Behaviour Flashcards
What is the health triad?
Health is the combination of physical, cognitive and emotional health
What are the two types of motivational-emotional systems?
Who described them?
Positive motivational emotions
Negative motivational emotions
Jaak Panksepp described them
What are all the positive motivational emotional systems?
Desire-seeking
Social play
Lust
Care
What are all the negative motivational-emotional systems?
Frustration
Fear-anxiety
Pain
Pain-grief
What is the role of desire seeking behaviours?
a general purpose neuronal system that motivates animalstomore to places where they have potenial of finding and consuming resources needed for survival- food and water
What is the purpose of fear related emotional systems?
Anxiety- relates to the preservation of comfort provided by predictable access to essential resources and the managment of threats to personal or resource security
This intrinsically helps animals to avoid dangers and it is more adaptive to feel to feel anticipatory fear than to be attacked and harmed
What is the role of pain system in normal behaviour of animals?
Pain is related to the maintenance of body integrity and functioning and it is both a distinct sensation and motivation
The activation of this system is a response to the environmental stimuli which are relatedto actual or potential tissue damage
What is the role of the lust emotional system?
Organises the specific reproductive needs ranging from the attraction or the selection of a partner through courtship to any potential bond to mating with a sexual partner
What is the purpose of the care emotional system?
Dedicated to maintaining the bonds to the individual offspring through a recognisable parental care or nurturance towards others
What is the role of the panic-grief system?
This system is related more to the protection of the species rather than the individual; it relates to the safeguarding of the survival of young and protection of the genetic survival of the species
Before young can protect themselves what do yound animals exhibit and why?
Yound animals start to exhibit powerful emotional arousals indicating desperate needs for nuturing care
What is frustrastion and what does it cause?
Triggered by a failure to meet expectations, obtain resources or retain control- this system intensifies and accelerates behavioural responses
What is the fear anxiety emotional system designed to do?
It is designed to take the stimulus away from the animal or the animal away from the stimulus and limit potential damage
This can be achieved by increasing the distance and reducing interaction with the trigger or increasing the information known about the trigger
What happens when a emotional motivation is unsuccesfully responded too?
Frustration
This maybe due to the physical or social environment or due to human interactions and interventions
What can potentially cause ‘agressive’ behaviours
Responses of the panic grief system in association with frustration may be relevant
Possible also when frustration becomes involved in the lust system
Frustration of the social play system commonly results in agression
In false pregnancies the frustration of the care system caused by a lack of puppies can increase risk of aggressive reponses
What are the most important emotions in behavioural medicine?
Pain
Frustration
Fear-anxiety
Panic-grief
Why are problematic behaviours potentially not problematic, when are they a cause for concern?
It is behavioural responses to emotional motivators leading to the behabiour which could be entirely normal
They are a cause for concern when they are present due to:
comprised physical or cognitive health
miscommunication between species
enviornments are sub-optimal- physically and socially
What is emotional stability?
An individuals ability to remain emotionally stable and balenced
What is emotional capacity?
the level of emotional arousal that an individual can tolerate without significant or long lasting negative outcome
What is emotional valence?
Describes the extent to which an emotion is positive or negative
What is emotional arousal?
Refers to the intensity of the emotional motivation
What is emotional resilience?
The ability to adapt to stressful situations and cope with life’s ups and downs. Resilience does not eliminate stress or erase life’s difficultiesbut allows the animal to tackle or accept problems, live through adversity
What people have a specific level of responsibility with emotional stability?
Breeders:
Selection of breeding stock
Caring for pregnant bitches
Early rearing of puppies
Why do guardians have a specific level of responsibility in regards for emotional stability?
Providing an optimal, physical and social environment according to species specific needs
Providing the opportunity for beneficial learning- classical conditioning and operant conditioning
Rewarding appropriate decision making
Setting individuals up to succeed
What is the analogy of emotional capacity?
