Preference Testing & Consumer Demand

Question 1

What insights on conscious perception can measuring animal decisions give us?

Answer 1

Priorities
Sensation
Mood

Question 2

Give some examples of decision making tests?

Answer 2

Preference test
Consumer Demand test
Conditioned Place Preference test
Threshold test
Cognitive Bias test

Question 3

What do decision making tests help us see?

Answer 3

If the animal is:
Fit and feeling good
Healthy and have what they want
Living according to their nature/telos
Has their 5 freedoms/needs met

Question 4

What do decision making tests not let us see?

Answer 4

If the animal is coping
If the animal has a life worth living or a good life
This one is debatable

Question 5

How do you do a preference test?

Answer 5

The animal is given 2 or more options and then you measure an indicator of their preference

Question 6

What are examples of indicators of preference in preference tests?

Answer 6

Latency to choose
Frequency of interacting with each option
Duration of interacting with each option

Question 7

Name a historical example of a preference test?

Answer 7

Hughes and Black’s 1973 experiment to see the preference of domestic laying hens for different types of battery cage floors.

Question 8

What were the findings of Hughes and Black’s 1973 preference test?

Answer 8

The hens preferred a lighter mesh floor than a heavier mesh floor.
This is thought to be due to contact points on the floor that the lighter mesh provided.

Question 9

What were the results of Burn and Mason’s 2008 rat preference test?

Answer 9

Rats have no preference between freshly cleaned and scent-marked cages.
However the rats did show preference for being with their friends/group, since they’d move around together.

Question 10

How are non-human animals different to humans?

Answer 10

They have different senses

Question 11

Why do we need preference tests?

Answer 11

Non-human animals have different sensory capabilities to humans

They help to avoid anthropocentricity and anthropomorphism

Question 12

What must we be careful to account for when interpreting data from preference tests?

Answer 12

Animal perceptual capabilities are different
Integration of information may be different for animals
How animals express themselves as a motivation

Question 13

How can preference tests be useful in formalising observations of approach- avoidance behaviour?

Answer 13

It can show us Valence

Animals will usually avoid things they don’t like, but their are exceptions and vice versa

Question 14

Can preference tests allow us to see what creatures prefer when you can’t use other indicators?

Answer 14

Yes

Question 15

Give an example of when a preference test allows us to see what creatures prefer when you can’t use other indicators?

Answer 15

Insects are an example of an animal which we’d use preference tests to see their Valence as we can’t use many other indicators to do so

Question 16

Because preference is subjective what must you do?

Answer 16

Measure indicators to make it objective

Question 17

What must we be aware of about preferences subjective nature?

Answer 17

Preference is subjective so it’s a personal choice which may not represent other animals

Question 18

When and who did the first preference test?

Answer 18

Dawkins in 1976

Question 19

What was Dawkins’ 1976 preference test about?

Answer 19

She wanted to see if hens preferred battery cages or free range systems

Question 20

What indicator did Dawkins 1976 use?

Answer 20

The speed at which the hen moved from the start box into either an empty cage or an outdoor run

Dawkins measured the latency of approach to the stimulus

Question 21

What were Dawkins 1976 findings?

Answer 21

Hens used to living outside moved more quickly to the outside run
Battery-kept birds moved more quickly into the battery cages
When hens were familiar with both environments the hens showed no significant preference

This showed that prior experience was really important to hen preference
The hens preferred the familiar and were afraid of the unfamiliar

Question 22

What are some potential reasons for the lack of difference when the hens were familiar with both environments in Dawkins 1976 experiment?

Answer 22

Maybe hens don’t care where they live

Maybe the need to explore both options was too great
The hens didn’t know which scenario to explore first

Maybe the hens like having both options on different days

Maybe speed of running wasn’t the best measure

Maybe they ran to avoid the start box

Question 23

Define anthropocentricity

Answer 23

An inclination to evaluate reality in terms of human values

Question 24

Define anthropomorphism

Answer 24

The attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a god, animal or object

Question 25

In 2000 what did Danbury et al do an experiment to find out?

Answer 25

If lameness hurt chickens

Question 26

Define lameness

Answer 26

An abnormal gait or stance of an animal that is the result of dysfunction of locomotor systems

Question 27

How did Danbury et al 2000 conduct their study?

