8,384 research outputs found
Using cognitive paradigms to measure emotion in pigs
No full textThe welfare of pigs both on farm and in laboratories can be influenced by the conditions associated with each environment. Modern definitions of welfare emphasize the importance of affective states as essential for understanding welfare needs, and welfare legislation refers to the avoidance of unnecessary ‘suffering’ and ‘distress’ of animals. To objectively measure affective states in animals is therefore a priority for assessing welfare. From human research we know that emotion and mood can influence cognitive processes, such as memory and judgement. In particular emotional valence (positive /negative) can lead to mood congruent judgements of ambiguous stimuli, e.g. people in a positive mood are more likely to make optimistic judgements. It has been proposed that these biases can be used as a proxy measure of the valence of emotion and mood in animals. In this thesis I develop and try to validate novel tasks for pigs which can be used to study emotion-biased cognitive processing. First, we developed a Judgement Bias Task (JBT) whereby pigs were trained to discriminate one tone-cue predicting a large reward (positive cue), from a second tone cue predicting a small reward (negative cue), by choosing the correct goal box. When pigs could sufficiently discriminate between these two cues, responses to three unfamiliar ambiguous tone cues, intermediate in frequency between the positive and negative cue, were measured. An optimistic choice was scored if the pig chose the goal box associated with the large reward. We demonstrated that both a common farm breed and laboratory breed of pig could relatively easily learn the discrimination, and showed a similar pattern of responding to the ambiguous cues. To validate the task we looked at responses of low birth weight (LBW) pigs. LBW in humans is associated with later emotional problems such as anxiety and depression. In pigs, LBW is associated with higher mortality, but also higher stress reactivity in surviving piglets, suggestive of altered emotionality. We hypothesized therefore that LBW pigs ought to make fewer optimistic choices in response to the ambiguous cues. We compared LBW pigs to their normal-birth-weight siblings and, in two studies found, that the LBW pigs did indeed make fewer optimistic choices. In a third study we failed to find a difference. We developed a second task, a probabilistic choice Pig Gambling Task (PGT), to look at decision making under risk, which is also susceptible to emotional influences. Pigs could freely choose between an option offering small but frequent rewards and a second option offering large but infrequent rewards. LBW pigs chose more for the small but frequent rewards suggesting higher levels of risk aversion. Responses on the PGT were independent from responses on the JBT suggesting that the two tasks are measuring different aspects of decision making under uncertainty (risk vs ambiguity). Further, responses on the JBT were independent of memory, learning, and motivation suggesting that our task is indeed targeting emotion-biased judgements. However, our tasks are not yet suitable for the on-farm testing of emotion in pigs due to the complex training involved
Emotion and cognition in low birth weight pigs
No full textIn commercial pig farming, increasing numbers of low birth weight (LBW) piglets are born, due to selection for larger litter sizes. These piglets are known to have an increased risk of poor animal welfare during the neonatal period, as they are more likely to suffer from injury and disease than normal birth weight piglets. While this results in LBW piglets having a higher risk of pre-weaning mortality, a considerable number of these piglets survive to slaughter age. Whether the welfare of these surviving pigs is affected by their birth weight has received far less scientific attention. In humans, LBW is a risk factor for long-term emotional and cognitive impairments. As humans and pigs share many similarities in brain development, it is possible that the adverse effects of LBW are comparable as well. Impaired emotional and cognitive functioning could negatively affect the welfare of pigs. A negative emotional state reflects an animal’s negative subjective response to its environment, while impaired cognition may hinder an animal’s interaction with its environment. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to evaluate if LBW influences emotion and cognition in pigs. To assess emotion, pigs were tested in a judgment bias task. Judgment bias is a cognitive measure of emotional state which reflects the influence of emotion on an animal’s interpretation of ambiguous stimuli. In the judgment bias task, pigs first received discrimination training. Pigs were trained to perform a specific behavioral response to two auditory stimuli, predicting either a positive or negative outcome. Once pigs successfully discriminated between these stimuli, they were presented with intermediate, ambiguous stimuli. The pigs’ responses to ambiguous stimuli were scored as optimistic (performance of ‘positive’ response) or pessimistic (performance of ‘negative’ response). Optimistic interpretation of an ambiguous stimulus is indicative of a positive emotional state, whereas a pessimistic interpretation is indicative of a negative emotional state. In addition to judgment bias, pigs’ cortisol concentrations in hair and saliva were measured as a physiological marker of stress. Cognitive performance was evaluated using discrimination training in the judgment bias task, as well as performance in the spatial holeboard task. In this task, pigs had to learn and remember the locations of hidden food rewards in an open arena. After a pig had successfully acquired the task, it was presented with a reversal phase during which it was presented with a new configuration of reward locations. The holeboard allows for simultaneous assessment of working and reference memory, as well as measures of motivation, exploration, and behavioral flexibility. We found that LBW does not have to result in a more negative emotional state in pigs, if they are housed in an enriched environment. However, such housing conditions were not sufficient to counter LBW pigs’ impaired cognitive development based on decreased performance in both behavioral tasks. Although the cognitive impairments we found were mild, it is likely they were ameliorated by the presence of (cognitive) enrichment. LBW pigs on commercial farms may suffer from exaggerated deficits compared to the pigs tested in this thesis
A framework of technology-supported emotion measurement
No full textEmotion measurement is a vital aspect for new product development and product improvements (see e.g. P. Desmet & Schifferstein, 2012). Nowadays, new technological devices, data mining, and social media offer many opportunities to invigorate design research. This paper tries to combine both aspects by exploring the question, how new technologies can be utilized for emotion-focused design research. The range of applicable technologies spans from eye-tracking, to EEG measuring, to semiautomated facial expression recognition in photographs or texts based on data mining technologies or crowdsourcing, etc. Furthermore, many traditional technologies for emotion tracking are becoming smaller and mobile, which allows also in-field research (e.g. mobile EEG headsets). Triangulating different data sources might result in new insights and improve user research significantly. This paper provides an overview of related literature indicating the current state of emotion measurement in the design field, and presents a framework that outlines possible new approaches utilizing new technologies. Thus, this work might contribute as a source of inspiration for other researchers to develop new research approaches for technology-supported emotion measurement.Design AestheticsOLD Design Theory and Methodolog
Very low birth weight piglets show improved cognitive performance in the spatial cognitive holeboard task
No full textLow birth weight (LBW) is common in humans and has been found to cause lasting cognitive and developmental deficits later in life. It is thought that the primary cause is intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR) due to a shortage of oxygen and supply of nutrients to the fetus. Pigs appear to be a good model animal to investigate long-term cognitive effects of LBW, as LBW is common in commercially farmed breeds of pigs. Moreover, pigs are developmentally similar to humans and can be trained to perform complex tasks. In this study, we trained ten very low birth weight (vLBW) piglets and their ten normal birth weight (NBW) siblings in a spatial cognitive holeboard task in order to investigate long-term cognitive effects of LBW. In this task, four out of sixteen holes contain a hidden food reward, which allows measuring working memory (WM) (short-term memory) and reference memory (RM) (long-term memory) in parallel. Piglets were trained for 46–54 trials during the acquisition phase, followed by a 20-trial reversal phase in which a different set of four holes was baited. Both groups acquired the task and improved their performance over time. A mixed model repeated measures ANOVA revealed that vLBW piglets showed better RM performance than NBW piglets in both the acquisition and reversal phase. Additionally, WM scores in the vLBW were less disrupted than in the NBW animals when switched to the reversal phase. These findings are contrary to findings in humans. Moreover, vLBW pigs had lower hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) than NBW pigs in flank hair at 12 weeks of age. These results could indicate that restricted intra-uterine growth causes compensatory mechanisms to arise in early development that result in beneficial effects for vLBW piglets, increasing their low survival chances in early-life competition
Methoden voor de bepaling van corticosteron in veren en cortisol in haren als mogelijke lange-termijn indicator voor dierenwelzijn
No full textWhat are ‘positive’ affect and emotion?