An emotional sink
What do all the different parts of the sink apply to?
Size of the sink- capacity for arousal
Cold tap- engaging- positive emotions
Hot tap- negative emotions
Mixer tap- emotional conflict
Drain- emotional resiliance
Overflow hole- displacement
What is emotional capacity- size of sink- decided by?
Genetics of parents and emotional health of parents
Experiences <7-8 weeks old
Experiences during the first year or so of life
What are examples of positive- cold tap- and negative emotions- warm tap?
J. Panksepp
Positive- desire seeking, social play, lust, care
Negative emotions- fear-anxiety, pain, frustration, panic-grief
How does emotional resiliance help with emotional stability?
It results in optimal emotional drainage after a trigger has been encountered
It helps to maintain a low level of residual emotion
This maximises the avalability of emotional capacity
How can drainage be achived?
Calming things
Sleeping
Chewing
Grooming
What is the significance of deplacement behaviours?
Normal behaviours in an abnormal context
What is deplacement always associated with?
A high level of emotional arousal- a full sink
When is there a high risk of overflow applied to the sink analogy?
The sink is small (low emotional capacity)
The tap is host when it its not justified (emotional disorder)
The tap is hot when justified (inappropriate physical or social environment)
The tap (hot or cold) is turned on full
There was a high level of residual water in the sink at the time (poor emotional resilience)
The people around do not recognise or act on specific signs of impending overflow
How can emotional overflow be prevented?
Optimising emotional health of the individual:
Creating adequate emotional capacity- appropriate breeding and rearing, positive life experiences
Establishing good socialisation and habituation- reduce salience of everyday stimuli- reduce flow rate, create positive associations with everyday stimuli- create cold tap inflow
Creating optimal emotional resiliance- encouraging drainage behaviours, chewing appropriatley, self directed relaxation
How can emotional overflow be prevented with those interacting with the animal?
Understanding emotional systems
Recognising the need for pets to be able to respond appropriatley and successfully to emotional responses
Learning to read signs of increasing emotional arousal
Understanding the role of deplacment activity
What is emotional intelligence?
The capacity to be aware of, control and express one’s emotions and to handle interpersonal relationships judicously and empathetically
How can emotional intelligence be taught to animals?
Involves exposing young mammals to a variety of contexts and establishing suitable emotional associations
Also rewarding appropriate decision making in terms of selecting behavioural responses to negative emotions when they arise
What are some possible behavioural responses to negative emotion?
Repulsion (fight)
Avoidance (flight)
Appeasement (actively gathering information)
Behavioural inhibition (passively gathering information)
Use of information gathering strategies (inhibition and appeasement)
Combination
What is the aim of an animals repulsion?
The aim is to increase distance from and decrease interaction with the trigger- this is achieved by influencing the trigger to take action
Many are reported as problematic: growling, hissing, air snapping, biting
What is the aim of avoidance how is it achieved?
The aim of the response is to increase distance from and decrease interaction with the trigger
This is achieved by the individual taking action
Problematic reports of this are: bolting, moving away from people who want to engage with the pet, taking a wide berth around other dogs, hiding from visitors
Why is avoidance often compromised in domestic species?
Dogs on leads
Dogs in crowded social environments
Cats in carriers
Well intentioned caregivers attempting to comfort pet
What is the aim of appeasement and how is it done?
The aim is to increase information about the trigger
This is achieved by actively interacting to both gather further information about the trigger and offer signs of non-hostility in return
Reported behaviours: juming up at people, attention seeking, urination on greeting
What is behavioural inhibition and when does it happen?
A state of behavioural shut down where the animal does not interact with the threat in any way but continues to gather information about it
Occurs when a threat is overwhelming in terms of: percived magnitude of threat, speed of its approach, proximity of stimulus
How can inhibition often be recognised as ‘being relaxed’ and appeasement as affection and trust?
