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Animals amusing and assisting humans
Published in Clive R. Hollin, An Introduction to Human–Animal Relationships, 2021
The welfare of animals in captivity can be compromised in several ways, including stressful physical conditions brought about by artificial light, pervasive smells and sounds, and incorrect temperatures; the provision of insufficient space leading to confinement-specific stressors such as restricted movement and reduced retreat space; forced proximity to humans; and living in abnormal social groups (Morgan & Tromborg, 2007). When animal welfare is compromised, the effects may become evident in various ways, one of the most obvious of which is stereotypic behaviour seen in animals on farms and in laboratories and zoos. Mason (1991) notes that: “Stereotypies are repetitive, unvarying and apparently functionless behaviour patterns typical of animals in some conditions of captivity” (p. 103). Thus, stereotypic behaviours may be seen, for example, in the animal's abnormal swinging of its head, chasing its own tail, and repetitive pacing of its enclosure (Cless & Lucas, 2017). Self-harm can be a consequence of these behaviours which can persist even when the aversive conditions are removed. An explanation for stereotypic behaviour is complex, necessarily based on the fine details of atypical physical and physiological responses to an abnormal environment (Mason, 2006). Stereotypic behaviour may be a sign that attention to the animal's welfare is required (Mason & Latham, 2004; Rose, Nash, & Riley, 2017).
Effects of Stress on Physiological Conditions in the Oral Cavity
Published in Eli Ilana, Oral Psychophysiology, 2020
Although the study was conducted on subjects who had undergone severe chronic stress, release from captivity also carries with it aspects of an immediate acute stress. A senior military officer described his reactions after arriving in Europe as a mixture of distress, anxiety, and elation. His distress was over what his military superior would think of his performance as a hostage and his anxiety included concerns as to how to relate again to family and friends. Thus, although providing some insight on the effect of chronic stress on salivary cortisol, the results also indicated the immediate effect of acute social stress.
Impact of Caring on Families and Carers
Published in Mary E. Braine, Julie Wray, Supporting Families & Carers, 2018
What is perhaps unique about caregiving is that as caregivers take on the task of caring, their own identity gets consumed and lost. Several researchers have examined the process of negotiating and reconstructing identity as a person adopts the role of carer. This reconstructing and reorganising in the family is not without stress. As the caregiving activities increase, the person becomes absorbed or engulfed by the caregiving role and a loss of self may be experienced as they live in the shadows of their loved one. Skaff and Pearlin (1992) found that loss of self, defined as a loss of identity that comes about as a result of engulfment in the caregiver role, was common amongst spouses, females and younger caregivers of relatives with AD. According to Aneshensel and colleagues (1992), ‘role captivity’ refers to situations in which caregivers are unwilling incumbents of their social role as a carer or are entrapped, a role that they did not seek. Literature suggests that stressors that exacerbate this feeling of role captivity include loss of attachment, challenging behaviours of the care recipient and role overload and are alleviated by institutionalisation.
Apophenic Reading and the Politics of Psychoanalysis
Published in Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 2022
Lepselter is surrounded by these stories and theories, all sharing scenes of abduction, captivity, immobility, and control. Indeed, these are crucial tropes of American conspiracy. She begins to understand these surface clues as symptoms of disavowed and repressed national narratives. There is an affective resonance between these “accumulating and recursive images” (p. 4) and certain tacit histories and systems of power, such as the class system, Native American genocide, and U.S. slavery. There is abduction and release; there is captivity and restoration. There is paralysis, and there is mobility. There is the centripetal force of containment, and there is the centrifugal force of flight (Bakhtin 1981). There is the captivity of amnesia and the release of recollection. All these are connected expressions of a larger structure, a broad figure that includes all of these dimensions of captivity and liberation. And it is grounded in the forceful insistence of freedom as a master metatrope of American national identity. (pp. 6–7)
Seasonal variations in locomotor activity rhythm and diurnal activity in the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) under mesic semi-natural conditions
Published in Chronobiology International, 2022
Hicham Farsi, Driss Harti, Mohamed Rachid Achaâban, Mohammed Piro, Mohammed Ouassat, Etienne Challet, Paul Pévet, Khalid El Allali
Captivity seems to deeply affect the general activity of animals (McPhee and Carlstead 2010; Queiroz and Young 2018). According to the first behavioral study carried out on dromedary camel under laboratory conditions, Aubè et al. (2017) have suggested that, in order to preserve animal welfare and health, the camel housing system should include paddocks and not only boxes. Indeed, if maintained in their boxes, camels may not have enough space to walk and forage and could exhibit stereotypic movement expressing chronic mild stress and develop legs edema. Therefore, the constrained spaces for camels could significantly affect the percentage of daily activity. In the current study, camels presented a clear diurnal pattern of activity that was confirmed by various measures and significant parameters. This robust diurnal LA rhythm was obtained under specific captive conditions, including individual housing of camels in a spacious outdoor enclosure of 100 m2, directly exposed to natural environmental cues (Ta, solar radiations, natural light of LD cycle, rain, and humidity) and having free access to water and food. In the natural desert biotope, camels spend 8–10 h per day grazing and an equal time ruminating (Gauthier-Pilters 1958). When food biomass quantity and quality are reduced, camels spread out over large areas to find vegetation.
Artificial Intelligence in Service of Human Needs: Pragmatic First Steps Toward an Ethics for Semi-Autonomous Agents
Published in AJOB Neuroscience, 2020
Travis N. Rieder, Brian Hutler, Debra J. H. Mathews
Nonhuman animals, too, present interesting examples of semi-autonomy. Neuroscience research suggests that many animals, including crows, pigs, and nonhuman primates, have the capacity of self-governance and the ability to form and execute complex plans (Osvath and Osvath 2008; Stuphorn and Schall 2002). Many nonhuman animals have the ability to form attachments to each other and also to humans (Grandin and Deesing 2014). They may also have the ability to act on the basis of values or goals, such as self-preservation or reproduction. And they may suffer affronts to their autonomy, such as captivity, in much the same way as humans (Johnson 2019). Indeed, Christine Korsgaard has argued that nonhuman animals have moral standing, and humans owe obligations of care and beneficence to animals, on the basis of these capacities (Korsgaard 2018). However, to the best of our knowledge, most nonhuman animals lack core features of human-level autonomy, including especially the ability to set their own ends, to exercise moral powers, and to take moral responsibility. Generally speaking, nonhuman animals cannot choose what high-level life project to pursue; they cannot make promises; they cannot accept blame or issue apologies. (We are open to the possibility that some nonhuman animals—elephants, dolphins, or chimps, perhaps—have human-level autonomy. If so, these animals are not SAAs on our account.)