Animal Boredom: Is a Scientific Study of the Subjective Experiences of Animals Possible?

Wemelsfelder, Françoise

doi:10.1007/978-94-009-4998-0_8

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…As a result of the more variable behaviour of the wild animals, differences in some of the behavioural measurements of the two groups appeared non-significant. The differences in activity between wild and laboratory housed Cape mole-rats may be due to a shift from exploratory behaviour in the wild animals to a fearful or aggressive phenotype as has been described for other captive animals [23]…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of Laboratory Housing on Exploratory Behaviour, Novelty Discrimination and Spatial Reference Memory in a Subterranean, Solitary Rodent, the Cape Mole-Rat (Georychus capensis)

et al. 2013

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A large number of laboratory and field based studies are being carried out on mole-rats, both in our research group and others. Several studies have highlighted the development of adverse behaviours in laboratory animals and have emphasised the importance of enrichment for captive animals. Hence we were interested in evaluating how laboratory housing would affect behavioural performance in mole-rats. We investigated exploratory behaviour, the ability to discriminate between novel and familiar environments and reference memory in the solitary Cape mole-rat ( Georychus capensis ). Our data showed that both wild and captive animals readily explore open spaces and tunnels. Wild animals were however more active than their captive counterparts. In the Y maze two trial discrimination task, wild animals failed to discriminate between novel and familiar environments, while laboratory housed mole-rats showed preferential spatial discrimination in terms of the length of time spent in the novel arm. The performance of the laboratory and wild animals were similar when tested for reference memory in the Y maze, both groups showed a significant improvement compared to the first day, from the 3rd day onwards. Wild animals made more mistakes whereas laboratory animals were slower in completing the task. The difference in performance between wild and laboratory animals in the Y-maze may be as a result of the lower activity of the laboratory animals. Laboratory maintained Cape mole-rats show classic behaviours resulting from a lack of stimulation such as reduced activity and increased aggression. However, they do display an improved novelty discrimination compared to the wild animals. Slower locomotion rate of the laboratory animals may increase the integration time of stimuli, hence result in a more thorough inspection of the surroundings. Unlike the captive animals, wild animals show flexibility in their responses to unpredictable events, which is an important requirement under natural living conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The lack of stimulation induces boredom that may lead to displacement behaviours. They are not motivated to explore and overreact to any unexpected or new event with aggression and fear [23]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Laboratory Housing on Exploratory Behaviour, Novelty Discrimination and Spatial Reference Memory in a Subterranean, Solitary Rodent, the Cape Mole-Rat (Georychus capensis)

et al. 2013

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“…38 Many animals prefer to work for their food rather than have it available freely. 14, 42,43 Primates will work and learn simply to engage in problem-solving behaviors, with or without external rewards. 10 Novel stimuli appear to be associated with positive feelings in animals.…”

Section: Influences On Mental Health and Mental Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…44 Inadequate mental stimulation, on the other hand, gives rise to the unpleasant emotional state of boredom, which serves to motivate the individual to seek stimulation and thereby alleviate the discomfort. 14,42 Boredom is a form of distress 45 that, when severe, may cause more suffering than physical pain 46 and is a serious impairment of mental well-being. 42 Boredom occurs in animals inhabiting unstimulating, unchallenging, and monotonous environments.…”

Section: Influences On Mental Health and Mental Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a mental wellness program for animals

McMillan¹

2002

javma

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Views: Commentary 965 Emotional Needs As for physical health, the basic foundation of mental health is the meeting of needs. Needs, both physical and emotional, are those factors required for normal function; basic needs must be satisfied for an animal to maintain a state of physical and psychologic homeostasis. 7 Examples of physical needs include water, energy (nutritional input), and excretion of waste products. Examples of emotional needs identified in animals include social companionship, 13 mental stimulation, 14 controllability, 15 predictability, 15 and skills for coping with stress and challenges. 16 All needs appear to have evolved because of their associated survival advantages. 17 When emotional needs are not fulfilled, unpleasant feelings arise that alert the animal to the need and motivate behavior to lessen the intensity of the

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“…When the relation between environment and animal is chronically such that the animal has no interest in its environment, the habitathabit unity that sustains and constitutes a speciesway has been split asunder and the lion or chicken or rat is no longer. Wemelsfelder (1984) offers various indices for determining the presence of boredom in an animal, such as stereotypic movement, redirected activity, vacuum behavior, and immobility over long periods (p. 133). Approaching the present thesis, she further characterizes boredom as a state in which an animal "misses the opportunity to perform its specific behavior" (p. 117), or "does not have the chance to perform the behavior which is part of a species-specific range of behavioral possibilities" (p. 124).…”

Section: Fall 1989mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Death of the Animal: Ontological Vulnerability

Shapiro¹

1989

BTS

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Animal Boredom: Is a Scientific Study of the Subjective Experiences of Animals Possible?

Cited by 20 publications

References 27 publications

Effects of Laboratory Housing on Exploratory Behaviour, Novelty Discrimination and Spatial Reference Memory in a Subterranean, Solitary Rodent, the Cape Mole-Rat (Georychus capensis)

Effects of Laboratory Housing on Exploratory Behaviour, Novelty Discrimination and Spatial Reference Memory in a Subterranean, Solitary Rodent, the Cape Mole-Rat (Georychus capensis)

Development of a mental wellness program for animals

The Death of the Animal: Ontological Vulnerability

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