If a potential threat has some positive qualities the animal may choose to stay in the presence of the stimulus
Inhibition and appeasment allow the dog to gather information while maintaining the potential for positive social interaction
This allows certain dogs a context of social interaction but unfamiliar or conflictual
Inhibition often seen as bein relaxed
Appeasment is often misinterpreted as affection and trust
What behaviours can individuals display at the same time?
Avoidance and inhibition
Avoidance and appeasement
Avoidance and repulsion
Why is cognitive health relevant to preventative behavioural medicine?
Establishing appropriate contextual associations for innate and reflex behavioural responses involved learning
Learning is involved with developing appropriate emotional associations with objects, contexts people and other animals
Developing behaviours which are compatible with the domestic context involves learning
What are the two forms of learning?
Classic- pavlovian
Operant- instrumental
What are the two main features of pavlocian conditioning?
Involuntary or reflex responses
There is no involement of reward
(Pavlovs dogs)
An association between unconditioned stimulus- food- and conditioned stimulus- food leadning to the conditioned response of salivation
How can pavlovian conditioning facilitate house training of a puppy?
The conditioned stimulus of substrate and location leads to the conditioned response of urination or defaecation
What factors limit the success of house training?
Caregiver availability
Lack of easy access to outdoors
Useof interim conditional stimuli- newspaper and puppy pads
How do factors influencing house training lead to failure/increased time?
The establishing of an association between an unconditional and a conditional stimulus is blocked by the pre-existing of an association with an alternative conditional stimulus
The puppy pad/newspaper association is blocking the formation of an association with outdoor stimuli such as grass
How can punishment reduce the success of house training?
Punishment can create negative associations with people inthe presence of urine or faecal deposits
It can lead to: not toileting infront of people, eating faeces
How does classical conditioning play a role in preventative emotional health care?
Stimuli that are associatied with a domestic enviroment need to be incorperated in the ‘normal’ set of stimuli- the learning processes involved are socialisation and habituation
The aim is to: decreases salience, encourage positive (desire-seeking) or neutral emotional responses, reduce negative (fear-anxiety) emotional responses
How should socialiation and habitutation be advised?
Encourage a controlled and structured approach to early learning for puppies and kittens
Allow the animal to be in control
Set them up for emotional success
How is appropriate socialisation and habituation for puppies achieved?
rearing environment needs to closely resemble the ultimate home
provision of suitable environmental and social stimuli within the home can be difficult to achieve
Expose to noise stimuli can be increased by use of sound recordings
Exposure to social stimuli can be helped by attending puppy classes
What is important to remember about cats and dogs when thinking about socialisation and habituation?
Dogs- are socially obligate, expected to engage in social contact with other dogs and people, socialisation needs to be active
Cats- are social but not obligate, socialisation to humans is a priority, socialisation to cats is a passive process
What factors influence a cats ability to live confortably with human beings?
Style of handling
Number of handlers
Amount and frequency of handling
Presence of queen and littermates
Genetics
How can kittens becomeused to physical interaction from a young age?
It is recomennded that kittens are touched all over, lifted frequently and gently restrained
The aim is to prepare them- kittens must be in a positive emotional state forthe socialisation to be stressful
What does instrumental (operant) conditioning contain?
Integration of three events:
A stimulus
A response
A consequence
How does a treat help operant conditioning
The addition of an appetitive consequence increases the probablility that behavioural response being selected again in the context of that cue is poisitive reinforcment
What is the most commonly reported operant conditioning related problems in emotionally healthy pets?
Lack of recall
Pulling on the lead
Not getting down from furniture
Not releasing objects such as toys or food
Why does operant conditioning often go wrong?
Lack of consistency
Lack of patience
Poor training environment
Innapropriate response selection
Poor selection of cue
Poor timing of cue
Poor selection of consequence- not appetitive for that individual
Problems with the delivery of the consequence
Innaproriate useof punishment
How can operant training be set up for success?
Keep it calm
Keep it simple
Keep it short
Keep it fun
How can you assist clients with operant conditioning?
