Finding valid indicators of emotional states is one of the biggest challenges in animal welfare science. Here, we investigated in horses whether variation in the expression of eye wrinkles caused by contraction of the inner eyebrow raiser reflects emotional valence. By confronting horses with positive and negative conditions, we aimed to induce positive and negative emotional states, hypothesis...

When objects carry the same or different label(s), our perception of the similarity of the objects changes. How does this happen? In two experiments, pictures of animal tissues were presented with fictitious labels and participants judged the similarity of the pictures. The perceived similarity increased when the fictitious labels highlight the interrelatedness of features; this effect of label...

My motivation for co-authoring the target article (Weisman & Spetch, 2010) was two-fold. First, l hoped it would restimulate discussion and consideration of the questions, issues and limitations surrounding the use of pictures as surrogates for real world objects in comparative cognition research (Bovet & Vauclair, 2000; Fagot, 2000). Second, I hoped it would encourage more research aimed at as...

[Purpose] Previous studies have indicated that animal-assisted therapy can promote recovery of psychological, social, and physiological function in mental disorders. This study was designed as a pilot evaluation of the use of near-infrared spectroscopy to objectively identify changes in brain activity that could mediate the effect of animal-assisted therapy. [Subjects and Methods] The participa...

Though a traditional assumption in similarity judgment is that people selectively attend to certain features, few studies have explored the actual method of identifying “salient features” in visual stimuli. In this study, we used complex, realistic images to examine whether people selectively process salient features. Stimuli were triads of original and morphed animal face pictures. In the beha...

I contrast my picture of the relationship between science and policy animal sentience with that Marian Stamp Dawkins, who thinks “the politics welfare should be kept separate” because they involve irreconcilably different standards evidence. On alternative picture, (i) sentience, like any other empirical science, delivers evidence but not certainty; (ii) this allows us to make better practical ...

Animal sentience is linked to the bigger picture of climate and health crises “carnism” a factor in dissonance among (1) knowing animals are sentient, (2) caring about their feelings, (3) not acting accordingly. We discuss our responsibility as researchers individual human beings.

Introduction There are different ways to assemble data in order to get a picture of animal health: registrations made by the farmer, veterinary treatments, lamb growth, milk production, meat inspections, carcass weights and conformations. Most data though don't distinguish between organic and conventional production. Up to this time, the best way to get a picture of animal health in organic pro...