Answer 27

First Danbury et al scored lameness severity in the chickens Then they gave the chickens the option of normal food or food with analgesics Then Danbury et al scored the chickens lameness severity after they ate the food

Question 28

What are Danbury et al 2000's experimental findings?

Answer 28

Non-lame chickens avoided the food containing analgesics, and when they did try the food with analgesics they would shake their heads Chickens shake their heads when they eat something bitter or unpalatable Lamer chickens ate more of the food containing analgesics suggesting that lame chickens ate unpalatable food to ease their pain Danbury et al 2000 also noted that chickens that are the analgesics had better (lower) lameness scores This suggests that lamness is due to pain and not just due to any structural issues in chickens

Question 29

What happened in 2009?

Answer 29

An experiment was conducted to see when animals choose an environment if they are also the happiest they could be in that environment

Question 30

How was the 2009 study conducted?

Answer 30

Over 36 weeks 60 hens lived sequentially in 3 different environments: - Wire floor - Shaving floor - Enriched environment It had perches and nest boxes The 60 hens were grouped based on the random order they experienced the environments. While living in each environment multiple welfare indicators were measured After 36 weeks the hens choose repeatedly between different environments using a T-maze to compare the environments pair wise

Question 31

What were the findings of the 2009 experiment?

Answer 31

The only significant difference was that chickens preferred the enriched environment over the wired floor environment The chickens also seem to be mostly 'logical' in their choices Their choices were based on the preference hierarchy in their head The chickens did not choose randomly they actively thought and chose The chickens also showed individual preferences for each environment Some chickens preferred the wired environment over the others The study found that prefer environments that were best for their welfare

Question 32

In the 2009 study which chickens preferred the wire floor option?

Answer 32

Heavier chickens

Question 33

How did the 2009 study conclude that hens prefer environments that were best for their welfare?

Answer 33

This was concluded due to the hens that chose their preferred environment had: - lower body temperature - lower blood glucose - lower reactions to novelty - greater feed digestibility - more relaxed self-grooming

Question 34

What are the 6 considerations for preference tests?

Answer 34

1) They only show relative preference An example is A Vs B These preferences are made in artificial environments which may alter decisions made 2) They show short term Vs long term preferences These studies have shown that animals can actually get addicted to drugs 3) Maybe we are generating the motivation rather than measuring it 4) It's hard to know what's the best welfare indicator to use 5) Do animals choose what they really prefer? 6) Does giving them what they prefer improve welfare?

Question 35

How are consumer demand tests different to preference tests?

Answer 35

Consumer demand tests are similar to preference tests but there's a 'cost' associated with any particular resource This cost allows us to quantify how much animals want that thing using a common currency The common currency has to be relevant to the animal being studied

Question 36

Are things that are important to animals but take a short time to happen equal to longer necessary things in consumer demand tests?

Answer 36

Yes, it just depends on study design

Question 37

What was consumer demand tests based off of?

Answer 37

A simplified theory of economics | Economics looks at how people divide their limited money amongst the things that they want and need

Question 38

In consumer demand tests when something is a necessity what is it known as?

Answer 38

Inelastic | This is because we will buy it regardless of cost

Question 39

In consumer demand tests when something is considered a luxury we stop getting them when the cost increases. What are theses luxuries called?

Answer 39

Elastic

Question 40

Who pioneered consumer demand tests?

Answer 40

Dawkins

Question 41

What was Dawkins' 1983 experiment?

Answer 41

How do caged hens value litter rather than wire floor?

Question 42

What was Dawkins 1983 consumer demand tests 'cost'?

Answer 42

Time | For chickens time is money

Question 43

How was Dawkins 1983 consumer demand test conducted?

Answer 43

In the experiment the hens had access to either food or litter for either: - 2 hours - 4 hours - 8 hours The rest of the time the chickens were housed in cages with water only If the chickens valued the litter highly, they would spend more time on the litter than on the wire with food even when time is restricted

Question 44

What were Dawkins 1983 results of the consumer demand test?

