Midterm 2 Flashcards
1
Q
What is behaviour modification?
A
implies the intentional or structured use of conditioning or learning procedures to modify behavior
2
Q
What is habituation?
A
- prevents chronic stimuli from frightening an animal
- gets used to it
- can be distracting, aversive or neutral
- classical conditioning
3
Q
What would cause an animal to have an emotional activation?
A
an unconditioned stimulus (like a loud bang)
4
Q
What would cause an animal to have a weakened emotional activation?
A
an unconditioned stimulus with repetitive presentations
5
Q
What would cause an animal to have no emotional activation?
A
an unconditioned stimulus with repetitive presentations
6
Q
What is desensitization?
A
an intentional or structured habituation program (doesn’t cause stress)
7
Q
What is flooding?
A
when the stimulus or stimuli are presented repetitively at full strength (marked distress then gives up) – can cause learned helplessness
8
Q
What continues the process of habituation?
A
must be periodically exposed to the stimuli (requires maintenance)
9
Q
What is systemic desensitization?
A
gradual habituation (slow exposure to the unhabituated fears)
- can be fears/phobias acquired by classical conditioning
10
Q
What happened with Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiment?
A
dog had a tube it would salivate into – bell rang when person came in to feed it which caused salivation – thought it was a psychic or learned reflex but is CC
11
Q
What is the moro reflex?
A
when a baby grabs at something – goes away with time
12
Q
What is an unconditioned stimulus (US)?
A
naturally and involuntarily causes a response
ex. the food in pavlov’s experiment
13
Q
What is an unconditioned response (UR)?
A
unlearned response to an unconditioned stimulus
ex. feeling of hunger in response to food
14
Q
What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)?
A
a previously neutral stimulus that after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus eventually triggers a conditional response
ex. sound of bell makes dog salivate as it normally associated it with food
15
Q
What is a conditioned response (CR)?
A
learned response to the previously neutral stimulus
ex. phobia of something – bad experience flying then gets anxious about getting on a plane
16
Q
What are 2 other terms for classical conditioning?
A
- associative learning
- respondent conditioning
17
Q
appetitive vs aversive
A
appetitive: positive response – satisfy needs
aversive: negative emotional reaction
18
Q
acquisition vs extinction
A
acquisition: with repeated pairings of CS and US, CR becomes more reliable and grows in magnitude
extinction: If CS is presented without the US, then the CR becomes weaker in strength and occurs less reliably
***important that they’re paired every so often (charge the clicker)
CS + US = CR
19
Q
What is a conditioned suppression?
A
a CS paired with an aversive US (ex. electric shock)
***fight, flight or freeze
- comparing the rates of behaviour with and without the presence of the conditioned aversive
20
Q
What is an excitatory CS?
A
it more or less reliably predicts a US (effective in producing a CR)
21
Q
What is an inhibitory CS?
A
CS that reliably predicts no US (predicts response opposite to the CR)
22
Q
What is the spread of excitation or inhibition and its effect stimulus?
A
irradiation – generalization
23
Q
What is discrimination learning (aka differentiation)?
A
when no US (food) is presented to a new stimulus (bell A) and the CS (bell B) is presented at other times with a US (food), then response the the new stimulus gradually fades
24
Q
What are some examples of US’?
A
food, electric shock, puff of air to the eye, brain stimulation, loud noise, caffeine in a cup of coffee – EFFECTIVE if evokes a reasonably strong bodily response
***more intense it is, the easier it is to produce a CR (limits)
25
What are some examples of CS'?
almost anything: tastes
- intensity/salience is important to establishing it
26
What is salience?
the intensity -- if something is more salient than another, it could over shadow it
27
What are control procedures?
they ensure that CR's that occur are due to the pairing of some CS with some US and not to something else (ex. bell on door)
28
What is pseudoconditioning?
it looks like associative learning but theres no association performed (a misinterpretation)
- occurs when a CS produces a response that looks like a CR but without pairing with a US
- need to know its actually associated with the US presented
ex. air puff (US) to produce an eye blink (UR)
29
What is S-S (stimulus-stimulus) association?
the appearance of a CR meant that the CS had become a substitute for the US (ex. when a light is paired with food, they lick the light) (pavlov)
30
What is S-R (stimulus-response) association?
an association between the CS and the last response made to it (buzzer+bag pop = fear)
31
How would food act in operant vs classical?
op: reward for the CR
cla: an elicitor that produces a strong CR by producing a strong UR (responses are not maintained by their consequences****)
32
What is a simultaneous temporal paradigm?
when the CS happens the US follows very promptly
33
What is a delayed temporal paradigm?
