Fatten

• Operant conditioning

  Learning from the outcome of our behaviour
• Positive reinforcer


  A reward for behaviour that fulfils a biological need is known as a primary positive reinforcer. A stimulus that is associated with primary reinforcers can also be learned and is known as a secondary reinforcer
• Negative reinforcement


  When something unpleasant is removed or avoided in response to a stimulus
• Some reinforcers occur naturally, such as water, food, shelter or sleep. Secondary reinforcers have to be learned, and are associated with primary reinforcers, such as money
• Operant conditioning theory


  • Can explain how humans and animals develop complex behaviours
  • Does not try to explain underlying, unseen reasons for behaviour, such as thoughts or feelings
  • The majority of behaviours are learned through trial and error
• Shaping behaviour through operant conditioning

  1. Rewarding with praise as a child learns to speak

  2. Combining simple actions into sequences or 'behaviour chains' like riding a bicycle
• Traditionally, captive elephants are given 'free' (unlimited) contact with their handlers (known as mahouts) and elephant behaviour is managed using punishment
• Captive animal welfare


  Psychologists working with animals that are confined or outside of their normal environment must ensure the health and well-being of the animals. As part of this captive management, an animal's natural needs for accommodation, environment, freedom of movement, food, water and care should be appropriately met
• Positive reinforcement


  A form of operant conditioning. It involves rewarding desirable behaviour to encourage it to be repeated
• Secondary positive reinforcement (SPR) training

  Training in which a secondary reinforcer such as a sound marker is used and then followed with administration of a primary positive reinforcer (typically food)
• SPR has been used successfully with several animal species, including pandas, primates and antelope. One advantage the method offers is the ability to shape captive animals' behaviour to help improve their health and well-being
• Research method and design

  • Controlled observation involving a small group of elephants living in captivity who were trained over a period of weeks
  • Structured observation using a behavioural checklist to record the elephants' responses as a percentage pass
• The elephants spent most of the day grazing in the jungle under the control of their mahouts. They spent the rest of the day leg-chained in a stable with the freedom to move 6-8 feet (1.83–2.4 m) around the stake. The elephants' diet was fresh grasses, grain and nutritional supplements and they were given access to water at a river during grazing hours
• Humans share a number of cognitive and behavioural traits with animals
• The British Psychological Society (BPS) Guidelines for Psychologists Working with Animals (2020) include ethical guidelines on replacement, species, number, procedures, pain and distress, housing, and reward and deprivation and aversive stimuli
• Elephants


  • Spent most of the day grazing in the jungle under the control of their mahouts
  • Spent the rest of the day leg-chained in a stable with the freedom to move 6-8 feet (1.83–2.4 m) around the stake
  • Diet was fresh grasses, grain and nutritional supplements
  • Given access to water at a river during grazing hours
• Replacement


  One of the ethical guidelines for psychologists working with animals
• Species


  One of the ethical guidelines for psychologists working with animals
• Number


  One of the ethical guidelines for psychologists working with animals
• Procedures


  One of the ethical guidelines for psychologists working with animals
• Pain and distress


  One of the ethical guidelines for psychologists working with animals
• Housing


  One of the ethical guidelines for psychologists working with animals
• Reward


  One of the ethical guidelines for psychologists working with animals
• Deprivation and aversive stimuli


  One of the ethical guidelines for psychologists working with animals
• Training method


  1. Capture

  2. Lure

  3. Shaping
• Behavioural tasks


  • Trunk here
  • Trunk up
  • Bucket
  • Blow
  • Steady
• Behaviour chaining


  A process that allows separately trained behaviours to be performed in sequence in response to cues
• Desensitisation


  To reduce and extinguish a response (e.g. fear) to stimuli (e.g. a syringe)
• Mahouts did not assist with the training to maintain validity
• Verbal cues used were distinct from those used by mahouts to maintain validity
• Four juvenile elephants successfully learned the trunk wash, but the adult elephant did not
• Some behavioural tasks were more difficult than others, e.g. trunk-here required more offers/cues than bucket or blow-into-bucket
• Elephants gradually improved their performance over time, with mean success rate going from 39% after 10 sessions to 89.3% after 35 sessions
• Researchers concluded that juvenile, free-contact, traditionally trained elephants can be trained to participate in a trunk wash using only SPR training techniques, with voluntary participation and no punishment
• Strengths and weaknesses of the study

  • Small sample size makes it difficult to generalise
  • Captive animals from one stable may not be representative
  • Elephants chosen for their docile temperament, but large size poses risks
  • Controlling for distractions was challenging
  • Training sessions were flexible to suit each animal, affecting reliability
  • Attempts made to maintain validity, e.g. mahouts not assisting