Answer 44

Dawkins saw that as time became more restricted, hens spent a higher proportion of time eating However there was no significant difference between their 'free time' spent on litter Vs wire

Question 45

What did Dawkins 1983 argue was the causes of her consumer demand test results?

Answer 45

Food was too strong a trade off The space was too small that chickens would explore even on the wire Litter is not unimportant to chickens, the consumer demand test wasn't designed good enough to test it properly

Question 46

What are the 3 types of costs consumer demand tests can have?

Answer 46

Operant costs Homeostatic challenges Natural aversion/obstacles

Question 47

Give examples of operant costs

Answer 47

Restricted time Pushing weighted doors Pressing levers

Question 48

Give examples of homeostatic challenges

Answer 48

Energy restrictions This is usually done with food Body temperature

Question 49

Give examples of natural aversion/obstacles

Answer 49

Wading through different depths of water Climbing different barrier heights Air blasts Brightness

Question 50

What are the 3 ways willingness to pay, or degree of welfare benefits, in consumer demand tests can be measured?

Answer 50

Elasticity of demand Reservation price Consumer surplus

Question 51

In consumer demand tests what does 'elasticity of demand' mean?

Answer 51

This is where you measure the change in how much the animal accesses the resource in response to a change in cost

Question 52

In consumer demand tests what does 'reservation price' mean?

Answer 52

This is where you measure the highest cost the animal is willing to pay for a resource

Question 53

In consumer demand tests what does 'consumer surplus' mean?

Answer 53

This is where you measure the difference between the highest cost the animal is willing to pay verses the actual cost in real life Reservation cost Vs real life cost This can help provide cheap enrichments that are at the same importance as expensive ones

Question 54

Name an example of a consumer demand test

Answer 54

Mason et al 2011

Question 55

What was Mason et al's consumer demand test looking at?

Answer 55

Frustrations of fur-farmed mink

Question 56

How was Mason et al's 2011 consumer demand test conducted?

Answer 56

In the experiment there were 8 males and 8 females ``` The animals were put in a central cage which was surrounded by further cages with either of the following in them: Nesting site Plastic tunnels Toys Novel objects Wire tunnel and platform Water pool for swimming Empty cage to see if they wanted more space Food ``` The mink would need to push through weighted cat-flaps to get to the resources The weight was the cost The weight of reaching the resources increased successively with each day The weights varied between 0.00kg and 1.25kg with 0.25kg incriminates Mason et al then measured duration and frequency of visits to each resource Food was used as a baseline for maximum cost Food is commonly used as a baseline for maximum cost

Question 57

What did Mason et al 2011 find?

Answer 57

Access to the swimming pool was the most 'inelastic' Mink naturally live near water sources so this makes sense Mink payed the most 'cost' to reach the pool across the board

Question 58

What are the 6 things to consider in relation to consumer demand tests?

Answer 58

1) It's important to choose a valid cost 2) Biological constraints and individual differences should be taken into consideration 3) Open and closed economy in terms of animals 4) Duration of testing 5) Suitability and substitutability 6) Is the artificial environments compelling the animal to do something since they're already in a non-optimal environment

Question 59

In consumer demand tests what is a open economy?

Answer 59

If the animal can access the resources outside of the experiment it's an open economy

Question 60

In consumer demand tests what is a closed economy

Answer 60

The animal can't access the resources outside of the experiment

Question 61

What kind of consumer demand test is considered to be the best?

Answer 61

Closed economy, long term experiments | This is not always the case though

Question 62

In consumer demand test considerations what is meant by 'Suitability and substitutability'?

Answer 62

This is when considering if a resource supplied meets more than 1 need or if it doesn't allow all the behaviours you would expect the animal to do when exposed to it

Question 63

When are conditioned place preference tests primarily used?

Answer 63

In pharmacology to test rewarding properties of a psychoactive drug

Question 64

How are conditioned place preference tests conducted?

Answer 64

First the animal is dosed with the drug and placed into one compartment Then the researcher waits for the drug to wear off Then the researcher doses the animal with a placebo and places the animal in a distinctly different compartment Then the researcher waits the same amount of time that it takes for the drug to wear off This is then repeated until the animal can associate each compartment with a feeling based on the treatment they were on in that room Then the animals, in an untreated state, are allowed to choose which compartment they want to be in The animal will usually choose the compartments associated with the rewarding feeling attached to it in their minds

Question 65

In a conditioned place preference test what is important to make sure about the compartments?

