Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: effects of sensory variation
Abstract Evidence increasingly reveals that non-human animals in monotonous situations can show boredom-like states, distinctively manifesting as increases in both arousal-seeking, restless behaviour and low arousal, drowsy behaviour. However, task related boredom has been little investigated in ani...
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Springer
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Animal Cognition |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01979-6 |
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| author | Charlotte C. Burn Ka Ho Timothy Ng Matthew O. Parker |
| author_facet | Charlotte C. Burn Ka Ho Timothy Ng Matthew O. Parker |
| author_sort | Charlotte C. Burn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Evidence increasingly reveals that non-human animals in monotonous situations can show boredom-like states, distinctively manifesting as increases in both arousal-seeking, restless behaviour and low arousal, drowsy behaviour. However, task related boredom has been little investigated in animals, but could have implications for animal training efficacy, for animal welfare, and for modelling human task fatigue. We investigated whether varied sensory stimuli helped prevent boredom-like behaviour in a repetitive foraging scenario, compared with a monotonous equivalent. In a cross-over design, 20 rats searched pairs of containers for a small reward hidden within a digging material, with a new pair of containers presented every 2 min during a 20 min session. Multisensory cues distinguished the rewarded vs. non-rewarded containers. We hypothesized that, if rats became bored by sensory monotony, rats in a monotonous version of the scenario would show more arousal-seeking (e.g. exit-directed behaviour, jumping) and drowsy behaviour (e.g. standing still, yawning, task disengagement) than in a varied version. In the Monotony treatment, the digging material, reward flavour, and features of the cues remained constant in each presentation, whereas these changed throughout the Variety treatment. Behaviour was observed blind to treatment in a randomised order. Monotony significantly increased exit-directed behaviour compared with Variety, but no other treatment effects reached significance. Possible reasons for the relative lack of findings are discussed, including suggestions for future research. Here, sensory monotony during the task did not induce the full range of behaviours characterizing boredom, but it is of interest that it did increase exit-directed behaviour. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a0e4d9bb33d64808b67c9c6ce7e7339b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1435-9456 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal Cognition |
| spelling | doaj-art-a0e4d9bb33d64808b67c9c6ce7e7339b2025-08-20T03:46:17ZengSpringerAnimal Cognition1435-94562025-07-0128111310.1007/s10071-025-01979-6Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: effects of sensory variationCharlotte C. Burn0Ka Ho Timothy Ng1Matthew O. Parker2Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary CollegeDepartment of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary CollegeSurrey Sleep Research Centre, School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of SurreyAbstract Evidence increasingly reveals that non-human animals in monotonous situations can show boredom-like states, distinctively manifesting as increases in both arousal-seeking, restless behaviour and low arousal, drowsy behaviour. However, task related boredom has been little investigated in animals, but could have implications for animal training efficacy, for animal welfare, and for modelling human task fatigue. We investigated whether varied sensory stimuli helped prevent boredom-like behaviour in a repetitive foraging scenario, compared with a monotonous equivalent. In a cross-over design, 20 rats searched pairs of containers for a small reward hidden within a digging material, with a new pair of containers presented every 2 min during a 20 min session. Multisensory cues distinguished the rewarded vs. non-rewarded containers. We hypothesized that, if rats became bored by sensory monotony, rats in a monotonous version of the scenario would show more arousal-seeking (e.g. exit-directed behaviour, jumping) and drowsy behaviour (e.g. standing still, yawning, task disengagement) than in a varied version. In the Monotony treatment, the digging material, reward flavour, and features of the cues remained constant in each presentation, whereas these changed throughout the Variety treatment. Behaviour was observed blind to treatment in a randomised order. Monotony significantly increased exit-directed behaviour compared with Variety, but no other treatment effects reached significance. Possible reasons for the relative lack of findings are discussed, including suggestions for future research. Here, sensory monotony during the task did not induce the full range of behaviours characterizing boredom, but it is of interest that it did increase exit-directed behaviour.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01979-6Animal welfareBoredomCognitive engagementSensory stimulationTask fatigue |
| spellingShingle | Charlotte C. Burn Ka Ho Timothy Ng Matthew O. Parker Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: effects of sensory variation Animal Cognition Animal welfare Boredom Cognitive engagement Sensory stimulation Task fatigue |
| title | Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: effects of sensory variation |
| title_full | Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: effects of sensory variation |
| title_fullStr | Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: effects of sensory variation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: effects of sensory variation |
| title_short | Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: effects of sensory variation |
| title_sort | rat boredom like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task effects of sensory variation |
| topic | Animal welfare Boredom Cognitive engagement Sensory stimulation Task fatigue |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01979-6 |
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