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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Are Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda Melanoleuca) Averse To Inequity?, Miranda R. Trapani Dec 2020

Are Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda Melanoleuca) Averse To Inequity?, Miranda R. Trapani

Theses and Dissertations

Inequity aversion, a negative response to situations of unequal reward distribution, is a cognitive trait usually seen in social species. This capacity is thought to regulate cooperative relationships in intelligent, cognitively flexible animals. Giant pandas are a unique case in that wild populations are characterized as nonsocial, however captive populations are socially housed until sexual maturity. This allows for the study of a nonsocial species in a social context and thus the assessment of socio-cognitive flexibility across evolutionarily distant taxa. Here, we assessed whether the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) displays inequity aversion by testing ten juveniles living at …


Variation In Personality Among Semi-Wild Myanmar Timber Elephants, Sateesh Venkatesh Dec 2020

Variation In Personality Among Semi-Wild Myanmar Timber Elephants, Sateesh Venkatesh

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines two personality traits: exploration and neophobia, which could influence human-elephant conflicts. Thirty-one semi-wild elephants were tested over two trials using a custom novel puzzle tube containing three tasks and three rewards. Our studies show that elephants do vary significantly between individuals in both exploration and neophobia.


The Effects Of Music On Dairy Production, Anneliese Kemp Dec 2020

The Effects Of Music On Dairy Production, Anneliese Kemp

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this research is to find which genre of music dairy cows produce the most milk to in order to aid dairy farmers in yielding maximum product while also keeping their cattle as comfortable as possible. During each lactation a different genre of music will play, basic vital signs, and behavioral observations of the cows will be taken, then the amount of milk produced during that genre will be measured. First, no music will be played, base line vitals will be taken, and milk yield will be measured. This will give an estimate to how positively or negatively …


The Use Of Animal-Assisted Therapeutic Interventions In The Hospital Setting During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alicia Cesare Aug 2020

The Use Of Animal-Assisted Therapeutic Interventions In The Hospital Setting During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alicia Cesare

MSU Graduate Theses

Handlers of therapy and/or facility dogs working within hospital settings have experienced various barriers and challenges within their practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Animal-assisted interventions, specifically therapeutic working dogs, are a valued source of support to individuals, communities, hospital settings, and disaster sites during times of community distress. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers and solutions to the continued use of animal-assisted therapeutic interventions in support of patients and families within the hospital setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. This researcher’s position within the research is the knowledge and experience of being a facility dog handler within the …


Characterizing Putative Sexually Dimorphic Effects Of A Propionic Acid Induced Autism Spectrum Disorder Phenotype In Adult Male And Female Rats, Katie C. Benitah May 2020

Characterizing Putative Sexually Dimorphic Effects Of A Propionic Acid Induced Autism Spectrum Disorder Phenotype In Adult Male And Female Rats, Katie C. Benitah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Research suggests that certain gut and dietary factors may worsen symptoms in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Studies have shown that treatment with the bacterial product, propionic acid (PPA), elicits neuroinflammatory and behavioral responses in rats that are characteristic of ASD in humans. A consistent male bias in ASD prevalence has been observed, and several sex-differential genetic and hormonal factors have been suggested to contribute. However, most studies of ASD, including those involving PPA, focus on males. The present study explored putative sex differences in the effects of PPA (500mg/kg) on a rat behavioral ASD phenotype and the influence of the …


Presence And Degree Of Contrafreeloading In African Grey Parrots (Psittacus Erithacus), Gabriella E. Smith May 2020

Presence And Degree Of Contrafreeloading In African Grey Parrots (Psittacus Erithacus), Gabriella E. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined contrafreeloading—choosing a physical task to access food over free food—in two Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). Both birds contrafreeloaded for food of equal or higher value, but differed in which contrafreeloading task they preferred. Differences between the parrots are considered as individual preferences for self-reinforcing tasks.


Using Object-Choice Tasks To Investigate Sensory Perception In Sunda Pangolins (Manis Javanica), Joshua Dipaola May 2020

Using Object-Choice Tasks To Investigate Sensory Perception In Sunda Pangolins (Manis Javanica), Joshua Dipaola

Theses and Dissertations

Pangolins are one of the most heavily poached, yet least understood mammals in the world. In this study, we used an object-choice task to assess the ecological relevance and use of sensory information in Sunda pangolin foraging behavior. This is the first controlled experiment on pangolin behavior to our knowledge.