Answer 65

The different compartments are distinct from each other in regards to the animals perspective

Question 66

How would you conduct a conditioned place aversion test

Answer 66

The method is the same as the conditioned place preference tests but the treatment used makes the animal averse to treatment compartment This means you'd expect the animal to want to go to the placebo compartment when you let it choose the compartment it wants to be in

Question 67

What are the 2 advantages of the conditioned place tests?

Answer 67

The conditioned place tests allow you to do a test for a resource's importance when a preference test isn't an option Conditioned place tests avoid the animal approaching things just because they can see it instead of wanting it It is known that during preference tests animals have been known to approach predators or competitors they would normally fight just because they can see them

Question 68

How do conditioned place tests allow you to do a test for a resource importance when a preference test isn't an option?

Answer 68

The compartments all have a resource, but they can be accessed whenever the animal wants to This places all elastic and inelastic needs on an equal footing even if some take longer to accomplish You will just see which compartment the animal prefers to go in, which it has associated with that resource when all compartments are empty This gives researchers the option to study options that provoke differences in frequencies or durations of interaction can be compared

Question 69

Name a conditioned place preference test?

Answer 69

De Jonge et al 2008

Question 70

What was De Jonge et al 2008 testing?

Answer 70

De Jonge et al 2008 did a conditioned place preference test to see whether pigs preferred to either forage for treats or have them served in a trough

Question 71

How did De Jonge et al 2008 conduct the conditioned place test?

Answer 71

First the 21 piglets were given a pre-test so they could explore each compartment to get to know what each one compartment had In 1 compartment there was straw on the floor and 10 chocolate raisins in the trough In the other compartment there was straw and 10 chocolate raisins hidden in the straw Then during the conditioning phase each piglet was placed in each compartment for 3 minutes at a time, 10 times a day After 7 days of conditioning the piglets were then allowed to enter the compartments freely when both compartments were empty De Jonge et al 2008 then measured which compartments the piglets went into and the frequency and duration of each compartments visits

Question 72

What were De Jonge et al 2008's findings?

Answer 72

Piglets preferred foraging significantly more than the trough

Question 73

Name a conditioned place aversion test

Answer 73

Elwood's test on crabs

Question 74

How did Elwood conduct their experiment?

Answer 74

Elwood provided the crabs with 2 dark shelters but would shock the crabs in 1 of the shelters

Question 75

What were Elwood's findings?

Answer 75

Crabs will generally return to shelters that they've previously occupied However after receiving repeated shocks in 1 shelter the crabs were less likely to return to the shelter they were shocked in

Question 76

What has research into crustaceans shown?

Answer 76

Elwood 2008: crustaceans avoid placed associated with electric shocks Huber et al 2011: crustaceans approach places associated with morphine and amphetamines

Question 77

What does professor Birch argue?

Answer 77

Professor Birch argued that findings by Elwood and other experiments show credible indicators of pain felt by crustaceans However the evidence is not conclusive, but we should give the crustaceans the benefit of the doubt due to the potential suffering the evidence shows when cooking crustaceans

Question 78

What are the 5 things you need to be aware of when conducting preference or consumer demand tests?

Answer 78

1) You need to remove or balance out environmental biases 2) You need meaningful alternative options 3) You need to consider if the experiment needs to cover a whole circadian cycle or even several seasons 4) You need to interpret the data with caution 5) You need to consider your measures/indicators carefully

Question 79

Give an example of why you need to consider if the experiment needs to cover a whole circadian cycle or even several seasons to conduct good preference and consumer demand tests

Answer 79

Animals may not seem to care about nests unless it's nighttime or they have babies

Question 80

Why do you need to interpret the data with caution when conducting good preference and consumer demand tests?

Answer 80

Animals don't always choose what is best for them The artificial environment may affect their choices

Question 81

Why do you need to consider your measures/indicators carefully when conducting good preference and consumer demand tests?

Answer 81

Sometimes animals spend lots of time investigating threatening stimuli, so other welfare indicators may reveal whether they like or dislike the stimulus Approach does not always mean like