Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-03T12:15:31.400Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Consciousness, emotion and animal welfare: insights from cognitive science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

M Mendl  and
ES Paul
M Mendl*
Affiliation:
Centre for Behavioural Biology, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford B540 5DU, UK
ES Paul
Affiliation:
Centre for Behavioural Biology, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford B540 5DU, UK
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The assumption that animals are conscious and capable of experiencing negative sensations and emotions is at the core of most people's concerns about animal welfare. Investigation of this central assumption should be one goal of animal welfare science. We argue that theory and techniques from cognitive science offer promising ways forward. Evidence for the existence of conscious and non-conscious cognitive processing in humans has inspired scientists to search for comparable processes in animals. In studies of metacognition and blindsight, some species show behaviour that has functional parallels with human conscious cognitive processing. Although unable to definitively answer the question of whether the animals are conscious, these studies provide fresh insights, and some could be adapted for domestic animals. They mark a departure from the search for cognitive complexity as an indicator of consciousness, which is based on questionable assumptions linking the two. Accurate assessment of animal emotion is crucial in animal welfare research, and cognitive science offers novel approaches that address some limitations of current measures. Knowledge of the relationship between cognition and emotion in humans generates a priori frameworks for interpreting traditional physiological and behavioural indicators of animal emotion, and provides new measures (eg cognitive bias) that gauge positive as well as negative emotions. Conditioning paradigms can be used to enable animals to indicate their emotional state through operant responses. Although evidence for animal consciousness and emotion will necessarily be indirect, insights from cognitive science promise further advances in our understanding of this fundamentally important area in animal welfare science.

Keywords

animal welfareblindsightcognitionconsciousnessemotionmetacognition
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 13 , Issue S1: Science in the Service of Animal Welfare: Proceedings of the UFAW International Symposium, Edinburgh, 2-4 April 2003 , February 2004 , pp. S17 - S25
Copyright
© 2004 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appleby, M C and Sandøe, P 2002 Philosophical debate on the nature of well-being: implications for animal welfare. Animal Welfare 11: 283–294Google Scholar
Baars, B J 2001 There are no known differences in brain mechanisms of consciousness between humans and other mammals. Animal Welfare 10: 531–540Google Scholar
Bekoff, M 1994 Cognitive ethology and the treatment of nonhuman animals: how matters of mind inform matters of welfare. Animal Welfare 3: 75–96Google Scholar
Bekoff, M 1998 Deep ethology, animal rights, and the great ape/animal project: resisting speciesism and expanding the community of equals. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 10: 269–296CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bekoff, M 2002 Animal reflections. Nature 419: 255CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bermond, B 2001 A neuropsychological and evolutionary approach to animal consciousness and animal suffering. Animal Welfare 10: 547–562Google Scholar
Berridge, K C 1996 Food reward: brain substrates of wanting and liking. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 20: 1–25CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berridge, K C and Winkielman, P 2003 What is an unconscious emotion? (The case for unconscious “liking”). Cognition and Emotion 17: 181–211CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Block, N 1998 How can we find the neural correlate of consciousness? Trends in Neurosciences 19: 456–459Google Scholar
Bower, G H and Forgas, J P 2000 Affect, memory and social cognition. In: Eich, E, Kihlstrom, J F, Bower, G P, Forgas, J P and Niedenthal, P M (eds) Cognition and Emotion pp 87–168. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Bradley, B P, Mogg, K and Lee, S C 1997 Attentional biases for negative information in induced and naturally occurring dysphoria. Behaviour Research and Therapy 35: 911–927CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradshaw, R H 1998 Consciousness in non-human animals: adopting the precautionary principle. Journal of Consciousness Studies 5: 108–114Google Scholar