When the CS happens and continues then the US happenes
34
What is a trace temporal paradigm?
When the CS happens and theres anticipation for the US (nice and food) ***pavlov found to be the fastest
35
What is a backwards temporal paradigm?
US happens then the CS happens (renders the CS inhibitory)
36
What is operant conditioning?
when a response is shown to be more frequent as a function of the consequence it produces
37
What are respondents?
behaviours that are elicited by a specific stimuli
38
What is the ABC in operant?
antecedent, behaviour and consequence
39
What do reinforcers or punishers do?
they increase or decrease the frequency of a behaviour
(primary = food // secondary = clicker)
- positive or negative
- punishment is more temporary (easier to figure out what to do if someone tells you everything you're doing right instead of what you're doing wrong)
- punishment can get saved up and reappears when ends (ex. dog gets on couch when you leave for work)
40
What is a bridging stimulus?
used to signal that reinforcement is coming (anticipatory -- like the clicker)
41
Positive vs negative punishment
+: presentation of an aversive stimulus
-: removal of a pleasurable stimulus
42
What is punishment
the presentation of an aversive stimulus or removal of a pleasurable stimulus after an undesirable behaviour has occurred (decreases the likelihood of a behaviour from happening again)
43
What is interactive punishment?
- associates an unpleasant stimulus with a person
- may evoke aggression
- ex. owner hits dog or makes a loud noise when it does something bad
44
What is remote punishment?
when the connection between the punishing stimulus and the person responsible for the punishment is removed (out of sight punishing)
- ex. automatically activating collar when it does something bad
45
What is social punishment?
- negative punishment
- removing a rewarding stimulus
- kinda like grounding or a time out
46
What is successive approximation?
slow teaching with rewards - modify or create a behaviour - good if animal is naturally curious - any increment that approaches the goal becomes the new threshold
47
What is luring/baiting?
when the animal can see the food and requires it/cannot do the task without it or won't do the task if its not present
48
What is chaining?
when you shape a behaviour and add it onto a chain of behaviours to complete
49
What is a heterogenous chain?
has multiple types of behaviours (vs homo with only 1 type of behaviour)
50
What are the 2 things that schedules of reinforcement are based on?
1. time (interval)
2. response (ratio)
51
What are fixed interval schedules?
it reinforces the first response that occurs after a set period of time has passed (reinforce after x time has passed)
- as the time nears, the frequency increases then after the reinforcement it decreases for a while
- ex. down stay
52
What are variable interval schedules?
provide reinforcement for the 1st response occurring after some average period of time
- can change time of intervals
- response is either moderate or fairly constant
53
What are fixed ratio schedules?
requires that a given # of responses are made before reinforcement is delivered
- FR20 = requires 20 responses for each reinforcement
- each reinforcement is followed by a pause and hen a high steady rate of responding
54
What are variable ratio schedules?
when the reinforcement is delivered after a varying # of responses, depending on the average requirement of the schedule
- induces dopamine as they don't know when its coming (quick rewards in short succession)
55
What is extinction?
when a behaviour comes to an end (conditioned operant response)
56
What is the best way to maintain a behaviour?
by reinforcement on a variable (usually VR) schedule
57
What is instinctive drift?
when an animal reverts to unconscious and automatic behaviour that interferes with the learned behaviour from operant conditioning
58
What are some ways dogs show aggression?
growling, baring teeth, snapping (no contact), biting (contact with or without puncture)
- during play or aroused states
- not curable but can be controllable (must be managed properly)
- 80% in males
- castration can reduce some aggression but not all
- common to have 2 or more types
59
What kinds of aggression are more common in male than female dogs?
dominance related and territorial aggression
60
What is conflict aggression?
when the dog appears to be in conflict with regard to aggressive tendencies
61
What are some types of aggression towards people?
1. dominance related aggression (most common)
2. aggression towards children
3. fear related aggression
4. pain related aggression
5. territorial aggression
6. abnormal or idiopathic aggression
62
What are some reasons that aggression can be occuring?
- brain lesions (rare)
- reinforcement
- other dogs
- intruders etc.
