The current study evaluated a progression of treatments designed to determine a least restrictive procedure to reduce vocal stereotypy. The progression of treatments consisted of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO), DRO plus response interruption and redirection (RIRD), DRO plus time-out (TO), RIRD, and TO. An effective treatment (NCR) was identified for one of three participants after completing the initial progression of treatments. An effective treatment was identified for the other two participants when NCR was further evaluated after the initial progression through the treatments. Because the current study failed to replicate several research articles demonstrating the effectiveness of RIRD, an analysis of data collected during RIRD sessions was conducted. The analysis revealed that different decisions would have been made regarding the effectiveness of RIRD if an interrupted data collection method (as frequently used in RIRD research) had been used in the current study.

Mice that are incapable of expressing the small G protein Rhes have been generated and have shown to have abnormalities in behaviors mediated by the striatum, a region in which Rhes is highly expressed. Moreover, conditions that result in dopamine supersensitivity and a breakdown in D1/D2 synergism in rodents, consistently decrease rhes mRNA in striatum. Thus, Rhes may play have relevance in dopamine signal modulation. For evaluating the role of Rhes in anxiety, stereotypy and basal motor activity, adult male and female wild-type (WT) mice, Rhes knockout (KO) mice, and mice heterozygous for the KO and WT alleles (Het) were tested. There was no genotype differences in the distance traveled in the open field. However, female KO mice showed lower anxiety than either WTs or Hets, based on the quantity of time spent in the periphery vs. the central area of the open field (p<0.05). With respect to striatally-mediated motor stereotypy, the mixed D1/D2 agonist apomorphine elicited a significant greater response in male KO and Het compared to WTs (p<0.05). In previous studies of D1/D2 synergism, it has been consistently found in rats and mice that when D2 receptors alone are stimulated, there is an early and brief, D1 independent peak in stereotypy that disappears by 20 minutes. In the present study, this effect was more intense in male KO mice compared to the other two genotypes during the interval between 5 and 10 minutes (p<0.05). The current findings favor the hypothesis that the GTP-binding protein Rhes interacts with as yet unidentified cellular proteins to buffer the transduction of synaptic dopamine signals into intracellular responses. Decreased or loss of Rhes therefore results in increased DA signal transduction.

There are strong suggestions that equine stereotypies are being connected to poor welfare and a sub-optimal management and/or stabling environment. Until today different forms of equine stereotypic behaviors have been described. Crib-biting, weaving, and box-walking are considered the most prevalent. Several studies have been conducted to establish links between the underlying causes and potential function of such behaviors. Both experimental and epidemiological studies have indicated management factors specifically feeding practices, housing conditions, and weaning method as crucial in the development of stereotypies in stabled horses. Some neurologic studies on equine stereotypy demonstrated some forms of CNS dysfunction as the causal factor for the performance of stereotypic behaviors. Different researchers hypothesized that the functional significance of stereotypies is that they reduce stress in captive environments and should thus be considered as a coping mechanism. In contrast, the owner‟s perspective is often that a stereotypic horse has a “stable-vice” that needs to be stopped and different kinds of methods have been developed to control or regulate stereotypic behaviors. However, if the stress-reducing hypothesis is correct, controlling stereotypic behaviors particularly by physical and surgical approaches without addressing the underlying causes is of great concern to the horse‟s welfare. Although there is ongoing uncertainty about the exact function, the growing knowledge about causation should be applied: under all circumstances prevention is better than cure.

The question of age and aging is currently gaining in importance. The main reasons for the aging of population are the extension of age of individuals and low birthrate. This master thesis tries to answer the question, how the younger generations see seniors and identify the main stereotypes and myths about age and aging, which are produced in contemporary society. By using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research is presented an image of senior in the eyes of youngest, middle and oldest generations. The empirical part firstly deals with the perception of seniors, depending on age and sex of respondents and secondly the perception of myths about seniors depending on the age of respondents. Statistical data from the questionnaire are supplemented with information based on interviews. The results of the thesis point out that the Czech population perceives seniors rather neutral, between generations are only small differences in the perception of seniors.

