Judgement Bias in Miniature Donkeys: Conditioning Factors and Personality Links.
Authors: Pinto Maria, Navas González Francisco Javier, Heleski Camie, McLean Amy
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary Cognitive bias—where an animal's expectations shape how it interprets ambiguous situations—may significantly influence equine and donkey behaviour and welfare, yet remains poorly understood in these species. Researchers tested twelve Miniature donkeys using a judgement bias paradigm, training animals to approach positive stimuli (food reward) and negative stimuli (no reward), then measuring their response latency to ambiguous cues; simultaneously, ten caretakers and handlers completed personality questionnaires to establish correlations between individual temperament traits and cognitive patterns. Miniature donkeys demonstrated clear discrimination between positive and negative stimuli, approaching rewarded cues substantially faster (mean 33.7 seconds) than unrewarded ones (145.5 seconds), though considerable individual variation existed; notably, animals scoring higher in patience showed significantly longer approach latencies to the ambiguous stimulus, suggesting these individuals express a more pessimistic cognitive bias. No significant differences emerged between males and females, indicating sex-related factors are less influential than individual personality characteristics in shaping judgment bias. These findings have practical implications for handlers and caretakers: recognising that individual donkeys process ambiguous situations through a personality-dependent cognitive lens may allow practitioners to tailor handling strategies, environmental management, and welfare interventions to suit each animal's predisposition, potentially reducing unnecessary stress during routine procedures and improving overall psychological welfare.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Individual donkeys show different cognitive biases that affect how they perceive handling situations; recognize that a patient donkey may interpret ambiguous situations more negatively than expected, potentially requiring adjusted training approaches
- •Sex alone is not a determining factor for judgment bias in donkeys, so handlers should assess individual cognitive dispositions rather than making assumptions based on sex
- •Understanding that personality traits like patience correlate with pessimistic cognitive bias can help optimize routine handling procedures and improve welfare outcomes during routine care
Key Findings
- •Miniature donkeys demonstrated significant discrimination between positive and negative stimuli, with latencies to approach positive stimuli (33.7 ± 43.1 s) substantially lower than negative stimuli (145.5 ± 53.1 s)
- •No significant sex differences in adjusted latencies were found between jennies and jacks (p > 0.05)
- •Latencies to approach ambiguous stimuli significantly increased with patience scores, suggesting patient animals may express more pessimistic judgment bias
- •Considerable inter-individual variability in judgment bias responses was observed across the 12 subjects tested