The Maze Of Personality: Latency And Electric Organ Discharge In A Mormyrid Fish, Gnathonemus Petersii Gunther 1862 (Mormyridae, Teleostei), Abbey C. Lipe May 2020

The Maze Of Personality: Latency And Electric Organ Discharge In A Mormyrid Fish, Gnathonemus Petersii Gunther 1862 (Mormyridae, Teleostei), Abbey C. Lipe

Theses and Dissertations

Personality is individual differences in behavior, consistent across contexts. Among Gnathonemus petersii we investigated, we hypothesized that fish could be grouped by: (1) slow/fast maze performance, (2) low/high electric frequencies, (3) correlated latency and frequency. Our first two hypothesis were not supported. Our third hypothesis was partially supported.


Impact Of Animal Programming On Human Attitudes Of Local Wildlife, Ashton Jerger Apr 2020

Impact Of Animal Programming On Human Attitudes Of Local Wildlife, Ashton Jerger

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Attitudes towards wildlife can have direct implications on peoples’ interest in conserving local habitats and their overall ecological choices. Attitudes are formed by multiple components of an individual’s life history. However, through interactive, educational experiences, there is a potential to change current attitudes. Animal programs are an example of interactive, educational experiences that provide individuals the opportunity to get up-close to animal ambassadors and participate in engaging conversations about them. An animal program assessment was conducted with the 2019 summer camps at the Ohio Wildlife Center to quantify the changes in peoples’ affiliation for local wildlife and their willingness to …


Teaching Safe Dog-Greeting Skills With Parents And Children, Ashley Torres Apr 2020

Teaching Safe Dog-Greeting Skills With Parents And Children, Ashley Torres

Thesis Projects

Dog-bites pose a significant problem for children’s and dogs' abilities to live an enhanced life. The majority of dog-bite incidents are to children between the ages of 5 and 9 years old and often dogs are euthanized for the crime (Wilson, Dwyer, & Bennett, 2003). There is limited research on a behavior analytic dog-bite prevention intervention that is both effective and generalizable to the natural environment. Yankelevitz et al. (2019) examined a six-step dog-greeting protocol to teach children how to greet unfamiliar dogs appropriately, but following acquisition the dog-greeting skills generalized poorly to the natural environment. The purpose of the …


Does Clicker Training Lead To Faster Acquisition Of Behavior For Dog Owners?, Brian J. Burton Jan 2020

Does Clicker Training Lead To Faster Acquisition Of Behavior For Dog Owners?, Brian J. Burton

Theses and Dissertations

Clicker training is a method of dog training that has increased in popularity over the past 20 years (Feng et al., 2017). However, while there has been an increased use of clicker training, studies examining the claims that clicker training leads to faster acquisition of new behavior (Skinner, 1951; Pryor, 1999) has only been investigated in a handful of studies with domesticated animals. In addition, all known published studies comparing a clicker-plus-food group to a food-only group have found no significant difference in acquisition of a novel behavior (Dorey & Cox, 2018; Feng et al. 2017), which suggests that a …


Spaced Training In The 5csrtt Proves Beneficial In Early Levels, Rebecca Renee Warren Jan 2020

Spaced Training In The 5csrtt Proves Beneficial In Early Levels, Rebecca Renee Warren

Senior Independent Study Theses

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattentiveness, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Due to these characterizations, children with ADHD typically exhibit lower academic performance which has been improved by spacing out academic training. Yet no study has performed spacing in an ADHD population. Spaced training involves studying over short periods for multiple days rather than multiple hours in one day, or massed training. Using a rat model of ADHD, known as the SHR strain, the present study assessed how spacing training from 90-trials a day to 45-trials a day in the 5CSRTT would improve performance abilities. Additionally, the impact of spaced …


The Midsession Reversal Task With Pigeons: Effects Of A Brief Delay Between Choice And Reinforcement, Megan Ashley Halloran Jan 2020

The Midsession Reversal Task With Pigeons: Effects Of A Brief Delay Between Choice And Reinforcement, Megan Ashley Halloran

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

During a midsession reversal task, the session begins with a simple simultaneous discrimination in which one stimulus (S1) is correct and the alternate stimulus (S2) is incorrect (S1+/S2-). At the halfway point, the discrimination reverses and S2 becomes the correct choice (S2+/S1-). When choosing optimally, a pigeon should choose S1 until the first trial in which it is not reinforced and then shift to S2 (win-stay/lose-shift). With this task pigeons have been shown to respond suboptimally by anticipating the reversal (anticipatory errors) and continuing to choose S1 after the reversal (perseverative errors). This suboptimal behavior may result from a pigeon’s …