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Animal Boredom: Understanding the Tedium of Confined Lives
Abstract
IntroductionUnderstanding “Boredom” and How it Comes AboutRecognizing Animal Boredom: Signs of Disrupted Attentional FlowConclusion
AcknowledgementsReferences
... When animals are ill, they marshal their physiological and behavioral resources to fight the disease (Hart 1988). As their physical and mental condition deteriorates, their ability and motivation to move freely and engage with their surroundings becomes more limited, and their "attentional flow" (Wemelsfelder 2005) may decline. This may of course be complicated by sensory deficits as animals age. ...
... Animals also naturally explore their surroundings, showing a variety of behaviors. Wemelsfelder (2005) argues that this "attentional flow" shows that an individual is engaged with the environment, and contributes to an animal's enjoyment of its life. ...
... When the activities engaged in are dissociated from the individual's authentic voluntary interest, the result is often boredom -a mental state manifesting as some combination of apathy, restlessness, frustration, anxiety, hostility, and depression. Wemelsfelder (2005) observed that "virtually all captive animals," such as those in agricultural and laboratory systems, live under conditions offering very few opportunities to express individual interests or preferences. The conditions under which companion animals live vary widely in this respect. ...
... However, if memory is the realizer of its functional role, then memory is the specific neurological process that stores and retrieves boredom should be identified. In addition, it has been argued that animals, and not just humans, experience boredom (Burn, 2017;Meagher & Mason, 2012;Wemelsfelder, 1985Wemelsfelder, , 1991Wemelsfelder, , 2005. Such a contention offers further support for understanding boredom as a secondorder property. ...
... The functional account can inform research investigating the experience of boredom in nonhuman animals (Burn, 2017;Meagher & Mason, 2012;Wemelsfelder, 1985Wemelsfelder, , 1991Wemelsfelder, , 2005. ...
The functional theory of boredom maintains that boredom ought to be defined in terms of its role in our mental and behavioral economy. Although the functional theory has recently received considerable attention, presentations of this theory have not specified with sufficient precision either its commitments or its consequences for the ontology of boredom. This essay offers an in-depth examination of the functional theory. It explains what boredom is according to the functional view; it shows how the functional theory can account for the known characteristics of boredom; and it articulates the theory's basic commitments, virtues, and limitations. Ultimately, by furthering our understanding of the functional theory of boredom, the essay contributes to a better theoretical grounding of boredom.
... For instance, the housing conditions imposed by captivity may have led to boredom, i.e., "a negative [emotional] state induced by barren conditions that causes an increased, generalized interest in diverse stimuli" (Meagher et al., 2017). Boredom can arise from a deprived, i.e., spatially and/or temporally monotonous, environment (Burn, 2017;Wemelsfelder, 2005). When bored, individuals may experience aversive suboptimal levels of arousal (Burn, 2017) and new stimulations will induce exploratory behaviors (see the optimal arousal model of curiosity described above: Berlyne, 1960Berlyne, , 1967Hebb, 1955). ...
... When tested for their judgement bias, bored individuals might have negative expectations about future outcomes, hence exhibiting a negative judgement bias (Burn, 2017). Evaluating the behavior of the animals in their home cage might increase our understanding of their mood, as more explorative individuals might exhibit more abnormal or stereotypic behaviors or, on the contrary, a prolonged inactivity when they are bored (Burn, 2017;Wemelsfelder, 1984Wemelsfelder, , 2005. ...
Les mécanismes qui sous-tendent la personnalité animale (c.-à-d., les différences individuelles de comportement stables à travers le temps et les contextes) sont encore mal compris. Il a été suggéré que la personnalité pourrait émerger à partir de différences individuelles dans les réactions émotionnelles. Cette thèse a pour objectif d’étudier comment la tendance à l’exploration, l’un des traits de personnalité les plus étudiés, est liée aux différences individuelles d’émotions, à différentes classes d’âge chez deux rongeurs d’origine sauvage. Chaque chapitre aborde un composant d’une réaction émotionnelle (comportement, cognition et physiologie), afin d’évaluer la valence ou l’intensité de l’expérience émotionnelle. Tout d’abord, nous avons montré que le taux d’appels d’isolement pouvait être utilisé pour caractériser les profils émotionnels de jeunes souris domestiques, celui-ci étant stable durant trois jours et dans trois situations stressantes. Deuxièmement, nos résultats ont suggéré qu’une tendance plus forte à l’exploration pourrait être liée à une plus grande tendance à exprimer des états affectifs négatifs (c.-à-d., un biais de jugement plus négatif).Troisièmement, nous avons constaté que les souris glaneuses plus exploratrices étaient caractérisées par une réactivité plus forte du système sympathique, exprimée par des températures périphériques de la queue plus basses, peu de temps après une procédure de manipulation brève. Dans l'ensemble, les résultats de ce projet de recherche contribuent à la compréhension de la base émotionnelle des traits de personnalité et soulignent l'importance de prendre en compte l'individualité lors de l'évaluation des émotions.
