Animal Welfare Quiz 2 Terminology

Ethology

Scientific study of animal behavior in natural conditions, involving how animals react and respond to environmental stimuli

Proximate Needs

Lack of these leads to frustration or suffering

Ultimate Needs

lack of these leads to death

Innate behavior

occurs naturally and automatically - not learned

Learning

A change in the brain resulting in behavioral modification

• occurs when an experience causes a change in behavior

Associative

made up of respondent conditioning and operant conditioning

Non-associative learning

Made up of habituation and sensitization

Habituation

a long-term stimulus-specific, waning of a response

sensitization

become increasingly responsive to a repeated stimulus

respondent conditioning

founded by Ivan Pavlov - digestion physiologist

utilizes unconditioned stimulus (food), unconditioned response (salivating), conditioned stimulus (bell) and conditioned response (salivating)

conditioned stimulus

a previously neutral stimulus that comes to produce a response

unconditioned stimulus

a stimulus that can provide a specified response

Operant conditioning

uses stimuli with motivational significance

• utilizes reward and punishment system for behavior

Agency

Proactive method of engaging with the environment and gathering knowledge/enhancing skills for future use

competence

reactive traits that relates to the possession of skills, knowledge, and qualifications and can be applied appropriately to deal with novel challenges

play

seemingly purposeless engagement

serves a role in behavioral development

used to develop skills

• autoplay (movement) or social play

behavioral restriction

inability to perform certain behavior patterns due to confinement

• negative psychological effects = stress

• reduces welfare

stress

state of disharmony or threatened homeostasis

being challenged beyond one’s behavioral/physiological capacity to adapt to its environment

abnormal behavior

untypical reaction to a partiuclar combination of motivational factors + stimuli

• “stress” coping response

stereotypies

unvarying, repetetive. behavior patterns that serve no obvious goal or function

• often in impoverished environments

displacement behavior

a normal behavior that is performed out of context with the situation

• arises from conflict or frustration

redirected behavior

normal activities directed at inappropriate substrates or targets

• arises from motivational conflict or emotional arousal

self-injurious behaviors/self-mutilation

deliberate, repetitive, impulsive, non-lethal harming of oneself

• arises from psychological distress

vacuum activity

performing an instinctive behavior in the absence of a typical stimulus 

• arises from the buildup of internal motivation

• some need is not being met

enrichment

enhancing or improving the quality of something

• create value or reward via environmental, nutritional, or behavioral methods 

sentience

the capacity to feel and experience

the ability to feel subjective experiences

a state of consciousness + self-awareness

anthropomorphism

assigning human attributes/feelings to animals

emotion

an intense, short-lived affective response

• broken down into subjective (what an animal feels), behavioral (what they display), and neurophysiological (how their body’s respond) 

limbus/limbic system

edge or border: in the brain it includes the neocortex and brainstrem

part of the brain made up of the thalamus, amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus

thalamus

relay center

• sorts sensory inputs and decides where to send information

amygdala

almond shaped

controls emotions: fear, anxiety, aggression, pleasure

hypothalamus

connection b/w brain and body

• hormone control

• homeostasis

hippocampus

critical for cognitive functions

• memory consolidation

• spatial navigation

• emotional regulation

fear

the unviersal survival emotion

• determines how one responds to its environment

• serves to protect from injury

• response to the perception of actual danger

3 methods to alleviate fear

1. environmental enrichment

2. improved handling + management

3. targeted breeding programs

Pain

unpleasant subjective experience

• caused by noxious stimulation or tissue injury

• provides protection during healing

• classified based on origin

somatic pain

• pain from skin, muscles, and joints

  • sharp, stabbing, pricking

visceral pain

from the viscera

• dull diffuse

nociceptors

receptor that detects actual or potential tissue damaged 

transmits modality (type of simulus), location, intensity, and duration

fast pain sensation

acute, sharp, pricking

travels via myelinated fibers

slow pain sensation

chronic, burning, aching

travels via unmyelinated fibers

spontaneous pain

pain in the absence of stimulation

hyperalgesia

exaggerated response to noxious stimuli

allodynia

presence of pain to non-noxious stimuli

physiological response to pain assessment

observe how nociceptive stimuli provoke biological responses and indicative of pain if responses vary in magnitude with degree of expected pain

quantitative sensory testing

controlled paplication of noxious stimuli to elicit withdrawal or avoidance reaction

monitors reaction time and nociceptive threshold

behavioral assessment

assesses the types of pain responses

ex. avoidance, vocalization, reduced signs of activity

contractarian view

motivation fueled by self-interest + mutual agreement

• human centered, applying only to individuals who can “contract in” (give their opinion)

utilitarian view

the greatest happiness principle

emphasizes outcomes and consequences of actions

• instrumental value: being worthwhile because it leads to something beneficial

• promote the happiness of as many individuals as possible 

Animal rights view

possessing certain capacities (sentience or self-awareness) is the basis for entitlement

