The Effect of Differential Post-Weaning Environment on the Rigidity of an Animal's Behavior

Luchins, Abraham S.; Forgus, Ronald H.

doi:10.1080/00221325.1955.10532895

Cited by 40 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…The results of Experiment IV clearly demonstrate that when novel stimuli are placed in an otherwise familiar area between goal boxes within which subjects have learned to receive a food reward, enriched rats make more nonrewarded sectionsquare entries than restricted animals. These results are not without precedent in that numerous studies have indicated that enriched rats are far more exploratory, seeking greater variability, novelty, and unfamiliar stimuli, than restricted animals (Forgus, 1954;Joseph, 1979;Lore & Levowitz, 1966;Luchins & Forgus, 1955;Turpin, 1977). Hence, the supposition that restricted rats do poorly on maze learning tasks due to excessive exploration is disproven.…”

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confidence: 92%

“…Rather, these tendencies to become highly aroused and overresponsive when presented with novel stimuli (Joseph & Casagrande, 1978,1980Konrad & Bagshaw, 1970;Konrad & Melzack, 1975;Melzack & Burns, 1965) appear not to be a product of a heightened investigatory response, but to result from a pronounced difficulty in inhibiting spontaneous movement and behavior as well as differences in rate of habituation (Einon & Morgan, 1976,1977Joseph, 1979;Konrad & Bagshaw, 1970). In fact, when tested in situations that allow for the differentiation of selectively directed exploratory responses versus generalized random activity, enriched animals appear to be significantly more exploratory than rats reared in a restricted environment (Forgus, 1954;Joseph, 1979;Lore & Levowitz, 1966;Luchins & Forgus, 1955;Turpin, 1977).…”

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Gender and early environmental influences on activity, overresponsiveness, and exploration

Joseph

Gallagher

1980

Developmental Psychobiology

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One hundred eighty-five rats reared in either an enriched or restricted environment were tested during adulthood to determine the influence of gender and rearing environment on 3 related response characteristics, activity, overresponsiveness, and exploratory behavior. Eight experiments were performed. It was found that although females are more active than males, rearing environment does not influence behavior in the running wheel or open field. When tested in a complex compartmentalized open field, females in general and restricted rats are significantly more active than enriched males. In addition, over subsequent testing, restricted animals are increasingly responsive and fail to habituate to the testing stimuli. When tested and retested for maze learning ability, males excel over females; enriched rats maintain their ability to outperform restricted rats, although both groups had previously learned the problem. Moreover, enriched rats demonstrate a greater tendency to explore and make irrelevant section entries on a maze that is problem free. Restricted rats, specifically, and females generally, have difficulty suppressing a learned repetitious pattern of rewarded responding when it is subsequently punished; restricted rats were deficient in the ability to passively avoid or escape noxious stimuli. These experiments, as well as supporting evidence in the literature, indicate that rats reared in a restricted environment develop a limited behavioral repertoire which is characterized by a generalized tendency to overrespond, a propensity towards perseverating in repetitious patterns of limited and circumscribed responding, and a failure to habituate to repeated contact with novel stimuli.

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Gender and early environmental influences on activity, overresponsiveness, and exploration

Joseph

Gallagher

1980

Developmental Psychobiology

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“…Experiential factors that increase the tendency to get locked into an unvarying behaviour pattern include physically and socially impoverished rearing conditions (Luchins and Forgus 1955;Morgan 1973;reviewed by Fagen 1982;Jones et al 1989). Even within a social group, the flexibility of behaviour may be influenced by differential experience.…”

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confidence: 99%

Stereotypies and suffering

Mason

1991

Behavioural Processes

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Stereotypies often develop in environments that independent evidence shows cause poor welfare. Thus the development of stereotypies indicates that well-being has probably been poor, with the animal motivated to show a behaviour pattern that it could not perform normally or to completion. The continued performance of stereotypies may also indicate current suffering. However, an individual or population's degree of stereotypy does not necessarily correspond to the degree to which its well-being or welfare is impaired. This would require individual differences in stereotypy level to be the product of motivational differences and nothing else. In fact, they are also likely to be influenced by an animal's tendency to respond to the eliciting aspects of its environment with active behaviour rather than in a more inactive way. Stereotypy levels are also likely to be influenced by the general propensity of the individual to develop inflexible behavioural routines. Furthermore, as a stereotypy develops and becomes more habit-like it may be performed in circumstances where well-being is not at stake. Thus when comparing animals, lower levels of stereotypy do not necessarily reflect better well-being. General rules about the levels of stereotypy that are deemed "acceptable" from a welfare point of view are of limited use in reducing animal suffering unless they take take these factors into account. There is a great need for more research into the developmental processes responsible for stereotypies.

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“…Rats raised in social isolation differ behaviorally in many respects from rats raised together in small groups: isolated rats are slow to emerge from a small enclosure (Gill, Reid, & Porter, 1966), are generally more active in novel environments (Syme, 1973), contact more objects in an open field (Lore & Levowitz, 1966), and have been shown to be more rigid in their behavior (Luchins & Forgus, 1955). Although we have little information about the development of these behaviors in the isolated rat, we might consider 2 hypotheses: (1) The isolation syndrome reflects a lack of maturity in the isolated rat, i.e., that socially isolated rats behave like infant rats.…”

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“…On the other hand, behaviors have been observed in socially isolated rats such as rigidity (Luchins & Forgus, 1955), stereotyped paw movements (Baenninger, 1967), locomotor hyperactivity (Syme, 1973), and slow emergence from small enclosures (Gill et al, (1966) which are not known to be characteristic ofinfancy, and are thus unlikely to be the result of a freezing of development. Similar abnormalities in behavior have been observed following certain brain lesions: lesions of the dorsal hippocampus and of the frontal cortex increase locomotor activity (Campbell, Ballantine, & Lynch, 197 1;Zubek & de Lorenzo, 1952); cortical lesions increase the frequency of rigid behavior (Lashley, 1935).…”

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The development of intersession habituation and emergence in socially reared and isolated rats

Einon

Morgan

Sahakian

1975

Developmental Psychobiology

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Male and female hooded rats were weaned at 17 days and then reared in isolation or in social groups. Intersession habituation of locomotor activity in the open field was tested at 15, 25, and 45 days. Contrary to some previous reports, the 15-day-old animals showed significant habituation. At 45 days, however, the isolates showed very little habituation compared to the social animals. The isolates showed a similar pattern of development in their emergence into the open field. Apparently, isolation does not result in an arresting of development, but rather in the formation of behavior patterns otherwise absent in normally reared rats.

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The Effect of Differential Post-Weaning Environment on the Rigidity of an Animal's Behavior

Cited by 40 publications

References 3 publications

Gender and early environmental influences on activity, overresponsiveness, and exploration

Gender and early environmental influences on activity, overresponsiveness, and exploration

Stereotypies and suffering

The development of intersession habituation and emergence in socially reared and isolated rats

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