Social Housing & Companionship

What can associations between emotional states and management-based measures teach us about shelter dogs’ welfare? Journal of Veterinary Behavior 69–70, 32–38

It is crucial to understand the effect of living in a shelter on dog's well-being. We hypothesized that mental states may indicate the presence of environmental stressors. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between specific emotional...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Cuglovici, D. A. 2023. What can associations between emotional states and management-based measures teach us about shelter dogs' welfare? Journal of Veterinary Behavior 69–70, 32–38.

Simultaneous assessment of central nervous and respiratory systems using jacketed telemetry in socially-housed rats: Application of the “3Rs” principles in core battery safety pharmacology studies

Central nervous (CNS) and respiratory systems are routinely investigated in safety pharmacology core battery studies. For small molecules, the assessment of both vital organ systems is frequently done in rats in two distinct studies. With the advent of a miniaturized...

Year Published: 2023Topics: External Bodily Equipment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Fares, R., Champéroux, P. 2023. Simultaneous assessment of central nervous and respiratory systems using jacketed telemetry in socially-housed rats: Application of the “3Rs” principles in core battery safety pharmacology studies. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 121, 107268.

Emotional contagion and social support in pigs with the negative stimulus

This study expects to confirm the existence of emotional transmission in pigs from multiple perspectives and to provide theoretical references for improving animal welfare in livestock farming. A group that could directly observe (DO) and a group that could not...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Zhang, Y., Yu, J., Zhang, Y. et al. 2023. Emotional contagion and social support in pigs with the negative stimulus. Animals 13(20), 3160.

Social enrichment improves social recognition memory in male rats

The social environment is thought to have a strong impact on cognitive functions. In the present study, we investigated whether social enrichment could affect rats' memory ability using the “Different Objects Task (DOT),” in which the levels of memory load...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Toyoshima, M., Yamada, K., Sugita, M. et al. 2018. Social enrichment improves social recognition memory in male rats. Animal Cognition 21(3), 345–351.

Early social deprivation negatively affects social skill acquisition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

In a highly social species like chimpanzees, the process by which individuals become attuned to their social environment may be of vital importance to their chances of survival. Typically, this socialization process, defined by all acquisition experiences and fine-tuning efforts...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Rearing & Weaning, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Chimpanzee, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: van Leeuwen, E. J. C., Mulenga, I. C., Chidester, D. L. 2014. Early social deprivation negatively affects social skill acquisition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Animal Cognition 17(2), 407–414.

UV deprivation influences social UV preference in juvenile sticklebacks

Social aggregations occur in many different animal taxa and mainly result from non-random assortment. Investigating factors that shape and maintain the composition of social aggregations are among others a main topic for understanding ecological speciation processes. Aggregation decisions are mediated...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Modarressie, R., Gunther, C., Bakker, T. 2015. UV deprivation influences social UV preference in juvenile sticklebacks. Animal Behavior and Cognition 2(2), 186–199.

Social visual contact, a primary “drive” for social animals?

Social animals are always searching for conspecifics, thereby expressing a genuine “social need”. This need is illustrated by the fact that social isolation can induce isolation syndromes that can be attenuated by devices such as mirrors. Social contacts appear to...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Bird, Other Bird

Citation: Perret, A., Henry, L., Coulon, M. et al. 2015. Social visual contact, a primary “drive” for social animals? Animal Cognition 18(3), 657–666.

Emotions on the loose: Emotional contagion and the role of oxytocin in pigs

We studied emotional contagion, a simple form of empathy, and the role of oxytocin herein in pigs. Two training pigs per pen (n = 16 pens) were subjected to a positive treatment (pairwise access to a large compartment filled with...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Reimert, I., Bolhuis, J. E., Kemp, B. et al. 2015. Emotions on the loose: Emotional contagion and the role of oxytocin in pigs. Animal Cognition 18(2), 517–532.

Does social environment influence learning ability in a family-living lizard?

Early developmental environment can have profound effects on individual physiology, behaviour, and learning. In birds and mammals, social isolation during development is known to negatively affect learning ability; yet in other taxa, like reptiles, the effect of social isolation during...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Lizard, Reptile

Citation: Riley, J. L., Noble, D. W. A., Byrne, R. W. et al. 2017. Does social environment influence learning ability in a family-living lizard? Animal Cognition 20(3), 449–458.

Social makes smart: Rearing conditions affect learning and social behaviour in jumping spiders

There is a long-standing debate as to whether social or physical environmental aspects drive the evolution and development of cognitive abilities. Surprisingly few studies make use of developmental plasticity to compare the effects of these two domains during development on...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Insect & Spider, Invertebrate

Citation: Liedtke, J., Schneider, J. M. 2017. Social makes smart: Rearing conditions affect learning and social behaviour in jumping spiders. Animal Cognition 20(6), 1093–1106.