Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.
Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, UK.
Proc Biol Sci. 2020 Nov 25;287(1939):20201715. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1715. Epub 2020 Nov 18.
Emotions encompass cognitive and behavioural responses to reward and punishment. Using contests as a case-study, we propose that short-term emotions underpin animals' assessments, decision-making and behaviour. Equating contest assessments to emotional 'appraisals', we describe how contestants appraise more than resource value and outcome probability. These appraisals elicit the cognition, drive and neurophysiology that governs aggressive behaviour. We discuss how recent contest outcomes induce long-term moods, which impact subsequent contest behaviour. Finally, we distinguish between integral (objectively relevant) and incidental (objectively irrelevant) emotions and moods (affective states). Unlike existing ecological models, our approach predicts that incidental events influence contest dynamics, and that contests become incidental influences themselves, potentially causing maladaptive decision-making. As affective states cross contexts, a more holistic ethology (incorporating emotions and moods) would illuminate animal cognition and behaviour.
情绪包括对奖励和惩罚的认知和行为反应。我们以竞赛为例，提出短期情绪是动物评估、决策和行为的基础。通过将竞赛评估等同于情感“评价”，我们描述了参赛者如何评价资源价值和结果概率之外的因素。这些评估引发了支配攻击性行为的认知、驱动力和神经生理学。我们讨论了最近的竞赛结果如何引起长期的情绪，从而影响后续的竞赛行为。最后，我们区分了整体（客观相关）和偶然（客观无关）的情绪和情绪（情感状态）。与现有的生态模型不同，我们的方法预测偶然事件会影响竞赛动态，而竞赛本身也会成为偶然的影响因素，可能导致适应不良的决策。随着情感状态跨越不同的情境，更全面的行为学（包括情感和情绪）将阐明动物的认知和行为。
