Principle Of Validity, Validation & Critical Interpretation Of Welfare Indicators Flashcards

1
Q

In practice which concepts would be used to assess for welfare?

A

Functioning
Feeling
Natural living

Quality of life

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2
Q

What are used to assess the welfare concepts?

A

Welfare indicators/ measures

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3
Q

Define welfare indicator?

A

Any measurable external resource or aspect of an animals biology that is hypothesised to signify different animal welfare states

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4
Q

What are the 2 main types of welfare indicators?

A

Resource based indicators

Animal based indicators

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5
Q

What are resource based indicators also known as?

A

Inputs

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6
Q

What are resource based indicators?

A

Resource based indicators are what we give the animal

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7
Q

Give some examples of resource based indicators?

A

Food

Shelter

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8
Q

What are animal based indicators also known as?

A

Outputs

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9
Q

What are animal based indicators?

A

Animal based indicators are the measure taken from the animals themselves

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10
Q

What are the 2 categories of animal based indicators?

A

Direct observation

‘asking’

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11
Q

What is direct observation?

A

Direct observation is data taken from non-disturbed measurements of appropriate welfare indicators

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12
Q

Give some examples of direct observation?

A

Body condition
Vocalisation rate
Aggression rate

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13
Q

What is ‘asking’?

A

‘Asking’ is when you collect data by measuring the responses to relevant experimental stimuli

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14
Q

Give some examples of ‘Asking’?

A

Preference test
Threshold test
Cognitive bias test

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15
Q

Examples of resource based measures?

A

Is there enough space?
Is there appropriate lighting, temperature and ventilation?
Is there appropriate bedding?
Is the bedding frequently replaced?
Is there enough food and appropriate diet?
Is there appropriate companionship?
Is the substrate appropriate?
Can they dig if necessary?
Is there fresh water?
Is there nesting material?

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16
Q

By looking at resource based measures what do you need to do to assess welfare?

A

You’ll then make assumptions based on those resources on whether or not good welfare is present

If all those resources are regularly provided for the animal, then it’s a sign of good welfare
If there’s an absence of some/all of the resources then it’s a sign of bad welfare

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17
Q

Do animal based measures rely on our knowledge of the animals needs?

A

Not necessarily

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18
Q

Examples of animal based measures?

A
The disease state
Responses to human approach
Injuries
Body condition
Normal feeding and drinking
Dental health
Resting
Appropriate natural behaviours
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19
Q

How do we know these indicators tell us about welfare?

A

We know whether or not an indicator can tell us about welfare based on whether or not that indicator is valid.

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20
Q

Define validity?

A

The extent to which a concept, conclusion or measurement is well-founded and likely corresponds accurately to the real world

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21
Q

How do you know if something is valid?

A

If the passed assessments on validity with varying to robustness
The more tests of validity passed the more confident we can be

22
Q

What is the lowest level of validity?

A

Face validity

23
Q

What is face validity?

A

Face validity is conceptualised as whether or not experts think that indicator is valid or not

24
Q

Is face validity subjective?

A

Yes, even if they’re experts deciding

25
Q

How is face validity done formally?

A

The ‘expert’ is first defined
Then the expert will rate the validity/appropriateness of using the indicator
Then there has to be a defined level of agreement between the experts
Once this is done then the data can be accepted as having face validity

26
Q

What are the problems with face validity?

A

Face validity has no empirical data to back up the validity claim
This means face validity is subject to individual expert knowledge and judgement, but they can still be wrong

27
Q

Name the 3 ‘goals’ an indicator must meet 1 of to meet the valid welfare indicator criteria?

A

1) Homology with indicators of human welfare
2) Consistent discrimination between pharmacological and/or situational contexts associated with positive or negative experiences
3) Correlation with other indicators we know are valid

28
Q

Which of the 3 goals of the valid welfare indicator criteria fall under construct validity?

A

Homology with indicators of human welfare

Consistent discrimination between pharmacological and/or situational contexts associated with positive or negative experiences

29
Q

Which of the 3 goals of the valid welfare criteria fall under critical validity?

A

Correlation with other indicators we know are valid

30
Q

Define Homology?