Explain learning theory in simple terms
Explain that it is not a competition
Assist in selection of cue and consequence
Teach the caregiver how to use timing of cue and consequence to maximise learning
What should be considered if dogs are not responding to learned cues?
Must be determined whether the behavioural request is reasonable
The emotional stateof the dog must be assessed- could be emotionally ill
Level of arousal needs to be considered
How can detection of medical influences of emotional health and physical health be maximised?
A combination of medical and behavioural history
A chronological approach to the gathering of this information
Evaluation of the history in light of the medical and behavioural examination
What further investigations can be carried out about the origins of behavioural changes?
Neurological examination
Haematological and biochemical parameters
Urinalysis
Diagnostic imaging
ECGs
What are the different reasons between physical disease and behavioural change?
Developmental
Immediate
Learned
Emotional
What is the potential of severe ilness in the first few weeks life affecting behavioural development?
Kittnens and puppies that are ill may be isolated from adequate socialisation and habituation
They may also develop negative associations with certain forms of handling due to the necessity for mediation and nursing intervention
What is an immediate link between pysical disease and behavioural change?
Cases where underlying physical disease is directly responsible for the behavioural change
Behavioural change is a symptom of the physical condition
Can be obvious or more subtle
What are some obvious links between current disease and behavioual change?
Acute pain and aggressive defensive behaviour- fractured limb manipulated
House soiling as a result of polyuria and polydipsia from a medical cause
Where is there a significant overlap between emotional and physical health?
Neurology
When signs are consistent with neurological involement it will lead to consideration of differentials such as:
Epilepsy
Space occupying lesions
Congenital neurological defects
Inflammatory processes within the nervous system
What are some examples of subtle link between behaviour and a disease?
Onset of anxiety as a result of endocrine imbalence
Relationship between hypertension and behavioural change
Gastrointestinal function effect on neurotransmitter availability- dysbiosis
Non ‘agressive’ responses to pain
What are some non ‘aggressive’ behavioural consequences of chronic pain?
Chronic pain which leads to limitations of mobility may result in issues of indoor toileting
It can also lead to anxiety related behaviours, avoidance strategies, decrease in play and social interaction
In some cases individuals develop coping mechanisms to deal with the pain- it is possible for these responses to become ritualized
What is an example of learned association between current physical disease and behavioral change?
Onset of ‘aggressive’ responses to stimuli- people or dogs- linked with pain through association
In early part of the association process the link may be obvious
With time a process of generalisation may lead to expression of ‘aggression’ in decreasingly obvious contexts
Descibe the relationship between emotion and physical disease/behavioral change
The interplay between emotion and physical disease is a two way street
Any physical disease state that leads to irritation and debilitaiton is a risk factor alteration in emotional state and arousal
Likewise emotional disorders resulting in a physiologically stressed state can be a predisposing factor for physical disease
How can emotional health impact on physical health?
Emotional motivations lead to physiological changes- physiological stress
Changes in mucosal integrity- bladder, GI function
Alterations in immune function- infectious disease, immune mediated diseases, wound healing, disease recovery
Alterations in weight managment- obesity, hypo/anorexia
Perception of pain
What is a sign of chronic physiological stress?
Repeated ill health
What are common physical disease related indicators of physiological stress?
Dermatological conditions- stress related grooming patterns, repetitive licking, immune function factors
Urinary tract conditions- feline idiopathic cystitis
GI conditions
Obesity
Neuropathic pain issues
How could FIC (feline idiopathic cystitis) be related to physiological stress?
Cats with FIC, when stressed, display more displacment activity then normal cats
Marked with an increase in their locuscoeruleus
Increased sympathetic activity
But do not have an increased plasma ACTH and cortisol concentrations- this uncoupling is also seen in some chronic pain sydromes in humans
How can FIC present itself?
