ANIMAL WELFARE (Animal Training)

Question 1

ABCs of learning:

Answer 1

A: antecedent
B: behaviour
C: consequence

Question 2

Antecedent:

Answer 2

-environmental cues (ex. us)
-predict if something is pleasant or threatening
-predict if response will be rewarded or punished

Question 3

Behaviour:

Answer 3

-if the experience I repeated animal learns to:
>anticipate
>react sooner

Question 4

Consequence:

Answer 4

-positive or negative outcome

Question 5

Dominance:

Answer 5

-occurs between species (hierarchical relations)
-determines who had priority access to multiple resources (food, resting spots, mates)
*does NOT apply to human-dog relationship

Question 6

Wolf pack experiment:

Answer 6

-wolf packs in natural habitat demonstrate that they are not dominated by an Alpha wolf
-similar organization to human families
-alpha wolves breed and become parents (parents are leaders)
-little aggress or fights for dominance

Question 7

Dogs mental capacity:

Answer 7

-of a 2-3 year old child

Question 8

Undesirable behaviour due to:

Answer 8

-accidental reinforcing/rewarding undesirable behaviour
-environment including early learning experiences
-genetic predisposition

Question 9

Operant conditioning:

Answer 9

-consequences
-create positive emotions
-punishment: to make the behaviour happen less often
-reinforcement: to make the behaviour happen more often
-negative: take something away
-positive: add something

Question 10

Aversive/punishment/balanced/confrontational training

Answer 10

-associated with FAS
-decreases animal welfare
-produces defensive/aggressive responses (46% will retaliate against owners)
-children are mimics (if you do it, the kids will and likely get hurt)
-produces pessimism

Question 11

Avoid punishment:

Answer 11

-creates conflict between owner and animal
-does not convey appropriate behaviour
-decreases likelihood of warning signs (skip steps on the ladder)

Question 12

Aversive training:

Answer 12

-designed to cause pain
-alters human/animal relationship
-psychological distress: greats phobias
-physiological stress
-positive reinforcement produced better results

Question 13

Prong collars: example bark at other dogs

Answer 13

-positive punishment
-when they barked, pull on collar
>now paying attention to pain
>flooding
>shutting down
*antecedent: presence of other dog (now: other dogs are not good!)

Question 14

Why do injuries occur with prong collars:

Answer 14

-dog is over aroused
*stress induced analgesia
-can’t feel it now, but will later
-maybe it was worth it for the dog
-high cortisol, increase HR

Question 15

Physiological stress: aversive training

Answer 15

-high cortisol
-increased heart rate

Question 16

Why is punishment ineffective?

Answer 16

-inconsistent application
-always situations where it’s “worth it”

Question 17

Example of effective punishment:

Answer 17

-positive punishment: electric fences
>very predictable and consistent: not associated with the human, just the fence

Question 18

Cooperative care:

Answer 18

-training to tolerate AND be a willing participant
>even when the care is aversive
-common in zoos
-improves animal welfare
-animal can choose not to participate

Question 19

Common in zoos:

Answer 19

-traditionally anesthesia or heavy sedation was required for many procedures
-high risk of injury and death
-traditional procedures created FAS as well as mistrust

Question 20

Animal can choose not to participate:

Answer 20

-prevent forced participation (flooding)
-gives the animal control
-increases confidence and tolerance
-animals will choose more often to participate even when procedure is unpleasant or aversive

Question 21

Gives the animal control:

Answer 21

-reduces stress and fear
-animals can opt for a break