... Welfare and well-being are clearly defined in the literature in this area (Broom, 1991;Dawkins, 1990;Delfour & Lassalle, 1996;Fraser, 2009). Well-being is related to mental state and to subjective experiences (Dawkins, 1990;Wemelsfelder, 2005) such as boredom, mental suffering, anxiety, and frustration, among others. Five criteria have been established to measure welfare and well-being in animals. ...
This chapter argues against human-centredness in theorizing about meaning in life. First, it argues that the non-human natural world can be a source of meaning in human lives in ways that theorists often ignore. Second, it argues that the non-human natural world can also be a locus of meaningful lives. According to many theories of meaning in life, at least some cognitively sophisticated, emotionally complex, social non-human animals (such as elephants and wolves) are capable of leading meaningful lives. The most plausible way to rule out the possibility of meaningful animal lives would be to adopt criteria for meaning so strict that many human lives would also be prevented from having meaning.
Long-term evaluations of whether modern zoological exhibits help to maintain variation in the behavior of zoo animals are lacking despite the hope that animals avoid falling into monotonous patterns of behavior or boredom. This study evaluated changes in behavior and habitat use over multi-year periods in nine individuals of five bear species at two zoological facilities. Behavioral data gathered over months to years were analyzed graphically for trends in the direction of change. The habitat use dynamics were assessed graphically by looking for trends in the entropy values over time. We found that the activity budgets remained diverse and were dynamic over time, more so in younger compared to older bears. Changes in behavior suggesting positive welfare were observed, while changes that may reflect declining welfare seemed more likely to be due to age or seasonality. The observed behavioral changes suggest that the bears did not become bored with their habitats; there was likely one to several hours of daily variation in behavior, and stereotypy was rare. The diversity in the habitat use decreased over time as the animals settled into patterns of use reflecting preferences for certain areas of their habitats.
Behavioural observation is an essential part of routine welfare assessment protocols for captive wild animals and Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA) can be included as measure of their emotional state. This study aims to develop a QBA Fixed List (FL) for brown bears (Ursus arctos), to test its reliability and to investigate the potential effect of the individual characteristics of the bears and season on the QBA outcomes. Observations and/or video-recordings were performed on 24 brown bears kept in three FOUR PAWS (FP) Sanctuaries. A list of 20 terms was created based on preliminary observations and assessments. Reliability between four observers was tested by calculating the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of the four main Principal Components (PC) and each QBA term scored on 20 two-minute videos, after online training sessions. The correlation between direct versus video observations was investigated through Spearman rank correlations calculated on the first two PC of QBA performed by one observer on 32 twenty-minute observations. Finally, the effect of sex, age, time since rescue (Length of Stay -LoS-), and season was investigated using non-parametric analysis on QBA PC performed by the same observer on 41 twenty-minute videos.
Results showed a good sampling adequacy. The agreement between observers was met in all four PC with ICC values from 0.63 to 0.95 and in most terms with ICC values from excellent (> 0.90) to moderate (0.50-0.75), except for Apathetic and Bored. Data from direct and video observations showed a significant correlation among each PC (Rs=0.69 for PC1, p<0.001; Rs=0.67 for PC2; p<0.001). The four main PC on QBA performed on the 41 twenty-minute videos, used to test the effects of sex, age, LoS, and season, explained 74.5% of variance. Positive and negative mood descriptors loaded on PC1, PC2 described activity levels, PC3 dealt with emotions of joy and suffering and PC4 with frustration. Sex affected PC2, females were more Positively occupied and Inquisitive. Older bears (>20 years) were more Bored and In pain than younger bears. Newly arrived bears (<6 months) expressed more negative emotions than bears in FP Sanctuaries for ≥4 years. Bears showed more positive mood during spring and more negative during summer.
Results of the study encourage the application of the developed FL in routine welfare assessments in FP Sanctuaries to monitor bear welfare throughout the seasons, their adaptation process from rescue onwards and to promptly identify changes due to the aging of the animals.
