Download Animal Behavior - Ms. Canga`s page

Animal Behavior
Ms. Kristin Canga, RVT
“…For the strength of the
Pack is the Wolf, and the
strength of the Wolf is the
Pack.
-Rudyard Kipling, The Law of the Jungle
How Do Animals Learn?
 Animals do not have a sense of morals.
 Owners often project what they think on to
the animals behavior.
 Most animals learn in a similar manner,
through associative learning.
 Respondent Conditioning
 (Also called classical or Pavlovian
conditioning.)
 Operant Conditioning
 Relies heavily on consequences
Associative learning
 Occurs when an animal forms an association
between two events. (Kind of like cause and effect)
 Associations that are highly predictable will be
learned the fastest.
 Often called Stimulus-response relationships
 Relies on contiguity and contingency in order to learn
in this manner.
 Contiguity – relationship between 2 events in both
time and place.
 Contingency – describes the predictability of the
association.
Stimulus-Response Relationships
 What does this mean?
 Something happens that stimulates a
response.
 Can also be described as:
 Respondent behaviors
Respondent Behaviors
 Also called Classical or Pavlovian conditioning
 Utilize an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that causes an
unconditioned response (UCR).
 SCENARIO:
 -In cattle: Being milked (UCS) causes oxytocin release and milk
letdown. (UCR)
 After repeated associations between entering the milking
facility and being milked, the response becomes conditioned:
 Approaching the milking facility (sights, and sounds associated)
becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS), results in milk letdown as a
conditioned response (CR).
Scenario
– Each day, you come home and drop you backpack
loudly on the kitchen table. Your cat associates the fear
of the experience and the place in which experienced.
 If this happens every single day, the cat will associate the
kitchen table with fear.
 This can backfire, and the cat can associate YOU with
fear since you are also a common factor in the fear.
(When my person comes home, I get scared)
 How an animal associates these two things depends on
the individual animal. (May include temperament and
prior experiences)
Other Human Scenarios
 You leave school to drive in Houston traffic.
 When you enter your neighborhood/apartment complex,
you have a sudden urgency to urinate.
 You go out with your friends and have a little too much
(Fill in your beverage of choice here) to drink.
 Every time you smell or even hear someone mention this
drink, you feel nauseated.
Scenario
- A dog is fearful of strangers because he/she has never
been exposed to them in his or her life. When someone
rings the doorbell, a stranger appears in the dogs home.
- The dog will associate the ringing of the doorbell with a
stranger appearing and being afraid.
- Over time, the doorbell will be associated with fear.
Operant Conditioning
 Important Terms to note:
 Reinforcement
 Positive reinforcement
 Negative reinforcement
 Correction/punishment
 Positive correction/punishment
 Negative correction/punishment
 Extinction
Operant Behaviors
 Rely on consequences to be effective
 Consequences help the animal increase
or decrease the frequency of behavior.
 Consequences MUST happen
immediately after the behavior is
performed.
 Consequences can be implemented through
“positive or negative” reinforcement OR
“positive or negative” correction/punishment.
Positive & Negative
 Punishment and negative reinforcement are NOT the same!
 Can be reinforcement or correction/punishment
 SIMPLE math! 
 Positive – ADDING something to the situation
 Negative – REMOVING something from the situation
 Positive reinforcement can be over-used
 Positive correction can be used incorrectly
Scenario
 - A dog jumps up on anyone that comes in to the home.
Every time the behavior occurs, the dog is pushed down, and
talked to.
 What is REALLY happening here?
 What would be a more effective solution?
 What would be ineffective to resolve the jumping?
Extinction of Behaviors
 Defined: The process by which an association
between two events is broken.
 If behavior is no longer reinforced, the behavior
should stop.
 Extinction practices usually cause behaviors to get
worse before they are eliminated.
 When reinforcement is stopped, the animal senses a
certain level of frustration and will INCREASE the
behavior before it DECREASES!
 Called the “extinction burst”
Extinction, continued
 Can be used to eliminate an undesirable
behavior.
 Requires 100% compliance by owners and ALL members
of family in order to truly work.
 Remember that the behavior often worsens before it
goes away. This is NORMAL!
 Can also result in the elimination of DESIRABLE
behavior if not consistently reinforced.
 Wife requires dog to sit and stay before feeding
 Husband allows dog to follow to food and eat
without waiting.
Redirection during Extinction
 Some animals need to be asked to do something
else to “take their minds off” the behavior they
normally do.
 Be careful not to redirect too quickly
 A jumping dog needs to be calm before touch or
voice is offered for redirection.
 Make the two behaviors incompatible.
 A dog can’t sit AND jump on people simultaneously.
More slides are coming
soon!