Verbal operant training is a typical intervention for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Response Interruption and Redirection (RIRD) is a highly effective intervention for problem behavior and various forms of stereotypy. In this study verbal operant training was combined with RIRD to see if there was a bigger impact in decreasing vocal stereotypy. The participant was a 9-year old male, and the intervention was done across settings. The results showed that combined with intraverbal training and RIRD, vocal stereotypy decreased significantly in all settings. The results also indicate this is a highly effective treatment for vocal stereotypy when the function is non-social automatic reinforcement (i.e. self-stimulation). Key words: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intraverbal, Response Interruption and Redirection, RIRD, Verbal Operants, Vocal Stereotypy

Student Number : 9905625D - MSc dissertation - School of Animal, Plant and Environment Science - Faculty of Science / Stereotypic behaviours are repetitive invariant behaviours that serve no obvious purpose and are common in both domestic and non-domestic captive animals. Stereotypies are regarded as indicators of poor welfare although the growing body of work pertaining to these behaviours has challenged many previously held notions of stereotypy. The most widely accepted, although frequently contested, hypothesis used to explain stereotypies is the coping hypothesis, which states that animals perform stereotypies to cope with the stress of adverse environments. The aim of my study was to investigate the fitness effects of stereotypy, and whether or not environmental enrichment protocols were effective in reducing or eliminating stereotypy in the adult striped mouse Rhabdomys pumilio. Both of these experiments were designed to evaluate the coping hypothesis. I intentionally used wild caught and F1 individuals to eliminate any potential captive selection bias that may exist in extant captive populations that could affect interpretation of fitness. For the first aim, 40 breeding pairs were assigned to one of four treatments: 1) stereotypic female and stereotypic male (S-S); 2) stereotypic female and non-stereotypic male (S-NS); 3) non-stereotypic female and stereotypic male (NS-S); and 4) non-stereotypic female and non-stereotypic male (NS-NS). Compared to non-stereotypic females, stereotypic striped mice females had better reproductive output, including larger litter size, higher growth rate, higher litter survival, shorter interlitter interval and shorter time to first litter. Reproductive success was higher in S-S and S-NS pairs, indicating that genetic and maternal effects jointly determined fitness in striped mice. Unlike other published research, maternal mass was not a predictor of fitness. For the second aim, I housed 20 non-stereotypic and 20 stereotypic striped mice (equal sex ratio) in barren cages for 60 days, and transferred them to enriched cages, and repeated this experiment with striped mice housed initially in enriched cages and transferred to barren cages. While there was a measurable reduction in stereotypy in individuals transferred from barren to enriched environment cages, no increase in stereotypy was noted in striped mice transferred from enriched to barren cages. These findings appear to concur with the coping hypothesis, that stereotypies become perseverative (e.g. bad habits) and difficult to disrupt. Non-stereotypic striped mice were not influenced by the swap. I conclude that the expression of stereotypy is a potential sign of positive welfare and that it may be worthwhile to specifically elicit stereotypic behaviours in order to improve the welfare, and in certain cases, breeding success, of captive animals. Moreover, I maintain that where necessary, effort should be applied to combating stereotypies before they arise, rather than attempting to eliminate them once they have actually developed.

Stereotypy is one of the defining characteristics of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and can significantly interfere with an individual's development and acquisition of knowledge and skills as well as distract from and disrupt educational environments. Numerous behavioral interventions have been implemented by researchers in an attempt to reduce or eliminate such behaviors, including antecedent aerobic exercise. Research studies conducted on using antecedent aerobic exercise as an effective intervention to decrease stereotypy have been spread out over several years, and many of the studies are methodologically weak according to today's standards and guidelines for evidence-based practices. This study was conducted to replicate and extend previous research by examining the effect of aerobic exercise in the form of vigorous jogging for 10 consecutive minutes on the percentage of time two elementary-school-aged children with autism engaged in stereotypic behaviors during instructional activities in the morning (immediately following the aerobic exercise), with a secondary analysis evaluating potential residual effects later in the school day. A six-phase reversal (ABABAB) design was used to determine the presence of a functional relation between jogging and stereotypy. Upon visual analysis of graphed data, functional relations were apparent for both participants. Allison spent 12% less time engaging in stereotypic behavior immediately following the jogging sessions as compared to baseline, and Boyd’s stereotypic behavior decreased by 10.7% overall. There was no significant carryover effect to the instructional sessions two hours after the intervention. Measures of social validity confirmed that the intervention was easy to implement and perceived as beneficial. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

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Teoretická část práce vystihuje problematiku genderu a vzdělávání se. V praktické části byla analyzována internetová seznamovací databáze ve struktuře: pohlaví, věk, deklarovaný zájem o CV a veškeré další deklarované zájmy. Pro zpracování dat byla použita metoda faktorové analýzy.

This diploma thesis is focused on the adaption of Slovak students Mendel University on Czech culture. The work is divided into two parts. The theoretical part provides literature and internet sources. The main focus is on intercultural differences between Czechs and Slovaks, the adaptation process and prejudices and stereotypes. In the empirical part there are summarised the results obtained by questionnaire survey and their interpretation.