Dear all, for a class exercise I had asked students to seek examples of how animals can be trained with the use of operant conditioning principles to carry out some type of task for the benefit of humanity and a student came up with the example detailed below. For those of you teaching Learning, the example below might be useful to teach students about the differences between reinforcement, punishment, avoidance learning, etc.
------------- TRAINING DEER TO AVOID SITES THROUGH NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT Abstract: Deer frequently visit areas where they may cause damage. Incidents along roadways and runways inflict numerous injuries to animals and humans, and cause considerable economic losses. Concerns are increasing that deer interactions with domestic animals may contribute to spread of disease. Deer foraging in residential areas, agricultural fields, or plant propagation sites can impede growth and possibly survival of desirable plants. We conducted a series of trials to determine whether mild electric shock would induce place avoidance in deer. Shock was delivered through a device attached to a collar. A noise cue was emitted as an animal approached a defined area if the animal failed to retreat a shock followed. Deer learned to avoid areas associated with shock. We concluded that place avoidance induced through negative reinforcement may be a feasible means to protect valuable resources from resident animals. However, the technological limitations of tested devices, costs to implement, and required training for individual deer reduced the practicality of this approach for highly mobile animals and as a means to protect resources with low economic significance For the entire report: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1258&context=icwdm_usdanwrc Miguel --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=34542 or send a blank email to leave-34542-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
