Shown two photos of the same stranger, one smiling and one scowling, does a goat know which way to turn first? British researchers ran the test, and the result is hard to ignore.
Publicité
Publicité
The animals, all used to people, were released four metres away from two images fixed side by side on a wall. During four 30-second trials, they could explore freely. The goats spent more time sniffing the happy faces than the angry ones. The animal's sex and the gender of the person pictured did not seem to affect this choice.
One detail puzzles the authors: the preference appeared clearly only when the happy face was on the right. When it was on the left, no difference was found. They suggest a possible role for the brain's left hemisphere in processing positive expressions, but this remains a hypothesis.
The study has clear limits: a small group from a single shelter, one human face and still photos. It shows a preference, not an understanding of human emotions.
