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Assessing success of enrichment Flashcards

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1
Q

ASSESSING ANIMAL WELL-BEING IN ZOOS

A

Does the animal display species-typical behaviour? “The repertoire of behaviours that characterise how
a particular species behaves in the wild”

Does the animal display ‘abnormal’ or aberrant
behaviour? STEREOTYPIC BEHAVIOUR

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2
Q

STEREOTYPIC BEHAVIOUR

A

“A repetitive, invariant behaviour, which may be the
result of frustration, attempts to cope with
suboptimal environment, or a dysfunction of the
central nervous system” Indicates compromised well-being

Examples include:
Pacing
Head-shaking
Weaving
Self-mutilation
Rocking
Feather plucking
Bar-biting
Tail biting

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3
Q

Five Categories of Enrichment

A
  1. Food-based (centred on type & delivery of food)
  2. Physical (changes to structural environmentpermanent or temporary- or provision of objects to
    manipulate)
  3. Sensory (stimulates senses- what they see, hear, or
    smell)
  4. Social (interactions with other animals- same or
    different species- or people)
  5. Cognitive (problem solving tasks)
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4
Q

NON-INVASIVE BEHAVIOURAL RESEARCH WITH ANIMALS (NON-HUMAN)

A
  • Behaviour is the most common measure for
    exploring animal welfare and is widely used in zoo
    research
  • Used to understand how an animal is coping with
    life in the zoo and how it responds to its
    environment
  • Many benefits to measuring behaviour:
    –Easy to implement
    –Inexpensive
    –Non-invasive
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5
Q

To compare behaviour in zoo to what we know about
behaviour in wild we use:

A
  • Published Activity Budgets (a quantitative
    representation of proportion of time an animal
    spends engaged in behaviour or activities as a guide for “normal behaviour”
  • Ethograms (a list of behaviours, with operational
    definitions, observed in a species or group
  • Enclosure diagrams (to investigate how animals use
    their enclosure or space)
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6
Q

Zoo animal response to unfamiliar people

A

Zoo visitors may be seen as:
* Enemy/predators
* Prey
* Symbiont (living together)
* Conspecific (same species)
* No consequence

Zoo visitors influence animals:
* Noise
* Numbers
* Harm
* influence in different ways (at exhibits,
behind-scenes tours)

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7
Q

Zoo animal response to familiar people

A

Zoo keepers have potential to be both more
enriching & more stressful than zoo visitors:
* Spend more time with animals
* Closer interactions
* Positive reinforcement training

Three levels of contact:
* Hands-off (limited interaction)
* Protected (mesh or fence in between)
* Hands-on (in with animal)

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8
Q

ZOO VISITOR RESEARCH IN ZOOS

A

Zoo visitors are important to zoos who need to
understand who they are & what satisfies them:
* Targets of zoo educational initiatives
* Primary funding source for zoo business &
conservation work

Zoos want to be ‘attractive’ & ‘appealing’ to visitors by:
* providing an experience consistent with
welfare, educational & conservation priorities
* But also be enjoyable & entertaining

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9
Q

Types of zoo visitor studies

A
  • Baseline studies to find demographics of zoo
    visitors- who comes to zoos?
  • Tracking studies- what do they do & where do
    they go inside the zoo?
  • How visitor knowledge, attitudes, emotion &
    behaviour change as a result of zoo visit
    (general or specific; short & long-term)
  • Impact of different visitor experiences (close
    encounter, keeper talk, viewing an exhibit)
  • Impact of different zoo campaigns
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10
Q

TYPES OF ZOO VISITOR EXPERIENCES

A
  • Signage/educational material
  • Touch tables
  • Keeper talks at exhibits
  • Animal feeding/enrichment/training
  • Tours around zoo with volunteers
  • Behind-the-scenes tours
  • Close encounters with animals
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11
Q

IMPACT OF ZOOS ON VISITORS

A
  • Increasing visitor knowledge
  • Encouraging positive attitudes to animals and
    conservation
  • Influencing emotions (positive & negative)
  • Encouraging conservation behaviour change (to
    be more sustainable in/outside zoo)
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12
Q

Learning at zoos

A
  • Learning is influenced by many factors:
    – Past learning experiences (cumulative)

– Education level

– Motivation for visit (education or
entertainment)

– Animal variables (e.g. visibility, activity)

– type of experience (e.g. exhibit or interactive)

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13
Q

VISITOR ATTITUDES

A
  • Less understood than knowledge
  • Some evidence to show attitudes are more
    favourable after a zoo visit
  • Attitudes are influenced by many factors:
    – Pre-existing attitudes (often already
    positive towards animals & conservation)
    – Knowledge about animals
    – Motivation for visit (education or
    entertainment)
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14
Q

