ArticleBiology letters2022
Pessimistic cognitive bias is associated with enhanced reproductive investment in female zebrafish.
Article in Biology letters, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Balancing consistency and flexibility: exploring trait and state optimism in rats using the cognitive judgement bias test.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Toutouwai display positive judgement bias when tested in the wild.Animal cognition · 2025Article
- A functional framework for a comprehensive study of welfare in fishes.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Optimism and pessimism: a concept for behavioural ecology.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Optimistic and pessimistic cognitive judgement bias modulates the stress response and cancer progression in zebrafish.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- Cognitive Bias in Adult Zebrafish (Veterinary sciences · 2025Review
- Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic?Animal cognition · 2024Article
- Trait sensitivity to stress and cognitive bias processes in fish: A brief overview.Personality neuroscience · 2024Review
- Unexpected appetitive events promote positive affective state in juvenile European sea bass.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Pessimistic cognitive bias is associated with enhanced reproductive investment in female zebrafish.Biology letters · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Optimistic and pessimistic cognitive biases have been described in many animals and are related to the perceived valence of the environment. We, therefore, hypothesize that such cognitive bias can be adaptive depending on environmental conditions. In reward-rich environments, an optimistic bias would be favoured, whereas in harsh environments, a pessimistic one would thrive. Here, we empirically investigated the potential adaptive value of such bias using zebrafish as a model. We first phenotyped female zebrafish in an optimistic/pessimistic axis using a previously validated judgement bias assay. Optimistic and pessimistic females were then exposed to an unpredictable chronic stress protocol for 17 days, after which fish were euthanized and the sectional area of the different ovarian structures was quantified in both undisturbed and stressed groups. Our results show that zebrafish ovarian development responded to chronic stress, and that judgement bias impacted the relative area of the vitellogenic developmental stage, with pessimists showing higher vitellogenic areas as compared with optimists. These results suggest that pessimism maximizes reproductive investment, through increased vitellogenesis, indicating a relationship between cognitive bias and life-history organismal decisions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.