Many of these cats may present with clearly medical symptoms such as straining to urinate
However others may present with behavioural change such as innapropriate house soiling or overgrooming
How can environmental effect emotional state also influence physical disease?
When environments do not cater for behavioural needs this leads to negative emotion
e.g human misperceptions may lead to presentation of water in wats that make it unattractive to the cat- restricted water intake can be a factor in renal disease
Multi cat households- negative emotion from social incompatibility may also be a factor in restricting access to water
What are the short term practical consequences of acute pain?
Patients who are in acute pain can be difficult to handle- resentmentof manipulation and overt to confrontation are probably the most obviuos behavioural responses
Not all animals are active responders to pain though- cats show passive expression, dome dogs have stoic nature, others have excessive reaction
What are long term practival consequences of pain?
Potential for associative learning to lead to the maintenance of behavioural signs once the acute pain is over- any interaction which coincides with the experience of pain can become associated with that pain
Inadequate managment of acute pain has been shown to be a risk factor for chronic post-surgical pain- adequate pre, peri and post op analgesia
How can chronic pain affect behaviour change?
Physical changes associated with OA/DJD can lead to a range of behavioural changes:
Gait changes- limping and stiffness
Compromised ability to get into the car
What factors appear to increase presence of chronic pain?
Surgical prodecures leading to tissue damage which would result in death in a non-domestic environment
Lack of treatment of disease at early stage
Inappropriate breeding
Innapropriate housing resulting in physical and emotional compromise
Why is behavioural medicine relevant to pain cases?
Pain is both a physical sensation and an emotion
Pain is perceived in the brain- limbic system involvment
Emotional disturbance influences perception of pain
Presence of pain alters expression of emotional responses to stimuli- sound related fear in patients with osteoarthritis
Emotional disorders reduce available emotional capacity
How does a patient express pain?
Gait exchanges
Response to manipulation
Reluctant to walk on certain surfaces
Inability to access litter trays
What are the problems with reliance on physical effects to assess pain?
Physical effects are not always obvious
Bilateral gait with orthopaedic disease may be very difficult to detect
Vet consult room not an ideal location for assessment of gait
Changes can be subtle
May be obvious to a caregiver but not the vet
How can chronic pain be detected?
The absence of behaviour also needs to be considered as a potential sign of chronic pain
How is pain a protective emotion?
Behavioural changes can be the result of the emotional effects of pain
Pain is related to the fear-anxiety system
It is a protective or negative emotional system
The activation of this system is a response to the environmental stimuli which are related to actual or potential tissue damage
How can pain be communicated through behavioural responses?
Passive behavioural responses- such as inhibition
Behavioural responses that are often misinterpreted by humans- appeasment
Behavioural responses associatied with high emotional arousal- such as drainage and displacement behaviours
What is the role of appeasment in anxiety?
Appeasment are information gathering behaviours- caregivers report the dogs as more clingy
Ignoring or rejecting can lead to increased anxiety or frustration
These negative emotions can exacerbate the perception and significance of that pain
How can emotional arousal increase the change of reaching emotional capacity?
An emotional health issue or effects of a health issue increase the level of residue in the emotional sink
How can pain result in intense drainage behaviours?
Pain can cause a high emotional residue and therefore intense drainage is needed to keep the sink at manageable levels
Other then drainage behaviours what other behaviours can a high level of emotional arousal cause?
Displacement behaviours
What are examples of deplacement behaviours?
Shaking as though wet
Yawning
Stretching
Lip licking
What needs to be considered when presented with behaviour problems
PAIN
When is behaviour a problem?
In a clinical context a behavioural problem is defined by the person: caregiver, vet, law enforcers
What is a behavioural problem?
A behavioural problem is when a behavioural response is justified due to a legitimate emotional response but is still problematic in the context or to human reaction
For example pip on the table
What is a behavioural disorder?
