Development Of Abnormal Behavior Research Articles

The effect of ad libitum feeding of a high fibre diet on the reproductive performance of gilts

Ad libitum feeding of a high fibre diet may be instrumental in reducing the development of abnormal behaviours in group housed sows (Brouns et al.1994). However, although there may be welfare benefits associated with feeding sows in this way, such a feeding practice is unlikely to be adopted unless it is commercially viable. This study compared the reproductive performance of gilts fed a high fibre diet ad libitum throughout gestation, with gilts fed a commercial diet on a restricted level.

High-fibre diets for sows: effects on stereotypies and adjunctive drinking

The effects of feeding bulky high-fibre regimens to pregnant gilts and sows on persistent hunger and the development of abnormal behaviours were studied. Ninety-one gilts were mated at their second or third oestrus and were fed during two gestations a diet containing either a low level of fibre (corn and soybean meal (1)), a high level of fibre (wheat bran and corn cobs (2)), or a very high level of fibre (oat hulls and oat (3)). The total daily intake of major nutrients was calculated to be the same in the three regimens. Daily allowances in the first and second parities were, respectively, 2.0 kg and 2.2 kg in Diet 1; 2.9 kg and 3.2 kg in Diet 2; 3.4 kg and 3.7 kg in Diet 3. The animals were videorecorded for 30 s every 10 min over a 24-h period at Weeks 5, 10 and 15 of gestation and during 1.5 h before and after mealtime at 108 days of gestation during the two parities. During both parities, bulky regimens reduced stereotypies over 24 h ( P<0.0007), Regimen 2 being more effective than 3 in the first parity. Around mealtime, Regimens 2 and 3 had no effect on the duration of stereotypies in Parity 1, whereas in Parity 2, both bulky diets reduced ( P<0.003) stereotyped behaviours before and after feed distribution. Sows fed Diet 3 had less postural changes around mealtime than sows fed Diets 1 or 2. The number of high stereotyping sows increased with parity in Regimen 1 ( P=0.007), but not in 2 and 3. Bulky feed also reduced the time spent drinking ( P<0.02) and water intake ( P<0.0004) over 24 h during both parities. Finally, sows fed Diet 2 were resting, on average, for 76.4% of observation time, as compared with 69.7% for 3 and 66.5% for 1 ( P<0.005). These results indicate that bulky feed may have beneficial effects on the welfare of sows.

Characterisation of Behavioural Types in Pigs: The Relationship Between Feeding Behaviour and Social Rank

In intensive farming, it is Important to remember that each individual animal has its own needs (Hughes and Duncan, 1988). In pigs, close confinement and food restriction can result in the development of abnormal behaviour. Terlouw et al. (1990) suggest that an individual's temperament may influence the development of such behaviour and therefore how a pig copes with environmental stress. Individual differences in behaviour are consistent and measurable (e.g. Lyons et al.. 1988). By determining an animal's temperament using a characteristic profile, it may it may be possible to predict the response of a temperament “type” to certain conditions.This study is part of a larger project concerned with the effects of housing and feed level on the development of behaviours in group-housed gilts. All the pigs entered a series of tests to measure individual characteristics prior to the main experiment. Two of the tests, one measuring feeding motivation and the other social behaviour, are compared here.

Basic Concepts of CNS Development

Some basic principles of the development of the central nervous system (CNS) are reviewed and their implications for both normal and abnormal behavioral development are discussed. The goals of this review are: to provide a set of concepts to aid in the understanding of the variety of complex processes occurring during CNS development, to illustrate how these concepts contribute to our knowledge of the normal anatomy of the adult brain, and to delineate how modifications of normal developmental processes by traumatic injury, by environmental or experiential influences, or by genetic variations may lead to modifications in the resultant structure and function of the adult CNS.

A comparison of development and deprivation in non-human primates and man

Comparisons are made between the normal behavioral development and the effects of social deprivation in rhesus monkeys, chimpanzees and man. In this sequential order of species, development is slower, mother-infant stimulations are richer and the capacities to be developed are more sophisticated. It seems likely that in the course of human evolution, social play with peers is delayed in favor of longer mother-infant interactions of increasing quality. This view is consistent with a number of indications that the vulnerability for effects of mild social deprivation is greater in man than in monkeys; especially the social play with peers seems to drop out easier in humans than in monkeys. However, studies of the development of abnormal behavior in non-human primates were insufficiently matched with the known behavioral deviations in human children. More knowledge is required of the process of behavior development under circumstances relevant to humans and of the causes of individual differences.

Artificial nursing of new-born cynomolgus monkeys as a model of the human infant and development of abnormal behavior (author's transl)

New-born cynomolgus monkeys were sucessfully reared by artificial nursing that was started just afterbirth with a 12% solution of a commercially prepared powdered-milk (Yukijirushi, P 7a) containing 13.3g of protein per 100g. Marked growth-retardation was observed in baby cynomolgus monkeys fed on a 12% solution of the modified P 7a milk containing only 6.6g of protein per 100g to which lactose was supplemented to give a baby monkey the same caloric value as that of the original P 7a milk. These artificially reared cynomolgus monkeys manifested various kinds of abnormal behavior such as self-clasping, autism-like self mouthing, huddling, stereotype rocking, head-knocking, autoerotism, fear, aggression, etc.. Generally, development of these abnormal behaviors was more noticeable in the monkeys nursed with a milk bottle fixed to the side of a cage without human contact than in the monkeys nursed by a care-taker with bodily touching. These qualitative observational results indicate that the new-born cynomolgus monkey can be used as a model of the human baby for research into the relationship between malnutrition and abnormal physical and mental growth.

