Behavior

• Ethology


  The study of animal behavior
• Charles Darwin


  Who laid the foundation of classic ethology?
• Classic ethology asserts that much of what animals know is instinctive, or innate
• reflex behavior


  unconditioned stimulus
• instrumental learning


  learning by trial and error
• instinct


  A complex of unlearned responses characteristicof a species
• 2 to 8 weeks is the critical age for socialization for kittens
• Veterinary behaviorists primarily use positive reinforcement for behavior modification
• 4 to 14 weeks is the critical age for socialization for puppies
• When a pet begs for food and the owner stops giving food when the pet begs, the owner is employing extinction
• Behaviorism


  Which theory indicates that behavior is learned rather than genetically programmed?
• Kitten using litter box to hide urine and feces

  Which of the following behaviors may be characterized by Charles Darwin’s theories on instinct?
• Sociobiology


  Which field of study extends the concept of natural selection to the social behavior of animals?
• positive reinforcement


  refers to any immediate pleasant occurrence that follows a behavior
• Negative reinforcement 


  refers to any immediate unpleasant occurrence used to create a desired behavior
• positive punishment


  involves adding an undesirable occurrence to decrease a behavior
• Negative punishment


  involves removing a desirable occurrence to decrease a behavior.
• Extinction


  involves elimination of a problem behavior by completely removing the reinforcement for the behavior
• Aversion therapy


  involves creating a relationship between an unpleasant stimulus and an object that an animal may be marking, chewing, or otherwise damaging
• Avoidance therapy


  involves the use of negative reinforcementto diminish a problem behavior. The goal is for the pet to link the behavior with an unpleasant event and then avoid that unpleasant event
• Habituation


  used to treat minor behavior problems. Itinvolves surrounding the animal with the stimulus causingthe problem until the animal becomes acclimated to the stimulus and is no longer afraid of it
• counterconditioning


  can replace an undesirable behavior with a desirable one by linking the stimulus to a positive emotional response