Psychology Commons^™

Time To Stop Pretending We Don’T Know Other Animals Are Sentient Beings, Marc Bekoff

Animal Sentience

Rowan et al.’s target article is an outstanding review of some of the history of the science of sentience, but one would have liked to see a much stronger “call to action.” We don’t need any more data to know that many other animals are sentient beings whose lives must be protected from harm in a wide variety of contexts. It is not anti-science to want more action on behalf of other animals right now.

Sentience In Decapod Crustaceans: A General Framework And Review Of The Evidence, Andrew Crump, Heather Browning, Alex Schnell, Charlotte Burn, Jonathan Birch

Animal Sentience

We outline a framework for evaluating scientific evidence of sentience, focusing on pain experience. It includes eight neural and cognitive-behavioural criteria, with confidence levels for each criterion reflecting the reliability and quality of the evidence. We outline the rationale for each criterion and apply our framework to a controversial sentience candidate: decapod crustaceans. We have either high or very high confidence that true crabs (infraorder Brachyura) satisfy five criteria, amounting to strong evidence of sentience. Moreover, we have high confidence that both anomuran crabs (infraorder Anomura) and astacid lobsters/crayfish (infraorder Astacidea) meet three criteria—substantial evidence of sentience. The case is, …

Of Course Crustaceans Are Sentient: But There's More To The Story, Arthur S. Reber, Frantisek Baluska, William B. Miller Jr.

Animal Sentience

We are in basic agreement with Crump et al. that animal welfare, particularly with regard to the experience of pain, is a topic of importance. However, we come to the issue from a different perspective, one in which all species are sentient and can feel pain. The implications of this theory are discussed.

Legal Recognition Of Animal Sentience: The Case For Cautious Optimism, Jane Kotzmann

Animal Sentience

Rowan et al.’s target article provides a valuable indication of the work that was required to reach the point where animals are recognised as sentient in various laws. To ensure this work was not in vain, the language of sentience needs to be used as a moral currency to demand further cultural change involving greater human respect for animals.

Investigating Mechanisms Of Injury And Intervention In A Novel In Vitro Model Of Traumatic Brain Injury In Organotypic Hippocampal Slice Cultures, Julia Elaine Jagielo-Miller

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) impact millions of individuals each year and can pose long term consequences. Despite numerous attempts, no medication has been approved by the FDA to treat TBIs. The causes of these failed trials are multifaceted, but in part can be attributed to the complex nature of TBIs, as well as a lack of sufficient pre-clinical data. In vitro models of TBI are an important tool to help understand the cellular changes seen following the injury, in a highly controlled environment. For the following experiments, a novel model of TBI was used to injure organotypic hippocampal slice cultures, …

Revisiting Donald Griffin, Founder Of Cognitive Ethology, Carolyn A. Ristau

Animal Sentience

Donald Griffin’s writings, beginning with The Question of Animal Awareness (1976), strove to persuade scientists to study the possibility of animal sentience, the basis of Rowan et al.’s efforts to promote animal well-being. Facing great hostility (but also some acceptance) for his ideas, Griffin initially avoided animal welfare advocacy, fearing it would further undermine his efforts to gain recognition of animal sentience. In later years, however, he began to ponder the ethical implications of animal sentience, intending to study wild elephants’ communication and social behavior to better understand their experienced life and apply it to improving conservation methods. As he …

Sentience Politics : A Fishy Perspective, Culum Brown

Animal Sentience

The plight of fishes has almost certainly got worse since Bentham (1789) coined the phrase “The question is not Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but Can they suffer?” Despite the fact that fishes are increasingly recognised as sentient animals worthy of protection under animal welfare legislation in many countries around the world, fishing practices are almost universally exempt activities. The human population continues to grow, and, surprisingly, per capita intake of fish is still increasing (FAO 2020). The source of this fish is not wild stocks (catches of which have remained more or less stagnant for …

All Living Organisms Are Sentient, Arthur S. Reber, Frantisek Baluska, William B. Miller Jr.

Animal Sentience

We argue that all living organisms, from the simplest unicellular prokaryotes to Homo sapiens, have valenced experiences—feelings as states of preference—and are capable of cognitive representations. Bacteria can learn, form stable memories, and communicate, hence solve problems. Rowan et al.'s statement that "Subjective feelings are just that — subjective — and are available only to the animal (or human) experiencing them" is true but irrelevant. When we see a fish flopping about in the bottom of a boat we immediately recognize suffering without having a glimpse of the nature of piscine distress. Some controlled anthropomorphism can go a …

The Science Of Animal Sentience And The Politics Of Animal Welfare Should Be Kept Separate, Marian Stamp Dawkins

Animal Sentience

Although linked historically by Rowan et al., the scientific study of animal sentience and political campaigns to improve animal welfare should be kept separate, for at least two reasons. First, the separation makes it clear that standards of evidence acceptable for ethical or political decisions on animal welfare can be lower than those required for a rigorously scientific approach to animal sentience. Second, it helps to avoid confirmatory bias in the form of giving undue weight to results that are in line with pre-conceived ideas and political views.