VISITOR EMOTIONS

A
  • Recently emerging as area of interest
  • Learning needs an affective (emotional) aspect to
    be most effective
  • Visitors experience a range of emotions:
    – Happiness, peacefulness, worry, fear,
    privilege
  • Emotions vary depending on species
  • Not clear how this links to knowledge, attitudes &
    behaviour
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15
Q

VISITOR BEHAVIOUR

A

Goal of zoos: encourage visitors to engage in pro-conservation behaviours after their visit

  • Some support for behaviour change, but post-visit
    studies are lacking
  • Greater focus on behavioural intention rather than
    actual behaviour change
  • Influenced by various factors:
    – Perceived ability to perform a behaviour
    – Opportunity to perform a behaviour
    – Socio-demographics
    – Motivation to perform a behaviour
    – Feelings of connectivity to nature
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16
Q

DEVELOPING VALID & RELIABLE MEASURES

A

Most studies rely on surveying visitors (self-report
questionnaires or interviews):

  • Combination of questions used in published research
    and new questions to suit the topic
  • Combination of different questions:
    – Rating (Likert) scale
    – Yes/no
    – Open-ended
  • Demographic details (age, gender, etc.)
  • May include observation of visitors to explore
    behaviour in zoos (less common) –same principles as
    animal behaviour studies (but potential Ethics issues)
17
Q

STUDY DESIGNS FOR VISITOR RESEARCH

A
  • Either within groups (same visitors ) or between groups
    (different visitors)
  • Experimental if randomly allocating participants to
    different groups & manipulating the Independent
    Variable
  • One off survey or multiple surveying

– determining visitor characteristics = one off

– Determining differences between different groups of
visitors = one off

– Determining change in visitor variables = multiple surveys
(e.g., pre/post design; e.g. to see if change in
knowledge/attitudes/behaviour after taking part in a
tour)

18
Q

DATA ANALYSIS FOR VISITOR STUDIES

A
  • more acceptable to use parametric tests than in
    animal research (more participants)
  • Sample principles same as other research in
    Psychology:

– Descriptive statistics (percentages/frequencies) for
demographic data

– t-tests for differences within and between
individuals

– ANOVAs for differences between multiple conditions

– Regression analyses for predictions

– Correlations for relationships

19
Q

Benefits for animals in zoos

A
  • Free from predators
  • Shelter
  • Regular food
  • Regular health checks
  • Longer lifespan (typically)
20
Q

Limitations for animals in zoos

A
  • Space restrictions
  • No live prey
    (illegal!)/less foraging
  • Reduced choice/control
  • Regular presence of
    people
21
Q

Four goals of modern zoos

A

Conservation
Education
Entertainment
Research

22
Q

RESEARCH IN ZOOS

A
  • Designed to fill gaps in our knowledge about a range
    of issues
  • Draws on various fields, including Psychology
  • Similar to conducting any other type of research
  • Some challenges due to the unique environment (not
    a ‘controlled’ laboratory environment)
23
Q

BEHAVIOURAL RESEARCH IN ZOOS

A

NON-INVASIVE behavioural studies with focus on
improving well-being of captive animals:
* Baseline studies to understand what animals do
and how they behave

  • Exploring how animals interact with each other
  • Monitoring the impact of different
    housing/husbandry routines
  • Testing the influence/effectiveness of enrichment
    items/techniques (relevant to your assignment!)
  • Investigating the impact of people on animal
    welfare/well-being

Observe behaviour:
* Why do animals behave the way they do?
* How do they acquire resources & avoid danger?
* Do they have individual traits & personalities?
* How can we improve their welfare & well-being?

24
Q

Why is it important to evaluate enrichment projects?

A
  • may be ineffective and waste time and
    resources or even be harmful to the animals
    involved (e.g. some animals may become
    stressed or aggression may increase in a group
    of animals)
  • safety issues for people (staff/visitors)
  • may be unpopular with zoo visitors
25
Q

What is effective enrichment?

A
  • must be tailored to suit each individual animal
  • Sometimes only the dominant individual(s) access
    enrichment
  • Should not be predictable (e.g. fixed schedules of
    reinforcement)
  • Must be safe for animal(e.g. not a choking hazard)
  • Must be safe for zoo workers and visitors
  • Cost effective & easy to clean, fill with food
  • part of an holistic approach to welfare and wellbeing
26
Q

Enrichment categories

A

Social

Cognitive

Physical habitat

Sensory

Food

27
Q

Food enrichment

A
  • most widely used method of enrichment
  • animals need food to survive & more likely to interact
  • aim is to prolong feeding times
  • easiest way- dividing daily diet into 3 or 4 feeds
  • leave fruit & vegetables whole & throw them onto
    roof so animals have to pull the food through mesh
  • cut food pieces very small or use nuts & seeds &
    scatter through enclosure so animals forage through
    substrate (scatter feed)
  • hide food in boxes or paper sacks & hang them from
    pulley systems & wires or trees
  • problem-solving task with food as reinforcer
28
Q

