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

 “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” -Mark Twain-

How do Animals Learn? There are two primary types of learning:  _____________________ conditioning.  Relies heavily on ________________________ and ______________________.  ___________________ conditioning sometimes known as _____________________ conditioning.  Is formed through ____________________________ ______________________.

How Do Animals Learn?  Animals do not have a sense of ____________.  _____________ often project what they think on to the animals behavior.  Most animals learn in one of two ways:  _____________________ /____________________ conditioning or  ______________________ conditioning.

Classical/Pavlovian Conditioning  Occurs when an animal forms an _________________ between two events. (Kind of like ___________ and __________________)  Associations that are highly _______________________ will be learned the fastest.  Often called ________________-_________________ relationships or ____________________ behaviors.  Relies on contiguity and contingency in order to learn in this manner.  _________________________ – relationship between 2 events in both time and place.  ________________________________ – describes the predictability of the association.

Stimulus-Response Relationships  Can also be described as:  _____________________ behaviors  What does this mean?  Something happens that __________________ a response.

Classical Conditioning through Respondent Behaviors

Respondent Behaviors  Are reactions to Classical or Pavlovian conditioning  Utilize an _______________________ stimulus (UCS) that causes an ___________________________ 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, at approximately the same time, you come home and drop your 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 escalate, 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)

Scenario -A dog is fearful of strangers because he/she has never been exposed to them. 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 sound of the doorbell will be associated with fear.

Scenario  A cat with a painful urinary tract infection goes to the litter box to urinate.  When the cat passes urine, it is painful. This happens each time the litter box is used.  What is the UCS and UCR in this situation?  What is the CS and CR??  What will happen when this association is formed???

Other Human Scenarios  You leave school to drive in Houston traffic.  When you enter your neighborhood/apartment complex, you have a sudden urge 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 cat is woken from a peaceful sleep and placed in its carrier. The cat then is taken, in the car, to the vet where it experiences a painful vaccine/blood-draw. -Over time, the cat will become fearful of his/her crate because every time the crate comes out, they go to the vet and experience pain.

Operant Conditioning  Important Terms to note:  Reinforcement  Positive reinforcement  Negative reinforcement  Correction/punishment  Positive correction/punishment  Negative correction/punishment  Extinction

Operant Behaviors  Rely on _______________________ to be effective  Consequences help the animal increase or decrease the ___________________ of behavior.  Consequences MUST happen ___________________ after the behavior is performed.  Consequences can be implemented through “positive or negative” _________________________ OR “positive or negative” ___________________/_________________.

Positive & Negative  Negative ____________________ and negative ____________________________ are NOT the same!  Can be reinforcement OR correction/punishment  SIMPLE math!  Positive – ___________________ something to the situation  Negative – ___________________ something from the situation  Positive reinforcement can be over-used  Positive correction can be used incorrectly

Four Categories of Operant Conditioning  Positive Reinforcement  Adding something the animal wants in order to increase the likelihood that behavior will occur again.  Negative Reinforcement  Removing something aversive in order to increase the likelihood that the behavior will occur again.  Positive Punishment  Adding something aversive to decrease the likelihood that the behavior will occur again.  Negative Punishment  Removing something pleasant to decrease the likelihood that the behavior will occur again.

Test Yourself!  Loose-leash walking is an example of:  Choke chain usage is an example of:  Hiding a favorite toy and allowing dog to play with it when found is an example of:  Lovies or treats when training are an example of:  Stopping play when it gets too rough is an example of:

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 Operant Behaviors  Defined: The process by which an _______________________ between two events is _____________.  Inappropriate behavior MUST be correctly identified  If behavior is no longer _______________, the behavior should stop.  Extinction practices may cause behaviors to get _____________ before they are ________________.  When reinforcement of _________________ behavior is stopped, the animal senses a certain level of frustration and will _______________ the behavior before it ___________________!  Called the “__________________________”

Extinction, continued  Can be used to eliminate an undesirable behavior.  Requires 100% ________________________ by owners and ALL members of family in order to truly work.  Remember that the behavior often ________________ before it goes away. This is ________________!  Can also result in the elimination of _________________ behavior if not consistently reinforced.  Wife requires dog to sit and stay before feeding  Husband allows dog to follow him to food and eat without waiting.

Accomplishing Extinction  Can usually be done through one of three methods.  ____________________________________________________

How to Accomplish Extinction  1) Systematic desensitization  The process of changing an animal’s ________________________ response to a stimulus.  Start at a level that does not cause fear  Gradually increase exposure  Exposure time is increased until no fear response

Accomplishing Extinction  2) Counter-conditioning/Counter-commanding  Some animals need to be asked to do something else to “take their minds off” the behavior they normally do.  The process of ______________________ an _____________________  Most animals are ____________ motivated  Enjoyment of food is incompatible with fear from stimulus  Use very small, special treats as long as dog exhibits no fear.  If dog stops ______________, you have gone too far in exposure

Accomplishing Extinction, cont.  2a) Counter-commanding  This is similar to the counter-_______________________ technique mentioned earlier.  If a dog barks at unknown people, ask the dog to sit, and give a constant stream of small, special rewards to reinforce the sit, rather than the bark.

Accomplishing Extinction, cont.  Be careful not to counter-condition/command too quickly  A jumping dog needs to be _______ before touch or voice is offered for ______________________.  Make the two behaviors ______________________.  A dog can’t sit AND jump on people simultaneously

Accomplishing Extinction, continued  Flooding/Response blocking  Exposes animal to fearful stimulus with no opportunity of __________ until animal is no longer fearful.  Should be _________________ as treatment for most pets.  Can cause additional behavior issues if animal acquires “_________________ _________________”.  Animal believes that it has no control over response and stops responding to anything. (Shuts down)

Reasons Extinction Fails  Reinforcement is not properly ___________________  The owner believes one thing is reinforcing behavior but it’s actually something else.  Reinforcement is coming from more than _____ ________  There is more than one __________ or ________ reinforcing the animal. This means that the animal has no _________________ when we are trying to extinguish the behavior.  The animal is ____________rewarded and is _____-reinforcing  The animal is ____________________ or __________________ rewarded for the behavior.  These cases are more difficult to extinguish  MUST find an equally rewarding reinforcement that is appropriate.

Extinction Failure, Continued  Many unwanted behaviors are rooted in ___________ or ____________.  Thunderstorms  Fireworks  Other animals  Unknown humans  These are more difficult to extinguish, but it CAN be done!

PREVENTION is best medicine!  5 simple steps!  Elicit/Reward _______________________ behavior  ________________ or _______________ inappropriate behavior  Meet pet’s __________________ and _____________________ needs  Use ________________ reinforcement correctly to encourage appropriate behaviors.  Use _________________ correction/punishment to discourage inappropriate behavior.  Minimize ___________________ correction/punishment and only use it (correctly) when absolutely necessary.

Sources:  Yin, S. (2009). Low Stress Handling, Restraint, and Behavior Modification of Dogs & Cats

More behavior is coming soon!