Full text linkPositive affect and emotion have become major topics in behavioral science, of growing importance in basic and applied research. A broad review of the literature reveals multiple, theoretically distinct constructs associated with the terms ‘positive affect’ and ‘positive emotion,’ sometimes conflated across this body of work. This article differentiates three primary constructs — subjectively pleasant affect; approach or appetitive motivation; and emotion states evoked by opportunities and rewards in the environment — and summarizes the major theoretical perspective with which each is intertwined. While these versions of positivity often coincide in lived emotional experience, we highlight examples of divergence, and discuss dynamic ways in which they influence each other. Distinct cognitive, physiological, and behavioral mechanisms by which each version of positivity may produce downstream effects are discussed, as is the importance of selecting and operationalizing the target construct with care in both basic affective science and translational research.Accepted Author ManuscriptHuman-Centered DesignDesign Aesthetic
Fear of emotion in adolescents: the Modified Affective Control Scale for Adolescents-Revised
Full text linkDifficulties in emotion regulation, in the form of fear of emotion, have been studied in adults but have received scant attention within the adolescent population. This omission is partly due to the lack of comprehensive and cross-culturally valid emotion measures that adequately assess emotion dysregulation in adolescents. The current research looks at evaluating the psychometric properties and clinical relevance of the Modified Affective Control Scale for Adolescents-Revised (MACSA-Revised), which measures adolescents’ fear of losing control over emotions or their reactions to emotions.
Study 1 examined the psychometric properties and construct validity of the MACSARevised in a community sample of 595 Singaporean students, aged 12 to 18 years. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that data was best explained by a 5-factor solution and reliability and validity of the MACSA-Revised was demonstrated. Although it was noted that females reported significantly higher fear of emotion than males, and upper secondary students reported significantly higher fear of emotion than lower secondary students, these differences produced only small effect sizes.
Study 2 examined the clinical utility of the MACSA-Revised by comparing the responses of a matched sample of 40 clinical adolescent participants from a mental health clinic in Singapore and 40 community adolescent participants. Evidence of criterion-related validity of the MACSA-Revised was demonstrated. Clinical participants reported a heightened fear of emotion as compared to community participants. In addition, gender Fear of Emotion in Adolescents and year-level main effects were found in the combined clinical and community sample (N = 80).
Although limitations of the two studies are noted, the MACSA-Revised appears to be a psychometrically sound measure for the assessment of fear of emotions in adolescents. Having an emotion measure with cross-cultural applicability that is suitable for adolescents will be helpful for future research when looking at pathways of emotion dysregulation that contribute to adolescent psychopathology.
Keywords: Fear of emotion, adolescents, emotion regulation, emotion dysregulation, culture and emotion
Apples and oranges: Three criteria for positive emotion typologies
Full text linkPositive emotion typologies, that is, classifications of positiveemotions into conceptually distinct categories or ‘types’ according to their properties, can clarify and simplify thecomplex structure of positive emotion space. In this review, we introduce three key evaluative criteria for such typologies: comprehensiveness, distinctiveness, and granularity.Comprehensiveness is the degree to which the typology accurately represents the boundaries of positive emotionspace; distinctiveness is whether emotional states are clustered on the basis of a consistent aspect of emotion; and granularity is the level of nuance and detail in categorization.These criteria provide standards by which the quality of existing typologies can be judged, as well as guiding the development of new typologies. Multiple valid and useful positive emotion typologies can be described; these criteria can guide scholars in selecting the typology that best suits their needsHuman-Centered DesignDesign Aesthetic
Studying emotion induced by music through a crowdsourcing game
No full textOne of the major reasons why people find music so enjoyable is its emotional impact. Creating emotion-based playlists is a natural way of organizing music. The usability of online music streaming services could be greatly improved by developing emotion-based access methods, and automatic music emotion recognition (MER) is the most quick and feasible way of achieving it. When resorting to music for emotional regulation purposes, users are interested in the MER method to predict their induced, or felt emotion. The progress of MER in this area is impeded by the absence of publicly accessible ground-truth data on musically induced emotion. Also, there is no consensus on the question which emotional model best fits the demands of the users and can provide an unambiguous linguistic framework to describe musical emotions. In this paper we address these problems by creating a sizeable publicly available dataset of 400 musical excerpts from four genres annotated with induced emotion. We collected the data using an online “game with a purpose” Emotify, which attracted a big and varied sample of participants. We employed a nine item domain-specific emotional model GEMS (Geneva Emotional Music Scale). In this paper we analyze the collected data and report agreement of participants on different categories of GEMS. We also analyze influence of extra-musical factors on induced emotion (gender, mood, music preferences). We suggest that modifications in GEMS model are necessary
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