L’éthique animale au croisement des perspectives de recherche entre éthologie et philosophie
Histoire de la recherche contemporaine, Jun 15, 2015
Des recherches conduites récemment en éthologie tendent à considérer les animaux comme des agents... more Des recherches conduites récemment en éthologie tendent à considérer les animaux comme des agents moraux. Ils ne concernent que peu d’espèces, primates surtout, et étudient essentiellement les comportements liés à l’empathie et le sentiment d’injustice. Ces deux thématiques coïncident avec certains travaux menés en psychologie et en philosophie morales qui suggèrent que notre capacité morale s’appuie sur au moins deux principales sous-capacités consacrées respectivement à un sens du juste et à un sens du bon. Ces recherches influencent notre manière de concevoir la morale et notre relation avec les animaux.Recent advances in ethology tend to consider animals as moral agents. Only a few species are studied (mainly primates), and two main thematics are investigated: empathy-related behaviours and feelings of injustice. These thematics match some studies conducted in moral psychology and moral philosophy that suggest that our moral capacity is based on at least two main abilities: a sense of justice and a sense of care. These studies influence our conception of morality and our relationships with animals
Prosociality and reciprocity in capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) in a non-reproductive context
Behavioural Processes, Jul 1, 2021
Prosocial behaviours (providing benefits to a recipient with or without cost for the donor) have ... more Prosocial behaviours (providing benefits to a recipient with or without cost for the donor) have been found to be highly influenced by sex and by hierarchy. Rodents, in particular, are good model for studying prosocial responses, as they were found to exhibit intentional prosocial behaviours to reward a conspecific, and are very sensitive to reciprocity. In our study, we conducted a Prosocial Choice Test (PCT) in which four capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) living in a social group could choose between three tokens: choosing the prosocial token rewarded simultaneously the subject and a recipient, while choosing the selfish token only rewarded the subject; and choosing the null token provided no reward to anyone. Dominance within each dyad was also studied, both before and during the PCT experiment. Our results showed an influence of hierarchy: subjects were more prosocial towards the recipient when it was a subordinate than when it was a dominant individual. These results could be interpreted as a desire of strengthening a hierarchical rank regarding the subordinate, of punishing aggressive conspecifics (usually the subject's direct dominant), and of weakening dominant individuals in order to modify the pre-existing hierarchy. Additionally, our results highlighted a direct reciprocity phenomenon, a subject being more likely to be prosocial towards a prosocial recipient. All these findings suggest that prosociality could be well developed in other taxa than Primates and that, in long enough PCT experiments, subtle rules could influence individual prosocial strategies.
Des précurseurs de la morale : influence de l’identité et du comportement sur les choix prosociaux : une étude comparative chez différentes espèces de mammifères et d’oiseaux
Des etudes recentes indiquent que des precurseurs de la morale humaine pourraient exister chez le... more Des etudes recentes indiquent que des precurseurs de la morale humaine pourraient exister chez les animaux non humains. Parmi ces precurseurs, la prosocialite (comportements produisant un benefice pour un receveur sans necessairement induire de cout pour l’acteur) est consideree comme une composante fondamentale de tout systeme moral. Nous avons effectue des tests de prosocialite chez plusieurs especes de mammiferes et d’oiseaux, en tenant compte des facteurs d’identite des individus (tolerance, dominance, sexe) et de comportement du receveur (communication, reciprocite). Nos sujets se sont montres plus prosociaux envers leurs subordonnes qu’envers leurs dominants, ce qui suggerent que la prosocialite pourrait etre utilisee comme un moyen de maintenir son rang. Nous avons observe des differences entre les sexes coherentes avec le pattern de soins parentaux des especes, appuyant l’idee selon laquelle la prosocialite aurait evolue dans un contexte de soins aux jeunes. La periode de reproduction et le fait d’avoir ou d’avoir eu des petits entrainaient une augmentation de la prosocialite, surtout envers le partenaire de reproduction et ses petits, ce qui pourrait avoir pour but de mieux transmettre ses genes. Nous avons trouve des patterns de reciprocite directe chez nos sujets, devenant plus prosociaux lorsque le receveur s’etait lui-meme montre prosocial lors de la session precedente. Les communications emises par le receveur ont egalement influence positivement ou negativement (selon leur nature) les choix du sujet. L’ensemble de nos resultats montrent qu’il est possible et souhaitable d’etudier la prosocialite en dehors des primates, nos sujets s’etant montres capables de prendre en compte a la fois des facteurs d’identite du receveur et son comportement.
Please cite this article in press as: Lalot, M., et al., You know what? I'm happy. Cognitive bias... more Please cite this article in press as: Lalot, M., et al., You know what? I'm happy. Cognitive bias is not related to personality but is induced by pair-housing in canaries (Serinus canaria). Behav. Process.
