1. Measuring Behaviour & 2. Abnormal Behaviour Flashcards
Careful assessment and recording of behaviour
is critical and requires:
- Clear operational definitions
- Appropriate sampling techniques
- Appropriate observational methods
- Supporting validation of measures (e.g., pain)
Operational definition is what?
precise description of the physical movements (and in some cases their timing), which must be met before the observer records that a behaviour has occurred.
Common measures of behaviour (4)
- Latency: duration of time from some specified event, to the onset of the first occurrence of the behaviour of interest
- Frequency is the number of occurrences of the behaviour of interest, per unit time
* It is not a count measure - it is a measure of the rate of the occurrence - Duration is the amount of time for which a single occurrence of the behaviour pattern of interest lasts
- Intensity is the the degree or amount of strength or force that something has
Two broad types of behaviour patterns
- Events: distinct actions of relatively short duration that can be approximated as discrete points in time (e.g. a cough, a kick, a bite)
* Number of events is the common measure of interest - States: activities which occupy prolonged periods of
time (e.g. walking, standing, lying)
* Duration of states is the common measure of interest
Behaviour sampling techniques (3)
- Continuous sampling: Full and complete recording of the events and states of subjects during a complete period of time of interest.
- Interval sampling: Full and complete recording of the events and states of subjects during a specified period of time, at a regular interval (e.g., for 2 min, every 10 min).
- Instantaneous sampling: The behaviour state of each subject is noted at the exact instant of a pre- determined, at a regular interval (e.g., every 10 min)
How can we use behaviour to assess pain?
We can use 3 different classes of pain behaviour:
1. Animals exhibiting choice/preference to avoid pain
2. Change in frequency or magnitude of normal behaviours
3. Pain-specific behaviours
how can we set up an experiment to discern if behaviour changes are due to pain?
measure the frequency of a pain associated behaviour
Does the behaviour increase with the ‘painful’ condition?
-eg. Sham + saline vs surgery + saline
Does the behaviour decrease with delivery of drugs that reduce pain?
-eg. surgery + saline vs surgery + analgesia
Does the drug itself cause any changes in behaviour that aren’t related to pain?
-eg. Sham + Saline vs. Sham + Analgesia
What makes a good pain measure in experimental vs clinical settings?
- Experimental
▫ Behaviours can be rare and retrospective
differentiate groups of animals
assessment over extended period without need to modify animal treatment - Clinical
▫ Behaviours must occur regularly and be sensitive enough to identify and estimate pain in individuals in real time
Accurate assessment in individuals
Relatively quick
what is a normal behaviour?
– Adaptive behaviours that promote health, survival and reproduction
In a domesticated species, how do we know if a behaviour is normal?
– Examine:
* Wild ancestors
* Feral individuals
* Domestics in naturalistic situations
what are normal, but unwanted behaviours? can we manage them?
- Adaptive behaviours that are inconvenient
- Can often be prevented or managed
- Not ‘abnormal’
what is suppression of typical behaviours and is it considered abnormal?
- Physiological or psychological suppression of typical behaviours by external threat/stress/ illness
- Generally adaptive changes in behaviour
- Not abnormal
what are vacuum activities? displacement activities? what are these examples of?
– Vacuum activities
* Fixed action patterns performed in the absence of the normal eliciting stimulus
– Displacement activities
* Irrelevant behaviours performed during periods of motivational conflict or stress
=>Behaviours that are out of context
3 defining criteria for abnormal behaviours
- ‘Away from the norm’ or statistically rare, with naturalistic conditions taken as the norm
– But with domesticated species, not all statistically rare behaviours are abnormal, and not all common behaviours are normal - Generally lacking any clear or apparent function
- Often pathological, either causing harm or resulting from neurological damage
what are abnormal repetitive behaviours?
Behaviour patterns that are inappropriate, repeated, and unvarying in either motor pattern or goal
