UK Study Abroad - Week 2: Behavior

Behavior

response to stimulus

Foundations of Behavior

Natural selection

Individual Learning

Cultural Transmission

Non-Associative Learning

animals change their response to stimuli without association with a positive or negative reinforcement

Associative Learning

any learning process in which a new response becomes associated with a certain stimulus

Extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response

operant conditioning

Trial and Error Learning

change in behavior from establishing a relationship between behavior and +/- reinforcement or punishment

Baby-Schema

an innate caretaking and nurturing mechanism triggered by the features of a baby's face.

Common in brachiocephalic breeds

Normal Behavior for Dogs

ears up, posture relaxed, soft expression, tail dropped and wagging

Stress in Dogs

Yawning

Ears back, tail lowered, paw lifted

Sudden sniffing frantically

Panting with pointy cheeks

Shaking off tension

Dominance Aggression

expressed when dog reacts to a challenge of its social status or loss of control of resource

Typically purebred and in females

Fear

apprehension to a stimulus

Adaptive response essential for survival

Anxiety

apprehensive anticipation of threat

Difference between fear and anxiety

anticipation

Sonophobia

fear of sounds

Visually related phobia

can develop with or without a connection to sonophobia

Stereotypical Compulsive Disorders

repetitive out of context locomotive behavior

Compulsive Disorder

incorporates non-locomotor continuous behavior

Cats are adverse to following litters

scented, wood-pulp, pine

Perception

the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

How horses pick up on emotional cues

voice, posture, expression and pheromones

Normal Behavior

product of gene and behavior

Has domestication affected behavior?

Yes

Instinctive

Suckling, standing, running, and neighing

Learned

longer to develop

Scope of learning

determining cognitive ability of a horse to solve increasingly complex problems

Abnormal Horse Behaviors

Due to: boredom, lack of social contact, and hunger

Counter Conditioning

associate reaction to certain things with something postive

How long should horse spend eating?

16-18 hours

Flooding

- Mostly unethical

- Force animal to stand and endure stressors

Habituation

go through scenario and then go away from it and come back

Sensitization

make more sensitive to stimuli

Desensitization

get used to something

Classical conditioning

associate behavior with a certain cue

What is an ethogram?

a catalog of all the behaviors or activities observed in animals

Event Behaviors

behavior patterns of relatively short duration which can be approximated as points of time

State Behaviors

behaviors of long duration

Frequency

number of occurrences per unit of time

Duration

length of a single behavior pattern

Latency

onset of occurrence of a behavior

Intensity

measurement of the amplitude of a behavior

Ad Lib Sampling

Sampling behaviors that appear relevant and when you feel like it

Pro: good for prelim observations/rare events

Con: Potential Bias towards conspicuous behaviors

Focal Sampling

Observing one animals behavior for a specified amount of time and recording all instances of behavior

Pro: get a good picture of one individuals behavior

Con: Individuals can disappear from view

Scan Sampling

a whole group is scanned at regular intervals and the behavior of each individual at instant it is recorded

Pro: enables even representation of all individuals

Con: won't catch all behaviors if group is large

Behavior Sampling

observer watches whole group and records each occurrence of a particular behavior

Pro: useful for recording rare but significant behaviors

Con: Can only be used to capture specified behaviors

Continuous Sampling

record all occurrences of behavior - when they start and stop

used in focal sampling

Pro: detailed info

Con: difficult in groups

Instantaneous Sampling

behavior is sampled periodically at pre-defined intervals

Pro: Gives reasonable overview

Con: Missing behaviors

One-Zero Sampling

recording session is split into pre-defined periods

Record if you saw the behavior (1) or not (0)

Pro: Simple

Con: Over-estimation of behavior duration

Enrichment

process of providing captive animals with some form of stimulation in order to encourage natural behaviors

Aims of enrichment

make environment more complex and dynamic

Provide more stimulating, cognitive challenges and increase animals abilities to cope with challenges

Desired traits with domestication

Docility, Productivity, Appearance, Neoteny

Neoteny

retention of juvenile behavior into adulthood

Criteria for Suitable Domestication

Flexible diet

Fast growth

Breedable in Captivity

No aggression

Unlikely to panic

Modifiable social hierarchy

Pig Social Behavior

dynamic groups

dominance relationships are less stable than in cattle

Pig Cognition

ability to learn from experience, memorize, and combine new memories with previously available info

Episodic Memory

Pig Emotion

negative emotional states can be induced by pain, hunger, sickness as well as anxiety, fear, frustration

Barren housing conditions influence moods heavily

Cattle Social Behavior

social structure categorized by both aggressive (lowering head and physical contact such as head-butting) and affilative (social licking) behavior

Cattle Feeding

Herbivores and Ruminants

Diurnal rhythm: more time spent lying down at night, more time feeding during the day

Flight Distance

the distance at which animals react by fleeing

Flight Zone

area inside flight distance

Point of Balance

at shoulder

Cow Signals

observing and learning from the body language of the cow/herd

Johne's Disease

caused by bacteria that forms granule within the small intestine; decreases absorption rate

doesn't show until 3-4 years later

How long should cows graze for?

12-14 hours

Mastitis

inflammation of udder

Milk fever

lowered blood calcium level; can't efficiently use calcium in the diet

Grass Staggers

Magnesium deficiency

Acidosis

pH of the rumen declines and kills the micro-organisms

Rumen becomes more acidic

Digital Dermatitis

"strawberries" between toes

incredibly painful

Oxytocin

milk let down hormone

Stressed cows release

cortisol and adrenaline

inhibits oxytocin

Tongue Rolling

stereotypic behaviors

means to cope with environment; poor welfare