Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Vocal Perception: Brain Event-Related Potentials In A Chimpanzee, Gary G. Berntson, Sarah T. Boysen, Michael W. Torello

Sentience Collection

We describe the first brain event-related potential (ERP) study of cognitive processes in the chimpanzee. In an extension of our studies on the ontogeny of vocal perception, ERP measures were obtained during the presentation of simple nonsignal stimuli as well as conspecific and human vocalizations. We initially confirmed findings from humans and monkeys of the appearance of a long-latency positivity in the ERP waveform to a rare stimulus in an oddball paradigm. This ERP component is reminiscent of the P3a reported in humans under similar (passive) experimental conditions. We further demonstrated that both conspecific and human vocal stimuli having affective …

Loved--Or Lost?

Close Up Reports

No abstract provided.

Prisoners Of The Trade

Close Up Reports

No abstract provided.

Towards A Boundless Ethic, Henry Spira

Commentaries and Editorials

No abstract provided.

Slaughter On The High Seas

Close Up Reports

No abstract provided.

Developing A Successful Riparian-Wetland Grazing Management Plan For The Upper Ruby River Cattle And Horse Allotment In Southwestern Montana, Paul Hansen

Ecological Impacts of Animal Agriculture Collection

No abstract provided.

A Standardized G‐Banded Karyotype For The Raccoon (Procyon Lotor) Compared With The Domestic Cat, Roscoe Stanyon, Francesca Bigoni, Johannes Weinberg, John Hadidian

Genetics Collection

We propose a standardized karyotype for the raccoon (Procyon lotor; 2n = 38, FN 74) and compare it with that of the domestic cat (2n = 38, FN 72). Numerous chromosomes (12) have similar and sometimes identical G-banding and 14 chromosome pairs have remained intact. Other chromosomes apparently differ by Robertsonian translocations and inversions. The conservation of these karyotypes is remarkable considering that the divergence of procyonids and felids predates 50 million years B.P. However, the common diploid number of 38 is not a primitive retention, as sometimes hypothesized. Instead, cats and raccoons converged on this chromosome number by a …

The Value And Utility Of Animals In Research, Andrew N. Rowan, Joan C. Weer

Validation of Animal Experimentation Collection

The Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, Center for Animals and Public Policy, sponsored an invitational seminar, The Value and Utility of Animals in Research, on October 14, 1993, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. This seminar was the second in a series of three organized by the Center for Animals and Public Policy and supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts to deal with issues relating to the use of animals in research. The first seminar, Biology Education and Animals: Opportunities and Issues, was held in the spring of 1993. The third meeting, at the National Press Club …

Assessing Animal Well-Being: Common Sense, Uncommon Science, David Fraser

Assessment of Animal Welfare Collection

The scientific assessment of the well-being of an animal involves finding indicators of three broad criteria: 1) a high level of biological functioning; 2) freedom from suffering in the sense of prolonged fear, pain, and other negative experiences; and 3) positive experiences such as comfort and contentment. The tools available to assess animal wellbeing include a mixture of common sense and cutting-edge science. Measures of animal productivity can help to assess an animal’s level of biological functioning, but they need to be used with care. Among veterinary approaches, pathology detects breakdown in biological functioning, while epidemiology identifies the circumstances under …

Animal Welfare And Individual Characteristics: A Conversation Against Speciesism, Marc Bekoff, Lori Gruen

Animal Welfare Collection

It seems impossible for a human being not to have some point of view concerning nonhuman animal (hereafter animal) welfare. Many people make decisions about how humans are permitted to treat animals using speciesist criteria, basing their decisions on an individual's species membership rather than on that animal's individual characteristics. Although speciesism provides a convenient way for making difficult decisions about who should be used in different types of research, we argue that such decisions should rely on an analysis of individual characteristics and should not be based merely on species membership. We do not argue that the concept of …

Shackle & Hoist: The Power Of Alternatives, Henry Spira

Articles

Few things in the decades-old horror show of farm animal-suffering have bothered all of us quite so much as shackling and hoisting. It should come as a relief to animal protectionists that the curtain is finally beginning to fall on the last grisly scenes of this archaic practice.

While our ideal remains the non-violent dinner table, the reality is that eating habits lend to change slowly. In terms of the "three Rs" this means that adopting a meatless diet for ethical reasons (Replacement) remains our long-term goal. In the short term our best bet is to also focus on eating …

Animal Rights: The Frontiers Of Compassion, Henry Spira

Articles

No abstract provided.

Tackling The Titans, Erik Marcus

Profiles

The successful strategy of animal-rights activist Henry Spira.

Interview: Henry Spira, Foundation For Biomedical Research

Interviews

No abstract provided.

Refinements In Rabbit Husbandry, The Bvaawf/Frame/Rspca/Ufaw Joint Working Group On Refinement

Breeding of Laboratory Research Animals Collection

The aims of this report are to identify the needs of domesticated rabbits and to present information on ways in which the current systems of housing rabbits can be improved for the benefit of all concerned: the animal, the scientist, the animal technician and the breeder.

In recent years an increasing number of establishments have changed from standard caging to group housing systems, despite the traditionally-held view that mature rabbits cannot be housed together. In this report group housing in floor pens is discussed in detail (Section 2), with both the advantages and disadvantages of this system presented. It is …

Counting In Chimpanzees: Nonhuman Principles And Emergent Properties Of Number, Sarah T. Boysen

Numeracy Collection

No abstract provided.