scholarly journals Individualized Target Training Facilitated Transfer of Group Housed Capuchin Monkeys (Sapajus apella) to Test Cubicles and Discrimination of Targets on Computer Touch Screens

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2070
Author(s):  
Sabrina Brando ◽  
Lillian Basom ◽  
Meredith Bashaw ◽  
Caitlin Druyor ◽  
Ellen Fonte ◽  
...  

Animals in captivity often experience fear, anxiety and aggression during non-voluntary procedures, leading to adverse behaviors and ineffective outcomes for both animals and caretakers. Negative reinforcement and punishment, often due to ignorance regarding animal learning, can hurt animal welfare. However, voluntary participation through positive reinforcement training (PRT) can decrease stress related to these procedures and increase desired behaviors. Our goal was to demonstrate the positive effects of “target training” on animal welfare by training 10 captive capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) in two experiments designed to facilitate movement from a group home enclosure to a test cubicle. In Experiment 1, each monkey was assigned an individualized target (a unique shape/color combination). In daily training sessions, the animal was rewarded with a click-sounding stimulus and a food reinforcer for (a) touching the target, (b) following the respective target into a test cubicle, and (c) touching progressively smaller targets until progressing to digitized images on a computer touch screen. All 10 animals learned to approach and touch their individual physical target in one or two sessions and were able to successfully transition this behavior to an image of their target on a touch screen, although they made more errors with the touch screen. In Experiment 2, the animals were presented with other animals’ targets and novel targets. The seven animals in this experiment all touched their target at higher-than-chance rates in Trial 1 without explicit discrimination training, but only five reached the learning criteria for the task (>83% correct for three consecutive testing days. These results demonstrate that target training can make voluntary movement from group housing to test cubicles easier and benefit future animal care and procedures.

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Jill N. Fernandes ◽  
Paul H. Hemsworth ◽  
Grahame J. Coleman ◽  
Alan J. Tilbrook

It costs money to improve the welfare of farm animals. For people with animals under their care, there are many factors to consider regarding changes in practice to improve welfare, and the optimal course of action is not always obvious. Decision support systems for animal welfare, such as economic cost–benefit analyses, are lacking. This review attempts to provide clarity around the costs and benefits of improving farm animal welfare, thereby enabling the people with animals under their care to make informed decisions. Many of the costs are obvious. For example, training of stockpeople, reconfiguration of pens, and administration of pain relief can improve welfare, and all incur costs. Other costs are less obvious. For instance, there may be substantial risks to market protection, consumer acceptance, and social licence to farm associated with not ensuring good animal welfare. The benefits of improving farm animal welfare are also difficult to evaluate from a purely economic perspective. Although it is widely recognised that animals with poor welfare are unlikely to produce at optimal levels, there may be benefits of improving animal welfare that extend beyond production gains. These include benefits to the animal, positive effects on the workforce, competitive advantage for businesses, mitigation of risk, and positive social consequences. We summarise these considerations into a decision tool that can assist people with farm animals under their care, and we highlight the need for further empirical evidence to improve decision-making in animal welfare.


2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. W. Chase ◽  
M. J. Frank ◽  
A. Michael ◽  
E. T. Bullmore ◽  
B. J. Sahakian ◽  
...  

BackgroundCentral to understanding of the behavioural consequences of depression has been the theory that the disorder is accompanied by an increased sensitivity to negative compared with positive reinforcement (negative bias), whereas other theorists have emphasized a global reduction in sensitivity to reinforcement in depression (blunting).MethodIn this study, we used a probabilistic selection task that was designed to examine independently rates of learning to predict both positive and negative reinforcement. Twenty-three depressed out-patients and 23 healthy controls from the local population participated in the study.ResultsNo evidence for a negative bias was observed on the task, either during acquisition of the task or during generalization of the learned information. Depressed patients responded slower on the task than controls but showed a similar modulation of reaction times (RTs) as controls following reinforcement. Evidence for blunting was observed on the training phase, as reflected in reduced trial-by-trial adjustment during this phase. However, this effect was related specifically to the severity of anhedonia, as measured by the Snaith–Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS), and was independent of overall depression severity.ConclusionsWe argue that the observation of a negative bias or blunting in a group of depressed patients may be dependent on the neuropsychological task and the symptoms of the patients tested. Our results provide insight into how these theories might be further tested.


