AB Lecture 7:motivation

motivation definition

the process within the brain controlling what behavior changes occur and when

motivation is a combination of factors that

contribute to an animals decision-making

• both internal and external

its important to understand the motivation behind a behavior if

you are using behavior as an indicator of animals welfare

• often discussed alongside stereotypical behaviors

understanding an animals motivation for behaving a certain way helps

us mange animals effectively, safely, and efficiently

causal factor defintion

input to a decision making center, like the brain

causual factor includes what types of inputs

a wide variety of both external and internal inputs

• environmental stimuli (sights, smells)

• internal factors (hormone levels)

casual factors may require what after previous what

interpretation after previous experiences and exposures in order to act upon these causal factors

sometimes the behavioral response to a causal factor is

innate

motivational state defintion

a combination of the levels of all causal factors that put an animal in a particular physiological and perpetual state

sometimes causal factors can either do what to determine motivational state

• override another one

• combine together

decision making defintion

brain monitors the causal factors and based on previous experience, the animal will then be avle to make a decision

how are causal factors influenced by eachother

they may be related or compete with one another

example of causal factors being related to one another

an animals that has a high level of thirst is also likely going to be hungry

example of causal factors that compete with each other

an animal may be hungry, but also is wary of predation

appetite behavior definition

searching for the suitable external stimuli

consummatory behavior defintion

encountering the stimuli and utilizing it

• searching for food, and then eating the food

motivation and behavior has a

complicated relationship

an animal may have a tendency to do something due to a combination of factors, but

the resulting behavior (or lack of behavior) may not be a direct connection

motivation is not - 3

• not a reflex

• not a learned behavior

• not a result of a developmental processes

motivation definition

a mechanistic explanation for why an animal is currently performing a particular behavior patten

what helps explain the decision made by individual animals when faced with choices about that activity to do next

changes in motivational state

motivation has to travel through what part of the body

spinal cord and brain

what was the black and white idea of animal motivation

used to think that there was only a “drive” for animals to act a certain way

many causal factors cannot be

measured directly

• ex: hunger

many causal factors cannot be measured but you can measure

associated physiological factors

• blood glucose

• brainwaves, perform MRI’s

motivation also goes hand in hand with

welfare

measuring motivation relies heavily on what - 2

• experimentation

• manipulation of motivational state

measuring motivation can be done by measuring what

the amount of activity

• measure how frequently it is performed

• measure how long it is performed each time it is performed / intensity levels

measuring motivation can be done by observing what

any patterns associated with the performance

• ex: does this behavior occur only at night?

what do you measure about motivation of an animal in the face of aversive stimuli

measure persistence

• prevent performance of a behavior and measure how much that animal is willing to persist before giving up

• measure the motivation to eat or drink by tainting fod/water with an unpleasant flavor

what is elasticity of behavior

a concept that examines how likely a behavior is to occur in the face of increasing “cost” and how important that behavior is and how motivated an animal is to perform those behaviors

elastic behavior definition

small increases in cost will cause large decreases in performance of the behavior

• usually not very intrinsically important to the animal

• not very motivated to perform the behavior

inelastic behavior defintion

the cost is essentially irrelevant and performance will continue regardless of cost

• highly motivated to perform the behavior

• more intrinsically important to the animal / needed for survival

highly motivated behavior example

dust bathing in chickens

what is the purpose of dust bathing in chickens

remove all excess oil, make feathers less habitable for parasites, maintain healthy plumage

how often do chickens dust bathe

a very regular and clear pattern of dust bathing once every 2 days

dust bathing in chickens is a very clear what type of behavior

rebound behavior

rebound behavior defintion

a behavior that occurs at an increased rate or frequency after a period of being unable to perform

when substrate is not present chickens will behave

more exploratory

• some suggest that this means chickens are motivated to perform the behavior in the absence of the cue

dust bathing is a behavior that is very responsive to

external cues

• light

• heat

• the sight of other chickens dust bathing

what happens if a highly motivated behavior is prevented

inappropriate or abnormal behaviors including stereotypes can occur

stereotypic behavior defintion

a repetitive, unchanging behavior pattern that has no function or obvious goal

stereotypic behavior often resembles

the behavior that either is lacking, or resembles what would beed to be done in order to perform the behavior, but will not actually achieve either of those ends, and is therefore “functionless”

example of stereotypic behavior in sows

bar-biting

example of stereotypic behavior in mice

mouse jumping or looping

example of stereotypic behavior in hamsters

bar biting