Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xm8r8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-04T16:40:45.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effect of positive reinforcement training on physiological and behavioural stress responses in the hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

JK O'Brien ,
S Heffernan ,
PC Thomson  and
PD McGreevy
JK O'Brien*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
S Heffernan
Affiliation:
Department of Renal Medicine, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, NSW 2006, Australia
PC Thomson
Affiliation:
Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
PD McGreevy
Affiliation:
Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: justineo@vetsci.usyd.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Behavioural and salivary Cortisol responses were measured in hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) (n = 5) undergoing positive reinforcement training (PRT). Compliance was assessed by collecting behavioural data on desirable and undesirable responses during each training session (33-46 training sessions per male). Saliva was collected before implementation of the training programme (3-4 baseline samples per male) and immediately before and ten minutes after a training session (24-53 saliva samples per male). During training, the incidence of leaving the training area, vocalising and threat displays changed across time. Performance of the desired behaviour (holding a target for increasing increments of time) improved for all males during the study period. Concentrations of salivary cortisol were similar for pre-training and post-training collection times, but both were significantly lower than baseline concentrations. The overall decline in undesirable behaviours and the absence of constantly elevated salivary cortisol suggest that PRT had no adverse effects on animal welfare.

Keywords

animal welfarebehaviourcorticosteroidoperant conditioningprimatessalivary cortisol
Type
Articles
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , May 2008 , pp. 125 - 138
Copyright
© 2008 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bell, B and Khan, P 2001 Training multi-task medical behaviours in the bonobo (Pan paniscus) In: The apes, challenges for the 21st century pp 128-130. 10-13 May 2000, Brookfield Zoo, Chicago Zoological Society, Illinois, USAGoogle Scholar
Bloomsmith, MA, Laule, GE, Alford, PL and Thurston, RH 1994 Using training to moderate chimpanzee aggression during feeding. Zoo Biology 13: 557–566CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloomsmith, MA, Stone, AM and Laule, GE 1998 Positive reinforcement training to enhance the voluntary movement of group-housed chimpanzees. Zoo Biology 17: 333–3413.0.CO;2-A>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyce, WT, Champoux, M, Suomi, SJ and Gunnar, MR 1995 Salivary cortisol in nursery-reared rhesus monkeys: reactivity to peer interactions and altered circadian activity. Developmental Psychology 28: 257–267Google ScholarPubMed
Breland, K and Breland, M 1961 The misbehaviour of organisms. American Psychologist 16: 681 -684CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, CS and Loskutoff, NM 1998 A training program for noninvasive semen collection in captive western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Zoo Biology 17: 143–15 13.0.CO;2-9>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, JJ 1998 Comparative learning theory and its application in the training of horses. Equine Veterinary Journal 27: 39–43Google Scholar
Cross, N, Pines, MK and Rogers, LJ 2004 Saliva sampling to assess cortisol levels in unrestrained common marmosets and the effect of behavioral stress. American Journal of Primatology 62: 107–1 14CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Desmond, T and Laule, G 1994 Use of Positive Reinforcement Training in the Management of Species for Reproduction. Zoo Biology 13: 471–477CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Estes, R 1991 The Behaviour Guide to African Mammals: including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores and Primates. University of California Press: Berkeley, USAGoogle Scholar
Fuchs, E, Kirschbaum, C, Benisch, D and Bieser, A 1997 Salivary cortisol: a non-invasive measure of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical activity in the squirrel monkey, Saimiri sciureus. Laboratory Animal 31: 306–311CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hastie, T and Tibshirani, RJ 1990 Generalised Additive Models. Chapman & Hall: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Hemsworth, PH and Barnett, JL 2000 Human - Animal Interactions and Animal Stress. In: Moberg, GP and Mench, JA (eds) The Biology of Animal Stress - Basic Principles and Implications for Animal Welfare pp 309–335. CABI Publishing: New York, USACrossRefGoogle Scholar
Insightful Corporation 2001 5-PLUS 6 for Windows Guide to Statistics, Volume 1. Insightful Corporation: Seattle, WA, USAGoogle Scholar
