Abnormal & Stereotypic Behaviour Flashcards
How does Garner 2006 define abnormal repetitive behaviour?
Very repetitive, consistent and either appear to serve no function or are maladaptive, harmful, or inappropriate
Very repetitive, consistent (in terms of the pattern of the behaviour or the goal of the behaviour) and either appear to serve no function or are maladaptive, harmful, or inappropriate
How does Mason 2006 define stereotypic behaviour?
Stereotypic behaviours are repetitive activities caused by motivational frustration and/or brain dysfunction
Abnormal repetitive behaviours are very common in captive animals across industries, sectors and circumstances
Give examples of repetitive behaviours seen in captive animals
> 82% of captive carnivores pace around in their enclosures
49% of captive clouded leopards self-harm
80% of captive ungulates have been noted to do abnormal repetitive behaviours
78% of singly-housed rhesus macaques in labs pace back and forth
16% of singly-housed rhesus macaques in labs self-harm
10-15% of pet parrots feather pluck
80% of battery hens pace before laying their eggs if not provided with a suitable nest
30-90% of lab mice show repetitive bar-biting
True or false
Abnormal repetitive behaviour might vary in its form and frequency per individual and species
True
Stereotypic and abnormal repetitive behaviour are usually a sign of what?
Stereotypic and abnormal repetitive behaviour are usually a sign of bad welfare
What are the 2 categories that Miller 2003 classifies abnormal behaviour into?
1) Maladaptive behaviours
2) Malfunctional behaviours
What does Miller 2003 mean by “Maladaptive behaviours”?
Maladaptive behaviours are attempts by the animal to behave in an adaptive way in an environment to which complete adaption may be impossible
In this behaviour the actual behaviour is not bad/wrong but the environment is wrong for the behaviour
What does Mills 2003 mean by Malfunctional behaviours?
Malfunctional behaviours are expressions of pathology
Pathology = the medical characteristics of a disease
Malfunctional behaviours are behaviours where the actual behaviour is bad/wrong independent of the environment
Maladaptive behaviours and malfunctional behaviours are 2 ends of the abnormal repetitive behaviour spectrum
However what must you be aware of when studying the abnormal repetitive behaviour?
When you study an animal showing abnormal repetitive behaviours you’re only studying it for 1 point in time and so should also take into account if the animal is in a place within its developmental trajectory to do either of the following:
- the animal is trying to adaptively respond to its environment
- something happened in early life which is causing the behaviour as an expression of the Central Nervous System dysfunction
- the animal has been in its environment so long that something has changed in its development leading to a behavioural expression of a pathology
Abnormal repetitive behaviours do not occur in the wild, however what does occur in the wild?
However sometimes the behaviour and traits that abnormal repetitive behaviours have developed from do occur in the wild to form maladaptive behaviours
Wild animals show specific behaviours which abnormal repetitive behaviours seem to develop from
Wild animals also show repeated “intention movements” when frustrated
These are movements/actions with natural intentions behind them that are just repeated as a coping mechanism for frustration
Give an example of an intention movement
An example of an intention behaviour is that polar bears will jump on ice to break it and reach a seal underneath in the wild
In captivity there’s no ice or seal which can frustrate the polar bear causing it to repeatedly jump on the ground as if it will break through it and catch a seal
How does Malfunctional behaviour come about and what must you be aware of when drawing conclusions from them?
Malfunctional behaviour comes from negative changes in the brain leading to pathological behaviour expression
Sometimes the malfunctional behaviours develop from behaviours and traits that are altered due to a brain pathology
Due to this when assessing an animal you need to be aware of current and previous environments and events
This is so you don’t say it’s currently in bad welfare when the behaviour is a result of previous events no longer relevant to the animal
What are environmental causal factors?
Environmental causal factors that cause abnormal repetitive behaviour are factors that cause acute stress and/or motivational frustration
Give 4 examples of abnormal repetitive behaviours that develop from environmental causal factors?
1) Impending arrival of food or not having enough food to remove their feeling of hunger
2) Frightening stimuli
3) Social species being left in isolation
4) Environmental restriction/barrenness
Why does environmental restriction/barrenness lead to abnormal repetitive behaviour and what can be done to help partially reverse this?
This is because the environment is barren and boring
Adding enrichment and complexity to an environment that is meaningful for that particular species decreases stereotypic behaviours
Enrichments tend to reduce stereotypic behaviour by half
Also the percentage of which stereotypic behaviours reduce, due to the enrichment, varies between taxonomic groups
What are environments that cause stereotypic behaviours known as?
Sub-optimal environments
How do sub-optimal environments cause stereotypic behaviours?
Sub-optimal environments can cause sustained high motivations with little opportunity of negative feedback happening to end the behaviour
They don’t offer situations that allow the behaviours goal to be met meaning there’s no finish line for those behaviours in the environment
Sub-optimal environments have few other motivations to perform behaviour
We do know that elevated motivations that cannot have their goals achieved typically cause poor welfare
What do we tend to see if achieving the goal of the behaviour is impossible or costly (causing harm)?
If achieving the goal of the behaviour is impossible or costly (causing harm) we also typically see repeated:
- escape attempts
- aggression
To other animals and inanimate objects
- intention movements
- conflict
And/or
- displacement activitiesWhat are displacement activities?
Displacement activities are behaviours that are done but have no relevance to the context of the situation
Stereotypic behaviours can then develop from these displacement behaviours
True or false
Sub-optimal environments can also negatively affect regions that control motor behaviour
True
What 2 things can we look at to understand the neural control of abnormal repetitive behaviours and how sub-optimal environments can affect behaviour?
1) Evidence from human neurodevelopmental disorders
2) Inducing abnormal repetitive behaviours in research animals