63
What is an affective state?
longer lasting emotions/feelings (accumulation of experiences)
64
Which breed may have a genetic disposition to idiopathic aggression / episodic or dysfunctional rage?
english springer spaniels
65
What is a syndrome?
a grouping of symptoms but with no known cause
66
What are adaptive responses?
changes in brain activity that are designed to maintain homeostasis and performance where possible
- fears of strange noises and animals
- anxiety of being abandoned
- any situation that might cause danger basically they get worried about
- younger animals can adapt easier to new things than older animals can
67
What is the definition of anxiety?
an emotional reaction often described as general uneasiness
68
What is the definition of fears?
emotional reactions related to specific objects such as loud noises or children (specific thing or things)
69
What is the definition of phobias?
fears of objects or situations which as cognitively understood to be way out of proportion to the actual danger
70
Why do dogs bark?
relieves tension, drives strangers away (natural warning device), separation anxiety, socially facilitated, territorial or protective behaviour due to fears or phobias
71
What are signalments?
cues from the animal
72
What should you always do first when dealing with aggression?
rule out medical issues (take to a vet)
73
History vs Signalment
signalment: age, weight, breed, sex, etc.
history: diet, medical conditions, other animals in the house, previous behaviour, etc.
74
What is an ethogram?
catalogue/inventory of behaviours or actions exhibited by an animal (performed by a species -- detailed)
75
What are some examples of pathogens that can cause a change in behaviour?
- rabies
- skin parasites
- protozoan parasites
- toxoplasma gondii
- viral diseases during their infectious incubation period
76
What is toxoplasma gondii?
a protozoan parasite found in rats (intermediate host) that causes them not to be scared of anything (makes other predators like cats eat them and they become the primary host)
77
What are the 5 motivational states?
1. sickness (can overwhelm the other states)
2. hunger
3. exploration
4. reproduction
5. learning
78
What are 3 inflammatory cytokines?
interleukin-1B, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor a
79
What are some acute phase proteins?
cytokines, fibrinogen, haptoglobin, c-reactive protein and serum amyloid a
- respond to infection by binding pathogens
80
What is the definition of stress?
an environmental effect on an individual that overtaxes its control systems and results in adverse consequences and eventually reduces fitness
81
What are some behavioural indicators for disease?
- gait
- locomotion
- posture
- vocalisation
- mental state (depressed/dull/anxious/timid, etc.)
- facial expressions (grimace scale)
- daily routines (eating, elimination, grooming)
- evoked behaviour (response to standard stimuli)
- response to analgesic treatment
82
What are the most prevalent psychiatric disorders?
anxiety disorders
83
What are some forms of disorders?
- panic disorder
- generalized anxiety disorder
- social anxiety
- phobias
84
What 2 parts of the brain play roles in anxiety disorders
the amygdala and hippocampus
85
What does the amygdala do?
processes sensory signals and interrupts these signals, alerts brain of danger and can trigger anxiety -- stores emotional memories
86
What does the hippocampus do?
encodes threats into memories — learning and memories
87
What can happen if you have chronic stress?
it can lead to brain injury -- amygdala and hippocampus decrease in size
88
Whats the best way to treat an animal?
behavioural modification and drug therapy TOGETHER
89
What is something important to do when a dog urinates?
clean up right away - or else they will see it as their spot and might come back to the same place and do it again
90
How long do most drugs take to work?
about 1-2 months to achieve their effect
91
What is the recommended way to stop administering drugs?
reduce by 25% of the drugs dose every 1-2 weeks
- can cause a really bad rebound that can be worse than an over dose of the prescription
92
What are the 4 most common anti-anxiety drugs?
1. SSRIs (prozac, zolof, etc.)
2. Tricyclic antidepressants
3. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (ex. selegiline)
4. novel anticonvilsants (ex. gabapentin)
93
What do SSRIs do?
inhibit serotonin uptake by SERT (low and slowwww)
***good cause only 1 effect
94
What do TCAs do?
inhibits serotonin and norepinephrine uptake - also an antagonist for NMDA receptors (negative for long term memory)
95
What is gorging behaviour?
when they eat rapidly, can consume up to 10% of their body weight at one time (like wolves)
- can be socially facilitated due to a competitive environment
96
What is the garcia effect?
when an acquired food aversion was due to a dog becoming sick from it in the past
97
Why do dogs like to eat cat poop?
cause it has protein in it
98
What is maternal indifference?
when the mother ignores her young, can be caused from endocrine changes or a hormonal defect
- sometimes only towards one puppy in the litter
99
Why might canabalism occur in dogs?
could be due to nutritional stress, weak or sick offspring or environmental stressor (common in hamsters, pigs and chickens)
100
What are ARBs?
abnormal repetitive behaviours
- hard to break out of
- stereotypies
101
What are the 3 criteria that make up a stereotypy?
