Animal behaviour

Understand the basic ethology of domesticated animals. Describe the emotional system and mammalian behavioural responses. Describe the influence of learning theory on animal behaviour.

what is ethology?

it is the study of animal behaviour

• Natural behaviour/species specific behaviour

• Studying animals in their natural environment

• Some study animals in artificial environment

• Study relationships among conspecifics(a member of the same species)

• Motivation influenced internally (hormones, genetics) or externally (environment, rearing)

what are the influencing factors on animal behaviour?

• Evolution, genetics, learning affects behaviour:

✓Prey vs predator behaviour

✓Social (obligatory/ non obligatory) or solitary

✓Individual hunting or pack hunting

✓Altricial or precocial

✓Burrowing or non burrowing

what is Altricial vs precocial

Altricial young are born helpless, underdeveloped, and require significant parental care, while precocial young are born relatively mature, mobile, and more independent soon after birth or hatching

what is Social (obligatory/ non obligatory)

an obligatory social animal cannot survive without being part of a group, while a non-obligatory social animal can live alone but may choose to interact with others

burrowing vs non burrowing animals

"Burrowing" describes animals, such as moles and many rodents, that dig tunnels for shelter or movement, while "non-burrowing" describes animals that don't dig burrows, like tree-dwelling raccoons or most lizards and snakes that live above ground

behaviour is an outward display of an emotional state - what does that mean

• Both physical and emotional health play a role in good animal welfare.

• Physical health is recognised by clinical signs (symptoms) that animals show.

• Emotional health is often identified by behaviour displayed.

• Identifying the motivations for an action will aid in recognising the emotional state.

• Environment and interaction (human/non human) has a role in the emotional state of an animal.

what are motivational positive (engaging) emotional systems?

• desire-seeking (an appetite for resource acquisition which motivates a range of behaviours including object play, scent work, predation and the sourcing of vital resources) 

• social-play (positive interactions with conspecifics such as rough and tumble play)

• care (predominantly motivating nurture of offspring)

• lust (reproductive motivation promoting courtship and mating)

what are motivational negative (protective) emotional systems?

• fear-anxiety (protective response to possible and true threats)

• frustration (emotion activated by the thwarting of expectation or achievement)

• panic-grief (activated by the loss of proximity to a nurturing caregiver)

• pain (in earlier versions this was part of the fear-anxietypain protective system)

things to consider when looking at emotional systems

don’t change with age - just changes in context

responses are species and situation specific

need to understand species specific behaviour

what are negative emotions behaviour responses

appeasement-trying to gather as much info as possible like sniffing about the individual

inhibition-an adaptive defensive response to threat

repulsion

avoiance

aim of behaviour response: increate space and information

tell me about animal arousal

not a stress behaviour

means animal reached full capacity

could be anything like yawning, shifting its gaze, shaking its ears, full body stretch, licking - all normal behaviours - but if you see something out of context like constantly licking all of sudden - it’s high arousal

what is displacement behavior

“In Freudian psychology, displacement (German: Verschiebung, "shift, move") is an unconscious defence mechanism whereby the mind substitutes either a new aim for goals felt in their original form to be dangerous or unacceptable”

displacement behaviours are associated with high arousal level

what is classical conditioning/pavolvian learning theory?

• Involuntary learning

• Physiological stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus

• Neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus and creates a conditioned response

what is operant conditioning learning theory?

• voluntary action with consequences

• Important to think about the animals emotional state