Conveying Affective State: Context Specific Vocalizations of Bottlenose Dolphins

The Global Research Centre for Diverse Intelligences (GRCDI) are delighted to host a hybrid delivery presentation by Dr Tom Jenks (School of Biology, University of St Andrews).

Abstract
Research into animal emotion has proceeded cautiously, driven by a desire to avoid overextending claims about what animals may experience. It is now generally accepted that animals experience negative emotional states, perhaps because these are easier for us to recognise, but there is still little information on positive emotions. Yet positive emotional states can confer important fitness benefits and are likely to be overtly expressed in social taxa.
In this presentation, I explore our research into the vocal communication of Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and their use of context dependant vocal signals. Vocal communication in bottlenose dolphins has been studied primarily through the lens of individual recognition and group cohesion, particularly via whistles. Far less is known about how dolphins communicate other forms of information, including signals related to internal affective state, especially through burst-pulsed sounds.
Burst-pulsed calls have been linked to aggression, food-related contexts, and positive reinforcement, raising the possibility that they may encode information relevant to emotional valence. However, their classification has traditionally relied on aural descriptions, limiting consistency and comparability. I will present a novel approach for objectively classifying burst-pulsed sounds, allowing us to investigate their contextual use and explore their potential as a non-invasive measure of affective state and welfare.

Speaker Bio
Dr Tom Jenks is a Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews. He completed his PhD at the University of St Andrews focusing on the vocal learning and cognitive capabilities in bottlenose dolphins, understanding the vocalisations they produce, how much control they have over their production, and when they produce them. After his PhD Tom moved to work with bats, training them in behavioural paradigms to test their vocal learning production capabilities and exploring the learned and innate vocalisations contained within their repertoires. Now, Tom is back working with dolphins researching at the intersection of vocal production, cognition, and emotion.

All welcome!

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