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Goats distinguish between positive and negative emotion-linked vocalisations
Luigi Baciadonna1, Elodie F Briefer2,3, Livio Favaro4,5
11Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS UK.
Frontiers in Zoology
|July 20, 2019
Summary
Goats can distinguish between positive and negative emotional calls from other goats. This study shows that animal vocalizations convey emotional valence, impacting their behavior and cardiac responses.
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior
- Bioacoustics
- Emotion perception
Background:
- Emotional expression is crucial for social interactions in humans.
- Understanding social communication of emotions in non-human animals is limited.
- Vocalizations play a key role in animal communication.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if goats can differentiate vocalizations based on emotional valence (positive vs. negative).
- To investigate the behavioral and physiological responses of goats to emotionally charged calls.
Main Methods:
- Playback paradigm using conspecific vocalizations with positive and negative valence.
- Habituation and dishabituation phases to test call discrimination.
- Recording of behavioral (looking) and physiological (heart rate, heart-rate variability) responses.
Main Results:
- Goats exhibited increased looking behavior when the valence of the calls changed, indicating discrimination.
- Heart rate was not significantly affected by call valence.
- Heart-rate variability was higher during positive call presentations compared to negative ones.
Conclusions:
- Goats can distinguish vocalizations based on emotional valence.
- Auditory communication of emotions is significant in non-human animals.
- Findings contribute to understanding the evolution of emotion perception.
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