STUDY ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR BY DISTANCE LEARNING
Develop a better relationship with pets and animals
*Learn more about animal behaviour.
*Understand how to help animals in distress.
*Understand abnormal behaviour and techniques to help animals.
*Learn the correct methods to handle animals.
*A great start to a career in animal behaviour and training.
*Also a useful qualification for anyone working with animals or caring for animals.
Animals do share some behavioural characteristics with people but it can be dangerous to assume too much similarity. Animal behaviour is far less affected by choices reached through reasoning.
This course is relevant to pet owners, veterinary assistants, or people who work with animals (eg. on farms, zoos, pet shops, horse trainers, etc). In understanding animal behaviour, we extend our basis for understanding human behaviour, and as such, the course may also be valuable for anyone studying general psychology.
Duration: 100 Hours (Nominal Duration).
COURSE STRUCTURE
There are eight lessons in this course:
1. Introduction: Influences and motivation.
- Ethology
- What is behaviour Purpose of Animal behaviour
- What motivates behaviours
- Behaviour types (Reactive, Active, Cognitive)
- Learned Behaviours (Classic conditioning, Reinforcement, Extinction, Operant Conditioning, Skinners experiments
- Other influences (external stimuli, Internal stimuli, Physiological responses, Psychological responses)
- Terminology
- Observing animals
2. Genetics and Behaviour.
- Understanding basics of genetics
- Terminology (eg. alleles, allelomorphs, genes,phenotype, mitosis, homozygous, genotype, etc)
- Environmental affect
- Heritability
- Epigenisis
- Innate behaviour
- Interaction between different species
- Survival
- Case study : Inherited traits in horse behaviour
3. Animal Perception and Behaviour.
- Animal communication and perception
- How animals perceive things
- Imprinting
- Types of stimuli; Visual, Auditory, Tactile, Chemical
- Monocular and binocular vision
- Terminology
- Neural control
4. Behaviour and the Environment.
- Orthokinesis
- Klinokinesis
- Navigation
- Homeostasis
- Thermoregulation
- Motivation
- Biological Clocks
- Sun Compass
- Migration
- Tolerance
- Acclimatisation
- Hibernation
- Sexual and Reproductive behaviours
5. Social Behaviour.
- Animal Societies
- Aggression
- Fight or flight response
- Social constraints
- Sexual behaviour
- Social order
- Bonding
- Courtship
- Territorial behaviour
- Feeding
- Vocalisations
- Case Studies –birds, dogs
- Terminology
6. Instinct and Learning.
- Shaping
- Extinction and Habituation
- Instrumental Learning
- Thorndykes Law of Effect
- Operant and Respondant behaviour
- Biological aspects of learning
- Cognition
- Associative Learning
- Case studies: Early learning in dogs, Early learning in cats
- Comparative Intelligence
7. Handling Animals.
- Domestication of animals
- Problems
- Handling animals
- Psychological affects of different handling techniques
- Preventing problems with pets
- Training animals (Examples: birds, rabbits, horses, cattle etc).
- Terminology
- The student has a choice of which types of animals to focus on, though a variety will still be covered.
8. Behavioural Problems.
- Abnormal behaviour (eg. Psychotic, neurotic);
- Domestication of animals
- Diagnosing behaviour
- Psychotic disorders
- Case Study; Behavioural Problems with cats; various types of aggression and other problems.
- Training cats
- Case Study; Aggression and other problems with dogs
- Training dogs
- Case Study; Behavioural problems with pigs
- Terminology
What qualification will I achieve for completing this course?
This is an individual module course. The individual module courses are 100 hour long usually and can be taken on their own or as part of a larger program of study.
If you wish to take an individual module course as a stand alone course, you can elect to sit an optional exam at the end of it.
If you successfully pass the exam and all assignments, you will receive a Statement of Attainment. You can take examinations at a time and location to suit you. If you enrol, you will be sent further information on how to arrange examinations at the end of the course.
