Animal Behaviour

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR COURSE - Learn Online

Discover the psychology behind animal behaviour.

A course developed and tutored by academics and practitioners from a background in agriculture, veterinary science and wildlife management.

• Gain an understanding of animal behaviour and motivation
• Analyse problem behaviour
• Improve your animal handling skills
• Gain a new perspective on the animals around you

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction: Influences and motivation.
   • What is behaviour
   • Causes of behaviour (e.g. genetics, learning, external and internal influences)
   • Reactive, active and cognitive behaviour
   • Conditioning
2. Genetics and Behaviour.
   • Understanding biology
   • Natural selection
   • Genetic variation
   • Behavioural genetics
3. Animal Perception and Behaviour.
   • How animals perceive things
   • What stimulates them and how do those stimuli function
   • Instinct
   • Neural control
   • Sensory processes, sight, sound, hearing etc.
4. Behaviour and the Environment.
   • Co-ordination
   • Orientation
   • Homeostasis
   • Acclimatisation
   • Circadian rhythms
   • Biological clocks
   • Reproductive cycles etc.
5. Social Behaviour.
   • Animal Societies
   • Aggression
   • Social constraints
   • Social order
   • Play
   • Biological clocks
   • Communication
6. Instinct and Learning.
   • Conditioning and learning
   • Extinction and habituation
   • Instrumental learning
   • Reinforcement
   • Operant behaviour
   • Biological and cognitive aspects of learning
7. Handling Animals.
   • Psychological effects of different handling techniques
   • Training animals (horses, cats, dogs, etc).
   • The student has a choice of which types of animals to focus on, though a variety will still be covered.
8. Behavioural Problems.
   • Abnormal behaviour (e.g. Psychotic, neurotic)
   • Domestication of animals
   • Reducing human contact
   • Reducing human dependence G

Aims

• Identify factors affecting animal behaviour.
• Describe the influence of genes on animal behaviour.
• Explain how animals perceive and how they respond to various stimuli.
• Explain the influence of environment factors, such as circadian rhythms, on biological clocks, reproductive cycles, orientation and other animal behaviours.
• Explain the social influences on animal aggression, play, sexual behaviour, communication and other behaviours.
• Describe different ways that animals learn (such as conditioning and habituation) and some effects of learning on behaviour.
• Discuss psychological implications of different handling techniques.
• Identify abnormal animal behaviour (e.g. psychotic, neurotic behaviour) and ways to reduce dependence on humans.

Sample Course Notes - LEARN TO UNDERSTAND ANIMALS

Animal behaviour involves any observable activity of an animal, such as:

• Movement of parts of the body
• Stopping expected movement
• Secretions from the body
• Changes in body colour

There is a Purpose to most Animal Behaviour?

It is assumed that all animal behaviour is an adaptation designed to support survival, either directly or indirectly. However, this is not always the case. Animals can behave self-destructively, out of habit, or out of boredom, just as humans can. To better understand the behaviour, we should also consider what motivates it.

What Caused One Behaviour rather than another?

Genetics is of prime importance (i.e. inherited characteristics). Genetic characteristics are also sometimes referred to as “inborn”, “innate” or “instinctive”. Most animals are genetically programmed to act in certain ways in certain situations.

Experience (i.e. learned characteristics), may encompass terms including: “acquired”, “experiential” or “environmental”. Behaviours can be learned through the experience of interacting with the environment (which includes the people or other creatures in it), or it can be learned through personal, subjective experience (perceptions, thoughts and feelings). In the case of animals, these latter factors are usually difficult to identify.

Since genetic and environmental factors both influence behaviour, it is impossible to distinguish particular causes for a behaviour. Particularly in regard to animals, no behaviour can ever be characterized as totally instinctive or totally learned. Even though learned and genetic factors both play a role in all behaviours, the relative significance of each is variable.

KINDS OF BEHAVIOUR

There are three general categories of behaviour: reactive, active and cognitive behaviours.

1. Reactive Behaviour: Reactive behaviour includes stereotypical behaviour which is largely automatic. These are the most primitive types of behaviours which have been fully established in the animal well before it is born. Animal tropisms (automatic orientation responses) such as balancing and positioning are reactive behaviours. Other tropisms include things such as breathing, avoiding heat or opening the eyes.

2. Active Behaviours: 

Active behaviours are developed from inherited potentials. The animal is born with a tendency to act a certain way, but a degree of learning must occur for that behaviour to develop. The process is a little like a computer which delivers pre-programmed responses on demand; the way to act might be built into the animal’s genetic make-up, but it requires a certain stimulus before the action happens. These behaviours in part occur through parental training (e.g. flying, walking, grooming). This is a more elaborate type of behaviour than reactive behaviour. It is believed to occur only in more advanced animals (i.e. arthropods and vertebrates), though there is some evidence that lower order animals can also learn behaviour.

3. Cognitive Behaviour: Cognitive behaviours are the most advanced forms of behaviour. Genetics provides only a very general influence, and the actual behaviour is more influenced by the environment and experience. Cognitive behaviour is more or less deliberate activity. The animal doesn’t just respond to stimuli; it can also invent its own actions. Simple cognitive behaviours are encountered in many (but not all) arthropods, and all vertebrates. Exploration is a simple cognitive behaviour which allows an animal to familiarize itself with new conditions in the environment. Objects are approached, inspected and then moved away from. This action is generally repeated, but with reduced frequency. The most complex environmental factors tend to stimulate the greatest exploratory activity. If mammals are prevented from exploration for long periods, their behaviour can become abnormal. Play is a more advanced type of cognitive behaviour which occurs to some degree in most vertebrates; but more so in mammals. Play may involve more complex and diverse activity than exploration. Play and exploration together help animals adapt to both their physical and social environment. Lack of play in young animals can lead to social problems later in life (i.e. they make poor parents or don’t react well with other animals). Another more complex cognitive behaviour seen in mammals is manipulative behaviour.

Train for a Career

This course is suitable for people wanting to train for careers -

• working with animals
• zookeepers
• pet shop owners
• animal breeding
• animal boarders
• dog walkers
• groomers
• equine specialists
• Really, anyone who wants to work with animals

Enrol Today

All of our courses are studied online or by e-learning, where you receive the course on a USB memory stick.

You can start at any time to suit you.

The courses are all self-paced, so you can work at a pace that suits you.

If you would like to work with animals, understanding their behaviour is essential.

Any Questions

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