Animal Behavior

More than a million different kinds of animals inhabit the earth. The exact number is not known, for new kinds are continually being discovered. They live in the seas, from the surfaces down to the black depths where no ray of sunlight penetrates. Animals can be domesticated or left in the wild where they truly belong. However, as time passed by, nowadays, animals are endlessly being exploited and fought for around the globe. Different opinions from different countries and races have divided to defend to defend their views and make a stand. This issue about the animals’ welfare should be taken more seriously until we find the right answers.

There are three different theories that are used when talking about how we react to stress through the physiological aspect or the psychological aspect. The first is part of the physiological aspect of stress called the Cannon Fight or Flight theory which was proposed in 1914. Fight or Flight response is a physiological stress response that evolved to help organisms to survive immediate danger. The theory states that when an organism, human being or animal, faces imminent danger (acute stressor) the body arouses quickly and is ready to act via two different systems. They are the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine system. The sympathetic nervous system stimulates the adrenal medulla which is part of the endocrine system and is the region that produces the hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline. These hormones increase heart rate, blood flow, and glucose levels to prepare the body for an emergency. This response from the body suggests that the body knows how to protect itself and reach homeostasis. These two systems work together to either fight against the danger or flight away from the danger. Lord, King and Pfister in 1976 studied the Fight or Flight response in animals through a very unethical study. They administered chemicals on male hooded Wistar rats which inhibited the neurotransmitters from functioning normally. This made it very difficult for the rats to escape an electric shock. The results of the study suggest that the Flight or Fight response

Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers is a book about the physiology of stress. It gets into great detail about what exactly is going on inside the body during periods of high stress, and also what short and long term affects are caused by that stress. The first chapter give a brief description of each chapter in the rest of the book. Each subsequent chapter explains different stressors, levels of stress, and hormonal responses to stress. Many of the chapters also include research and discoveries on how stress affects the human body, many of which are somewhat recent discoveries, only occurring in the last one hundred years or so. Robert Sapolsky is able to explain to his readers much about the physiology of stress and how endocrinology plays the most

When it comes to animals, everyone seems to have an opinion. Some love them, some hate them. Some believe that animals feel and experience authentic emotions, while others believe that they do not have the capability to do so. A lack of belief in the existence of emotions in animals is often used to justify wrongful treatment. Are some animals more aware of feelings than others? These questions and more demand answers. Animals definitely have emotions, and because of this we must rethink many of our modern practices.

The use of animals in psychology research has been a subject of debate since we started understanding animals better and knowing they feel too. I´m going to look at the pros and cons, the ethics involved, and the actual usefulness of the research. After this I will make a conclusion based on the research I’ve made.

Animals and Humans have a biological stress response intended to facilitate survival in the case of a life threatening attack or severe illness. This is commonly referred to the “fight or flight” response. Some primates, including humans have developed the unhealthy propensity to trigger this response for psychological or social reasons. Humans in particular experience the stress response exponentially more often for psychological reasons than for the purpose of survival (Stress, 2008). For example, we are may feel “stressed out” about work or school and if we think about it too much and get upset, we may experience a stress response Just by thinking about something that is bothering us, we can trigger the biological “fight or flight”

Animals behave in response to their environments just like humans. Behavior can be simply broken down into emotions, thoughts, and psychological responses. These fall under three categories: reflexes, instincts and learned behaviors, which all have a role in helping us to survive in this world. A reflex is an involuntary reaction to stimuli. Our reflexes are controlled by our nervous system. When we go to the doctor for a checkup and the doctor uses an object similar to a hammer and taps its on your knee, he is checking your reflexes. Reflexes are usually fast responses to something such as resting your hand on a hot stove and then lifting it quickly because you did not realize it was on. Instincts are natural behavioral patterns prompted by

“Beasts under the Big Top” by Sena Christian and “When Animals Mourn” by Barbara J. King both relate to the idea of animal behavior and the different ways it can be affected. Christian explains the effects on behavior caused by an animals surroundings and treatment by humans. In contrast, King specifically focuses on the impact death has on an animals behavior, whether it be a passing in the community or of a close family member. Although both authors write about changes in animal mannerisms, they each take distinct approaches on discussing the topic.

Understanding the nature of animals is essential for understanding the depth of their loyalty and their eagerness to give it. The concept of loyalty in animals, particularly in relation to the loyalty shown by humans, arises several times

The play observation that I have decided to focus on was animal play. When I observed play on animals I noticed similarities in both play in animals and humans. I recently observed dogs that were running around at a dog park in the city of Manhattan Beach at Live oak Park, which is primarily a Caucasian community as I begin to observe, I noticed that there were about ten dogs of all shapes and sizes. Some of the dogs I happened to see where primarily three different breeds an American Pit Bull, Siberian husky, and a German Sheppard.

Over the centuries, animals have suffered from cruelty from humans. In the United States, animals are beaten, neglected, or forced to struggle for survival. Animals have been inflicted with pain from humans for reasons other than self-defense. They have been slaughtered for their food and fur for personal gain in profit. In a majority of cases they have even been abused for someone’s own personal amusement or out of rage filled impulses. In some cases animals are found and rescued. They are given the second chance in life to experience what life should be like compared to what they once had.

Monkeyluv: and other short essays on our lives as animals is written by Robert Sapolsky, one of the world’s leading neuroscientists. For over 30 years, Sapolsky has divided his time between laboratory and fieldwork with baboons in a national park in East Africa. This work focuses on how stress can damage the nervous system, neuron deterioration, as well as on the possibilities of gene therapy strategies for protecting susceptible neurons from disease. Sapolsky is also currently a Professor at Stanford University, working in several different departments, including Biological Sciences, Neurology & Neurological Sciences, and Neurosurgery. He has a B.A. in biological anthropology from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Neuroendocrinology from Rockefeller University.

animal behaviour when it supports his arguments. However, it is in fact difficult to judge the causes for animal distress based on their reaction (i.e. writhing, facial contortions, moaning, and yelping) as these reactions may not be based on a cognitive awareness but on a self‐preservation instinct. Singer and we can only hypothesize what an animal might be feeling, not make categorical arguments as Singer has done.

The stress of handling, confinement and isolation alters the animal's mental stability and introduces yet another experimental variable that makes any results from testing even less valuable to human helping. In many cases, drugs and other substances are given to the test animals but studies have shown considerable differences in the effects of these drugs on different species.

Psychological and physical well-being and the overall quality of life are under a constant threat of stress and thus, psychological and medical sciences have long been concerned with studying stress response. Cox (1979) claimed that because of the poor understanding and defining it, the concept of stress tends to be rather elusive. The term, “stress”, commonly describes any physchological or physical alteration that deranges the organism’s homeostasis (or balance). This essay reviews some of the biological factors involved in stress and it has been organized in the following way. The paper begins by briefly introducing the concept of stress. It will then go on to discus and describe the automatic response (fight or flight reaction),