Behavior

Question 1

recognize the postures/body language in dogs associated with submission and assertiveness

Answer 1

submission: body lowered, leaning away, head down or turned to one side, tail lowered, tucked, or wagging, ears to one side or back, breaks eye contact or side eye, submissive grin, licking other dog face, rolling over (these postures are exaggerated with anxiety; submission without context = fear or anxiety)

assertiveness: tall stiff stance, leaning forward, head held up, direct eye contact, ears forward, tail elevated, lips raised, stand over, muzzle pin, push shoulders, mounting (all behaviors done on top of another dog, aka how we approach dogs; this behavior is also displayed when confident or asked to perform a command)

Question 2

identify how human gestures can impact fear responses in dogs and how to avoid threat gestures in fearful dogs

Answer 2

1. when a human approaches a dog from the front or top that is assertive and dominant (bully) behavior to the dog, should approach from the side
2. when a dog is submissive, it may roll over and show its belly; a dominant dog will accept this and end the interaction but humans will pet the belly and could trigger fear aggression (never/be careful to take an exposed rolled over belly as an invitation to pet)

Question 3

identify body language associated with friendliness, assertiveness, and submission in cats

Answer 3

friendliness: spending time close together, allogrooming, allorubbing, tail up greeting before allo-action

assertiveness: hind limbs extended and stiff, ears up and rotated laterally, tail arched away from hocks, head wag, frontal approach

submission: crouching, ears down and back (airplane ears), lateral approach, tail tucked, rolling, head down, avoidance

Question 4

identify features of preferred associates (friends) in cats (3)

Answer 4

1. any gender combo
2. will allorub, allogroom, and nose-touch more than non-preferred associated, even in hot weather, they like to kiss :)
3. not random!! they are friends!!

Question 5

describe the structure of domestic horse herds living under natural conditions

Answer 5

1. herds cover a large geographical area with overlapping home ranges and are about half male and half female; juveniles leave their maternal band around 2-4 years old, fillies will join existing harem groups and colts will join bachelor groups
2. harems bands form within herds as a stable group of 3 or more adult horses with 1-2 stallions and 3-8 mares
3. if more than one stallion in a harem, one will be more submissive and likely not get to breed until primary stallion incapable or until secondary stallion finds his own harem; secondary stallion in charge of snaking/herding the group
4. bachelor groups: membership is fluid as colts live there until 5-6 years old when can establish their own band
5. social order is relatively stable with little aggression

Question 6

identify the body language associated with dominance, submission, and assertiveness in horses

Answer 6

agonistic behavior (used to avoid physical combat)
offensive threats: stare, bite threats, ears back and neck arched, move head toward thread, shove with head neck or shoulder, chasing, rearing, kicking, boxing, circling, mounting, overmarking

submission: lower head ears hindquarters, jaw chomping, defensive kicks, flight/run away, balk (turn head away and lean away), submissive stallions have lower squeals that start at lower frequency

distance-increasing postures: arched neck = threat, neck lowered with head and neck extended = bite imminent (different from stallion snaking which is not an aggressive posture), ears pinned, visible sclera (could also indicate pain), upper lid elevated near center, tense upper lip with teeth visible

Question 7

describe the behaviors associated with assertiveness and submission in cattle

Answer 7

assertive: head perpendicular to ground, ears turned back with inner surface pointing back

submissive: head lowered and parallel to ground, inner surface of ear pointed to the side

Question 8

define classical and operant conditioning

Answer 8

classical condition is association learning! (not about what the individual is doing, just the response to an association with something);

operant conditioning is cause and effect learning; goal directed behavior controlled by consequences

Question 9

identify the elements of classical conditioning and examples of classical conditioning

Answer 9

classical conditioning: has 2 types of stimuli and 2 types of responses:
1. unconditioned stimulus: stimulus that elicits particular response without prior training
2. unconditioned response: behavior response that occurs to stimulus without prior training
3. conditioned stimulus: stimulus that does not elicit response initially, but will elicit a response after pairing with unconditioned stimulus
4. conditioned response: response to conditioned stimulus as a result of classical conditioning

excitatory classical conditioning: learned association between US and CS, where presentation of CS activates behavior processes related to US but without US being presented

there is also inhibitory classical conditioning (but more on this next year)

Question 10

describe and apply shaping techniques

Answer 10

a process where we gradually require the individual to engage in behaviors that are more and more like the desired behavior before a reward (used a lot in performance horses or to tolerate medical procedures)

Question 11

define the 4 operant conditioning paradigms and differentiate examples of each: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment

Answer 11

positive reinforcement: positive contingency between instrumental response and stimulus outcome resulting in an increase in responding

negative reinforcement: negative contingency between response and stimulus outcome resulting in an increase in responding (prong collar teaching how to walk close, as pressure is reduced when walk closer)

negative punishment: negative contingency between response and stimulus resulting in decrease in rate of instrumental responding (omission training; behavior decrease results in consequence removed)

positive punishment: positive contingency between instrumental response and stimulus outcome resulting in decrease in responding

Question 12

describe the causes and implications of learned helplessness in veterinary patients

Answer 12

when repeated exposures to uncontrollable stressors results in an individual failing to use any control options; individuals learn they lack behavioral control over environmental events, which undermines motivation