School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
School of Psychological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Anim Cogn. 2022 Dec;25(6):1671-1678. doi: 10.1007/s10071-022-01636-2. Epub 2022 Jun 2.
Cognitive enrichment is a growing subset of environmental enrichment for captive animals. However, it has been difficult for practitioners to design, implement, and evaluate relevant and appropriate cognitive challenges. Even though pure comparative cognition researchers focus on fundamental evolutionary questions, their knowledge and expertise can also shape the future of cognitive enrichment. This paper describes the motive, means, and opportunity to do so. Taxon-specific summaries of animal cognition (including inter-individual variation in skill and effects of motivation), and experimental designs (including the task itself, training, and reward) need to be accessible to practitioners in applied settings, such as farms, zoos, and sanctuaries. Furthermore, I invite pure researchers to directly evaluate their cognitive research program as enrichment and thus bridge the disciplines of animal cognition and welfare.
认知丰富化是圈养动物环境丰富化的一个不断发展的分支。然而，从业者在设计、实施和评估相关且适当的认知挑战方面一直存在困难。尽管纯粹的比较认知研究人员专注于基本的进化问题，但他们的知识和专业知识也可以塑造认知丰富化的未来。本文描述了这样做的动机、手段和机会。需要让从业者在应用环境（如农场、动物园和保护区）中能够获得特定于分类群的动物认知（包括技能的个体间差异和动机的影响）和实验设计（包括任务本身、训练和奖励）的总结。此外，我邀请纯粹的研究人员直接将他们的认知研究项目评估为丰富化，从而弥合动物认知和福利这两个学科之间的差距。
