Zoos, aquariums, and other captive animal facilities offer promising opportunities to advance the science and practice of behavior analysis. Zoos and aquariums are necessarily concerned with the health and well-being of their charges and are held to a high standard by their supporters (visitors, members, and donors), organized critics, and the media. Zoos and aquariums offer unique venues for teaching and research and a locus for expanding the footprint of behavior analysis. In North America, Europe, and the UK, formal agreements between zoos, aquariums, and university graduate departments have been operating successfully for decades. To expand on this model, it will be necessary to help zoo and aquarium managers throughout the world to recognize the value of behavior analysis in the delivery of essential animal health and welfare services. Academic institutions, administrators, and invested faculty should consider the utility of training students to meet the growing needs of applied behavior analysis in zoos and aquariums and other animal facilities such as primate research centers, sanctuaries, and rescue centers.Keywords Animal training . Animal welfare . Aquariums . Behavior analysis . Environmental enrichment . Zoo biology . ZoosPsychologists trained in behavior analysis have a long history of conducting basic and applied research with exotic wildlife in zoos, aquariums, and specialized marine parks. At one time, operant conditioning techniques were routinely deployed to train cetaceans (dolphins and porpoises) in studies of discrimination, sensory perception, and echolocation (Kellogg and Rice 1966;Pryor 1981;Tavolga 1966). Many studies of cetaceans and pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, walrus) have been published in psychology journals, including the
The animal welfare movement was empowered by decades of animal studies focused on the ontogeny of psychopathology in non-human primates and other species. When H.F. Harlow induced aberrant behaviors in rhesus macaques, collaborators began the search for effective behavioral and psychopharmacological interventions. Years later, working with human subjects in his clinical practice, Harlow’s first graduate student, A.H. Maslow developed a “Hierarchy of Needs” and the hypothetical construct of self-actualization. Following Harlow’s practice of using human models to design monkey studies, present day psychologists apply what is known about maladaptive behavior and the factors that facilitate positive human behavior to improve the quality of life for non-human taxa living in captive settings. We know how to prevent psychopathology in monkeys and apes but nonhuman primates are still confined in restricted, substandard facilities that introduce trauma and suffering. Felids, ursids, elephants and cetaceans have also suffered this fate. As a result, there is good reason for clinical and comparative psychologists to collaborate to ameliorate aberrant behaviors while creating conditions that enable all captive animals to thrive.
No abstract
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.