Results showed that behaviour was the most frequently used word to define AW. Italian students considered their own level of knowledge on AW as good, relying on their university training, websites and television. They requested more AW legislation, but when questioned on specifics of the current legislation, there was a general lack of knowledge. Although poultry, pigs and rabbits were considered the species experiencing the worst management conditions, the species that raised the most AW concerns were companion animals and cattle. Results from this investigation may allow the development of tailored actions aimed at appropriately implementing educational strategies, at national and international levels, to improve the role of future veterinarians as leaders in AW.

scholarly journals Overall animal welfare reviewed. Part 3: welfare assessment based on needs and supported by expert opinion

1999 ◽  
pp. 307-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.B.M. Bracke ◽  
B.M. Spruijt ◽  
J.H.M. Metz
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Expert Opinion ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Need Satisfaction ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Definition Of

Welfare concerns that matter to animals is their state of need. Satisfaction and frustration of needs are associated with emotional states, the subjective experience of which directly determines the welfare status of an animal. Because emotional states are difficult to assess, overall welfare assessment (OWA) is best approached as an assessment of needs. For actual OWA, a list of needs must be formulated. Different authors have formulated different lists. From these lists a concept need-list was constructed. For validation the needs-based approach for OWA was discussed in interviews with experts (n=21) in the field of ethology and other welfare related sciences. These experts generally used mental terminology to define welfare, but when asked to classify their definition of welfare, many preferred a definition in terms of measurable parameters or a combination of both mental terms (feelings) and measurables. Most experts believed that welfare can be assessed objectively and that the problem of OWA is indeed best approached through an assessment of needs. Experts differ as to the exact composition of the list of needs. A list of needs is formulated which we intend to use for OWA in the case of sows.

scholarly journals New materialism and postmodern subject models fail to explain human memory and self-awareness: A comment on Tobias-Renstrøm and Køppe (2020)

2020 ◽  
pp. 095935432097375
Author(s):  
Radek Trnka
Keyword(s):  
Human Subject ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Human Memory ◽  
New Materialism ◽  
First Person ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
External Observer ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives

Tobias-Renstrøm and Køppe (2020) show the several conceptual limits that new materialism and postmodern subject models have for psychological theory and research. The present study continues this discussion and argues that the applicability of the ideas of quantum-inspired new materialism depends on the theoretical perspectives that we consider for analysis: be it the first-person perspective referring to the subjective experience of a human subject, or the third-person perspective, in which a human subject is observed by an external observer. While the arguments of new materialism are in accordance with the analysis of the act of observation performed by an external observer, some problems arise when trying to theoretically approach the first-person subjective experience of a human subject. For example, new materialism fails to explain why human minds can maintain the awareness of a subject’s identity throughout their lives and to recall the memories about their past personal experiences.

Death by Decapitation: A Case Study of the Scientific Definition of Animal Welfare

1997 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence G. Carbone
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Laboratory Rodents ◽  
The Social ◽  
Animal Welfare Science ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Animal Care

AbstractAssessments of animal experience and consciousness are embedded in all issues of animal welfare policy, and the field of animal welfare science has been developed to make these evaluations. In light of modern studies of the social construction of scientific knowledge, it is surprising how little attention has been paid to date on how crucial evaluations about animals are made. In this paper, I begin to fill that gap by presenting a historical case study of the attempt to define the pain and distress of one common practice in animal research-the use of the tabletop guillotine to decapitate laboratory rodents. I describe the negotiations involved in reaching consensus on the meaning of the available data and caution animal care and use committees that they should always work with the realization that our scientific knowledge of what animals experience is partial and provisional knowledge at best.

scholarly journals Episodic Autobiographical Memory Impairment and Differences in Pronoun Use: Study of Self-Awareness in Functional Amnesia and Transient Global Amnesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline Becquet ◽  
Julien Cogez ◽  
Jacques Dayan ◽  
Pierrick Lebain ◽  
Fausto Viader ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Memory Impairment ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Transient Global Amnesia ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Memory Processing ◽  
Global Amnesia ◽  
Dissociative Tendencies ◽  
Original Measure ◽  
Definition Of

The subjective experience associated to memory processing is the core of the definition of episodic autobiographical memory (EAM). However, while it is widely known that amnesia affects the content of memories, few studies focused on the consequences of an impairment of EAM on the subjective self, also called the I-self. In the present study, we explored the I-self in two puzzling disorders that affect EAM: functional amnesia, which has an impact on autobiographical memory, and transient global amnesia (TGA), which only affects episodic memory. I-self was assessed through an original measure of self-integration in autobiographical narratives, namely the use of general or personal pronouns. Results showed that patients with functional amnesia tended to use general pronouns, whereas patients with TGA preferentially used the first person. The link between I-self and depersonalization-derealisation tendencies was also explored, showing dissociative tendencies in patients with functional amnesia but not in patients with TGA. We discuss these results from a combined neuropsychological and psychopathological perspective, with a view to proposing an explanatory model of the links between self-awareness and the episodic component of autobiographical memory.