• intrinsic value - being worthwhile for its own sake

relational view

duty depends on relationship or closeness of the animals/species to humans

capacities/capabilities are relevant, but not as important

respect for nature

moral concern expressed about the entire species

focused concerns on extinction and preservation of species integrity

hybrid views

a combination of ethical views as just one may be too extreme

ethical matrix

used to evaluate viewpoints where:

• rows = ethical views

• columns = viewpoints/stakeholders

can help clarify ethical dillemas, balanced consideration for all involved, reveals hidden assumptions/value conflicts, and supports decision-making

ethics

the study of morals or moral philosophy

• standards of right + wrong that prescribe what we do

philosophy

1. Philos vs Mythos (Science vs Storytelling)

   1. or 

2. philosophia (love of wisdom) 

philosophical reasoning

using logic to draw conclusions from information

improves knowledge to aid in better decision making

encourages one to engage in discourse

argument

collection of propositions in which one proposition, known as the conclusion, is claimed to derive support from the other propositions, known as premises

inductive reasoning argument 

moves from specific instances to universal laws

ie the sun hasn’t exploded so it will not explode

deductive reasoning

moves from universal law to specific instances

ie all men are mortal so my dad is mortal

analogical reasoning

uses analogies to make conclusions

abductive reasoning

uses logic to find the best possible answer among competing explanations

metaethics

study of the foundations of morality

• what is morality? what is its nature?

moral realism

belief that there are moral facts 

can believe in moral absolutism (there are standards and judgement) or moral relativism (multiple possible moral positions that are correct)

cultural relativism

can be descriptive cultural relativism or normative cultural relativism

• DCR = people’s moral beliefs vary from culture to culture

• NCR = moral facts differ from culture to culture

moral antirealism

belief that there are no moral facts

• There’s nothing wrong with gratuitous violence

  Nurturing the young is not always necessary

normative ethics branches

virtual ethics, consequentialism, and deontology

consequentialism

focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions

judges the rightness or wrongness based on outcomes

ethical egoism

ayn rand

• people act in their own self-interest when making moral decisions

• concerned w/ how people behave

ethical altruism

actions of an individual should be guided by the best interests of others

utilitarianism

focuses on maximizing pleasure + minimizing pain for the greatest number of animals

supported by jeremy bentham

deontology

“duty ethics”

uses moral rules to distinguish right from wrong

supported by Immanuel Kantian

endogenous pain mgmt

internally produced opium-like substanced 

• secreted by CNS, pituitary gland, GI tract

• blocks transmission of pain signals via spinal gating

• produces feelings of pleasure + euphoria

exogenous pain mgmt

medications given (NSAIDs, anesthesia, local anesthetics) 

preference tests

evaluating available alternatives and choosing the most desirable

• asking animals what they want

• used to assess resources valued most

• improve environments/welfare

motivation

the urge to perform a behavior which is driven by sensory input and involved in the decision-making process

causal factors

internal and external inputs sent to the decision-making center

• responses to these show as behavioral changes

ex. pig drinking water… causal factors include level of shade, sunny/weather conditions, if salty food has been consumed

motivational strength assessment

assessment includes animals paying a price (through operant conditioning) - will perform more times for high motivation

steps may include titrating options, applying demand theory, and then measuring 

inelastic demand

elastic demand

demand is not price-dependent (neccesities)

demand is price dependent (luxuries)

cognitive bias/judgement bias

pattern of deviation in judgement

indicates how stimulus is perceived

negative emotional state = negative judgements

qualitative behavioral assessment

assess animal’s body language

count # of times behavior is observed

develop new assessment systems using this

virtue ethics, normative ethics, deontology

normative ethics