Uyeda

Ellen Uyeda Ellen

Dr. Lynda Haas
WR 39C
February 4, 2015
A Historical Review on the Hierarchy of Animal Cognition and the Implications on
Factory Farming
Animals play major roles in our society as food, entertainment, and work.
Religion and culture suppose that human beings have a natural dominion over all other
creatures. However, when having the responsibility to treat these animals well or ill we
have to consider animal consciousness. As author of The Stuff of Thought and
psychologist at Harvard University, Steven Pinker would say, It would be perverse to
deny consciousness to mammals (Kruger). Due to the nature of consciousness being
subjective and immeasurable, the scientific community has suggested consciousness in
animals, but do not have enough evidence to state the presence of their conscious
awareness one hundred percent. Donald Griffin, a zoologist who studies animal
navigation and behavior thinks that it far more likely than not that animal consciousness
is real and significant (Griffin 15). In this review I depict different scientific studies and
theories about animals cognition. First, I talk about higher beings awareness and our
disposition to deem animals closest to us to be more mindful than animals on the lower
scale. I refer to Allison Jolly, a primatologist who studies lemurs in Madagascar and her
implications on the theory of primate cognition. Other studies on lower being animals in
the poultry and meat business are referenced later on in my review including pig studies
by Donald Broom and number mapping in baby chickens by Rosa Rugano. In this review

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I will go over animal social awareness and animal cognition studies that have been
conducted and how they support one another to illustrate the cognitive abilities and
sentience of animals.
In an Animal Cognition Review: New Evidence of Animal Cognition by Donald
Griffin and Gayles Speck published in 2003 they explore the many different methods
used to measure such subjective experiences. Griffin and Speck mention three different
types of methods in measuring animal cognition. First of all, they investigate the biology
of the central nervous system and its link to consciousness. Its thought that if human
beings are the only animals to have such consciousness, there must be some unique
component to our biology. Scientist point to the size or the complexity of the human
brain, or to specific areas, or else to language abil- ity. But there is no clear evidence that
any of these factors is necessary for consciousness (Griffin 7). Furthermore, versatility
or the ability to readjust ones actions in response to unexpected challenges is used as a
method to measure consciousness. Measure an animals ability to use tools or know what
another individual knows are all ways researchers use in order to understand an animals
consciousness. Lastly, Griffin and Speck introduce the means of using communication to
measure consciousness. Animals may not have the languages as complex as humans, but
they do have a form of natural communication, such as alarm calls. They also can
respond to controlled simulations like pulling a lever and use sign language or gestures
(Griffin 6-7). In their review, Griffin and Speck describe the different methods used to
detect consciousness in animals.
Chimpanzees show exhibit many attributes of cognitions measured by some of the
methods depicted by Griffin and Speck. In 1991 Allison Jolly printed her literature

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review called Cognitive Ethology: The Minds of Other Animals. In her review she
describes chimpanzees ability to plan and deceive others. For example, Jolly found that a
group of chimpanzees would carry tools specific for a type of food over tens or hundreds
of meters to their food site. They, carried lighter clubs when about to crack coula nuts,
heavier ones for the pandas (Jolly 235). Furthermore, Jolly exemplifies the often used
mirror test in a unique way. She uses video monitors to test the chimpanzees ability to
recognize themselves through the video. Jolly explains that self-recognition is often
considered a behavior that demonstrates awareness of oneself and therefore at least a
minimum level of awareness (Jolly 233). These chimpanzees did not only identify
themselves through the video monitor, but also were able to adapt to inverted and reverse
images. This exemplifies a level of cognition that is undeniable in these chimpanzees.
Like the chimpanzees in Jollys review there are many examples of animals
showing cognitive abilities. Kanzi, a chimpanzee raised from birth by humans at the
Great Ape Trust research center in Des Moines, Iowa is capable of communicating
through symbols. These symbols consist of complex conceptual ideas such as full, past,
and being. Other mammals like hyenas are capable of solving complex problems through
cooperation and teamwork with other hyenas. Dolphins also show that they work together
to catch food more efficiently. (Kruger 6-10, 16-17) However, we have a natural bias to
deem more consciousness to animals that we deem beautiful, higher up on the
evolutionary scale, or those that most resemble us. Weve accepted the idea of awareness
in dolphins, elephants, and chimpanzees because they are closer us to us on the
evolutionary scale, but deeming consciousness to animals on the lower level, such as
chickens and mice might be more fuzzy and questionable.

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There have been studies indicating consciousness in lower level animals. A study
done at the University of Cambridge Donald Broom, a neuroscientist tested pigs ability
of self-recognition using the mirror technique. The pigs were given five hours to get
familiar with the room and the mirror. The pigs were then placed in front of a mirror and
a bowl of food was placed on the other side of a barrier out of sight of the pig. Seven out
of eight pigs were able to recognize themselves in the mirror and went around the barrier
away from the mirror to find the bowl of food on the other side of the barrier (Broom
1038-1040). This experiment indicates a level of cognition in pigs through a proven,
effective method of detecting consciousness in animals. It is evident that not only higher
beings such as chimpanzees are the only beings that are capable of such conscious
awareness. Baby chicks have also shown to have some level of consciousness. A study at
the University of Padova, Italy conducted by Rosa Rugani, who has a PhD under the
Center for Mind and Brain Science at the University in Trento, Italy tested the concept of
a number line in three-day old baby chicks. A number line how we associate smaller
numbers with the left and larger numbers with the right. This concept has shown to be
understood in seven-month old infants and rhesus monkeys. In their experiment baby
chicks showed a preference for right images when given larger numbers, and showed a
preference for left images when given smaller numbers. To make sure that the baby
chicks understood the relevance of larger and smaller they did this twice with numbers
between one and nine and another set of numbers between nine and eighteen. With both
set of numbers the chicks showed they understood number space mapping (Rugani 534535). Three-day old baby chicks are considered to be on the lower end of the animals
with consciousness, and they it is shown that they can understand certain concepts

