pamela joyce shapiro wrote:
>
> We've just adopted a 5 month old smooth collie puppy.... Big problem is
> getting the dog to climb steps so that we
> can work our normal routine while keeping the dog with us. Clearly Trent
> wanted to join us upstairs but had no clue how to maneuver. Today he
> seemed interested in my chicken dinner, so I put a tiny bit on a step
> beyond his ground floor reach. Previously he was struggling with paw
> position, looking side to side, looking back, shaking and whimpering, but
> when he saw/smelled that piece of chicken he quickly, almost effortlessly
> climbed six steps to get it....
> Do animals have behaviors that function
> as coordinated units, sort of procedural repertoires that work best
> as automatic responses, but suffer from "conscious" effort?
>
>
Pamela,
Yes, they do. Locomotion is one of the "procedural repertoires that work best
as automatic responses, but suffer from 'conscious' effort." This is because
these actions are controlled by the spinal cord. In fact, speaking of
chicken, perhaps the best example of this comes from chickens. Quoting from
Kalat (1996):
"Have you ever heard the expression 'running around like a chicken with its
head cut off'? A rather gruesome image, but a chicken with its head cut off
_can_ run around...for a little while. Naturally, it does not run toward
anything or away from anything; it just runs. Nevertheless, it maintains
its balance even while running on bumpy ground or up or down a slope.
In short, the spinal cord can control walking and running." (p. 285)
In fact, the spinal cord controls locomotion even in intact animals: "The
cerebral cortex does not direct the individual muscle contractions necessary
for such movements; it merely turns on the appropriate motor programs"
(p. 285).
Thus, I would surmise that, when your dog became intensely interested in
the chicken, the cortex simply "turn[ed] on the appropriate motor program"
and he walked up the stairs.
Does this sound correct? I'm sure there must be a more complete answer that is
much more complex than this.
Jeff
--
Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (602) 423-6213
9000 E. Chaparral Rd. FAX Number: (602) 423-6298
Psychology Department [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, AZ 85250
"For every problem, there is a solution that is neat, simple, and
wrong." H. L. Mencken