A wellness program to optimize animal health in the shelter must address both physical and behavioral health. In addition to addressing the animals themselves, addressing the shelter environment is also critically important when developing a wellness program for an animal shelter. Infectious diseases, stress, and problem behaviors are common in cats and dogs housed in animal shelters. Shelter medicine represents a unique blend of both individual patient and population medicine. A useful system for patient evaluation is known as the “problem‐oriented approach,” which is widely accepted as the gold standard for small animal patient care and assessment. Shelters should have written policies and protocols in place that detail how medical and behavioral problems will be handled. The basic physical health of cats and dogs should be systematically addressed in the wellness program protocols. Housing design and its proper management can literally make or break the health of a population.
The purpose of this study was to better understand the causes of boredom using psychologically based and social control models of boredom. For this study, 82 8th grade students completed two questionnaires, a face to face interview, and participated in a four day activity diary over a two week period of time. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to assess the extent to which adolescents' level of boredom differed depending upon their reason for participating in the activity and on the individual characteristics they brought to the situation. Both psychological and social control variables helped to explain boredom. The results are discussed from a developmental and practical perspective.
In a previous investigation, Renner and Rosenzweig reported that in juvenile rats some aspects of interaction with objects are affected by experience history, but that experience does not affect overall amount of exploratory behavior. In order to examine the plasticity of this behavioral system in adult rats, 20 male rats of the Berkeley S₁ strain were placed at 90 days of age into enriched (EC) and impoverished (IC) conditions. After 30 days, each was placed individually into a dimly illuminated arena with several objects for 10-min periods on two successive days. EC subjects reared significantly more and showed significantly longer and more complex bouts of interaction with objects than did IC subjects, including both manipulable (M) and nonmanipulable (N) objects. EC subjects were also more likely to interact with objects. All subjects interacted more with N than M objects, but EC subjects were more likely than IC subjects to climb upon the N objects. These relatively specific behavioral alterations suggest differences in the information that these animals could gather during exploration. These results, when considered in conjunction with those of the previous study, show that the qualitative aspects of exploratory behavior are dissociable from the quantity of exploration exhibited. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The relationship between boredom proneness and health-symptom reporting was examined. Undergraduate students (N 5 200) completed the Boredom Proneness Scale and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. A multiple analysis of covariance indicated that individuals with high boredomproneness total scores reported significantly higher ratings on all five subscales of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (Obsessive–Compulsive, Somatization, Anxiety, Interpersonal Sensitivity, and Depression). The results suggest that boredom proneness may be an important element to consider when assessing symptom reporting. Implications for determining the effects of boredom proneness on psychological- and physical-health symptoms, as well as the application in clinical settings, are discussed. © 2000 John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 56: 149–155, 2000.
The relationship between boredom proneness and health‐symptom reporting was examined. Undergraduate students (N = 200) completed the Boredom Proneness Scale and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. A multiple analysis of covariance indicated that individuals with high boredom‐proneness total scores reported significantly higher ratings on all five subscales of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (Obsessive–Compulsive, Somatization, Anxiety, Interpersonal Sensitivity, and Depression). The results suggest that boredom proneness may be an important element to consider when assessing symptom reporting. Implications for determining the effects of boredom proneness on psychological‐ and physical‐health symptoms, as well as the application in clinical settings, are discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 56: 149–155, 2000.
Why do animals play? Play has been described in animals as diverse as reptiles, birds and mammals, so what benefits does it provide and how did it evolve? Careful, quantitative studies of social, locomotor and object play behaviour are now beginning to answer these questions and to shed light on many other aspects of both animal and human behaviour. This interdisciplinary volume, first published in 1998, brings together the major findings about play in a wide range of species including humans. Topics about play include the evolutionary history of play, play structure, function and development, and sex and individual differences. Animal Play is destined to become the benchmark volume in this subject, and will provide a source of inspiration and understanding for students and researchers in behavioural biology, neurobiology, psychology and anthropology.
The introduction of intensive husbandry systems in pig production has resulted particularly in changes of feeding methods and removal of animal manure.
The hypothesis that play behavior in animals evolved because play experience produced individual behavioral flexibility—complex, generalized skills for interacting with varied and novel social and physical environments—contrasts with the widely accepted hypothesis that the evolutionary significance of play is that it trains particular, species-typical motor skills used in the same few motivational and functional contexts by each individual. Experimental and observational information in support of both hypotheses is discussed. Experimental evidence for flexibility effects is excellent, but the evolutionary status of this hypothesis is still being debated. In this article I discuss the issues and their profound implications for ethology and the social sciences.