If you do not wish to take the exam, you will receive a Course Completion letter when you have passed all assignments.
There is an assignment at the end of each lesson. So for example, if an individual module course contains ten lessons, you will need to complete ten assignments. Assignments can be sent to us via email, post or fax.
Other qualifications, such as certificates, diplomas etc may require examinations to be taken as part of the overall assessment process.
You can find further information on the examinations process by clicking on the “Enrolment” link above.
You can find further information on other courses by clicking on the “Courses” link above.
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Aims
Identify factors affecting animal behaviour.- Describe the influence of genes on animal behaviour.
- Explain how animals perceive and how they respond to various stimuli.
- Explain the influence of environment factors, such as circadian rhythms, on biological clocks, reproductive cycles, orientation and other animal behaviours.
- Explain the social influences on animal aggression, play, sexual behaviour, communication and other behaviours.
- Describe different ways that animals learn (such as conditioning and habituation) and some effects of learning on behaviour.
- Discuss psychological implications of different handling techniques.
- Identify abnormal animal behaviour (eg. psychotic, neurotic behaviour) and ways to reduce dependence on humans.
Some Sample Course notes -
WHAT IS ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR?
Behaviour is any externally observable activity of an animal. In general, it includes:
What is the Purpose of Animal Behaviour?
It is assumed that all animal behaviour is an adaptation designed to support survival, either directly or indirectly. However, this is not always the case. Animals can behave self-destructively, out of habit, or out of boredom, just as humans can. To better understand the behaviour, we should also consider what motivates it.
What Motivates Behaviour?
Genetics is of prime importance (ie. inherited characteristics). Genetic characteristics are also sometimes referred to as “inborn”, “innate” or “instinctive”. Most animals are genetically programmed to act in certain ways in certain situations.
Experience (ie. learned characteristics). Experience may encompass terms including: “acquired”, “experiential” or “environmental”. Behaviours can be learned through the experience of interacting with the environment (which includes the people or other creatures in it), or it can be learned through personal, subjective experience (perceptions, thoughts and feelings). In the case of animals, these latter factors are usually difficult to identify.
Since genetic and environmental factors both influence behaviour, it is impossible to distinguish particular causes for a behaviour. Particularly in regard to animals, no behaviour can ever be characterised as totally instinctive or totally learned. Even though learned and genetic factors both play a role in all behaviours, the relative significance of each is variable.
Some behaviours in animals can be relatively unlearned and therefore, almost impossible to modify. In such cases, we can determine that genetics is the major influence. Other behaviours are relatively easy to modify, thus mostly learned. In such cases, we can determine that genetics has a minor influence.
More Information on ACS Distance Education and our courses
Who are our tutors?
Our tutors are all highly experienced and professional, knowledgeable in their field of study. We have staff from around the world, enabling us to gain a wide variety of perspectives. We have a school in the UK and in Australia. If you would like to have a look at our tutors, then click on the “The School” in the boxes above and choose “The Staff” option.
Sample Course Notes
Our courses are all written by highly qualified tutors and writers, who also teach on the courses, so know them well. We strive to update our courses and improve them with new information, methods and knowledge on an ongoing basis. If you would like to see examples of some of our courses, then choose the “Enrolment” option above, and then click on “Sample Course Notes”.
What learning method should I choose?
We offer three learning methods – e-learning, correspondence and online. If you are not sure which is the right choose for you, then click on the “Enrolment” box above, then “Learning Methods.”
How Long will it take to complete the course?
This obviously varies from student to student. Some students will have more time for study than others. Some students may work quicker than others, so it is an individual thing. We estimate that most students will take, for example, 4 – 6 months to complete a 100 hour individual module, but we allow up to 12 months for you to complete it.
Longer courses will obviously take longer. You can find more information on the length of time required and so on the “Enrolment” box, then selecting “Terms and Conditions of Enrolment.”
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I don’t think this is the right course for me.
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Who is ACS Distance Education?
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