A

The state of having the same or similar relation, relative position or structure

31
Q

For the indicator to be homologous with human indicators of welfare the animal in question needs to have what?

A

Same/equivalent physiology or neural architecture as humans

32
Q

What is construct validity?

A

Construct validity demonstrates whether or not the hypothesised relationship between the indicator and welfare is supported by experimental data

33
Q

Are there species-specific indicators that cannot be homologous with humans?

A

Yes

34
Q

What can “consistent discrimination between pharmacological and/or situational contexts associated with positive or negative experience” also be known as?

A

Discrimination of Valence by the indicator

35
Q

What does Valence mean?

A

Valence means whether an experience is positive or negative/ pleasant or unpleasant

36
Q

Can Valence discriminate the indicators presence or absence of, or between negative or positive states such as pain and pleasure?

A

Yes

37
Q

What is Valence used to detect?

A

Positive and negative experiences,

and arousal

38
Q

Define arousal?

A

The physiological and psychological state of being awoken or of sense organs stimulated to a point of perception

39
Q

For an indicator to be valid by being able to discriminate valency it must consistently discriminate in what situations?

A

Known populations with or without a condition
Individuals before and after treatment that we know to be effective
Situations in which the animal chooses to avoid or do something
Situations in which the animal chooses to harm or promote its fitness

40
Q

How are criterion validity goals measured?

A

You measure the ‘new’ indicator at the same time as measuring a ‘gold standard’ indicator used for the same aspect of welfare that we already know to be valid.

Then we’ll predict the relationship between the 2 measures to be consistent

41
Q

Why can we not assume a measure will be valid for any/all uses if not tested for them?

A

Indicator validity can vary
Indicator validity may vary between species

The measures validity ncan vary according to the type of situation or challenge

The indicator validity may not be tested for some populations
The indicator was only tested on 1 strain/breed and may not work for others in the same species
It may only work for 1 specific subset/category of pain or another negative experience

42
Q

What are examples where the situation or challenge may alter validity?

A
Acute Vs chronic
Short term Vs long term
Negative Vs positive
           For example it may only say if it's negative or not without us knowing if it was neutral or positive
Laboratory Vs field experiment
43
Q

What do welfare indicators ideally want to be?

A

Reliable

Sensitive

44
Q

What do we mean when we call a welfare measure reliable?

A

It consistently gives us the same result for the same sample

45
Q

What do we mean when we call a welfare indicator sensitive?

A

The measure can discriminate between different severities of the experience

An example would be discriminating between the severity of pain

46
Q

What are the 6 factors to consider when interpreting measures according to Mason & Mendl 1993?

A

1) Differences in the same measure often make functional sense given the biological context/stressor
2) The animals varying underlying psychological state may affect the data collected
3) Timing and duration of stimulus
4) Time course of the indicator change
5) Species (and strain), age and sex may differ in a baseline for the indicator
6) there’s individual differences in response to challenges and there’s a lot of factors that play into that

47
Q

Why do Mason and Mendl 1993 say we need to consider “differences in the same measure often make functional sense given the biological context/stressor?

A

If we understand the animals biology enough then we can understand the differences seen when looking at the same indicator

48
Q

Why do Mason and Mendl 1993 say we have to consider that “the animals varying underlying psychological state may affect the data collected”?

A

Experience, familiarity, responses to companions, predictability, controllability and conflicting motivational states may affect responses to the stimuli and thus the measure will alter
Due to this you need to be careful when designing/looking at experiments and their data since these factors can help explain why it exists

49
Q

Why do Mason and Mendl 1993 say we need to consider “time and duration of stimulus”?

A

As the stressor is being experienced we need to be aware of what other events are happening at the same time that may affect the data

An example is if the animal has chronic exposure to a stimulus then the animal can habituate or even physiologically desensitise to it

50
Q

What 3 reasons do Mason and Mendl 1993 say we need to consider “time course of indicator change”?

A

1) Some indicators respond more rapidly
2) Some indicators respond more sensitively to a stimulus
3) Some indicators take longer to return to a baseline level

Due to this understanding the indicators functional role and the relevance of when we sample those changes is really important