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!