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ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
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ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR BAG203
HOW DO ANIMALS BEHAVE?
Understand why animals behave the
way they do. Learn to understand
difficult behaviour and techniques to
deal with it. This is a very useful qualification for anyone working with animals or for someone wishing to set up
their own business.
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INTRODUCTION - INFLUENCES AND MOTIVATION
The study of animal behaviour provides a foundation for animal
training, or more generally, animal care. It also provides very real
insights and a foundation for understanding human behaviour. If
you wish, you may focus on a particular animal or group of animals. Let your tutor know your preference.
Animals do share some behavioural characteristics with people
but it can be dangerous to assume too much similarity. Animal behaviour is far less affected by choices reached through reasoning.
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WHAT IS ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR?
Behaviour is any response to a stimulus. It can be any externally observable
activity of an animal, or an internal
change. In general, it includes:




Movement of parts of the body
Stopping expected movement
Secretions from the body
Changes in body colour.
What is the Purpose of Animal Behaviour?
It is assumed that all animal behaviour is an adaptation designed to support
survival, either directly or indirectly. However, this is not always the case. Animals can behave self-destructively, out of habit, or out of boredom, just as humans can. To better understand the behaviour, we should also consider what
motivates it.
What Motivates Behaviour?
Genetics is of prime importance (ie. inherited characteristics). Genetic characteristics are also sometimes referred to
as “inborn”, “innate” or “instinctive”.
Most animals are genetically programmed to act in certain ways in certain situations.
Experience (ie. learned characteristics).
Experience may encompass terms including: “acquired”, “experiential” or
“environmental”. Behaviours can be
learned through the experience of interacting with the environment (which
includes the people or other creatures
in it), or it can be learned through personal,
subjective
experience
(perceptions, thoughts and feelings). In
the case of animals, these latter factors
are usually difficult to identify.
Since genetic and environmental factors
both influence behaviour, it is impossible to distinguish particular causes for
behaviour. Particularly in regard to animals, no behaviour can ever be characterised as totally instinctive or totally
learned. Even though learned and genetic factors both play a role in all behaviours, the relative significance of
each is variable.
Some behaviours in animals can be
relatively unlearned and therefore,
almost impossible to modify. In
such cases, we can determine that
genetics is the major influence. Other behaviours are relatively easy to modify, thus mostly
learned. In such cases, we can determine that genetics has a minor
influence.
KINDS OF BEHAVIOUR
Three general categories of
behaviour are reactive behaviours, active behaviours,
and cognitive behaviours.