Cognitive enrichment

A
  • includes novel objects that occupy an animal’s time
  • Boomer balls, Kong toys, tyres, cardboard tubes & fire
    hoses
  • provides & enhances mental stimulation
  • can use puzzle feeders where food is hidden in
    different ways & inside different objects
  • animals use problem-solving skills to access food
29
Q

Sensory enrichment

A
  • can use 5 senses: sight, sound, touch, smell & taste
  • most common is olfactory enrichment (sense of smell)
  • herbs & spices, perfume & deodorant, catnip or even
    toothpaste or mouthwash can be dotted around exhibit
  • usually induces extra scent marking from animals
    reaffirming their territory boundaries
30
Q

Social enrichment

A
  • house animals of different species with others that
    they could encounter in the wild (mixed-species
    exhibits)
  • increased flock size for flamingos (can use mirrors to
    do this)
31
Q

Physical habitat

A
  • important role in animal welfare by meeting
    physical requirements & providing a positive
    environment
  • adapt & utilise physical space for enrichment
  • hide food within spaces in enclosures,
    incorporate more objects to encourage natural
    behaviours, & develop and enhance space by
    providing mental stimulation
  • ‘furniture’ in enclosure
  • Usable space/microclimates (temperature)
  • Visual barriers
  • Expensive to rebuilt enclosures
32
Q

HOW TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ENRICHMENT TECHNIQUE(S)

A

NEED SYSTEMATIC COLLECTION OF BEHAVIOURAL DATA

  • Quantitative behavioural measurements provide
    evidence of behavioural changes
  • Report findings including failures!

Reversal design:
A1BA2B research design (experiment)
* A1 = Baseline 1 (record behaviour)
* B = Treatment (introduce enrichment &
record behaviour)
* A2 = Baseline 2 (remove enrichment & record
behaviour)
* B = Treatment (reintroduce enrichment &
record behaviour)

Sometimes not ethical to remove treatment.

33
Q

ASSESSING HOW SEVERE OR SERIOUS STEREOTYPIC OR
‘ABNORMAL’ BEHAVIOR IS

A

(1) What is the FORM of the behavior?
* pacing is less severe than head-twisting
* self-directed behaviours (e.g. self-harm) are more
severe than behaviours directed at the
environment (e.g. destroying part of enclosure)

(2) What % OF THE DAY is spent engaged in the behavior?
* If more than 10% of animal’s day is spent engaged
in ‘abnormal’ behaviour it is considered
unacceptable

(3) How easily can the animal be DISTRACTED from
performing the behavior?
* Less severe if the animal is easily distracted from the
behaviour
* More severe if the animal is less aware of the
surroundings

(4) Is there an obvious REASON for the behavior?
* pacing just before feeding at the entrance/door is
less severe (i.e. anticipatory behaviour)
* If there is no obvious reason, it is more severe

(5) Is it really a PROBLEM?
* The behavior occurs instead of ‘normal’ behavior
* There is reduced behavioural diversity

34
Q

ETHOGRAMS
AND ACTIVITY BUDGETS OF ‘WILD’ ANIMALS

A

These provide a guide to ‘normal’ or ‘species-specific’
behavior & time spent engaged in behaviour

35
Q

SYSTEMATIC COLLECTION OF BEHAVIOURAL DATA
DEVELOP ETHOGRAM: DEFINE BEHAVIOURAL CATEGORIES

A

Describe behaviour by:
* form/structure (e.g. ‘run tip of bill along primary
feathers’), or consequences (e.g. ‘preen’).
Operational definitions:

  • written definitions for every category of behaviour on a
    data sheet.
    Choosing categories:
  • categories should be independent of each other. All
    behaviours included in a particular category should be
    homogeneous (or the same/similar);
  • there may already be an ethogram to use or adapt.
36
Q

WHO TO WATCH & WHEN (SAMPLING RULE for recording behaviour)

A

Focal animal sampling:
* common sampling rule for zoo animal studies

  • observe one individual for a specified length of time.
37
Q

HOW TO RECORD BEHAVIOUR (RECORDING RULE for recording behaviour)

A

Instantaneous time sampling:
* dividing session into short successive intervals of time
(sample intervals)

  • at end of each sample interval (sample point) record
    behaviour that is occurring (beeper or timer goes off).
  • measure or score you obtain not a true frequency or
    duration
  • Provides a ‘snap shot’ of behaviour.
38
Q

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS for systematic collection of behavioural data

A
  • Become familiar with the focal animal
  • Become familiar with the behaviour of the animal
  • Become familiar with the enclosure
39
Q

Alternative origin of classical conditioning

A

Edwin Twitmyer tested the knee‐jerk reflexes of college students by sounding a bell half a second before hitting the patellar tendon. After repeatedly doing this, he found that the sound of the bell alone caused the knee‐jerk reflex. In 1904, Twitmyer presented his findings at the American Psychological Association meeting, where it drew no interest.

Biological and learning psychology (7 decks)

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