The Reality And Prevalence Of Animal Sentience, Antonio Damasio

Animal Sentience

Rowan et al use findings from neurobiology, clinical neurology, and general biology to argue for the extensive presence of sentience in animals, but they are wisely cautious concerning when in the phylogenetic scale that emergence occurred.

The Evolution Of Quantitative Sensitivity, Margaret A H Bryer, Sarah E. Koopman, Jessica F. Cantlon, Steven T. Piantadosi, Evan L. Maclean, Joseph M. Baker, Michael J. Beran, Sarah M. Jones, Kerry E. Jordan, Salif Mahamane, Andreas Nieder, Bonnie M. Perdue, Friederike Range, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Masaki Tomonaga, Dorottya Ujfalussy, Jennifer Vonk

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

The ability to represent approximate quantities appears to be phylogenetically widespread, but the selective pressures and proximate mechanisms favouring this ability remain unknown. We analysed quantity discrimination data from 672 subjects across 33 bird and mammal species, using a novel Bayesian model that combined phylogenetic regression with a model of number psychophysics and random effect components. This allowed us to combine data from 49 studies and calculate the Weber fraction (a measure of quantity representation precision) for each species. We then examined which cognitive, socioecological and biological factors were related to variance in Weber fraction. We found contributions of phylogeny …

Motivated Science: What Humans Gain From Denying Animal Sentience, Uri Lifshin

Animal Sentience

Resistance to the idea that non-human animals are sentient resembles erstwhile resistance to the theory that the earth is not the centre of the universe, or that humans evolved from “apes”. All these notions are psychologically threatening. They can remind people of their own creatureliness and mortality and might make them feel guilty or uncertain about their way of life. An honest debate over animal sentience, welfare and rights should consider the human motivation to deprive animals of these things in the first place. I briefly review empirical evidence on the psychological function of denying animal minds.

The Electrophysiological Correlates Of Text Integration And Direct Vs. Indirect Articles: A Centralized And Lateralized Examination, Deanna C. Hall

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As we read, we develop mental models of the discourse content called situation models. Situation models are integral to how we keep track of information, and to do so in an ongoing event incoming information needs to be integrated into the model or discarded. The type of information being presented, and its relation to prior data, impacts how that new information is processed. The current research examined discourse passages containing concepts that were either previously mentioned (match), mentioned with a general term (general category), unmentioned in lieu of another concept (mismatch), or completely unmentioned previously (indeterminate), and examined how these …

Wild Animal Welfare, Clare Palmer, Peter Sandøe

Animal Sentience

Rowan et al’s article provides an overview of developments in the science of animal sentience and its links to animal welfare policy, especially regarding farm animals. But changing ideas of animal sentience and welfare are also important for managing wild and other free-living animals. We ask how the welfare of these animals differs from that of farmed animals, especially how the ability to make autonomous choices may matter. We suggest that more research into wild animal welfare is needed to make informed policy decisions, for example, about using animals in rewilding projects and choosing between policies of culling and fertility …

Positive Motivational Self-Talk: The Influence Of Gender On Performance, Perception Of Self-Talk, And Performance Anxiety During A Disc Golf Putting Exercise Before And After A Self-Talk Intervention, Samantha L. Hennessy

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Caregivers’ Inclination To See Their Children As Psychological Agents And Its Antecedents: A Cross-Cultural Study Of Parental Bonding, Reflective Functioning, And Maternal Mind-Mindedness, Chun-Hao Chiu

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examined difference in maternal mind-mindedness among American mothers, Taiwanese mothers, and mothers who emigrated from Taiwan and had their first child in the United States (Taiwanese Immigrant Mothers). It also investigated relationships between maternal mind-mindedness and mothers’ bonding with their parents during early years and their general mentalizing abilities for these three groups of mothers. One hundred twenty-three American mothers (Mage = 33.33 years old; SD = 5.31), 129 Taiwanese mothers (Mage = 35.93 years old; SD = 4.05), and 105 Taiwanese Immigrant Mothers (Mage = 36.85 years old; SD = 4.42) participated in this study online, through …

The Effects Of Rater Training On Rater Effects And Validity Of Direct Behavior Ratings, Abigail E. Pruitt

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Educators have a responsibility to accurately measure student behavior in order to identify students in need of additional behavioral support. Current behavior screening tools can be lengthy or difficult to complete, and Direct Behavior Ratings (DBRs) offer a solution. However, DBRs are rater-mediated assessments, prone to rater effects. Rater training methods can be used to mitigate these rater effects, but previous research has not investigated the best training method for reduction of rater effects. Additionally, Many Facet Rasch Measurement (MFRM) provides an opportunity to adjust student ratings in response to individual rater tendencies of severity and leniency. Therefore, the primary …