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understood by infant humans. Not only are higher animals closer to us on the
evolutionary scale changing scientists mind about animal cognition, but also animals on
the lower end that are not considered to have any or little awareness.
Chickens have also shown to have a form of awareness of other individuals. Peter
Singer, a leader of the animal rights movement and a professor of bioethics at the
University of Princeton is the author of Animal Liberation, the novel that has strongly
influenced the animal rights movement. He mentions Konrad Lorenzs work in his novel.
Lorenz, a famous observer of animal behavior studied small flocks of birds. He found
that animals are highly aware of each other and the pecking order of their flock. A flock
of ninety birds understand which individuals are above them and bellow them in rank, but
in factory farms the number of individuals goes up to 80,000 birds. In a population size
this large these birds will start to peck one another and poultry farmers know this and this
is why debeaking, a process that cuts mutilates animal beaks to prevent cannibalism and
destruction of flocks started in the 1940s (Singer 117).
These practices of mutilating animals are common in modern factory farms.
Factory farms have become more
concentrated than ever before. Before
World War II there were mainly small
family-owned farms that raised multiple
crops and livestock. The industry has
changed where today there are very few
small farms and many large farms that specialize in one type of product or livestock.
Large concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFOS) that have more than 1,000 animal

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units make up only 10 percent of all

factory farms but control half or more
than the overall inventory. Farming is
competitive and the methods adopted are
those that cut costs and increase
production. So farming is now "factory
farming." Animals are treated like ma
chines that convert low-priced fodder into
high-priced flesh, and any innovation will
be used if it results in a cheaper "conversion ratio" (Singer 97). Since today dairy cows
produce four times as much as they did sixty years ago. From 500 lbs of milk to now,
20,000 lbs. Usually cows live 25 years, but in the farm only 3-4. Animals are drugged
with hormones to increase growth, and antibiotics to prevent infection induced by the
miner and crowded conditions. (McCance 10-15) Many organizations have started in
against the inhumane treatment of animals in these factory farms such as PETA, Farm
Animal Rights Movement, and Compassion over Killing. Them and many other animal
rights advocates focus on the fact that animals are sentient beings or those who
experience emotions associated with pleasure and suffering (Webster 2005). Animals are
deemed sentient beings by scientific research and the European Union Treaty in
Amsterdam. Sentient means that animals are capable of emotional experiences. Based on
a perception 1971 study in monkeys by John Wayne Mason, a physiologist who studies
the connection between emotion and the endocrine system, we have found that these
emotional responses are based on the individuals ability to perceive its environment.

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This finding suggests that awareness and cognitive processes are strongly connected to
animal welfare. (Boissy&Erhard 82-84) Therefore, if evidence supporting animal
cognition is accumulating and being more accepted then we need to re-evaluate how we
treat these sentient beings.

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Work Cited
Bateson, Melissa Beduce, Anais Douglas, Catherine Edwards, Sandra A. Walsh, Clare.
Environmental enrichment induce optimistic cognitive biases in pigs. Elsevier
B.V. 2012
Boissy, Alain. Ethological Research Applied to Farm Animals: Reconciling Animal
Welfare and Production. Bulletin De L Academie Veterinaire De France. 2012.
Journal Article.
Boissy, Alain Erhard, Hans W. Grandin, Temple Deesing, Mark J. Genetics and the
Behavior of Domestic Animals: How Studying Interactions Between Animal
Emotions, Cognition, and Personality Can Contribute to Improve Farm Animal
Welfare. Elsevier Academic Press. 2014.
Broom, Donald M. Moynihan, Kiera L. Sena, Hilana. Pigs learn what a mirror image
represents and use it to obtain information. Elsevier Ltd. 2009
Gieling, Elise Titia Nordquist, Rebecca Elizabeth van der Staay, Franz. Assessing
learning and memory in pigs. Pub Med Central. 2011. Web.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3040303/
Griffin, Donald R. Speck, Gayle B. New evidence of animal cognition. Harvard
University. 2003
Jolly, Allison, Conscious Chimpanzees? A Review of Recent Literature. Cognitive
Ethology: The Minds of Other Animals. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum

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Associates, 1991. 231-252. Print.

Kluger, Jeffrey. Intelligence. TIME: The Animal Mind. 14 Nov. 2014: 6-19. Print
Kluger, Jeffrey. Mourning. TIME: The Animal Mind. 14 Nov. 2014: 53-61. Print.
McCance, Dawne. Critical Animal Studies. Albany. State University of New York Press,
2013. Print
Desription of different animal processes in the factory farms. A lot of references and
quote by singer and other people.
Nawroth, Christian Ebersbach, Mirjam von Borell, Eberhard. Juvenile domestic pigs (Sus
scrofa domestica) use human-given cues in an object choice task. 2014. Journal
Article.

Priftis, Konstantinos Regolin, Lucia Rugani, Rosa Vallortigara, Giorgio. Number-space

mapping in the newborn chick resembles humans mental number line.
Sciencemag. Jan. 2015.

Singer, Peter. Animal Liberation. New York. HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2002. Print