1887

Animal behaviour

image of Animal behaviour
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Abstract

Understanding animal behaviour, including the ability to recognize and interpret signals as well as understand how animals learn, is imperative for anyone who works with animals. This chapter discusses the origins of behaviour in terms of gene–environment interaction and the Three Rules of Life. The fundamental basics of how humans and other animals learn are introduced, and common pitfalls in communication and training are considered. The chapter ends with a series of tables highlighting behavioural commonalities across a range of species, to help readers approach novel species with confidence.

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Figures

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3.1 A dog showing low-level stress signals which are not being recognized and attended to.
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3.2 (a–d) Examples of brachycephalic distortions as a result of selective breeding. (Reproduced with permission from vetsagainstbrachycephalism.com; b, © Dyrlaegehuset Farum and Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund; c, © International Cat Care; d, © Campaign for the Responsible Use of Flat-Faced Animals)
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3.3 Artificially concocted animals. (a) Savannah Cat: an example of cross-species hybridization. (b) A cross-species hybrid between a corn snake and a Great Plains rat snake. (a, Shutterstock.com/Nynke van Holten; b, Shutterstock.com/fivespots)
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3.4 An African giant pouched rat that has been trained for landmine detection. (Shutterstock.com/Adi Haririe)
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3.5 Colour vision differences between (a) what a human sees and (b) what a dog sees. (Created using dog vision image processing tool: dog-vision.andraspeter.com)
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3.6 Yerkes–Dodson law. Performance (motivation to learn and ability to perform behaviours already learned) increases with increasing arousal up to an optimum level of arousal (indicated by the dashed line). Further increases in arousal result in decreased performance.
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3.7 This graph shows how the difficulty of a task interacts with the Yerkes–Dodson law (blue line; see Figure 3.6 ). The red line represents a difficult task; the green line represents an easy task. External and internal sources of arousal need to be minimized during the learning phase of all tasks, when performing learned tasks that are more difficult or any task when the animal is already sensitized.
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3.8 The author’s [AM] adaptation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs from a non-human perspective.
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3.9 Taxidermy Illustration of the experimental set-up used by Pavlov. (Shutterstock.com/Gilmanshin)
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3.10 Terms related to reinforcement and punishment in operant conditioning.
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3.11 The pairing of positive reinforcement with negative punishment and of negative reinforcement with positive punishment, using teaching a dog to sit as an example. Drawn by S.J. Elmhurst BA Hons (www.livingart.org.uk) and reproduced with her permission.
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3.12 The cycle of escalation for frustration-based behaviour.
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3.13 Pavlov’s experimental induction of neurosis. The circle in (a) is classically associated with food, the ellipse in (b) is associated with no food. These are easily discriminated. However, as the ellipse becomes more similar to the circle, as in (c), the dog can no longer discriminate between the two and does not know if food will or will not arrive – this leads to a state of neurotic behaviour.
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3.14 The cycle of escalation for fear.
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3.15 Parrot whose owner has trained it to perch on a verbal cue, facilitating veterinary examination. (Shutterstock.com/Susan Schmitz)
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3.16 Examples of conformation and grooming styles that affect communication and thermoregulation. (a) A brachycephalic dog demonstrating staring eyes and a gaping mouth exposing teeth. These are signals of potential threat to another dog, but actually may be the animal trying to breathe or cool down. (b) A grooming style that constricts the dog’s visual field and reduces its ability to communicate using subtle body signals, including ear and facial movements. (ci) Common poodle grooming clip that compromises thermoregulation and visual field and, as with (b), impinges on facial and ear communication and enhances the illusion of raised hackles. (cii) This pink version further demonstrates the anthropocentric focus, even though there is a potential welfare cost to the dog. (d) The non-medical grooming cut seen in this cat is a further example of compromised thermoregulation and communication in that it cannot fluff the fur on its body or tail to communicate threat. (b, Shutterstock.com/Nejron Photo; cii, by Jonner and licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0 (To view a copy of this licence, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0); d, Shutterstock.com/lev.studio)
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3.17 Examples of care labels. (a) These labels provide a warning but do a poor job of informing the reader. (b) These labels are more informative.
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3.18 (a) An African grey parrot and (b) a Harris hawk, showing self-mutilation behaviour (feather plucking). (© John Chitty)
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3.19 The asymmetrical wag of the dog: right bias indicates a pleasant emotion and left bias a degree of anxiety.
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3.21 Common signs that animals use to express fear and anxiety and the species that can exhibit them. A single behaviour (as listed in the table) should be considered in conjunction with other physiological, physical and social parameters, as well as the other behaviours being expressed by the animal. The behaviours are grouped to show how they may be assessed in an unfamiliar species. = different species may react differently. = very low-level anxiety/fear; = mild anxiety/fear; = moderate anxiety/fear; = escalated anxiety/fear; = severe anxiety/fear; = extreme anxiety/fear.
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3.22 Common signs that an animal is happy or relaxed and the species that can exhibit them. Note that context is important – animals may use ‘happy behaviours’ to reduce perceived threats (appeasement). = different species may react differently.
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