Broom, D M 1991 Animal welfare — concepts and measurement. Journal of Animal Science 69: 4167–4175CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Broom, D M 1998 Welfare, stress and the evolution of feelings. Advances in the Study of Behaviour 27: 371–403CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burghardt, G 1997 Review of the Great Ape Project (Cavalieri and Singer). Society and Animals 5: 83–86CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burke, M and Mathews, A M 1992 Autobiographical memory and clinical anxiety. Cognition and Emotion 6: 23–35CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bush, G, Luu, P and Posner, M I 2000 Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 4: 215–222CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butler, L T and Berry, D C 2001 Implicit memory: intention and awareness revisited. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5: 192–197CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Byrne, R 1995 The Thinking Ape. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Byrne, R W 1999 Primate cognition: evidence for the ethical treatment of primates. In: Dolins, F L (ed) Attitudes to Animals pp 114–125. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, M P and Fry, J P 1993 A behavioural and pharmacological evaluation of the discriminative stimulus induced by pentylenetetrazole in the pig. Psychopharmacology 111: 244–250CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carey, M P and Fry, J P 1995 Evaluation of animal welfare by the self-expression of an anxiety state. Laboratory Animals 29: 370–379CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carey, M P, Fry, J P and White, D G 1992 The detection of changes in psychological state using a novel pharmacological conditioning procedure. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 43: 69–76CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carruthers, P 1989 Brute experience. The Journal of Philosophy 89: 258–269CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cavalieri, P and Singer, P 1993 The Great Ape Project. Fourth Estate: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Chalmers, D J 2000 What is a neural correlate of consciousness? In: Metzinger, T (ed) Neural Correlates of Consciousness: Empirical and Conceptual Questions pp 17–40. MIT Press: Cambridge, USAGoogle Scholar
Clark, D M and Teasdale, J D 1982 Diurnal variation in clinical depression and accessibility of memories of positive and negative experiences. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 91: 87–95CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clayton, N S and Dickinson, A D 1998 Episodic-like memory during cache recovery by scrub jays. Nature 395: 272–278CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cleeremans, A, Destrebecqz, A and Boyer, M 1998 Implicit learning: news from the front. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2: 406–416CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clore, G L, Schwarz, N and Conway, M 1994 Affective causes and consequences of social information processing. In: Wyer, R S and Srull, T K (eds) Handbook of Social Cognition, Volume 2, Second Edition pp 323–417. Erlbaum: Hillsdale, New Jersey, USAGoogle Scholar
Coussi-Korbel, S 1994 Learning to outwit a competitor in mangabeys, Cerocebus t. torquatus. Journal of Comparative Psychology 108: 164–171CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowey, A and Stoerig, P 1995 Blindsight in monkeys. Nature 373: 247–249CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crick, F and Koch, C 2003 A framework for consciousness. Nature Neuroscience 6: 119–126CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Curran, T 2001 Implicit learning revealed by the method of opposition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5: 503–504CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Damasio, A 2000 The Feeling of What Happens. Vintage: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Damasio, A R, Grabowski T, J, Bechara, A, Damasio, H, Ponto, L L B, Parvizi, J and Hichwa, R D 2000 Subcortical and cortical brain activity during the feeling of self-generated emotions. Nature Neuroscience 3: 1049–1056CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dantzer, R 2002 Can farm animal welfare be understood without taking into account the issues of emotion and cognition? Journal of Animal Science 80 (E Suppl I): E1-E9Google Scholar
Davis, S L and Cheeke, P R 1998 Do domestic animals have minds and the ability to think? A provisional sample of opinions on the question. Journal of Animal Science 76: 2022–2079CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dawkins, M S 1990 From an animal's point of view: motivation, fitness and animal welfare. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13: 1–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawkins, M S 2000 Animal minds and animal emotions. American Zoologist 40: 883–888Google Scholar
Dawkins, M S 2001 Who needs consciousness? Animal Welfare 10: 519–529Google Scholar