The Science of Animal Welfare

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Stamp Dawkins
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Animal Consciousness ◽  
Natural Behaviour ◽  
Animal Welfare Science ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
As Stress ◽  
The Relationship

This book is intended as a guide for anyone who is interested in animals and how their welfare can be assessed scientifically. It addresses the question of why, despite growing public interest in how animals are treated, it has proved so difficult to arrive at an agreed definition of what ‘animal welfare’ is and it then provides an answer. A definition of animal welfare as ‘health and animals having what they want’ can be easily understood by scientists and non-scientists alike, expresses in simple words what underlies many existing definitions and shows what evidence we need to collect to improve animal welfare in practice. Above all, it puts an animal’s own point of view at the heart of the assessment of its welfare. The book shows how ‘health and what animals want’ also helps us to make sense of the long and often confusing list of welfare measurements that are now in use, such as ‘stress’ and ‘feel-good hormones’, expressive sounds and gestures, natural behaviour, cognitive bias and stereotypies. Animal sentience (conscious feelings of pleasure and suffering) are discussed in the context of our current knowledge of human and animal consciousness. Finally, the book highlights some key ideas in the relationship between animal welfare science and animal ethics and shows how closely the well-being of humans and that of animals are linked together.

scholarly journals Psychomotor Predictive Processing

Entropy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 806
Author(s):  
Stephen Fox
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Experience ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Scientific Basis ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Processing Theory ◽  
New Formulation ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Primary Contribution ◽  
Planning And Operation

Psychomotor experience can be based on what people predict they will experience, rather than on sensory inputs. It has been argued that disconnects between human experience and sensory inputs can be addressed better through further development of predictive processing theory. In this paper, the scope of predictive processing theory is extended through three developments. First, by going beyond previous studies that have encompassed embodied cognition but have not addressed some fundamental aspects of psychomotor functioning. Second, by proposing a scientific basis for explaining predictive processing that spans objective neuroscience and subjective experience. Third, by providing an explanation of predictive processing that can be incorporated into the planning and operation of systems involving robots and other new technologies. This is necessary because such systems are becoming increasingly common and move us farther away from the hunter-gatherer lifestyles within which our psychomotor functioning evolved. For example, beliefs that workplace robots are threatening can generate anxiety, while wearing hardware, such as augmented reality headsets and exoskeletons, can impede the natural functioning of psychomotor systems. The primary contribution of the paper is the introduction of a new formulation of hierarchical predictive processing that is focused on psychomotor functioning.

scholarly journals PSIV-33 The Animal Welfare Assessment Contest® as a Tool to Promote Animal Welfare Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. 468-468
Author(s):  
Sharon Kuca ◽  
Lindsey McKinney ◽  
Cia Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Educational Tool ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Behavioral Indicators ◽  
Animal Welfare Science ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Animal Welfare Assessment ◽  
Strongly Agree

Abstract Established in 2001, the Animal Welfare Assessment Contest® (AWJAC®) aims to be an innovative educational tool for enhancing understanding and awareness of welfare issues affecting animals used for human purposes (e.g., research, agriculture, entertainment, companionship). The contest is open to participation by veterinary, undergraduate, and graduate students who may participate as individuals or as part of a team. A limited number of veterinarians are also eligible to compete as non-placing participants. Participation in the contest entails assessment of live and computer-based scenarios encompassing data, photographs, and videos of animals in comparable situations. Students then use the information obtained to rank the welfare of the animals in those situations on the basis of physiologic and behavioral indicators, with attention to facilities and management, and present their analyses orally to expert judges. The species featured change each year of the contest. At the completion of each contest, participants and coaches are asked to anonymously complete a written survey. The quantitative and qualitative results of this survey are used to determine if the contest has achieved its aims and incorporate suggestions for improvement of future contests. The majority of survey respondents from the five contests held between 2014–2018 report they either strongly agree or agree that the AWJAC increased their knowledge of animal welfare science (98%, n = 549) and was an overall valuable experience (99%, n = 547) that they would recommend to their peers (98%, n = 550). Respondents cited networking opportunities and diversity of species featured in the contest as key reasons the contest is valuable. Given these results, the AWJAC is successfully achieving its aims to increase animal welfare knowledge in an innovative way.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document