Animals
Emotions, Decisions and Gossip !
Hmm, I'm hungry, as usual! So I ask myself: where, what, and with whom shall I eat? Many other animals also ask these questions.
In our studies birds were fed sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, or a mix of the two, and filmed on two feeding platforms. Jays were most attracted to sunflower seeds. Jays also paid lots of attention to other jays. When another jay was on the same platform, but not when it was at some distance at the other platform, a jay pecked at a lower rate than when it was alone because it was busy watching the other bird.
The simple relationships we first discovered could have lulled us into thinking that feeding by jays was pretty straightforward and that we were so clever for figuring it all out. We could predict what jays would do if we knew seed type and whether or not other jays were around.
Animal Emotions
Elephant joy and sadness, chimpanzee grief, and happiness and love in dogs. The expression of various moods in animals raises many challenging questions about their emotional lives.
As examples, I'll consider grief and joy. Animal emotions are easily recognizable. Many animals display profound grief at the loss or absence of a close friend or loved one.
