{"id":159,"date":"2016-04-04T09:10:16","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T09:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/?p=159"},"modified":"2020-05-28T14:12:02","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T14:12:02","slug":"horses-read-human-facial-expressions-of-emotion-sussex-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2016\/04\/04\/horses-read-human-facial-expressions-of-emotion-sussex-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Horses read human facial expressions of emotion \u2013 Sussex Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Amy Smith<\/p>\n

Undeniably, horses have funny faces. Long nose, eyes on the sides of the head, wiggly ears\u2026morphologically they look very different to humans, yet it turns out they are pretty good at looking across the species barrier to read our faces.<\/p>\n

The ability to read emotion in others is hugely important in daily social life, not just for humans and other primates, but for many social species. Emotions are tools of communication \u2013 for instance, if a sheep sees another sheep looking scared (bulging eyes, ears pinned back), the observer knows there is a threat nearby, and can take appropriate action (i.e. increasing vigilance and readying themselves for a \u2018fight or flight\u2019 response). On top of this, recognising emotion can help social groups stick together. Facial expressions can communicate dominance and submissiveness, so that each individual can keep their place in the dominance hierarchy.<\/p>\n

\"Amy<\/a>

Amy Smith and one of her equine subjects<\/p><\/div>\n

Reading facial expressions of emotion between different species may present more challenges due to differences in facial and body structure, and in the forms which emotional signals take. For instance, sheep, horses and dogs can express and perceive emotion in one another\u2019s ear movements (e.g. pinning their ears flat against their heads is a signal of negative emotion), whereas this mode of communication is absent in humans. Despite such differences, dogs have previously been shown to recognise human emotion from facial expressions alone \u2013 they prefer happy human faces and dislike angry ones. Here in the Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research group, we set out to test if horses, too, can recognise human facial expressions of emotion.<\/p>\n

We visited stables around Sussex and showed 28 horses photographs of positive (happy) and negative (angry) human facial expressions, whilst recording their heart rates using a Polar Equine heart rate monitor. We tested each horse twice, once with each emotion, in trials separated by at least 2 months to prevent horses getting used to the experimental setup. Two major things came through in the results: firstly, when observing the angry face, horses preferred to look with their left eye (which many species do when they are perceiving a threat in the environment); and secondly, their heart rates increased faster towards the angry face, indicating a greater degree of stress.<\/p>\n

\"Stimulii\"<\/a>

Stimulii<\/p><\/div>\n

Overall, the horses had stronger reactions when faced with the negative than the positive expression. This same pattern is seen in dogs, who also display a left-gaze bias towards angry human faces, and also respond less to happy faces. Animals may benefit more from recognising and reacting to potential threats in the environment over positive events, particularly in a prey animal such as the horse whose ancestral survival depended on the detection of predators.<\/p>\n

Horses\u2019 abilities to read emotion on human faces may have resulted in part from their 6,000-year coevolution with humans. It is also possible that, during an individual\u2019s lifetime, horses form associations between angry humans and negative treatment, such as rough handling, and therefore learn to be wary of angry humans. You could compare this to our human ability to recognise a dog\u2019s social signals \u2013 if you see a dog snarling at you with exposed teeth, you would tend to steer clear of this individual. To get at the potential effects of learnt vs. innate explanations, one would need to test the recognition abilities of individuals with differing levels of human exposure, e.g. feral horses or very young horses.<\/p>\n

The continuing work of the Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition lab at Sussex (funded by the Leverhulme Trust) is looking into horses\u2019 social and emotional lives, between horses and horses, as well as horses and humans.<\/p>\n

Reference<\/strong>: \u201cFunctionally relevant responses to human facial expressions of emotion in the domestic horse (Equus caballus)\u201d<\/em> AV Smith, L Proops, K Grounds, J Wathan, K McComb 2016, Biology Letters, doi: http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1098\/rsbl.2015.0907<\/p>\n

Find out more about our research on Cognitive Psychology<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Amy Smith Undeniably, horses have funny faces. Long nose, eyes on the sides of the head, wiggly ears\u2026morphologically they look very different to humans, yet it turns out they are pretty good at looking across the species barrier to…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[97952,97941,24,97762],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pafdEV-2z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":120,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2015\/12\/07\/clara-wilsons-jra-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":159,"position":0},"title":"Clara Wilson's JRA experience","date":"December 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Even before I was aware of the JRA scheme I was keen to help out on projects done by the Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group at Sussex. The work I was most interested in concerned the cognitive abilities of horses \u2013 an area that the team has done\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Animal behaviour\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2015\/12\/Screen-Shot-2015-12-07-at-15.34.46-168x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1137,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2020\/11\/16\/do-changes-in-emotion-regulation-affect-decision-making-in-people-with-alzheimers-disease\/","url_meta":{"origin":159,"position":1},"title":"Do Changes in Emotion Regulation Affect Decision-Making in People with Alzheimer\u2019s Disease?","date":"November 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dr Rotem Perach, Prof Jennifer Rusted, Prof Pete Harris, Dr Eleanor Miles Ever felt so excited that you found yourself telling your life story to a stranger? Or so anxious about something that you could think about little else? We know that our emotions often affect our decisions, for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faculty research"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2015\/09\/14\/welcome\/","url_meta":{"origin":159,"position":2},"title":"Welcome","date":"September 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"As we start of the new academic year, I am delighted as Head of School to welcome our new cohort of Undergraduate, Masters and Doctoral students to the School of Psychology at Sussex, and to welcome back our current Undergraduate and Doctoral students. I hope you have all had a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"HoS\"","img":{"alt_text":"Tom_photo","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2015\/09\/Tom_photo-300x200.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":117,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2015\/11\/30\/can-meditation-make-you-less-prejudiced\/","url_meta":{"origin":159,"position":3},"title":"Can meditation make you less prejudiced?","date":"November 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"By Xander Stell Although\u00a0meditation and related practices once were considered too \u2018esoteric\u2019 to study\u00a0scientifically, research on these topics has burgeoned within psychology and\u00a0neuroscience. This is, in part, because meditation has been linked to a raft of positive\u00a0outcomes such as greater happiness, increased cognitive flexibility, more\u00a0effective regulation of emotions and lower\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Kindness\"","img":{"alt_text":"Picture by Balint F\u00c3\u00b6ldesi (CC)","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2015\/11\/Meditation_Balint-F\u00c3\u00b6ldesi-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":387,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2017\/06\/12\/why-i-recommend-trying-something-outside-of-your-comfort-zone\/","url_meta":{"origin":159,"position":4},"title":"Why I recommend trying something outside of your comfort zone","date":"June 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tamara Albaja \u00a0 How did I discover\u00a0my inner passion for working with children? Two words, \u2018Social Detectives\u2019. What is Social Detectives? Social Detectives is a structured yet flexible curriculum and teaching process that focuses on social skills development using applied behaviour analysis; specifically teaching interactions. It is delivered by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Autism\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2017\/06\/Untitled.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1748,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2022\/11\/30\/the-evolution-and-development-of-the-upright-walking-talking-tool-using-great-ape\/","url_meta":{"origin":159,"position":5},"title":"The evolution and development of the upright walking, talking, tool-using great ape","date":"November 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Professor Gillian Forrester image credit: David Stock (New Scientist) My research strives to understand how we became the upright walking, talking, tool-using great apes that we are today \u2013 both through the evolution of our species and through the development of infants. I study the behaviours and brains of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2022\/11\/Gillian-5-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/156"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1000,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions\/1000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}