When the emotional response is not proportional or appropriate to the situation
Animals can suffer behavioural disorders which caregivers do not identify because it doesn’t cause them prolems
What signs that are indicative of a negative emotional state that could be related to a behaviour problem are often overlooked, misinterpreted and accepted?
Averting eyes- low intensity avoidance
Grumbling and curling lip- repulsion
Looking intently- inhibition
Appeasment- licking faces
What needs to be identified when assessing emotional health?
Identify:
- the emotional motivation for the behavioural or physical responses
- the influences on that emotional motivation- genetics, early life history, experiences, physical/social environments, physical health
- Level of emotional arousal
- Level of emotional resilience
What information can be gathered from the invidivual when investigating potential emotional components?
Signalment information
Information about the individuals- emotional state and resiliance
Make enquiries about the animal’s reaction to specific triggers
Rate of emotional recovery- strategy used
How they react to certain events- approach
What is the aim of emotional history taking?
To ascertain whether the animal is emotionally stable
What is the purpose of a house plan?
To determine the potential for the physical enviroment to play a role in triggering negative emotions and creating physiological stress for the individual
Gather info about which resource locations are utilised and when
What can cause potential socail stress?
Intraspecies releationships within the household
Interactions with unfamiliar conspecifics
Social interactions with humans
What does passive conflict between social groups involve?
Passive conflict can involve-
- inhibition and avoidance- such as staring, posturing and keeping distance from one another
- Appeasment- actively exchanging information such as leaning or licking at faces
- These behaviours can easily be overlooked or misinterpreted
What history is needed to understand what influences a fear-anxiety motivation?
Early rearing experiences of the individual
Information about their parents
Information about the life of the animal
Incidents which could lead to negative associations with specific stimuli such as- exposure to loud gunfire, hostitlity, traumatic
Health of the animal
How is a fear-anxiety behaviour modified?
Reduce residual negative emotion
Reduce input of trigger- limit (modify social and physical environment) and dilute exposure
Think sink
- reduce input, change perception, encourage drainage, remove residue
If failing to alter fear-anxiety related behaviour through modification what is the second phase?
The second phase of behavioural therapy is to alter the emotional response and this is achieved by
Neutralising the animals reaction to the problematic stimuli through desentisiation then change the animals perception through forming new and positive associations
Why is learning theory required for behavioural modification
In order to explain how to modify it is important to know how behavioural patterns develop
Allows the identification of triggers
An understanding in which the unwanted behaviour may be being reinforced
Consider the role of inadvertant punishment which may increase frustration and fear
What is a conditioned emotional response?
Associative learning
Loud noises causing fear paired with a white rat caused a fearful reation from just the white rat in a baby
Behavioral disorders related to negative emotional motivations can develop through a classical conditioning paradigm
Hard to extinguish
How can conditioned emotinoal response be helped with learning theory?
Application of techniques such as response substitution play a role in short term managment
Desensitisation and counter conditioning are needed in order to achieve long lasting alterations
Changing perceptions- desensitisation and then counter-conditioning designed to create a positive emotional association
What is counter conditioning?
Process by which the emotional response to a stimulus is changed
A fear producing stimulus that is inherently negative or been previously associated with an unpleasant situation becomes a signal of pleasant
What is required for counter conditioning to be successful?
Animal must be in positive emotional state when in the presence of the previously negative stimulus
What are the pitfals of counter conditioning?
Sometimes owners outcomes do not induce positive emotional emotions- stroking an animal too hard
Look at animals posture, facial expression, ear and tail
Why can visual comminication identification of this sometimes be difficult?
The degree to which a domestic dogs uses signalling depends on the breed
Certain colourings, features (drooping ears)
What is the best overall picture of emotional health and what are the various signs of negative emotional systems?
Body posture and movement
Negative (protective)
Pulling away, resisting approach, leaning backwards, extending hindlegs behind, raising hackles
What are signs of negative emotional facial signs?
Ear position
Pupillary dilation
Facial tension
Turning the head away
Averting gaze
