Clegg Isabella L K
Animal Welfare Expertise (www.animalwelfareexpertise.com), 81 Alderney St, London SW1V 4HF, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2018 Jun 27;8(7):104. doi: 10.3390/ani8070104.
Cognitive bias testing measures how emotional states can affect cognitive processes, often described using the “glass half-full/half-empty” paradigm. Classical or operant conditioning is used to measure responses to ambiguous cues, and it has been reported across many species and contexts that an animal’s cognitive bias can be directly linked to welfare state, e.g., those in better welfare make more optimistic judgements. Cognitive bias testing has only recently been applied to animals and represents a key milestone in welfare science: it is currently one of the only accurate methods available to measure welfare. The tests have been conducted on many farm, laboratory, and companion animal species, but have only been carried out in zoo settings a handful of times. The aims of this review are to evaluate the feasibility of cognitive bias testing in zoos and its potential as a tool for studying zoo animal welfare. The few existing zoo cognitive bias studies are reviewed, as well as those conducted on similar, non-domesticated species. This work is then used to discuss how tests could be successfully designed and executed in zoo settings, which types of tests are most appropriate in different contexts, and how the data could be used to improve animal welfare. The review closely examines the many variables are present in the zoo which cannot be controlled as in other settings, termed here the Zoo Environment (ZE) Variables. It is recommended that tests are developed after consideration of each of the ZE Variables, and through strong collaboration between zookeepers, managers, and academic institutions. There is much unexplored potential of cognitive bias testing in the zoo setting, not least its use in investigating animal welfare in zoos. It is hoped that this review will stimulate increased interest in this topic from zoo managers, scientists, and industry regulators alike.
认知偏差测试衡量情绪状态如何影响认知过程，通常用“杯子是半满还是半空”的范式来描述。经典条件反射或操作性条件反射被用于测量对模糊线索的反应，并且在许多物种和情境中都有报道称，动物的认知偏差可以直接与福利状况相关联，例如，福利状况较好的动物会做出更乐观的判断。认知偏差测试直到最近才应用于动物，这代表了福利科学中的一个关键里程碑：它是目前可用的少数几种准确测量福利的方法之一。这些测试已经在许多农场动物、实验动物和伴侣动物物种上进行，但在动物园环境中只进行过几次。本综述的目的是评估在动物园中进行认知偏差测试的可行性及其作为研究动物园动物福利工具的潜力。本文回顾了现有的少数几项动物园认知偏差研究，以及对类似的非家养物种进行的研究。然后利用这些研究成果讨论如何在动物园环境中成功设计和实施测试，在不同情境下哪种类型的测试最合适，以及如何利用这些数据来改善动物福利。该综述仔细研究了动物园中存在的许多无法像在其他环境中那样进行控制的变量，在此称为动物园环境（ZE）变量。建议在考虑每个ZE变量并通过动物园饲养员、管理人员和学术机构之间的紧密合作后开发测试。动物园环境中的认知偏差测试有很大的未开发潜力，尤其是其在调查动物园动物福利方面的应用。希望本综述能激发动物园管理人员、科学家和行业监管机构对这一主题的更多兴趣。