de Veer, M W and van den Bos, R 1999 A critical review of methodology and interpretation of mirror self-recognition research in non-human primates. Animal Behaviour 58: 459–468CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dennett, D C 1996 Kinds of Minds. Weidenfeld and Nicolson: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Desiré, L, Boissy, A and Veissier, I 2002a Emotions in farm animals: a new approach to animal welfare in applied ethology. Behavioural Processes 60: 165–180Google ScholarPubMed
Desiré, L, Boissy, A, Veissier, I and Després, G 2002b A cognitive approach to emotions: are the responses to suddenness and novelty different? In: Koene, P and the Scientific Committee of the 36th Congress of the ISAE (eds) Proceedings of the 36th International Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology p 139. Paul Koene: Wageningen, The NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Dienes, Z and Perner, J 1999 A theory of implicit and explicit knowledge. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22: 735–808CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duncan, I J H and Fraser, D 1997 Understanding animal welfare. In: Appleby, M C and Hughes, B O (eds) Animal Welfare pp 19–31. CAB International: Wallingford, UKGoogle Scholar
Duncan, I J H and Petherick, J C 1991 The implications of cognitive processes for animal welfare. Journal of Animal Science 69: 5017–5022CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emery, N J and Clayton, N S 2001 Effects of experience and social context on prospective caching strategies by scrub jays. Nature 414: 443–446CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frijda, N H 1988 The laws of emotion. American Psychologist 43: 349–358CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallup, G G 1970 Chimpanzees: self recognition. Science 167: 86–87CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallup, G G 1982 Self awareness and the emergence of mind in primates. American Journal of Primatology 2: 237–248CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gazzaniga, M S 2000 Cerebral specialization and interhemispheric communication: does the corpus callosum enable the human condition? Brain 123: 1293–1326CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gray, J A 1975 Elements of a Two-Process Theory of Learning. Academic Press: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Gray, J A 1999 Cognition, emotion, conscious experience and the brain. In: Dalgleish, T and Power, M J (eds) Handbook of Cognition and Emotion pp 3–20. John Wiley and Sons: Chichester, UKGoogle Scholar
Griffin, D R 1992 Animal Minds. University of Chicago Press: Chicago, USAGoogle Scholar
Griffin, D R 1998 From cognition to consciousness. Animal Cognition 1: 3–16CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hampton, R R 2001 Rhesus monkeys know when they remember. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98: 5359–5362CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harding, E J, Paul, E S and Mendl, M 2004 Cognitive bias and affective state. Nature 427: 312CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Held, S, Mendl, M, Devereux, C and Byrne, R W 2001a Behaviour of domestic pigs in a visual perspective taking task. Behaviour 138: 1337–1354Google Scholar
Held, S, Mendl, M, Devereux, C and Byrne, R W 2001b Studies in social cognition: from primates to pigs. Animal Welfare 10: 5209–5217Google Scholar
Held, S, Mendl, M, Devereux, C and Byrne, R W 2002a Foraging pigs alter their behaviour in response to exploitation. Animal Behaviour 64: 157–166CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Held, S, Mendl, M, Laughlin, K and Byrne, R W 2002b Cognition studies with pigs: livestock cognition and its implication for production. Journal of Animal Science 80 (E Suppl 1): E10-E17Google Scholar
Heyes, C M 1994 Reflections on self-recognition in primates. Animal Behaviour 47: 909–919CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heyes, C M 1998 Theory of mind in non-human primates. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 21: 101–114CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inman, A and Shettleworth, S J 1999 Detecting metamemory in nonverbal subjects: a test with pigeons. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 25: 389–395Google Scholar
Kennedy, J S 1992 The New Anthropomorphism. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keogh, E, Dillon, C, Georgiou, G and Hunt, C 2001 Selective attentional biases for physical threat in physical anxiety sensitivity. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 15: 299–315CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kindt, M and Van Den Hout, M 2001 Selective attention and anxiety: a perspective on developmental issues and the causal status. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioural Assessment 23: 193–202CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lane, R D, Ahern, G L, Schwartz, G E and Kasniak, A W 1997a Is alexithymia the emotional equivalent of blindsight? Biological Psychiatry 42: 834–844CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lane, R D, Fink, G R, Chau, P M L and Dolan, R J 1997b Neural activation during selective attention to subjective emotional responses. Neuroreport 8: 3969–3972CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lang, P J 1993 The three system approach to emotion. In: Birbaumer, N and Öhman, A (eds) The Organization of Emotion pp 18–30. Hogrefe-Huber: Toronto, CanadaGoogle Scholar