1. repetitive
2. no obvious goal or function
3. fixed action pattern
***cause an endorphin rush
102
Active vs passive coping
active: behavioural vices, stereotypies, etc.
passive: lethargic/learned helplessness
103
Whats a common drug to provide to animals prior to a stressful event?
Gabapentin (good for situational settings)
104
What does benzodiazepine do?
helps to boost primary treatments
- good for anesthesia
- valium
105
Whats the order of best drugs?
SSRI, GABA then TCRAs
106
What is trazodone?
boosts primary treatments, serotonin antagonist (can be used with SSRIs -- 2A vs 1A)
107
Which anti anxiety drug can cause aggression?
buspirone
108
What are the 2 most common problem behaviours in cats?
1. inappropriate elimination
2. aggression
109
What are some types of aggression in cats?
1. play motivated (no meds)
2. fear related (SSRI, TCA)
3. petting intolerance (SSRI, TCA, buspirone)
4. redirected (SSRI, TCA)
5. pain related (underlying medical condition)
6. maternal
7. sexual (SSRI, TCA)
8. social status (SSRI, TCA)
110
What 2 drugs shouldn't be used together and why?
SSRIs and TCAs -- causes serotonin syndrome (excessive serotonin -- affects the CNS/PNS, fatal and is extra bad in cats)
111
When can you stop using drugs?
after 3 months of good behaviour, then wean off slowly
112
Spraying vs litter aversion
spraying: normal behaviour
aversion: problem behaviour
113
What are some reasons for spraying?
- a new threat is perceived
- change in the environment
- medical problems
- frustration with the diet or owner
114
What are some reasons a cat wouldn't want to use a litter box?
- disease/problem in the urinary system (crystals in males)
- arthritis
- upset GI/cystitis
115
What are 4 ways to make a litter box more appealing?
1. deal with identifiable aversive aspects of the washroom area
2. increase the appeal or accessibility
3. discourage inappropriate areas or make unavailable
4. use confinement to reinstate litter box usage (last resort)
116
What is the posture difference between inappropriate urination vs marking/spraying?
in: squatting
ma/sp: standing normally
117
What is the amount of urine difference between inappropriate urination vs marking/spraying?
in: empties bladder
ma/sp: small amounts
118
What is the litter box usage difference between inappropriate urination vs marking/spraying?
in: usually stops using the box
ma/sp: continues to use the box
119
What is the target area difference between inappropriate urination vs marking/spraying?
in: attractive horizontal substrate
ma/sp: usually vertical
120
What is the precipitating factors difference between inappropriate urination vs marking/spraying?
in: aversion to the litter box
ma/sp: agonistic inter-cat interactions
- just some examples
121
What is the inappropriate defecation difference between inappropriate urination vs marking/spraying?
in: common to see defecation
ma/sp: usually isn't a problem
122
What can petting aggression be caused by?
- medical (inflammatory polyps, arthritis, dental issues, hop dysplasia or parasites)
- emotional (stress, anxiety, frustration)
- static electricity in the winter
- lack of socialization with each other and siblings (other cats)
- sensitivity threshold (boundaries)
123
What are some signs of an over stimulated cat?
- flattening of the ears
- twitches tail
- low growl
- ripples skin
- stiffens body
124
What are some good ways to pet a cat that won't over stimulate it most likely?
- short, small strokes (like moms tongue)
- chin and between ears
- stop/start approach allowing breaks
- increasing threshold (ex. w/rewards)
125
Why do cats scratch?
- behavioural need
- removes the dead outer layer of their claws (sloughs off)
- marks territory and leaves a mark and scent
- stretches and works off energy
126
What can happen if you declaw a cat?
- makes climbing down stuff difficult
- can result in you having to clean out their claws lots (manually retract)
- does not change any behaviour
- best to keep cat inside
127
What does declawing remove
surgical removal of claws and the third phalanx (amputation) from the front feet
- or a surgical incision and removal of a piece of the deep digit flexor tendon
128
When would you hear a noise like a "yowl"
similar sound when in heat and when in pain
129
Why do some cats like chewing plastic wrappers?
- no real explanation
- some like the smell or texture or temperature
- can be an oral compulsive behaviour
130
What happens when a cat gets a hair ball?
from licking fur, can ingest it and cause the cat to loose its appetite cause taking up room in the stomach
131
What is anosmia?
the inability to smell
132
Why does the febrile response decrease appetite?
because fever causes an acute cytokine response during illness/disease and decreases appetite -- most likely returns once animal feels better
133
How do cats hunt?