Reactive

Active

Cognitive
KINDS OF BEHAVIOUR
Three general categories of behaviour
are reactive behaviours, active behaviours, and cognitive behaviours.
Reactive behaviour
Reactive behaviour includes stereotypic behaviour which is largely automatic. These are the most primitive
types of behaviours which have been
fully established in the animal well before it is born. Animal tropisms
(automatic orientation responses) such
as balancing and positioning are reactive behaviours. Other tropisms include things such as breathing, avoiding heat or opening the eyes.
Active behaviours
Active behavioursare developed from
inherited potentials. The animal is born
with a tendency to act a certain way,
but a degree of learning must occur for
that behaviour to develop. The process
is a little like a computer which delivers
pre-programmed responses on demand; the way to act might be built
into the animal’s genetic make-up, but
it requires a certain stimulus before
the action happens. These behaviours
in part occur through parental training
(eg. flying, walking, grooming). This is a
more elaborate type of behaviour than
reactive behaviour. It is believed to
occur only in more advanced animals
(ie. arthropods and vertebrates),
though there is some evidence that
lower order animals can also learn behaviour.
Cognitive behaviours
Cognitive behavioursare the most
advanced forms of behaviour. Genetics provides only a very general influence, and the actual behaviour is
more influenced by the environment
and experience. Cognitive behaviour
is more or less “deliberate” activity.
The animal doesn’t just respond to
stimuli; it can also “invent” its own
actions. Simple cognitive behaviours
are encountered in many (but not
all) arthropods, and all vertebrates.
Exploration is a simple cognitive
behaviour which allows an animal
to familiarize itself with new conditions in the environment. Objects are approached, inspected
and then moved away from. This
action is generally repeated, but
with reduced frequency. The
most complex environmental factors tend to stimulate the greatest exploratory activity. If mammals are prevented from exploration for long periods, their behaviour can become abnormal.
Play is a more advanced type of
cognitive behaviour which occurs to some degree in most
vertebrates; but more so in
mammals. Play may involve
more complex and diverse activity than exploration. Play and
exploration together help animals adapt to both their physical and social environment. Lack
of play in young animals can
lead to social problems later in
life (ie. they make poor parents
or don’t react well with other
animals). Another more complex cognitive behaviour seen in
mammals is manipulative behaviour.
LEARNED BEHAVIOUR
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov was a pioneer in Classical
Conditioning. His theory was based on
his findings while experimenting with
dogs. Pavlov observed the relationship
between an unconditioned stimulus (eg.
a dish of food) and an unconditioned
response (eg. salivating at the mouth).
He recognised that this was a natural,
unlearned response. He proceeded to
experiment with the possibilities of associating another stimulus (light) with
the unconditioned stimulus (food), so
that the dog would be conditioned to
respond to the light by salivating.
Pavlov set up the dog in a soundproof
laboratory, with a special device to
measure the salivating response
(attached to the salivary gland). A light
was then turned on following delivery
of meat powder by remote control. A
high degree of salivation was measured.
The procedure was repeated so that the
dog was conditioned to associate the
light with food. The repetition of this
procedure is called reinforcement. It
reinforces the association between light
and food. When the experimenter
turned on the light, without presenting
food, the dog still salivated copiously.
This form of learning is called "classical
conditioning".
The light is the conditioned stimulus
(CS) and the salivation now a conditioned response (CR). If the conditioned
behaviour is not reinforced (i.e. if the
conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned
stimulus) then the conditioned response slowly disappears. This is
called extinction. Extinction is the elimination of a learned behaviour.
Learned behaviour can be unlearned on
condition that the reinforcement that
maintains the behaviour is totally removed. (If reinforcement is occasionally
removed, the behaviour it reinforces
may strengthen in intensity).
Classical conditioning may differ in form
according to the time lapse between
the presentation of the unconditioned
stimulus (eg. food) and the controlled
stimulus (eg. light):
·
With simultaneous conditionin
g, the light and the food are
produced simultaneously.
·
With delayed conditioning,
the light is turned on for a period before the food is presented.
·
With trace conditioning, the
light is turned on for a while
then turned off before the presentation of food.
Different schools of psychology
interpret Pavlov's research discoveries in different ways. It was
the traditional behaviourists that
took Pavlov’s results into their
fold, so to speak. They used his
research
to
validate
their mechanistic view of human
behaviour, perceiving the learning process involved as an automatic process. They adopted Pavlov’s assumption that the learning
is based on the temporal closeness of the two stimuli. The conditioned association between the
unconditioned stimuli and conditioned stimuli would not, in their
view, have occurred unless the
two stimuli were presented at
more or less the same time.
On the other hand, cognitive psychologists interpret Pavlov’s results in a different fashion. They
give more thought to what happens inside the organisms mind.
No response would occur in their
view, unless the organism was
capable of actively processing
received information. According
to these theorists, the organism
observes that conditioned stimuli
and the unconditioned stimuli
occur together, and stores this
information in memory. When the
conditioned stimulus is presented, the organism remembers
its previous simultaneous occurrence with the unconditioned
stimulus, and thus responds
in expectation of the uncontrolled
stimulus. The difference between
these two interpretations might
seem small, but their psychological implications are profoundly
different.
Negative reinforcement should
not
be
confused
with
‘punishment’ which weakens behaviour because a negative condition is introduced or experienced
as a consequence of behaviour.
For example, a dog gets beaten
for chewing the furniture. This is
punishment.
OPERANT CONDITIONING
Operant conditioning describes a form
of learning involved in more complex
learning. The concept of operant conditioning was formulated by B.F. Skinner. Skinner distinguished between
operant and respondent behaviour.
Respondent behaviour occurs as a direct unconditioned response to a
stimulus (eg. the reflex of the knee or
salivating at the smell of good food).
Operant behaviour, on the other hand,
involves the organism actively performing (operating) in the environment
without responding to a particular
stimulus. Such behaviour is influenced
not so much by causes, as by results
that are produced.
Example: We wake up in the morning
in a good mood for no obvious reason.
Because the mood is good, we smile at
people in the street. The result of this
friendliness might lead people to be
warm and friendly in return, or maybe
even initiate conversations with you.
These consequences will then lead you
to smile more often in order to encourage such positive responses.
Note that it is the outcome of the behaviour that reinforces that particular
behaviour. The reinforcement may be
positive or negative. Positive reinforcement promotes a particular behaviour
pattern because it provides a positive
outcome. For example a dog might
learn that if it wags its tail and whimpers that its owner will give it a chocolate drop. The dog enjoys this experience, and so the next time it feels like
some chocolate it is likely to repeat
this behaviour.
Negative reinforcement is where the
behaviour is reinforced because it
removes or avoids a negative stimulus
or condition. For example a dog is
too hot in the garden so it goes and
rests in its kennel. By doing so it removes the unpleasant stimulus
(heat). The behaviour is reinforced so
that the next time the dog is too hot it
is likely that it will go and rest in its
kennel.
Skinner’s Experiments
A rat is placed in a box containing
nothing other than a bar. The rat
will explore its surroundings. It will
eventually discover the bar, and
play with it. In effect, the rat is
voluntarily operating on its environment. After a while, the experimenter introduces a food pellet
through a food chute to coincide
with the times when the rat
presses the bar. The rat will eat
the pellet, and after that, the rate
of pressing the bar increases dramatically. The pellets of food have
reinforced the rat’s operant behaviour. This differs from classical
conditioning because the rat is not
simply passively waiting for a
stimulus (eg. light) to happen before doing something.
Physiological Responses to Psychological Stimuli
Physiological characteristics can
be seen to change when an animal’s state of mind is stimulated in some way. Here are
some examples:

An animal is feeling tired,
lays down and observes
surrounding activity, then
becomes more alert /
awake.

If the animal lies down in a
dark, quiet place, they may
be more likely to sleep.

An animal sees something
that is disturbing (eg. a
predator) and their heart
rate increases.
OTHER INFLUENCES ON BEHAVIOUR
Behaviour is also affected by an animal’s biological/physiological condition. When
an animal is sick, it may act differently. When its physiological systems or internal
chemistry is abnormal, its behaviour may also become abnormal. There are associations that occur between the physiology and the psychology of an animal. For
example:

Chemical processes, such as the response to different types of foods, can affect the psychological state. (Example: Animals may respond differently when
they are starved.)

When animals become stressed, blood vessels may contract and the heart rate
may increase.
In studying animal behaviour, we focus on two broad areas of concern:
1. The way the body’s physiology responds to external stimuli.
2. The way the body’s internal environment can affect the animal’s behaviour.
External stimuli that can affect behaviour include:
 Stimuli to sensory organs
 Dysfunction of sensory organs.
Internal influences on behaviour can include:
 Different foods (including nutritional deficiencies or disorders)
 Secretions of Glands
 Metabolic Products
 Blood and Lymph constituents
 Chemicals manufactured in the body and brain
 Dysfunction of body systems (pain may or may not be a
symptom)
 Neuro Emotional Blockages.
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