Lazarus, R S 1991 Cognition and motivation in emotion. American Psychologist 46: 352–367CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lea, S E G 2001 Anticipation and memory as criteria for special welfare consideration. Animal Welfare 10: 5195–5208Google Scholar
LeDoux, J 1996 The Emotional Brain. Simon and Schuster: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Lerner, J S and Keltner, D 2000 Beyond valence: toward a model of emotion-specific influences on judgement and choice. Cognition and Emotion 14: 473–493CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacLeod, C and Byrne, A 1996 Anxiety, depression, and the anticipation of future positive and negative experiences. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 105: 286–289CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacLeod, C, Mathews, A and Tata, P 1986 Attentional bias in emotional disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 95: 15–20CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Macphail, E M 1998 The Evolution of Consciousness. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, G and Mendl, M 1993 Why is there no simple way of measuring animal welfare? Animal Welfare 2: 301–319Google Scholar
Mathews, A and MacLeod, C 1994 Cognitive approaches to emotion and emotional disorders. Annual Review of Psychology 45: 25–50CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGlone, J J 1993 What is animal welfare? Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 6 (Suppl 2): 26–36Google Scholar
Mendl, M 1999 Performing under pressure: stress and cognitive function. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 65: 221–244CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendl, M 2001 Assessing the welfare state. Nature 410: 31–32CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mendl, M, Burman, O, Laughlin, K and Paul, E 2001 Animal memory and animal welfare. Animal Welfare 10: 5141–5159Google Scholar
Millenson, J R 1967 Principles of Behavioral Analysis. Macmillan: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Mineka, S, Watson, D and Clark, A L 1998 Comorbidity of anxiety and unipolar Mood disorders. Annual Review of Psychology 49: 377–412CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mogg, K, Mathews, A and Eysenck, M 1992 Attentional bias to threat in clinical anxiety states. Cognition and Emotion 6: 149–159CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicol, C J 1996 Farm animal cognition. Animal Science 62: 375–391CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nygren, T E, Isen, A M, Taylor, P J and Dulin, J 1996 The influence of positive affect on the decision rule in risky situations. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes 66: 59–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Öhman, A and Soares, J J 1993 On the automatic nature of phobic fear: conditioned electrodermal responses to masked, fear-relevant stimuli. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 102: 121–132CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Regan, J and Noe, A 2001 A sensorimotor account of vision and visual consciousness. Behavioural and Brain Sciences 24: 939–1031CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ortony, A, Clore, G L and Collins, A 1988 The Cognitive Structure of Emotions. Cambridge University Press: New York, USACrossRefGoogle Scholar
Panksepp, J 2003 At the interface of the affective, behavioural, and cognitive neurosciences: decoding the emotional feelings of the brain. Brain and Cognition 52: 4–14CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rolls, E T 1999 The Brain and Emotion. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Sandøe, P, Forkman, B and Christiansen, S B 2004 Scientific uncertainty — how should it be handled in relation to scientific advice regarding animal welfare issues? In: KirkWood, J K, Roberts, E A and Vickery, S (eds) Proceedings of the UFAW International Symposium ‘Science in the Service of Animal Welfare’, Edinburgh, 2003. Animal Welfare 13: 5121–5126 (Suppl)Google Scholar
Scherer, K R 1984 On the nature and function of emotion: a component process approach. In: Scherer, K R and Ekman, P (eds) Approaches to Emotion pp 293–317. Erlbaum: Hillsdale, New Jersey, USAGoogle Scholar
Scherer, K R 1999 Appraisal theories. In: Dalgleish, T and Power, M (eds) Handbook of Cognition and Emotion pp 637–663. John Wiley and Sons: Chichester, UKGoogle Scholar