Kirschbaum, C and Hellhammer, DH 1989 Salivary cortisol in psychobiological research: an overview. Neuropsychobiology 22: 150–169CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kobert, M 1998 Operant conditioning as an enrichment strategy at the San Diego Zoo. In: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Environmental Enrichment pp 230-236. 12-17 October 1997, Orlando, Florida, USAGoogle Scholar
Kuhar, CW, Bettinger, TL and Laudenslager, ML 2005 Salivary cortisol and behaviour in an all-male group of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla g. gorilla). Animal Welfare 14: 187–193Google Scholar
Kummer, H 1968 Social organisation of hamadryas baboons, a field study. Bibliotheca Primatologica 6: 1–188Google Scholar
Lambeth, SP, Hau, J, Perlman, JE, Martino, M and Schapiro, SJ 2006 Positive reinforcement training affects hematologic and serum chemistry values in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). American Journal of Primatology 68: 245–256CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laule, GE, Thurston, RH, Alford, PL and Bloomsmith, MA 1996 Training to reliably obtain blood and urine samples from a young diabetic chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Zoo Biology 15: 587–5913.0.CO;2-7>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laule, G and Desmond, T 1998 Positive reinforcement training as an enrichment strategy. In Shepardsen, DJ, Mellen, JD and Hutchins, M (eds) Second Nature: Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals pp 302–313. Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, DC, USAGoogle Scholar
Laule, GE, Bloomsmith, MA and Schapiro, SJ 2003 The use of positive reinforcement training techniques to enhance the care, management and welfare of primates in the laboratory. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 6: 163–173CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laule, G and Whittaker, M 2007 Enhancing nonhuman primate care and welfare through the use of positive reinforcement training. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 10: 31 -38CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lutz, CK, Tiefenbacher, S, Jorgensen, MJ, Meyer, JS and Novak, MA 2000 Techniques for collecting saliva from awake, unrestrained adult monkeys for cortisol assay. American Journal of Primatology 52: 93–993.0.CO;2-B>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mason, JW 1968 A review of psychoendocrine research on the pituitary-adrenal cortical system. Psychosomatic Medicine 30: 576–607CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McEwen, BS and Sapolsky, RM 1995 Stress and cognitive function. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 5: 205–216CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGreevy, P D and Boakes, RA 2007 Carrots and Sticks: Principles of Animal Training. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKGoogle Scholar
Moberg, GP 2000 Biological Response to Stress: Implications for Animal Welfare, In: Moberg GP and Mench JA (eds) The Biology of Animal Stress - Basic Principles and Implications for Animal Welfare pp 1–21. CABI Publishing: New York, USACrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morelius, E, Nelson, N and Theodorsson, E 2006 Saliva collection using cotton buds with wooden sticks: a note of caution. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation 66: 15–18CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Munck, APM, Guyre, PM and Holbrook, NJ 1984 Physiological functions of glucocorticosteroids in stress and their relation to pharmacological actions. Endocrine Reviews 5: 25–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pryor, K 1975 Lads before the wind: diary of a dolphin trainer. Harper & Row: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Rubin, L, Oppegard, C and Hintz, HF 1980 The effect of varying the temporal distribution of conditioning trials on equine learning behaviour. Journal of Animal Science 50: 1184–1187CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sapolsky, RM 1990 Adrenocortical function, social rank and personality among wild baboons. Biological Psychiatry 28: 862–878CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Savastano, G, Hanson, A and McCann, C 2003 The development of an operant conditioning training program for new world primates at the Bronx Zoo. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 6: 247–261CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schapiro, SJ, Bloomsmith, MA and Laule, GE 2003 Positive reinforcement training as a technique to alter nonhuman primate behaviour: quantitative assessments of effectiveness. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 6: 175–187CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thorndike, EL 1898 Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associative Processes in Animals (Psychological Review, Monograph Supplements, No 8). Macmillan Press: New York, USACrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vining, RF, McGinley, RA, Maksvytis, JJ and Ho, KY 1983 Salivary cortisol: a better measure of adrenal cortical function than serum cortisol. Annals Clinical Biochemistry 20: 329–335CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed