Research on animal learning and cognition has so far mainly focused on a few prominent model species, including primates, corvids and dogs. For years, comparative psychologists and ethologists have been suggesting that more animal species should be considered in comparative cognitive science. The abundance and accessibility of livestock offer an opportunity, not merely to extend the comparative approach, but also to deepen our knowledge of the mental lives of farm animals. Such approaches also help to assess the needs of farm animals, in order to improve their welfare. In recent years, scientific interest in different aspects of farm animal psychology, including emotionality, personality and cognitive capacities, has been on the rise, proving that farm animals have sophisticated cognitive skills to comprehend and cope with their environment. As knowledge of how farm animals perceive and interact with their physical and social environments is crucial for animal welfare, the aim of this Research Topic is to promote investigations of farm animal cognitive capacities and their implications for animal welfare-related issues. We have therefore collected original research and review articles, as well as opinion and perspective papers that are distributed among the two hosting magazines, Frontiers in Veterinary Science (section Animal Behavior and Welfare) and Frontiers in Psychology (section Comparative Psychology). The published articles present state-of-the-art research on farm animal learning and cognition, highlight future perspectives in this research area and pinpoint shortcomings and limitations in interpreting current findings. They offer new cross-disciplinary frameworks (e.g. links between affective states and cognition) and discuss the applied implementation of these findings (e.g. cognitive enrichment). These contributions will increase our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms that enable farm animals to effectively interact with their environment and pave the way for future cross-disciplinary endeavors.

The fifty-seven original essays in this book provide a comprehensive overview of the interdisciplinary field of animal cognition. The contributors include cognitive ethologists, behavioral ecologists, experimental and developmental psychologists, behaviorists, philosophers, neuroscientists, computer scientists and modelers, field biologists, and others. The diversity of approaches is both philosophical and methodological, with contributors demonstrating various degrees of acceptance or disdain for such terms as "consciousness" and varying degrees of concern for laboratory experimentation versus naturalistic research. In addition to primates, particularly the nonhuman great apes, the animals discussed include antelopes, bees, dogs, dolphins, earthworms, fish, hyenas, parrots, prairie dogs, rats, ravens, sea lions, snakes, spiders, and squirrels. The topics include (but are not limited to) definitions of cognition, the role of anecdotes in the study of animal cognition, anthropomorphism, attention, perception, learning, memory, thinking, consciousness, intentionality, communication, planning, play, aggression, dominance, predation, recognition, assessment of self and others, social knowledge, empathy, conflict resolution, reproduction, parent-young interactions and caregiving, ecology, evolution, kin selection, and neuroethology.

Advances in Agricultural Animal Welfare fully explores developments in the key areas of agricultural animal welfare assessment and improvement. Analyzing current topical issues, as well as reviewing the historical welfare issues, the volume is a comprehensive review of the field. Divided into five sections, the book opens in Part One by reviewing advances in animal welfare science, examining cognitive psychology, genetics and genomics. Part Two then looks at transdisciplinary research in animal welfare, with coverage of bioethics, welfare and sustainability from both environmental and food safety perspectives. Part Three explores the process of translating science into policy and practice, followed by discussion on the global achievability of welfare standards in Part Four. Finally, Part Five highlights some emerging issues in agricultural animal welfare. This book is an essential part of the wider ranging series Advances in Farm Animal Welfare, with coverage of cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and aquaculture. With its expert editor and international team of contributors, Advances in Agricultural Animal Welfare is a key reference tool for welfare research scientists and students, practicing vets involved in welfare assessment, and indeed anyone with a professional interest in the welfare of agricultural animals. - Provides in-depth reviews of emerging topics, research and applications in agricultural animal welfare - Provides coverage of topics important to all agricultural animals and complements the wider series, Agricultural Animal Welfare, which will provide comprehensive coverage of animal welfare of the world's major farmed animals - Edited by a world leading animal welfare academic, with contributions from a writing team of both leading academics and practitioners

The second of two books, Advanced Psychology covers units 4 to 6 for the second year at Advanced Level. Filled with practical activities and advice and with its accessible format and interesting examples, these textbooks will also be useful to those studying subjects such as child care, health and education.

Providing a new conceptual scaffold for further research in biology and cognition, this book introduces the new field of Cognitive Biology: a systems biology approach showing that further progress in this field will depend on a deep recognition of developmental processes, as well as on the consideration of the developed organism as an agent able to modify and control its surrounding environment. The role of cognition, the means through which the organism is able to cope with its environment, cannot be underestimated. In particular, it is shown that this activity is grounded on a theory of information based on Bayesian probabilities. The organism is considered as a cybernetic system able to integrate a processor as a source of variety (the genetic system), a regulator of its own homeostasis (the metabolic system), and a selecting system separating the self from the non-self (the membrane in unicellular organisms). Any organism is a complex system that can survive only if it is able to maintain its internal order against the spontaneous tendency towards disruption. Therefore, it is forced to monitor and control its environment and so to establish feedback circuits resulting in co-adaptation. Cognitive and biological processes are shown to be inseparable.