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8 pp. / Originally published: 1998 / Animal learning has been shown to play a major role in the development of diet selection by domestic herbivores. Dr. Frederick Provenza and his associates at Utah State University have conducted a series of studies over the past 30 years to learn how physiological and behavioral mechanisms govern diet selection. In this paper, we synthesize several key diet selection concepts presented in 4 articles (i.e., Provenza et al. 1992; Provenza 1995, 1996, 1997). Reviewed 12/2014; originally published 05/1998.

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Contemporary learning theories derive much of their explanatory power from the assumption that all stimuli presented vie for associative strength, the assumption of Shared Weight Space (SWS). Theories based on this assumption have proven successful in explaining many of the observed conditioning phenomena in animals. However, work with humans has proven more complex due to outside knowledge, biases, and heuristics (see, e.g., Chapman, 1991; Msetfi et al., 2005; Perales et al., 2004; Tversky & Kahneman, 1974; Viken et al., 2005; Waldmann, 2000 & 2001). The present series of experiments sought to test the assumption of SWS in a task that is less susceptible to the influence of "top-down" factors. An information processing task (i.e., the correlated flankers task) was used so that human participants were completing a central task (i.e., responding to the target) and were unaware as to the importance of the contingencies in the designs, yet were still exposed to them via the irrelevant information (i.e., flankers). Four compound conditioning phenomena were studied in order to test the assumption of SWS. Evidence for the simple predictions coming from SWS theories was mixed. However, a slightly more complex version of these theories can explain the entire pattern of data quite elegantly.

In North America, the grizzly bear (Ursus arcos) is one of many species increasingly threatened by the consequences of human-wildlife conflict, with human-bear encounters on the rise due to increased human activity near or in bear habitat. As a result, a growing number of bears are subjected to management measures such as translocations in which animals are moved to areas with lower risk of human conflict, although these measures are not always successful. Previous research has attempted to understand factors associated with translocation success, but new methods are needed to address the continuous and complex nature of issues related to how animals move and learn about their surroundings as well as how they adapt to novel environments. The objective of my MSc thesis is to develop and employ a novel agent-based computer simulation model to analyze how grizzly bears learn and respond following a translocation event. This modelling effort attempts to capture how bears make decisions based on multiple factors, and represent how grizzly bears interact with their environment and make movement decisions based on learned behaviours. First, an agent-based movement model was developed for female grizzly bears using GPS-location data for bears within a region in west-central Alberta, Canada. The model, which incorporates multi-scale decision-making and machine learning, generated movement patterns similar to those observed in radio-collared females in the study area. Home range sizes and movement metrics produced by the model were consistent with those observed in female grizzly bears in the area. The model was then used to simulate translocation events in which bears with varying “exploration” propensities were translocated to habitats with familiar or novel landscape characteristics. In general, bears translocated to habitats with similar landscape features to their original habitat were more likely to use high-quality habitat than bears moved to areas with very different landscape features. However, while increased exploration led to greater use of high-quality habitat in the long run, exploratory behaviour was found to be mostly detrimental during the first years following a translocation, the period considered critical for translocation success. Model results were found to be scale-dependent with results varying both in time and space, highlighting the need for a multi-scale approach to animal movement studies. The findings presented here also emphasize the need to account for behavioural traits of wildlife and habitat characteristics of the capture and release sites when selecting suitable translocation locations. This work highlights the potential for agent-based modelling as a tool to study animal movement as a continuous and complex process and evaluate conservation policies. / Graduate / 2021-08-24

Macacos-prego (Cebus apella) são proficientes manipuladores de objetos. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar os processos de aprendizagem individual e social que durante a aquisição de um comportamento que consistia na abertura de trincos de uma caixa-problema. Foram utilizados dois grupos de macacos, sendo que de cada grupo um indivíduo foi treinado para executar a tarefa. A análise do processo de aprendizagem individual destes dois sujeitos foi feita a partir da construção de curvas de aprendizagem que levaram em conta a interação dos animais com a caixa e com os trincos. Além disso, foi feita uma análise de seqüências comportamentais através do uso de modelos log-lineares. Posteriormente, estes sujeitos serviram de modelo para os outros indivíduos do seu grupo: o sujeito treinado executava a tarefa enquanto era assistido por um outro indivíduo do grupo. Em seguida o modelo era retirado do recinto e o observador poderia tentar executar a tarefa. Desta forma pretendia-se estudar os processos de aprendizagem por observação. Os macacos-prego devidamente treinados tornaram-se eficientes abridores de trincos, evidenciando que possuem uma grande capacidade de aprendizagem individual. Os dados sobre aprendizagem social foram inconclusivos principalmente porque os observadores não observaram adequadamente a demonstração da tarefa. / Capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) are excellent object handlers. This work aimed to study individual and social learning processes which took place during the aquisition of a task that consisted on opening bolts from a problem-box. Two groups were used and, from each group, one subject was trained to perform the task. The analysis of the individual learning process was based on the construction of learning curves with the animals\' interactions with the box and the bolts. Besides, an analysis of behavior sequences through the use of log-linears models was performed. Then, these subjects were used as models for the other subjects in their own group: the trained subject performed the task while another subject of the group watched. Afterwards, the model was put aside and the observer would be allowed to try to solve the task in order to study observational learning processes. The well trained monkeys became efficient bolt openers, showing that they have great individual learning skills. Data from social learning were inconclusive mainly because the observers didn\'t watch the demonstration of the task properly.

Macacos-prego (Cebus apella) são proficientes manipuladores de objetos. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar os processos de aprendizagem individual e social que durante a aquisição de um comportamento que consistia na abertura de trincos de uma caixa-problema. Foram utilizados dois grupos de macacos, sendo que de cada grupo um indivíduo foi treinado para executar a tarefa. A análise do processo de aprendizagem individual destes dois sujeitos foi feita a partir da construção de curvas de aprendizagem que levaram em conta a interação dos animais com a caixa e com os trincos. Além disso, foi feita uma análise de seqüências comportamentais através do uso de modelos log-lineares. Posteriormente, estes sujeitos serviram de modelo para os outros indivíduos do seu grupo: o sujeito treinado executava a tarefa enquanto era assistido por um outro indivíduo do grupo. Em seguida o modelo era retirado do recinto e o observador poderia tentar executar a tarefa. Desta forma pretendia-se estudar os processos de aprendizagem por observação. Os macacos-prego devidamente treinados tornaram-se eficientes abridores de trincos, evidenciando que possuem uma grande capacidade de aprendizagem individual. Os dados sobre aprendizagem social foram inconclusivos principalmente porque os observadores não observaram adequadamente a demonstração da tarefa. / Capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) are excellent object handlers. This work aimed to study individual and social learning processes which took place during the aquisition of a task that consisted on opening bolts from a problem-box. Two groups were used and, from each group, one subject was trained to perform the task. The analysis of the individual learning process was based on the construction of learning curves with the animals\' interactions with the box and the bolts. Besides, an analysis of behavior sequences through the use of log-linears models was performed. Then, these subjects were used as models for the other subjects in their own group: the trained subject performed the task while another subject of the group watched. Afterwards, the model was put aside and the observer would be allowed to try to solve the task in order to study observational learning processes. The well trained monkeys became efficient bolt openers, showing that they have great individual learning skills. Data from social learning were inconclusive mainly because the observers didn\'t watch the demonstration of the task properly.