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Environmental enrichment affects the complexity and length of the dendrite arbors (upon which synapses form). Higher-order dendrite branch complexity is increased in enriched environments, [13] [15] as can the length, in young animals, of distal branches. [16] Environmental enrichment rescues harmful effects of stress on dendritic complexity. [17]
Environmental enrichment can improve the overall welfare of animals in captivity and create a habitat similar to what they would experience in their wild environment. It aims to maintain an animal's physical and psychological health by increasing the range or number of species-specific behaviors, increasing positive interaction with the captive environment, preventing or reducing the frequency ...
Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when studying animal behaviors: What are the proximate causes, ontogeny, survival value, and phylogeny of a behavior?
Most of the research on environmental enrichment has been carried out on non human animals. [2] In an experiment, four different habitats were set up to test how environmental enrichment or relative impoverishment affected rats' performance on various measures of intelligent behavior. First, rats were isolated, each to its own cage.
[3] [28] For example, a lack of hair may make rhesus macaques more vulnerable as the affected areas are more exposed to environmental factors. [ 15 ] [ 27 ] Discomfort, an indicator of well-being, has been displayed by rhesus macaque individuals experiencing hair-pulling, which is a known cause of alopecia in primates.
Cognitive ecology is the study of cognitive phenomena within social and natural contexts. [1] It is an integrative perspective drawing from aspects of ecological psychology, cognitive science, evolutionary ecology and anthropology.
Examples of studies that have explored these capacities and tendencies in primates are listed in a table within the ‘Research on Imitation and Emulation in Primates’ section below. Beyond the studies listed, in a naturalistic environment, imitative learning is seen in many animal species.
The animal is then tested by being played an intermediate stimulus C, e.g. a 15 Hz tone, and observing whether the animal presses the lever associated with the positive or negative reward, thereby indicating whether the animal is in a positive or negative mood. This might be influenced by, for example, the type of housing the animal is kept in ...