- not triggered by hunger, is instinctual (innate behaviour)
- introduced by mother when is a kitten (gain experience makes them better when becoming an adult)
- can attach a bell if killing lots
134
Why do cats chatter their teeth?
when there's prey somewhere they can't access (ex. outside but are an inside cat)
- likely an instinct from when they were undomesticated
- similar to the neck bite they use to kill fast
- can represent either excitement or frustration
135
What can happen if a mother cat neglects her young?
if she doesn't remove fetal membranes or feed them often enough it can result in hypothermia
136
When does cannibalism often happen in cats?
- normally in larger litters, second litters of the season or in the presence of sick kittens
- can happen due to tomcats that are not the litters sire (kill off competition)
137
What fabrics do cats like to chew the most?
1. wool
2. cotton
- can become a compulsive behaviour
***like natural fibers***
138
What breeds of cats like to chew fabric the most?
siamese and burmese
139
What is the term for extensive hair loss from excessive grooming (other causes ruled out)?
psychogenic alopecia
140
What % of time do cats spend grooming?
8%
141
When are cats weaned?
normally about 6-8 weeks but some breeders will hold onto them until 10-12
142
What is cribbing in horses?
when a horse bites a hard surface (such as a bar/crib/wood), pulls back and sucks in air -- may be accompanied by chewing
143
What is wind sucking?
when they suck in air without biting any surfaces unlike cribbing
144
What is pacing?
continuously paces or walks in circles in stall -- circles aren't required
145
What is weaving in horses?
when they stand in one spot and shifts their weight/rocks from one front leg to another, can also swing its head and neck back and forth (in one spot stands)
146
Why are bits used?
put in the mouth, help to amplify the message to the horse (increases pressure)
- none provide all answers, have to customize to the needs of the horse
147
What it counter conditioning?
the shaping of alternative responses through operant conditioning (to display a behaviour that is different that its current reaction to a stimulus)
- includes: positive reinforcement and subtle negative reinforcement
148
What problem would cause aggression to deter approaching personnel?
biting and bite threats, need to fix it by refurbishment of the human horse bond
149
What would cause claustrophobia and how could you treat it?
the innate fear of enclosed spaces, learned fear of aversive human responses -- fix through clicker training, slow approach to entering enclosures and reinstall leading cues
150
What would be a cause of a horse that is difficult to bridle and how could you fix it?
learned evasion of discomfort from either the bit, crown piece and brow band
fix by:
- partially dismantling the bridle in parts to discover what the most aversive part is (is it all or part?)
- counter conditioning, clicker training while standing in area for bridling
- shape tolerance for the key element of the bridling process
151
Why would an animal be difficult to saddle up and how could you fix it?
due to learned evasion, response to past pain -- fix by counter conditioning and clicker training to stand while being saddled
152
Why would an animal be difficult to shoe and how could you fix it?
due to a learned evasion from fear -- fix by habituation or counter conditioning or clicker training
153
Why would an animal dislike grooming and how could it be fixed?
due to innate ticklishness and learned evasion -- fixed by habituation and counter conditioning
154
Why would an animal dislike veterinarians and how could it be fixed?
innate aversion to pain and learned evasion to the associated stimuli -- fixed by habituation and counter conditioning (+clicker)
155
Why would a horse be hard to catch and how could it be fixed?
learned evasion -- clicker training for approaching personnel, extinguish associations with being removed from group
156
Why would a horse refuse to load and how could it be fixed?
learned evasion and claustrophobia -- reinstall leading cues, add clicker training for approaching and entering the vehicle
157
Why would a horse refuse to stand while being mounted and how could it be fixed?
learned evasion of bit pressure and the anticipation of kinetic behaviour -- reinstall leading cues, clicker training and shape the horse to stand quietly for increasing periods before moving forward
158
Why would a horse rear and how could it be fixed?
learned evasion, habituation to pressure from head collar or halter/aggression -- reinstall leading cues
159
Why do horses buck?
as a response to fight conspecifics and dislodge predators
160
Why do horses rear?
to fight conspecifics and predators
161
Why do horses balk and bolt home?
motivation to return to the home range or social group is greater than the motivation to respond to riders signals
*balking = hesitate/unwilling to accept idea/undertaking
162
WHy do horses rush fences?
not sure why, maybe to make the stimulus less aversive
163
Why is tripping/toe dragging/stumbling/clumsiness seen in horses?
either due to poor locomotion due to fatigue, conformation or excessive hoof growth
164
What are 2 common reasons for failure of behaviour modification?
1. inconsistent application of learning theory
2. lack of reconciliation of the task required of the horse and its physical ability to oblige