Family first! Influence of parental investment in Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) prosocial choices
Animal Cognition
Literature often assumed that prosocial behaviours (behaviours that benefit others with or withou... more Literature often assumed that prosocial behaviours (behaviours that benefit others with or without a cost for the actor) would have evolved many species to improve the effectiveness of parental care (Decety and Cowell 2014). While this hypothesis is rarely questioned at a phylogenetic scale, it was never tested at an individual scale to the best of our knowledge. Therefore, we chose to study the impact of effective parental care on prosociality by comparing the prosocial tendencies of Guinea pigs before mating, during mating and after parturition. We conducted Prosocial Choice Tests on three groups of Guinea pigs (males, multiparous females, and nulliparous females). Subjects had to choose between three options: a prosocial option (subject and recipient being rewarded), a selfish option (only subject was rewarded), and a null option (no reward). Our results showed high prosociality towards their mating partner and their young both in male and in female subjects. Males became selfish towards other males after parturition. Among other interesting results, we found a direct reciprocity phenomenon. We also highlighted an ability in our subjects to consider both the identity and relationship shared with the recipient, such as tolerance (enhancing prosociality), dominance rank (being tested with a dominant recipient increasing selfish responses), and its behaviour (begging calls eliciting prosociality, while threatening ones decreasing it), to choose an option. These findings suggested that prosociality could be modulated by many factors and that the constraints and stakes induced by breeding would highly influence prosocial strategies.
Literature often assumed that prosocial behaviours (behaviours that benefit others with or withou... more Literature often assumed that prosocial behaviours (behaviours that benefit others with or without a cost for the actor) would have evolved many species to improve the effectiveness of parental care (Decety and Cowell 2014). While this hypothesis is rarely questioned at a phylogenetic scale, it was never tested at an individual scale to the best of our knowledge. Therefore, we chose to study the impact of effective parental care on prosociality by comparing the prosocial tendencies of Guinea pigs before mating, during mating and after parturition. We conducted Prosocial Choice Tests on three groups of Guinea pigs (males, multiparous females, and nulliparous females). Subjects had to choose between three options: a prosocial option (subject and recipient being rewarded), a selfish option (only subject was rewarded), and a null option (no reward). Our results showed high prosociality towards their mating partner and their young both in male and in female subjects. Males became selfish towards other males after parturition. Among other interesting results, we found a direct reciprocity phenomenon. We also highlighted an ability in our subjects to consider both the identity and relationship shared with the recipient, such as tolerance (enhancing prosociality), dominance rank (being tested with a dominant recipient increasing selfish responses), and its behaviour (begging calls eliciting prosociality, while threatening ones decreasing it), to choose an option. These findings suggested that prosociality could be modulated by many factors and that the constraints and stakes induced by breeding would highly influence prosocial strategies.
Prosociality and reciprocity according to parental status, communication, and personality in domestic canaries (Serinus canaria)
Behavioural Processes
Prosociality (behaviours that benefit to a recipient without necessarily involving a cost to the ... more Prosociality (behaviours that benefit to a recipient without necessarily involving a cost to the actor) has recently been shown to exist in various taxa, including birds. Studies on prosociality in primates found that prosocial tendencies of the subject could be related to sex and parental care, communication from the recipient, cognitive abilities and personality. To investigate the existence of such associations on birds, we conducted a Prosocial Choice Task with domestic canaries (Serinus canaria). In our experiment, the subject could choose between three options: a prosocial, a selfish, and a null option (with no cost for the subject). We also conducted a food sharing experiment and measured several personality traits. Our results highlighted high levels of prosociality and a tendency to reciprocity among reproductive mates. We found a higher propensity to be prosocial in nulliparous individuals than in individuals that have previously been parents, but better sharing abilities in parents than in nulliparous individuals. When they were recipient, parents also used communication more efficiently than nulliparous subjects. Data suggest that parental expertise could enhance subjects' skills in eliciting prosociality. We also highlighted some interaction between prosociality, learning abilities, and some personality traits, proactive individuals being fast learners and more prosocial, while reactive individuals being slow learners and more reciprocal. Our results suggest that prosociality and reciprocity could be linked to personality and cognitive abilities, and that it might be interesting to consider them as parts of individual's cognitive style.
Prosociality (behaviours that benefit to a recipient without necessarily involving a cost to the ... more Prosociality (behaviours that benefit to a recipient without necessarily involving a cost to the actor) has recently been shown to exist in various taxa, including birds. Studies on prosociality in primates found that prosocial tendencies of the subject could be related to sex and parental care, communication from the recipient, cognitive abilities and personality. To investigate the existence of such associations on birds, we conducted a Prosocial Choice Task with domestic canaries (Serinus canaria). In our experiment, the subject could choose between three options: a prosocial, a selfish, and a null option (with no cost for the subject). We also conducted a food sharing experiment and measured several personality traits. Our results highlighted high levels of prosociality and a tendency to reciprocity among reproductive mates. We found a higher propensity to be prosocial in nulliparous individuals than in individuals that have previously been parents, but better sharing abilities in parents than in nulliparous individuals. When they were recipient, parents also used communication more efficiently than nulliparous subjects. Data suggest that parental expertise could enhance subjects' skills in eliciting prosociality. We also highlighted some interaction between prosociality, learning abilities, and some personality traits, proactive individuals being fast learners and more prosocial, while reactive individuals being slow learners and more reciprocal. Our results suggest that prosociality and reciprocity could be linked to personality and cognitive abilities, and that it might be interesting to consider them as parts of individual's cognitive style.
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Papers by Mathilde Lalot