Recent research studies have shown that animals can make judgments that are more positive or negative in response to the circumstances and their mood, as do humans. This is known as cognitive bias.
Cognitive bias can be seen throughout our lives. It is present whenever we make decisions on situations that may have an unsure result. It has been proven that our state of mind can affect whether the decisions we make are more positive or negative. That is, we either expect the best or are prepared for the most likely outcome.
With the help of recent research on cognition and studies, we are able to test this on the animals through training for an assessment task.
Assessing optimism and pessimism
A judgment task is similar to this: first, the animal is taught about what will occur when certain signals are displayed.
For example, if we put a bowl in the left-hand corner of the room, this means that the animal will be awarded a huge reward. If the bowl is located in the right-hand corner, it means that the animal will not receive any compensation or a bad thing occurs (for instance, the sound of a loud ringing). In logical terms, the animal will move faster toward the positive cue and less quickly toward that negative signal.
After priming, the bowl is then placed in the center of the area. If an animal is still running quickly to the bowl, it’s thought to be “optimistic” since it anticipates positive outcomes from an unidentified event.
Recent studies that involved a range of species (for instance, bees, rats, dogs, and bees) have utilized this method and found that animals who live in less hospitable environments, such as cages that are barren or under the rigors of medical exams or are isolated from their social environment and make less optimistic conclusions. The animals in more enriched environments are more confident about their decisions.
The results of these tests have led scientists to conclude that testing for cognitive bias can be a useful method to determine the state of mind of animals. But, these tests have not been conducted on dolphins in captivity before.
Optimistic dolphins
In the Parc Asterix dolphinarium in France, I conducted the investigation to determine if dolphins had cognitive biases too, as well as what could influence their behavior.
We taught the park’s eight dolphins to touch a goal and then return to their instructor. The dolphins learned that when the target was placed in one pool, they would receive a huge herring (their favorite fish). When the fish was located on the opposite end of the swimming pool, they would only receive eyes and applause from the trainer.
The cognitive bias test involved that the dolphins touch the targets and then returning back to the instructor in exchange for the reward. Parc Asterix
The dolphins began to swim faster when the target was placed in its “herring position”. The target was placed in the middle position, and we compared the degree of enthusiasm of every dolphin based on the speed at which they returned to their trainer. Swimmers who swam faster back to their trainers were believed to have a higher level of optimism because they probably expected to receive a herring however, slower swimmers weren’t as confident about receiving an award.
The results proved that, in reality, dolphins showed different levels of optimism as well as pessimism. They were the same for several tests over a period of time.
But the most intriguing discovery was made when we compared the cognitive bias to personal observations of behavior taken during the dolphins’ “free-time”, in between sessions.
In both natural and captive environments, dolphins are involved in social behavior. The synchronization of swimming is believed to be a crucial affiliation-building behavior that enhances the bonding between people.
In the aquarium, we noticed that the dolphins that synchronized their swimming more frequently were also those who took the most optimistic decisions. For instance, a 16-year-old female dolphin was observed frequently swimming in synchrony with her members, including her mother. During the tests of judgment, she was the fastest in the back of the middle point and thus made an optimistic judgment.