Bestial boredom: a biological perspective on animal boredom and suggestions for its scientific investigation

Boredom is likely to have adaptive value in motivating exploration and learning, and many animals may possess the basic neurological mechanisms to support it. Chronic inescapable boredom can be extremely aversive, and understimulation can harm neural, cognitive and behavioural flexibility. Wild and domesticated animals are at particular risk in captivity, which is often spatially and temporally monotonous. Yet biological research into boredom has barely begun, despite having important implications for animal welfare, the evolution of motivation and cognition, and for human dysfunction at individual and societal levels. Here I aim to facilitate hypotheses about how monotony affects behaviour and physiology, so that boredom can be objectively studied by ethologists and other scientists. I cover valence (pleasantness) and arousal (wakefulness) qualities of boredom, because both can be measured, and I suggest boredom includes suboptimal arousal and aversion to monotony. Because the suboptimal arousal during boredom is aversive, individuals will resist low arousal. Thus, behavioural indicators of boredom will, seemingly paradoxically, include signs of increasing drowsiness, alongside bouts of restlessness, avoidance and sensation-seeking behaviour. Valence and arousal are not, however, sufficient to fully describe boredom. For example, human boredom is further characterized by a perception that time ‘drags’, and this effect of monotony on time perception can too be behaviourally assayed in animals. Sleep disruption and some abnormal behaviour may also be caused by boredom. Ethological research into this emotional phenomenon will deepen understanding of its causes, development, function and evolution, and will enable evidence-based interventions to mitigate human and animal boredom

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Have “The Working Raw Material” for Time Perception

International audienceThe aim of the present study was to investigate whether children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have a deficit in time perception. Twelve ASD children of normal intelligence and twelve typically developing children (TD) - matched on sex, chronological age, and mental age – performed four temporal bisection tasks that were adapted to the population. Two short (0.5 to 1 s and 1.25 to 2.5 s) and two long duration ranges (3.12 to 6.25 s and 7.81 to 16.62 s) were thus examined. The findings suggested that the perception of time in bisection is not impaired in ASD

Rapport sur la gouvernance du dispositif des Coopératives Pédagogiques Numériques (CPN) : politiques numériques à diverses échelles, formation continue et organisation hiérarchique des CPN.

Rapport qui formera une partie du livrable final porté par le projet "IDEE" : Diagnostic territorial. En collaboration avec l'équipe du Volet Appropriatik : S. Besnier, I. Danic, D. Faggianelli, Y. Guéguen, M. Hardouin, T. Lefort, L. Mell, C. le Boucher, M. le Pave

Mean bisection point values (BP), difference limen (DL), and Weber ratio values (WR) for each duration range (range 3 vs. range 4) and group participants (ASD vs. TD).

<p>Mean bisection point values (BP), difference limen (DL), and Weber ratio values (WR) for each duration range (range 3 vs. range 4) and group participants (ASD vs. TD).</p

Mean bisection point (BP), difference limen (DL), and Weber ratio (WR) for the short (0.5/1.0-s) and the longer (1.25/2.5-s) duration ranges in children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing children (TD).

<p>Mean bisection point (BP), difference limen (DL), and Weber ratio (WR) for the short (0.5/1.0-s) and the longer (1.25/2.5-s) duration ranges in children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing children (TD).</p

Mean proportion of “long” responses plotted against stimulus durations, for both ASD and TD participants, and for duration range 1 (upper panel), and duration range 2 (lower panel).

<p>Mean proportion of “long” responses plotted against stimulus durations, for both ASD and TD participants, and for duration range 1 (upper panel), and duration range 2 (lower panel).</p

Superimposition of the psychophysical functions for duration range 1 (R1) and duration range 2 (R2) in ASD participants.

<p>Superimposition of the psychophysical functions for duration range 1 (R1) and duration range 2 (R2) in ASD participants.</p

Mean proportion of “long” responses plotted against stimulus durations, for both ASD and TD participants, and for duration range 3 (upper panel), and duration range 4 (lower panel).

<p>Mean proportion of “long” responses plotted against stimulus durations, for both ASD and TD participants, and for duration range 3 (upper panel), and duration range 4 (lower panel).</p

For each group of children (ASD: Autism Spectrum Disorders; TD: Typically Developing), means and standard deviations for each composite score from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV): Verbal Comprehension index (VCI), Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), Working Memory Index (WMI), Processing Speed Index (PSI), Full Scale IQ (FSIQ).

<p>For each group of children (ASD: Autism Spectrum Disorders; TD: Typically Developing), means and standard deviations for each composite score from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV): Verbal Comprehension index (VCI), Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), Working Memory Index (WMI), Processing Speed Index (PSI), Full Scale IQ (FSIQ).</p