Department
of Psychology
Indiana
University,
Bloomington
BEHAVIOR SYSTEMS
AND
LEARNING LAB (BSL)
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Polar Bear Stereotypic and General Activity Patterns
under Fixed-Time Food Schedules
Stereotypies have been described as repetitive, invariant behavior patterns with no obvious goal or function. While specific conditions or contexts are highly correlated with such stereotypies, in many cases little has been done to systematically examine the function of those behavior patterns. One such setting has been captive environments for numerous species of animals. Our current study examines the effects of several fixed-time (FT) food delivery schedules with two polar bears at the Indianapolis Zoo. 23 behaviors were obseved and categorized according to a number of behaviors, including active, stereotypic, inactive, and so on. All behaviors are recorded in baseline, non-food conditions, and several FT schedules, and several reversals have been run across the study. We're attempting to answer two main questions: can we use certain timed food delivery schedules to better understand the relation between food searching/getting and stereotypic behavior, and can we effectively reduce those stereotypies and other aberrant responses while increasing species-typical foraging patterns with some of the schedules. The current phase of the study is almost complete, and soon we will be attempting to devise an automated feeding device for longer-lasting intervention purposes.
Click on this link for a handout of a presentation about this research given at the 2004 Animal Behavior Management Alliance (ABMA) Conference in Baltimore, MD.
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