Characteristics Of Sickle Cell Trait Policies And Procedures At Ncaa Division I Institutions, H Parker, B J. Warner, D M. Gallegos, S A. Cage

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

Context: In 2010, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) introduced a proposal addressing sickle cell trait screening. This proposal later became a policy that required student-athletes in their first year of eligibility to provide their institution with accurate information regarding their sickle cell trait status. There does not appear to be a recent study published that has examined the sickle cell trait policies and procedures currently being used by NCAA Division I institutions. The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of sickle cell trait policies and procedures at NCAA Division I institutions. Methods: We used a web-based …

Characteristics Of Sickle Cell Trait Policies And Procedures At Ncaa Division Iii Institutions, M A. Eilers, B J. Warner, D M. Gallegos, J A. Clark, S A. Cage

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

Context: In 2010, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) introduced a proposal addressing sickle cell trait screening. This proposal later became a policy that required student-athletes in their first year of eligibility to provide their institution with accurate information regarding their sickle cell trait status. There does not appear to be a recent study published that has examined the sickle cell trait screening policy and procedures currently being used by NCAA Division III Institutions. Thus, the purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of sickle cell trait policies and procedures at NCAA Division III institutions. Methods: We used …

Internalization Of Appearance Ideals And Not Religiosity Indirectly Impacts The Relationship Between Acculturation And Disordered Eating Risk In South And Southeastern Asian Women Living In The United States, Sonakshi Negi, Erik M. Benau, Megan Strowger, Anne Claire Grammer, C. Alix Timko

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Studies that examine disordered eating in samples of Asian individuals living in the United States frequently combine all individuals of Asian descent into a single group, which can obscure important differences between groups and their experiences of acculturation. The goal of the present study was to establish the relation of acculturation, internalization of appearance ideals, and religiosity as predicting body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in women of South and Southeast Asian (SSEA) descent.

Method: Women of SSEA descent (N = 112) aged 18–51 years (M = 23.10, SD = 6.4) completed a battery of questionnaires that inquire about these …

Extended Functional Connectivity Of Convergent Structural Alterations Among Individuals With Ptsd: A Neuroimaging Meta-Analysis, Brianna S. Pankey, Michael C. Riedel, Isis Cowan, Jessica E. Bartley, Rosario Pintos Lobo, Lauren D. Hill-Bowen, Taylor Sato, Erica D. Musser, Matthew T. Sutherland, Angela R. Laird

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disorder defined by the onset of intrusive, avoidant, negative cognitive or affective, and/or hyperarousal symptoms after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event. Previous voxel-based morphometry studies have provided insight into structural brain alterations associated with PTSD with notable heterogeneity across these studies. Furthermore, how structural alterations may be associated with brain function, as measured by task-free and task-based functional connectivity, remains to be elucidated.

Methods: Using emergent meta-analytic techniques, we sought to first identify a consensus of structural alterations in PTSD using the anatomical likelihood estimation (ALE) approach. Next, we generated functional …

For Whom The Bell Tolls: Psychopathological And Neurobiological Correlates Of The Dna Methylation Index Of Time-To-Death, Sage E. Hawn, Xiang Zhao, Danielle R. Sullivan, Mark Logue, Dana Fein-Schaffer, William Milberg, Regina Mcglinchey, Mark W. Miller, Erika J. Wolf

Psychology Faculty Publications

Psychopathology is a risk factor for accelerated biological aging and early mortality. We examined associations between broad underlying dimensions of psychopathology (reflecting internalizing and externalizing psychiatric symptoms), PTSD, and age-adjusted GrimAge (“GrimAge residuals”), a DNA methylation biomarker of mortality risk relative to age. We also examined neurobiological correlates of GrimAge residuals, including neurocognitive functioning, blood-based biomarkers (of inflammation, neuropathology, metabolic disease), and cortical thickness. Data from two independent trauma-exposed military cohorts (n = 647 [62.9% male, M_age = 52], n = 434 [90% male, M_age = 32]) were evaluated using linear regression models to test associations between …

Rationale And Design Of An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study Examining Predictors Of Binge Eating Among Sexual Minority And Heterosexual Young Women: Protocol For The Health And Experiences In Real Life (Her Life) Study, Kristin E. Heron, Abby L. Braitman, Charlotte A. Dawson, Cassidy M. Sandoval, Lauren V. Butler, Alicia Moulder, Robin J. Lewis

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Previous research has identified health disparities between sexual minority and heterosexual women, including increased rates of obesity and binge eating in sexual minority women. Established predictors of binge eating behavior include negative emotions and sociocultural processes; however, these studies are generally conducted in samples of young women where sexual identity is not known or reported. There is a dearth of research evaluating how sexual minority–specific factors (eg, minority stress and connectedness to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community) may affect binge eating in sexual minority women. In addition, no studies have examined these processes in racially diverse …

