Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic?
Abstract Cognitive bias is defined as the influence of emotions on cognitive processes. The concept of the cognitive judgement bias has its origins in human psychology but has been applied to animals over the past 2 decades. In this study we were interested in determining if laterality and personali...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2024-06-01
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| Series: | Animal Cognition |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01876-4 |
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| author | F. Berlinghieri G. Rizzuto L. Kruizinga B. Riedstra TGG. Groothuis C. Brown |
| author_facet | F. Berlinghieri G. Rizzuto L. Kruizinga B. Riedstra TGG. Groothuis C. Brown |
| author_sort | F. Berlinghieri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Cognitive bias is defined as the influence of emotions on cognitive processes. The concept of the cognitive judgement bias has its origins in human psychology but has been applied to animals over the past 2 decades. In this study we were interested in determining if laterality and personality traits, which are known to influence learning style, might also be correlated with a cognitive bias in the three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We used the judgement bias test with the go/no-go procedure where fish were first trained to discriminate between a black and white card and, after reaching a minimum learning criterion, tested their response to an ambiguous card (grey). Optimistic subjects were expected to have a high expectation of reward associated with an ambiguous stimulus, whereas pessimistic subjects a high expectation of non-reward. We used an emergence and a mirror test to quantify boldness and laterality, respectively. We hypothesised that male, bolder and more strongly lateralized fish would be more optimistic than female, shy and less strongly lateralised fish. We found that males and more strongly lateralized fish were more optimistic than females and less strongly lateralized fish. In addition, bold males were more optimistic than shy males as we predicted, but females showed the opposite pattern. Finally, fish trained on the black colour card learned the training task faster than those trained on a white card. Our results indicate that both laterality and personality traits are linked to animals’ internal states (pessimistic or optimistic outlooks) which likely has broad implications for understanding animal behaviour particularly in a welfare context. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-09f146a20946477eb4e6087f95011e67 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1435-9456 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal Cognition |
| spelling | doaj-art-09f146a20946477eb4e6087f95011e672025-01-26T12:44:05ZengSpringerAnimal Cognition1435-94562024-06-0127111210.1007/s10071-024-01876-4Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic?F. Berlinghieri0G. Rizzuto1L. Kruizinga2B. Riedstra3TGG. Groothuis4C. Brown5Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of GroningenCoNISMa, Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del MareGroningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of GroningenGroningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of GroningenGroningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of GroningenDepartment of Biological Sciences, Macquarie UniversityAbstract Cognitive bias is defined as the influence of emotions on cognitive processes. The concept of the cognitive judgement bias has its origins in human psychology but has been applied to animals over the past 2 decades. In this study we were interested in determining if laterality and personality traits, which are known to influence learning style, might also be correlated with a cognitive bias in the three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We used the judgement bias test with the go/no-go procedure where fish were first trained to discriminate between a black and white card and, after reaching a minimum learning criterion, tested their response to an ambiguous card (grey). Optimistic subjects were expected to have a high expectation of reward associated with an ambiguous stimulus, whereas pessimistic subjects a high expectation of non-reward. We used an emergence and a mirror test to quantify boldness and laterality, respectively. We hypothesised that male, bolder and more strongly lateralized fish would be more optimistic than female, shy and less strongly lateralised fish. We found that males and more strongly lateralized fish were more optimistic than females and less strongly lateralized fish. In addition, bold males were more optimistic than shy males as we predicted, but females showed the opposite pattern. Finally, fish trained on the black colour card learned the training task faster than those trained on a white card. Our results indicate that both laterality and personality traits are linked to animals’ internal states (pessimistic or optimistic outlooks) which likely has broad implications for understanding animal behaviour particularly in a welfare context.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01876-4Cognitive biasLateralityBoldnessLearningOptimism versus pessimismFish |
| spellingShingle | F. Berlinghieri G. Rizzuto L. Kruizinga B. Riedstra TGG. Groothuis C. Brown Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic? Animal Cognition Cognitive bias Laterality Boldness Learning Optimism versus pessimism Fish |
| title | Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic? |
| title_full | Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic? |
| title_fullStr | Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic? |
| title_short | Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic? |
| title_sort | are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic |
| topic | Cognitive bias Laterality Boldness Learning Optimism versus pessimism Fish |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01876-4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fberlinghieri arelateralizedandboldfishoptimisticorpessimistic AT grizzuto arelateralizedandboldfishoptimisticorpessimistic AT lkruizinga arelateralizedandboldfishoptimisticorpessimistic AT briedstra arelateralizedandboldfishoptimisticorpessimistic AT tgggroothuis arelateralizedandboldfishoptimisticorpessimistic AT cbrown arelateralizedandboldfishoptimisticorpessimistic |