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Psych 419 Exam

Terms in this set (35)

Nominal
observations are assigned to mutually exclusive, qualitative classes or categories
Ordinal
observations can be arranged along a scale according to some property
Interval
scores are placed along a scale such that the distance between two points on the scale is meaningful
Ratio
the highest measurement is attained when the scale has all of the properties of the interval scale but also has a true zero point
Observer drift
definitions or criteria tend to "drift" with the passage of time as observers become more familiar with the behavior and 'improve' or 'sharpen up' the defintions
Five opportunities to thrive
1. Well-balanced diet
2. Physical environment
3. Optimal health
4. Species-specific behavior
5. Choice
Flagship species
central to conservation messaging, drive visitation, and serve as catalysts for conservation action
Animal welfare
care about animals, care about individuals and species/populations, based on biological measurements, animals kept in human care should be given the best possible lives;
an animal's physical, mental, and emotional states over a period of time measured on a continuum from poor to excellent
Animal rights
care about animals, care about individuals, based on beliefs, animals should not be kept in human care
Species survival plans
creates a five-year Master Plan to manage and conserve select ex situ populations; ensure healthy, genetically diverse populations; each institution has a representative and is led by a steering committee of advisors
SSP breeding programs
reproductive assessment, natural breeding, assisted reproduction, handrearing, contraception, reintroduction
Golden Lion Tamarin reintroduction
500 left Mata Atlantica in 1980s; one of first SSPs, reintroduction in 1984 (added 484 animals) & 95% of reintroduced population is wild-born
Black-footed ferret reintroduction
NA most endangered animal, last 18 rescued in Wyoming 1987, natural breeding & AI at 6 AZA zoos; reintroduction in 1991 --> approx. 300 in wild now
California condor reintroduction
Artificial incubation and rearing protocols
Bout
change in behavior; bout criterion interval (ex. wing flag during courtship display)
Paper and pencil pros and cons
Pros: convenient, inexpensive, low-tech
Cons: limited, error-prone, timing issues, no-digital
Initial steps to planning a research project in animal behavior
1. Ask a question
2. Make preliminary observations
3. Identify the variables to be measured
4. Choose appropriate recording methods
5. Collect preliminary behavioral data
Static information
Unchanging information about an individual (i.e. age, size, sex, identity, body condition etc.)
Reducing error
random sampling, balanced observations, blind observations, measurement reliability/validity
Exhaustive
behavior taxonomy is all-encompassing; subject is always recorded as doing something, even if it is "not visible" or "other
Mutually exclusive
Recording categories do not overlap; within a given set of categories, the subject is never recorded as doing more than one thing simultaneously
Why breed animals in zoos?
connect people with wildlife, sustaining of pop.s, natural life cycles, reintroduction programs, and conservation
Three things to know to train an animal
1. Natural history of species
2. Specific background of individual
3. Environment
Three steps to good communication in training an animal
1. Become significant to the animal
2. Tell the animal when they're doing something correctly (i.e. condition a 'bridge')
3. Show animal what to do (condition target)
Purpose of 'bridge' in training
bridges the gap in time between the correct behavior and the reinforcement
5 aspects of a bridge in animal training
1. Bridges gap in time between when the correct behavior is performed and when the animal receives reinforcement
2. Pinpoints in time when the animal is correct
3. Terminates the behavior
4. Becomes a secondary reinforcer
5. Increases trainer's significance and begins to create/maintain a working relationship
Recall in animal training
Process of sending and retrieving an animal from one point to another through the use of a conditioned sound stimulus, or to bring back to station; indicated the animal should stop whatever it's doing and return to station, almost always reinforced
Shaping in animal training
differential enforcement of successive approximations
Target in animal training
pinpoints space where animal has been correct and can communicate to the animal what you want from them
Reinforcement (+ vs. -)
anything that increases behavior (positive is anything added to enviro. & negative is anything removed)
Punishment (+ vs. -)
anything that decreases behavior it immediately follows (positive is anything added to enviro. & negative is anything removed)
Desensitization
make stimulus neutral; expose to stimuli to make it neutral in response but can accidentally turn a reinforcer or a neutral into a punishment
Primary reinforcer
A stimulus that does not depend on learned to achieve its reinforcing properties
Secondary reinforcer
A stimulus that acquires reinforcing properties through association with a primary reinforcer
Learned helplessness
behavior of an animal that has endured painful or otherwise aversive stimuli which it was unable to escape or avoid and learns that it has lost control so gives up trying
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