Introduction to Perspectives in the Development of Abnormal Behavior

Introduction to Perspectives in the Development of Abnormal Behavior

Development of infant social isolate monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in their isolation environments

This study was designed to more clearly define thetreatment of early social isolation. Four newborn infant rhesus monkeys, (Macaca mulatta) were raised in social isolation and their behavioral developmentduring their sojourn in isolation was compared to the behavioral development of four controls which were reared by mothers. The controls were matched with the isolates for age and sex and both groups were studied for 30 weeks. The following conclusions resulted from this study: 1. Infant rhesus monkeys raised in laboratory cages do not display facial expressions very frequently, whether they are isolate-reared or alone with a mother. A search of the literature indicated that facial expressions do not occur frequently early in life even when peers are provided. 2. Isolates spent more time looking at human observers, at the nonsocial environment, and at themselves than did controls while controls looked a their mothers or slept. 3. Isolates showed more walking and more manual exploration of the cage and of themselves than did controls but controls did more cage climbing and jumping, and the latter was often oriented toward the mother. The isolates moved more slowly and awkwardly than did the controls. 4. Isolates did not make as extensive use of towels in their cages as we had expected. Controls were in contact with their mothers much more frequently than isolates were in contact with their towels. 5. Abnormal movements such as rocking, self-grasping, and autoeroticism, appeared in the isolates before the end of thefirst month. Thus, the first month of life is evidently extremely crucial for the development of abnormal behavior. Though many abnormal movements first appear during the first month, each individual isolate apparently does not settle down to his own favorite type of weirdness until well after seven months of age.

A History of the Care and Study of the Mentally Retarded

The rapid growth over the last decade of interest, service, and knowledge in the area of mental subnormality has created a real need for historical perspectives upon which to base current and future work and planning. The appearance at this time of a history of the subject by so eminent a student of abnormal behavioral development as Dr. Kanner is a noteworthy occurrence. Within the compass of the small volume, the author deals with a wide range of issues including the development of humanitarian concern for the mentally subnormal, the emergence of institutional care in Europe and America, the origins of differential diagnosis and nosology, the rise of the eugenics movement, the development of evaluative techniques, the evolution of treatment, educational and training services, the growth of organizations and periodicals concerned with mental subnormality, and the new opportunities for prevention, treatment, and research which derive from recent genetic and metabolic studies.

Endocrine changes due to auditory stress.

For more than thirty years investigators in both animal behaviour and experimental psychiatry have sought to develop experimental model situations in which to produce abnormal behaviour in animals. These investigations have in large part been concerned with the design of specific circumstances which could reliably produce standard patterns of abnormal behaviour. Despite the expansiveness of the behavioural findings and the excellence of these investigations as situational explorations into the development of abnormal behaviour, there has been a great lag in the study of the physiologic changes which accompany the disturbed behaviour state. The present investigation is an attempt to repair this investigatory gap and to study the alterations in endocrinologic functions which accompany the subjection of laboratory animals to a standard type situation in which abnormal behaviour has been studied. It is hoped that this will make it possible to better understand some of the physiologic mechanisms which may underlie the disturbed behavioural state. The specific situation selected for study is the auditory stress design that has been utilized by Morgan & Morgan (1939), Finger (1942) and others for the production of seizure patterns in rats. This procedure has been selected from among numerous alternative methods that have been utilized in the production of abnormal behaviour because of its relative simplicity of application and the high level of reliability of its effect. We recognize that there is considerable debate as to whether it is the auditory stimulus itself that is producing the abnormal behaviour or whether as Maier (1939) has maintained, the auditory stimulus represents but one part of a conflict situation that is in its totality the basis for the development of the abnormal behaviour pattern. The conflict hypothesis is an attractive one and since Pavlov (1927), it has been the dominant paradigm that has been utilized in the explanation of the development of abnormal behaviour patterns. The present level of evidence is as yet insufficient to determine whether the auditory stimulation in and of itself is the effective agent in the production of the abnormal behaviour or whether it is only one important portion of a conflict complex. However, the present study does not depend for its validity upon either of these interpretations as to the production of the abnormal effect. Rather, it views the auditory stimulus as a generalized stress imposed upon the experimental animal, which has as one of its consequences under given conditions the production of a standardized pattern of abnormal response. The prime concern of the present investigation is with the production or rather with the application of a standardized stimulus situation that is a reliable producer of disturbed behaviour. The auditory stimulus is such a situation and can therefore be utilized as a standard stress.

A Developmental Questionnaire for Infants Forty Weeks of Age: An Evaluation

This monograph is a detailed evaluation of a developmental questionnaire intended for use as a screening device to recognize abnormal behavioral development in infancy. It was one part of a long-term multiphasic study of premature infants, being conducted at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, under the direction of Dr. Paul Harper. The questionnaire used was based on Gesell's Developmental schedules and his thesis that functional tests of behavior can define central nervous system maturity and integrity.