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Abstract
Fear is arguably the most commonly investigated emotion in domestic animals. In the
current review we attempt to establish the level of repeatability and validity found
for fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, poultry and horses. We focus
the review on the three most common types of fear tests: the arena test (open field),
the novel object test, and the restraint test. For some tests, e.g. tonic immobility
in poultry, there is a good and broad literature on factors that affect the outcome
of the test, the validity of the test and its age dependency. However, there are comparatively
few of these well defined and validated tests and what is especially missing for most
tests is information on the robustness, i.e., what aspects can be changed without
affecting the validity of the tests. The relative absence of standardized tests hampers
the development of applied ethology as a science.