Open AccessScientific evaluation of animal emotions: Brief history and recent New Zealand contributions
Author(s) -
Ngaio J. Beausoleil,
R.B. Stratton,
M.J. Guesgen,
Mark Sutherland,
Calder Johnson
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of new zealand studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.102
0eISSN - 2324-3740
pISSN - 1176-306X
DOI - 10.26686/jnzs.v0i22.3946
Subject(s) - animal welfare , psychology , project commissioning , welfare , sociology , engineering ethics , publishing , social psychology , political science , engineering , ecology , law , biology
The idea of animals having emotions was once rejected as being anthropomorphic and unscientific. However, with society’s changing views and advances in scientific knowledge and technology, the idea of animal emotions is becoming more accepted. Emotions are subjective internal experiences that can’t be measured directly. Animal welfare scientists must infer emotions by measuring the behavioural, physiological and neurobiological components of emotional experience. In this paper, we describe innovative ways in which these indicators have been used by New Zealand scientists to facilitate a more holistic understanding of the emotions and welfare of animals.