Page 44 - Zoo Animal Learning and Training

16 2 The Cognitive Abilities of Wild Animals

VetBooks.ir other unconditional stimulus or conditioned this conditioning period, overall wariness in
Predator‐avoidance
elk increased significantly for elk in both high
stimuli.
acquisition
appears to be a case of classical conditioning,
animals habituated to the stimuli depending
where the alarm behaviours of a demonstra- and low frequency groups. However, some
tor are the unconditional stimulus, and the on their behavioural flexibility and so it was
conditioned stimulus are cues about the concluded that this method might be further
predator and environment, to which the ani- increased with proactive assessment of the
mal acquires avoidance responses (Griffin elk’s individual personality.
2004). This is somewhat different from other The ability to learn is not just possible for
examples of classical conditioning in that, if the larger, mammalian species. Previously, it
the conditioned stimulus predicts a biologi- was thought that smaller, ‘simpler’ animals
cally important event (the unconditional (notably invertebrates) were guided predom-
stimulus), then it should work best if it inantly by genetically‐mediated behaviours,
precedes that event (‘forward conditioning’, since it was believed that their central nervous
as described in Chapter 1), whereas in alarm systems were just too small and simple, and
call learning the conditioned stimulus fol- their life histories too short, for learning to
lows the unconditional stimulus (‘backward have much significance (Tierney 1986). This
conditioning’ as described in Chapter 1; view is wrong. The honeybee (Apis mellif­
Griffin and Galef 2005). The possibility that era), for example, learns the characteristics
socially acquired predator avoidance is less and whereabouts of different seasonal flow-
sensitive to forward conditioning than other ers, navigation to and from flower patches,
cases of classical conditioning may reflect an some aspects of the ‘waggle dance’, charac-
example of learning processes being shaped teristics of hivemates, and a lot of other
by the unique demands of a species’ environ- things about its social and physical environ-
ment (Griffin 2008). Thus we can see how ment (Menzel and Müller 1996). It does all of
the ability to form conditioned stimulus– this with a brain with a volume of about
3
unconditional stimulus associations in the 1 mm and containing just 960 000 neurons
wild can ultimately have adaptive significance (Menzel and Giurfa 2001) as compared with
to the animals, in this case by promoting suc- 100 billion in the human brain. As an exam-
cess in behaviours that lead to a fitness ben- ple, it is possible to train bees through clas-
efit for the animal or species. sical conditioning to extend their proboscis
One of the greatest threats facing wildlife in response to different solutions or odours,
today is conflict with humans. For many spe- the normal unconditioned stimulus being
cies, behaviours that cause conflict (such as sucrose solution, the conditioned stimulus
overgrazing, crop destruction, or predation being whatever solution is paired with
on livestock) are often learned behaviours sucrose. As well as permitting investigation
(Much et al. 2018). Furthermore, these behav- of the bees’ abilities to discriminate different
iours become more likely as animals become tastes and odours, this experimental para-
habituated to people and to stimuli paired digm has also been used to investigate the
with people. Through classical conditioning neural substrates of learning (Menzel and
processes, we know that non‐lethal aversive Giurfa 2001).
stimuli can be at least temporarily effective in Until recently, investigations of classical
reducing learning potential. Most recently, conditioning took place in laboratory
Found et al. (2018) discovered that the fre- settings, and even now there are few dem-
quency of aversive conditioning (specifically onstrations of this form of learning in free‐
in the form of subjecting marked individuals living animals. Nevertheless this is a
to predator‐resembling chases by people over powerful way by which animals learn about
a period of three months) had an effect on the the relationship between different events in
wariness of elk (Cervus canadensis). During their environment.