fagen et al. (elephant learning) + learning approach Flashcards
what is the learning approach?
it focuses on how individuals acquire new behaviors through experiences
what was the aim of the study?
to investigate whether whether secondary positive reinforcement (SPR) training can be used to teach elephants in Nepal to voluntarily participate in the trunk wash - TB test
what is secondary positive reinforcement (SPR)?
reinforcing a behavior by pairing it with a neutral stimulus (e.g. whistle) with a primary reinforcer (e.g. banana)
this encourages desired behavior through positive means
what sampling method was used?
opportunity sampling
what was the experimental design?
repeated measures
what research method was used?
a controlled and structured observation - behavioral checklist
who were the participants in the study?
five captive, traditionally trained elephants in Nepal
4 juvenile and 1 adult
how were the elephants selected?
based on their availability and the TB testing in them
how was the SPR training implemented?
trainers used a whistle (secondary reinforcer) paired with food rewards (primary reinforcer) to encourage elephants to present their trunks voluntarily for the TB wash
what steps were the steps of the training? (3)
habituation: introducing elephants to the whistle sound paired with food rewards
shaping: gradually encouraging behaviors alike the trunk wash
reinforcement: successful approximations of desired behaviors were rewarded until the whole trunk presentation was achieved
how long did the training take?
each session was approximately 12 minutes long
number of sessions per elephant varied as it took different elephants different amount of time to learn the desired behaviors
how many sessions did it take for the elephants to learn the behavior?
- key finding
4 out of 5 learned it successfully within 35 sessions
what was the final success rate of trained elephants performing the behavior?
- key finding
it improved from 39.0% to 89.3%
name two strengths of the study
ethical training method: utilized positive reinforcement, promoting animal welfare, highly ethical towards the animals
practical application: findings could be applied in real life, helps improve essential testing
name two weaknesses of the study
small sample size: only five elephants, one didn’t finish the study, low generalizability
lack of control group: the results couldn’t be compared to anything
real-world application?
training elephants for essential healthcare check ups