Schwarz, N and Clore, G L 1983 Mood, misattribution and judgements of well-being: informative and directive functions of affective states. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 45: 513–523CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwarz, N and Clore, G L 1996 Feelings and phenomenal experiences. In: Higgins, T E and Kruglanski, A (eds) Social Psychology: a Handbook of Basic Principles pp 433–465. Guilford Press: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Seger, C A 1994 Implicit learning. Psychological Bulletin 115: 163–196CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Serpell, J A 2004 Factors influencing human attitudes to animals and their welfare. In: KirkWood, J K, Roberts, E A and Vickery, S (eds) Proceedings of the UFAW International Symposium ‘Science in the Service of Animal Welfare’, Edinburgh, 2003. Animal Welfare 13: 5145–5151 (Suppl)Google Scholar
Shanks, D R and St John, M F 1994 Characteristics of human dissociable learning systems. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 17: 367–447CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sherwin, C M 2001 Can invertebrates suffer? Or how robust is argument from analogy? Animal Welfare 10: 5103–5118Google Scholar
Shettleworth, S J 1998 Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Smith, C A and Kirby, L D 2000 Consequences require antecedents: towards a process model of emotion elicitation. In: Forgas, J P (ed) Feeling and Thinking: the Role of Affect in Social Cognition pp 83–106. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKGoogle Scholar
Smith, J D, Schull, J, Strote, J, McGee, K, Egnor, R and Erb, L 1995 The uncertain response in the bottlenosed dolphin (Tursiops tursiops). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 124: 391–408CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, J D, Shields, W E and Washburn, D A The comparative psychology of uncertainty monitoring and metacognition. Behavioral and Brain Sciences: in press.Google Scholar
Smith, J D, Shields, W E, Schull, J and Washburn, D A 1997 The uncertain response in humans and animals. Cognition 62: 75–97CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spinka, M, Duncan, I J H and Widowski, T M 1998 Do domestic pigs prefer short-term to medium-term confinement? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 58: 221–232CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spruijt, B M, van den Bos, R and Pijlman, F T A 2001 A concept of welfare based on reward evaluating mechanisms in the brain: anticipatory behaviour as an indicator for the state of reward systems. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 75: 145–171CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stone, L A and Nielson, K A 2001 Intact physiological response to arousal with impaired recognition in alexithymia. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 70: 92–102CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, P E, Haskell, M J, Appleby, M C and Waran, N K 2002 Perception of time duration by domestic hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 76: 41–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van den Berg, C L, Pijlman, F T A, Koning, H AM, Diergaarde, L, van Ree, J M and Spruijt, B M 1999 Isolation changes the incentive value of sucrose and social behaviour in juvenile and adult rats. Behavioural Brain Research 106: 133–142CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van den Bos, R, Houx, B B and Spruijt, B M 2002 Cognition and emotion in concert in human and nonhuman animals. In: Bekoff, M, Allen, C and Burghardt, G (eds) The Cognitive Animal pp 97–103. MIT Press: Cambridge, USAGoogle Scholar
Vauclair, J 1997 Mental states in animals: cognitive ethology. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 1: 35–39CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
von Frijtag, J C, Reijmers, L G J E, van der Harst, J E, Leus, I E, van den Bos, R and Spruijt, B M 2000 Defeat followed by individual-housing results in long-term impaired reward- and cognition-related behaviours in rats. Behavioural Brain Research 117: 137–146CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiskrantz, L 2001 Commentary responses and conscious awareness in humans: the implications for awareness in non-human animals. Animal Welfare 10: 541–546Google Scholar
Wemelsfelder, F 1997 The scientific validity of subjective concepts in models of animal welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 53: 75–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wemelsfelder, F, Hunter, T E A, Mendl, M and Lawrence, A B 2001 Assessing the ‘whole animal’: a free choice profiling approach. Animal Behaviour 62: 209–220CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, J M G, Watts, F, MacLeod, C and Mathews, A 1997 Cognitive Psychology and Emotional Disorders, Second Edition. John Wiley and Sons: Chichester, UKGoogle Scholar
Wright, W F and Bower, G H 1992 Mood effects on subjective probability assessments. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decisions Processes 62: 276–291CrossRefGoogle Scholar