TY - JOUR

T1 - Emotions in goats

T2 - Mapping physiological, behavioural and vocal profiles

AU - Briefer, Elodie F.

AU - Tettamanti, Federico

AU - McElligott, Alan G.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2014 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Emotions are important because they enable the selection of appropriate behavioural decisions in response to external or internal events. Techniques for understanding and assessing animal emotions, and particularly positive ones, are lacking. Emotions can be characterized by two dimensions: their arousal (bodily excitation) and their valence (negative or positive). Both dimensions can affect emotions in different ways. It is thus crucial to assess their effects on biological parameters simultaneously, so that accurate indicators of arousal and valence can be identified. To find convenient and noninvasive tools to assess emotions in goats, Capra hircus, we measured physiological, behavioural and vocal responses of goats in four situations: (1) control (no external stimulus, neutral); (2) anticipation of a food reward (positive); (3) food-related frustration (negative); (4) isolation away from conspecifics (negative). These situations were characterized by different levels of arousal, assessed a posteriori by heart rates measured during the tests. We found several clear, reliable indicators of arousal and valence. During situations of higher arousal, goats had lower heart rate variability and higher respiration rates. They displayed more head movements, moved more, had their ears pointed forwards more often and on the side (horizontal) less often and produced more calls. They also produced calls with higher fundamental frequencies and higher energy distribution. In positive situations, goats had their ears oriented backwards less often and spent more time with their tails up than in negative situations. Furthermore, they produced calls in which the fundamental frequencies were less variable. Our methods for assessing the effects of emotional arousal and valence on biological parameters could lead to more effective monitoring and understanding of animal emotions, as well as to a better understanding of the evolution of emotions through cross-species comparisons.

AB - Emotions are important because they enable the selection of appropriate behavioural decisions in response to external or internal events. Techniques for understanding and assessing animal emotions, and particularly positive ones, are lacking. Emotions can be characterized by two dimensions: their arousal (bodily excitation) and their valence (negative or positive). Both dimensions can affect emotions in different ways. It is thus crucial to assess their effects on biological parameters simultaneously, so that accurate indicators of arousal and valence can be identified. To find convenient and noninvasive tools to assess emotions in goats, Capra hircus, we measured physiological, behavioural and vocal responses of goats in four situations: (1) control (no external stimulus, neutral); (2) anticipation of a food reward (positive); (3) food-related frustration (negative); (4) isolation away from conspecifics (negative). These situations were characterized by different levels of arousal, assessed a posteriori by heart rates measured during the tests. We found several clear, reliable indicators of arousal and valence. During situations of higher arousal, goats had lower heart rate variability and higher respiration rates. They displayed more head movements, moved more, had their ears pointed forwards more often and on the side (horizontal) less often and produced more calls. They also produced calls with higher fundamental frequencies and higher energy distribution. In positive situations, goats had their ears oriented backwards less often and spent more time with their tails up than in negative situations. Furthermore, they produced calls in which the fundamental frequencies were less variable. Our methods for assessing the effects of emotional arousal and valence on biological parameters could lead to more effective monitoring and understanding of animal emotions, as well as to a better understanding of the evolution of emotions through cross-species comparisons.

KW - Acoustic communication

KW - Arousal

KW - Capra hircus

KW - Positive emotions

KW - Ungulates

KW - Valence

KW - Vocal analysis

U2 - 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.11.002

DO - 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.11.002

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84920067628

VL - 99

SP - 131

EP - 143

JO - Animal Behaviour

JF - Animal Behaviour

SN - 0003-3472

ER -