Studying animal behavior

Transcription

1 Studying animal behavior Examination of animal learning and behaviour Analyis and evaluation of the experiments ELUP students Experiment was accomplished by Teacher:... Date:...

2 Goals of the practical lesson (brief definition in few sentences) 2 Introduction (can be continued on a separate sheet if needed) 1. Short explanation on the possibilities to observe animal learning and behavior (summary of the most important facts in regard to the analysis of the practical data) 2. Methods and materials (schematic enumeration)

3 A. Examination of animal behaviour Explain the course of the experiments shortly at every exercise and explain your results. Attach the activity diagrams showing the different behavioral patterns to the lab record. 1. Open field test: behaviour of a single rat during quiet conditions Short description of the experiment (Give the outline of the open field chamber, e.g. the orientation and marking of the observation field): 3 Make a list of the recorded behavioral items: Describe the route of the observed rat which was accompanished during the observation period (5 minutes): Number of the attached activity diagram:... Summary of the observations (can be continued on a separate sheet if needed) (What kind of typical behavioral items did you observe immediately after placing the animal into the open filed? Was the animal's behaviour different during the initial observations or after several minutes? Did you observe any stereotypic behavioral patterns? What were the regions of the open field which were preferred by the rat? Which of the recorded behavioral items reflected especially the exploratory activity of the animal?)

4 2. Open field test: behavior of a single rat in case of disturbing ( frightening ) conditions Short description of the experiment: Describe the route of the observed rat which was accompanished during the observation period (5 minutes)! Number of the attached activity diagram:... Summary of the observations (can be continued on a separate sheet if needed): (What kind of typical behavioral items did you observe immediately after the application of the frightening stimulus? Was the animal's behaviour different during the initial observations or after several minutes? What were the regions of the open field chamber preferred by the animal? How frequent was the exploration? How did the behavioral patterns differ before and after the application of the frightening stimulus?) 4

5 3. Open field test: testing behavioral differences between an adapted and a newcomer rat within the same open field Short description of the experiment: Describe the route of the observed rat which was accompanished during the observation period (5 minutes)! 1. "adapted" animal: 2. "newcomer" animal: Number of the attached activity diagram: 1. ("original") animal: ("new") animal:... Summary of the observations (can be continued on a separate sheet if needed): (Which were the typical behavioral items showed by the animals? Which regions of the open field were preferred by the animals? How frequent was the exploration? Did any signs of social interaction appear between the animals? How did the behavior of the adapted animal change in response to the placement of the new animal? How the behavior of the new animal was similar to the behavior of the old animal when the animal was originally placed to the open field chamber (see exercise 1)?) 5

6 B. Examination of animal learning 6 1. Operant conditioning:training of a thirsty rat in the Skinner-box Short explanation of the experiment: Pronounced stages during the training procedure (can be expanded if needed): Name of the pronounced behavioral stage Time elapsed since the start of the experiment (approximately, min) Summary of the observations (can be continued on a separate sheet if needed): (What kind of typical behavioral did you observe after placing the animal into the Skinner-box? Did you experience any stereotyped behavioral patterns? Was the animal motivated to get some sweet water? What was the strategy of the experimenter during the training procedure? Did the animal learn to press the response lever?)

7 2. Examination of spatial learning: training of a thirsty rat in the Y-maze Short explanation of the experiment: 7 Selected directions during the consecutive trials (can be expanded if needed): Direction selected by the experimenter: right left Number of Direction selected by the animal Number of Direction selected by the animal the trial right left the trial right left Summary of the observations (can be continued on a separate sheet if needed): What kind of typical behavioral items were showed by the rat inside the Y-maze? Was the animal motivated to search for the sweet water? What was the strategy of the experimenter during the training procedure? How much time did the animal need to learn the right direction to the water?

8 C. Definitions 8 Operant conditioning:... Thorndike s law of effect:... unconditioned reflex:... conditioned reflex:...