Measuring Boredom & Frustration Flashcards
Why is boredom and frustration important?
Both emotions have been overlooked
However they can both be persistent welfare issues for animals in captivity because:
Captive environments may not be complex enough compared to the wild
Certain specific stimuli may be lacking
Animals might not be able to perform all the behaviours that they could in the wild
Why has boredom and frustration been ignored?
Boredom and frustration have been partly ignored in the face of more well researched welfare issues like stress, fear or pain
However when boredom and frustration are really persistent and inescapable they can be very distressing for the animals and they can really affect brain development
What is boredom and frustration caused by?
Boredom and frustration are related to the thwarting of emotions
Boredom and frustration are emotions that might occur when animals cannot satisfy particular motivation
Define motivation
Motivation = a brain state that determines the likelihood and intensity of a given behavioural pattern, and the efforts animals will make in order to perform it
How is motivation relevant for welfare?
Motivations are relevant to welfare because motivations often have negative and positive emotional components to them
However some motivations are not technically accompanied by emotions
An example of this is the motivation to eat is often accompanied by hunger and then satiation, which are usually considered homeostatic sensations rather than emotions
What 2 characteristics do boredom and frustration share?
1) Both are caused when animals are missing something they want/need
2) Both prompt some similar behaviours like:
Escape behaviours
Repeated seeking behaviours
Abnormal behaviour
Abnormal behaviours develop when frustration or boredom are prolonged
How can you distinguish boredom and frustration from each other?
Distinguishing boredom and frustration matters because the solutions differ
A frustrated animal needs something very specific to satisfy it
A bored animal needs almost anything different from what it has, as long as it engages it and gives the animal something to do
What is frustration?
Frustration is the unpleasant emotion or sensation arising from an inability to satisfy a specific motivation
What are normal behaviours triggered by?
Normal behaviour is often triggered by both innate and learned motivations
What are innate motivations and why do they cause frustration?
Innate motivations are genetically programmed drives or desires
The innate motivations are especially persistent even in captivity
Due to this, innate motivations cause the most troublesome welfare issues because the animal can’t adapt
True or false
Learnt motivations don’t cause frustration
False
Learnt motivations can also cause frustration
What causes frustration?
Frustration occurs when animals are thwarted from satisfying a particular motivation
What are the 4 signs of frustration?
1) Repeated ‘attempts’ to satisfy the motivation
2) Displacement behaviour
3) Redirected behaviour
4) Heightened arousal
What happens in the first sign of frustration, repeated ‘attempts’ to satisfy the motivation?
Often this includes appetitive (search) behaviours
Behaviour can be split into 2 categories:
Appetitive behaviours
These are behaviour sequences that are geared to getting a goal
Consummatory behaviours
These are behaviours when you have the goal and actually work with it
So with frustration the goal is never reached so the appetitive phase is repeated endlessly
It can also be triggered by learnt behaviours
What is the second sign of frustration, displacement behaviour, about?
Displacement behaviour are simple normal behaviours that are inappropriate or irrelevant to the situation
Displacement behaviours are almost like a sort of distraction from the situation and the animal doesn’t know what else to do so they do something else
What is the third sign of frustration, redirected behaviour, about?
Redirected behaviours are normal behaviours directed towards an inappropriate target
Which 3 signs of frustration can become stereotyped and repeated to an abnormal degree becoming abnormal behaviour?
1) Repeated ‘attempts’ to satisfy the motivation
2) Displacement behaviour
3) Redirected behaviour
True or false
Arousal is usually heightened when frustrated
True
It’s one of the 4 signs of frustration
What causes frustration in animals?
It is very specific to which motivation is frustrated
Sometimes the animals needs/wants a particular resource or goal that it cannot obtain
This may occur when the consummatory phase (end goal) is impossible
Sometimes the animal needs/wants to perform a particular behaviour that it cannot perform
This may occur when the appetitive (search) phase of a behaviour is impossible
What is known as behavioural needs?
Sometimes the animal needs/wants to perform a particular behaviour that it cannot perform
This may occur when the appetitive (search) phase of a behaviour is impossible
What is boredom?
Boredom is an unusual type of frustration
It could be seen as a kind of frustration where the motivation that’s being thwarted is actually for almost anything other than what’s currently available or possible
Because of this boredom has properties that differ from other frustrations
Define boredom
Boredom is an unpleasant emotion caused by sub-optimal arousal
What 3 things make up boredom?
1) Aversion to monotony
2) Sub-optimal arousal levels
3) A sense of time ‘dragging’
What are the 8 potential indicators of aversion to monotony?
1) Preference test
2) Conditioned place preference or Pavlovian conditioning
3) Cognitive bias/Judgement bias
4) Escape behaviour
5) Sensation-seeking behaviour and distractibility
6) Restlessness
7) Psychoactive drug consumption
8) Polyphagia/polydipsia
What are the 8 potential indicators of suboptimal arousal?
1) Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal activity
2) Sympathetic-Adrenomedullary activity
3) Awake inactivity
4) EEG activity
5) Respiratory patterns
6) Eye blink rate
7) Reduced muscle tone
8) Advanced onset of sleep
What is meant by time dragging?
Time dragging means the internal clock runs faster than external time, meaning external time feels relatively slow
Give 2 examples of time perception paradigms that can be used to measure time dragging
Peak interval tasks
Temporal bisection tasks
What happens in peak interval tasks experiments?
This is where you train an animal that it will get a reward after a set amount of time has passed
What you’d predict is that the animal will start feeling restless after the time has passed
However if the animal is in a boring environment it will become restless earlier than the set time period
What is happens in a temporal bisection tasks experiment?
This is a kind of discrimination task
An example is training an animal that a red key gives them a reward if they hear a short beep but the green key gives them a reward after a long tone
You’d then play them intermediate tones
If they’re in a more boring environment they will press the green key
True or false
Measuring time dragging has not been studied yet in the context of animal boredom or human boredom
True
True or false
Most research has been done on human boredom but only in the social sciences
True
We know from human questionnaire studies and epidemiological studies that chronic boredom is associated with what 2 things?
1) Sensation-seeking behaviours
2) Low arousal moods and consequences
True or false
Cognitive deficit and low-self esteem are things we can’t test in animals
True
Some people question the existence of animal boredom and suggest that it is an anthropomorphic topic
However, there is increasing research showing that animals behave in a way that’s consistent with boredom
How do animals behave in a way that’s consistent with boredom?
Animals often show aversion to monotony