Majority of smokers who begin smoking as adolescents are at risk for developing smoking patterns. Misperception has contributed that smokers underestimate the risks related with smoking. The aim of this study was to identify the gender differences in adolescents’ perception about smokers based on four factors. A total of 863 respondents consist of 302 male (age 21.2 ± 0.56 year) and 562 female (age 20.9 ± 0.66 year) were participated in this study. They were asked to complete a Short-Form Smoking Consequences Questionnaire (S-SCQ) in this study. The result showed female adolescence reported significantly higher discontentment rate (negative perception) for smoking compared to male. There are all four factors were affected on smoking perception relative gender included negative consequence (z=-6.321, p<0.0001), positive reinforcement (z=- 8.110, p<0.0001), negative reinforcement (z=-7.584, p<0.0001) and appetite-weight control factor (z=-6.142, p<0.0001). Female tend to have negative perception on smoking behavior compared to male that encourage the higher number of male smoker than female adolescents. In conclusion, misconceptions about the consequence and reinforcement regarding smoking are widespread among adolescent under this study. Hence, significant public anti-smoking is vital to redress these misperceptions


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Casey ◽  
Maria Naj-Oleari ◽  
Sarah Campbell ◽  
Michael Mendl ◽  
Emily J. Blackwell

AbstractDomestic dogs are trained using a range of different methods, broadly categorised as reward based (positive reinforcement/negative punishment) and aversive based (positive punishment/negative reinforcement). Previous research has suggested associations between use of positive punishment-based techniques and undesired behaviours, but there is little research investigating the relative welfare consequences of these different approaches. This study used a judgement bias task to compare the underlying mood state of dogs whose owners reported using two or more positive punishment/negative reinforcement based techniques, with those trained using only positive reinforcement/negative punishment in a matched pair study design. Dogs were trained to discriminate between rewarded and unrewarded locations equidistant from a start box, and mean latencies recorded. Their subsequent latency to intermediate ‘ambiguous’ locations was recorded as an indication of whether these were perceived as likely to contain food or not. Dogs trained using aversive methods were slower to all ambiguous locations. This difference was significant for latency to the middle (Wilcoxon Z = − 2.380, P = 0.017), and near positive (Wilcoxon Z = − 2.447, P = 0.014) locations, suggesting that dogs trained using coercive methods may have a more negative mood state, and hence that there are welfare implications of training dogs using such methods.


BELTA Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-104
Author(s):  
Mohammed Rashel Uddin ◽  
Sharmin Hena ◽  
Ariful Hoq Shanil

This research focuses on the effect of reinforcement during English Language Learning (ELL) classroom activities of Bangladeshi primary level education. The findings of the research indicate that teachers follow both positive and negative reinforcement as part of their teaching-learning activities depending on the actual situation of the class. Positive reinforcement helps students to enhance their mental growth and also boost their learning behaviour. There are some negative influences on students’ behaviour when the teacher treats them with any kind of negative reinforcement. Although all the teachers believe that positive reinforcement helps to improve motivation, self-confidence, classroom participation, teacher-student relationship and effective learning of students during ELL classroom activities, a few teachers still use negative phrases which demotivate students towards learning rather than creating the eagerness to learn.


Author(s):  
Radhiyatul Jamilah ◽  
Ray Suryadi

The research aimed to analyze the student’s learning behavior in isolated school it was conducted in a qualitative approach in SMPN SatapTojabi, Babussalam, Lasusua Sub District, North Kolaka District, South east Sulawesi it was one of the isolated schools in North KolakaDistric, located on the mountain it was about eight kilometers from the level of land with no electricity, people still used solar power for doing an activity related to electricity. The subject was the third grade students in the academic year 2019 – 2020 with 14 students. The data was collected by using observation and interview. The result showed that they gave various behaviors, some of them were diligent, obedient, and polite some of them were lazy, always messing about, and denying. By giving positive reinforcement students were not eager to get the reward even though the teacher promised a special reward some of them were still not change the behaviors. These behavior such as did not do the homework on time, messing about when their friends start to work, do not come at class on time, and keep the class noisy. While by giving negative reinforcement some students still much less discipline and less concern about their education.


Cognition ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 199 ◽  
pp. 104237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis R. Smith ◽  
Audrey E. Parrish ◽  
Courtney Creamer ◽  
Mattea Rossettie ◽  
Michael J. Beran

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray Sidman

AbstractCoercion is defined as the control of behaviour through (a) punishment or the threat of punishment, or (b) negative reinforcement — the removal of punishment. The question under discussion is whether coercion is an effective and a desirable basis for applied behaviour analysis, particularly in educational settings. Because coercive control has always been characteristic of society in general, the problem requires consideration of all facets of our culture. Behaviour analysts who use or recommend coercive techniques of therapy, behaviour modification, teaching, parenting, and so on, must be viewed in that context. In many areas of society, the practice of coercion has been refined and perfected to an extent that applied behaviour analysis has never approached. Applied behavioural research therefore contributes nothing new when it applies coercive methodology. Also, coercion produces side effects that may be even less desirable than the original problem behaviour. The occasional need to use coercion to deal with emergencies does not justify the advocacy of coercion as a principle of therapy. What basic and applied behaviour analysts can offer that is new and constructive are positive reinforcement techniques for teaching new behaviour and stimulus-control techniques for establishing cognitive repertoires.


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