Casting And Splinting Options For Pseudo-Jones Avulsion Fractures: An Evidence-To-Practice Review, Amber M. Kingsley, Aysha B. Reyes, Zachary K. Winkelmann

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

Avulsion fractures of the fifth metatarsal bone occur when a portion of the bone is broken or pulled off the rest of the bone. These fractures are often seen in athletes, especially those of a young age. Avulsion fractures of the fifth metatarsal bone are commonly treated non-surgically with immobilization of the foot. There are several different options for immobilization of the foot with no clear result as to which immobilization method is the most effective. The purpose of this evidence-to-practice review was to summarize a systematic review on comparative outcomes of immobilization interventions on avulsion fractures of the fifth …

Fadu Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Induces Hyperexcitability Of Primary Sensory Neurons In An In Vitro Coculture Model, Megan L Uhelski, Aysegul Gorur, Ted Shi, German Corrales, Kim N Du, Yan Li, Moran Amit, Claudio E Tatsui, Laurence D Rhines, Patrick M Dougherty, Juan P Cata

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Currently, cancer pain is viewed as a process orchestrated by the release of pronociceptive molecules and the invasion of neural structures, referred to as perineural invasion (PNI). Cancer pain resulting from PNI is well-documented, but the mechanisms leading to peripheral sensitization because of tumor growth are not fully known.

Methods: A retrospective study was used to examine how the use of anti-inflammatory medications affected preoperative pain in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma cancer. We then used an in vitro coculture model in which dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons were incubated together with Fadu human head and neck squamous …

A Comparative Test Of Creative Thinking In Preschool Children And Dolphins, Dawn Melzer, Deirdre Yeater, Madison Bradley, Heather M. Hill, Gonzalo Guerra, Kimberly Salazar, Teresa Bolton, Kathleen M. Dudzinski

Psychology Faculty Publications

Creativity is considered one aspect of intelligence. Including creativity allows for more room for expression (e.g., participants can respond with movement instead of written or verbal responses) than in standard intelligence assessments. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT; Torrance, 1974) are the leading method of assessing creative abilities in school-aged humans and above. To assess creativity in young humans and nonhuman animals, modifications must be made to facilitate nonverbal responses. In the current study, a cross-species comparison was conducted between preschoolers and bottlenose dolphins to examine responses to a modified creativity task in which both species were trained to …

Integrating Interpersonal Neurobiology In Healthcare Leadership And Organizations, Lynn Redenbach

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) is an interdisciplinary, science-based field that seeks to understand human reality including the nature of mind, brain, and relationships. IPNB has been used extensively by mental health practitioners as well as child development and parenting experts. While practitioners and scholars have described ways that IPNB can be used in leadership and organizations, there has been no systematic inquiry into the practical and phenomenological experience of this application. IPNB offers an alternative to dominant models of care and leading in healthcare settings and fields, which are characterized by disconnection, objectification, and separation. It offers a relationally centered approach …

The Effects Of Venlafaxine And Voluntary Exercise On Chronic Unpredictable Stress Induced Anxiety, Marly Mcgowan

Senior Independent Study Theses

Anxiety disorders can impair cognition and emotional control, particularly in the face of novel situations, which is concerning due to the high prevalence of such diagnoses. Exposure to unpredictable chronic stress can provide a way to induce anxiety-like behaviors in rodents by disrupting the stress response systems, including the HPA axis and autonomic nervous system. Pharmacological treatments, including SNRIs like venlafaxine, and voluntary exercise are both anxiolytic treatments that can alleviate the impacts of chronic stress. Using unpredictable chronic stress to mimic the human condition, and exposure to venlafaxine and exercise to mitigate the stress, the open field and elevated …

Psychological Resilience In Student-Athletes During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Henley Lapid

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the psychological resilience process in student-athletes during the unique adverse context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study sought to answer the following research questions guided by Fisher et al.’s (2019) heuristic framework: (1) What resilience mechanisms, (2) promoting factors, and (3) resilience outcomes were experienced by participants in their resilience demonstrations? and (4) How does the resilience process unfold over time across adverse contexts including the COVID-19 pandemic? Nine student-athletes from Wilfrid Laurier University were interviewed on their experiences demonstrating resilience within and outside of the pandemic. A thematic analysis (Braun …

Sentience And Sentient Minds, John Anthony Webster

Animal Sentience

My commentary builds on Rowan et al.’s (2022) comprehensive review to address the question ‘what do we mean by sentience?’ It suggests how we might recognise degrees of sentience within the animal kingdom, ranging from primitive sensations such as hunger and pain to more complex emotions that determine quality of life.