Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-05T16:11:49.030Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Using multiple joystick systems in computerised enrichment for captive orangutans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

S Mallavarapu ,
MA Bloomsmith ,
CW Kuhar  and
TL Maple
S Mallavarapu*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, USA
MA Bloomsmith
Affiliation:
Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
CW Kuhar
Affiliation:
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
TL Maple
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

It has been suggested that providing multiple computers with automatic reward dispensers as enrichment to captive orangutans (Pongo spp) (as opposed to a single computer, with a care-staff person delivering reinforcers) might help improve behavioural outcomes. The purpose of the current study was to test this hypothesis by providing two computers with automatic reward dispensers to eight orangutans housed in four male-female pairs at Zoo Atlanta, USA. Subjects were observed for ten days during each of three phases: a baseline phase (during which, no computer was provided); immediately followed by Phase 1 (during which, one computer system was provided to each pair of subjects); immediately followed by Phase 2 (during which, two computer systems were provided to each pair). Data were collected in 1-h sessions using instantaneous scan sampling. There was no habituation to the computer system, nor were there any significant increases in aggression, rough scratching, and abnormal behaviours in either computer phase, which indicates that computer-joystick systems are effective as enrichment for captive orangutans. However, a high level of interest in the computer was shown by only a few individuals, which highlights a need to take into consideration individual differences when providing computerised enrichment to captive non-human primates. It would also be advisable to provide other forms of enrichment to increase activity levels for individuals which are not interested in interacting with a computer, as well as to help increase the diversity of behaviours being stimulated by the enrichment.

Keywords

animal welfareautomated feedercomputersenrichmentjoystickorangutans
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , August 2013 , pp. 401 - 409
Copyright
© 2013 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altmann, J 1974 Observational study of behaviour: sampling methods. Behaviour 49: 227–267. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853974X00534CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aureli, F and de Waal, FBM 1997 Inhibition of social behavior in chimpanzees under high-density conditions. American Journal of Primatology 41: 213–228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/(SICI) 1098-2345(1997)41:3<213::AID-AJP4>3.0.CO;2-#3.0.CO;2-#>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aureli, F and Schaffner, CM 2002 Relationship assessment through emotional mediation. Behaviour 139: 393–420. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853902760102726Google Scholar
Baker, KC and Aureli, F 1997 Behvioural indicators of anxiety: an empirical test in chimpanzees. Behaviour 134: 1031–1050. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853997X00386CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloomsmith, MA, Ross, SK and Baker, KC 2000 Control over computer-assisted enrichment for socially housed chimpanzees. American Journal of Primatology 51(S1): 45 (Abstract)Google Scholar
Elder, CM and Menzel, CR 2001 Dissociation of cortisol and behavioural indicators of stress in an orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) during a computerized task. Primates 42: 345–357. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02629625CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heintz, MR and Parr, LA 2008 The relationship between cortisol and behavioral indicators of stress during cognitive computerized testing in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). American Journal of Primatology 70(S1): 55 (Abstract)Google Scholar
Honess, E and Marin, CM 2006 Enrichment and aggression in primates. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 30: 413–436. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2005.05.002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leavens, DA, Aureli, F, Hopkins, WD and Hyatt, CW 2001 Effects of cognitive challenge on self-directed behaviors by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). American Journal of Primatology 55: 1–14CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lincoln, H, Andrews, MW and Rosenblum, LA 1994 Environmental structure influences use of multiple video-task devices by socially housed pigtail macaques. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 41: 135–143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0168-1591(94)90058-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lutz, CK and Novak, MA 2005 Environmental enrichment for nonhuman primates: theory and application. ILAR Journal 46: 178–191. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ilar.46.2.178CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maestripieri, D, Schino, G, Aureli, F and Troisi, A 1992 A modest proposal: displacement activities as an indicator of emotions in primates. Animal Behaviour 44: 967–979. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(05)80592-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perdue, BM, Clay, AW, Gaalema, DE, Maple, TL and Stoinski, TS 2011 Technology at the zoo: the influence of a touchscreen computer on orangutans and zoo visitors. Zoo Biology 30: 1–13Google Scholar
Platt, DM and Novak, MA 1997 Videostimulation as enrichment for captive rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 52: 139–155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(96)01093-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, SK, Bloomsmith, MA, Baker, KC and Hopkins, WD 2000 Initiating a computer-assisted enrichment system for captive chimpanzees. American Journal of Primatology 51(S1): 86 (Abstract)Google Scholar
Rumbaugh, DM, Richardson, WK, Washburn, DA, Savage-Rumbaugh, ES and Hopkins, WD 1989 Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), video tasks, and implications for stimulus-response spatial contiguity. Journal of Comparative Psychology 103: 32–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.103.1.32CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shepherdson, DJ 1998 Tracing the path of environmental enrichment in zoos. In: Shepherdson, DJ, Mellen, JD and Hutchins, M (eds) Second Nature: Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals pp 1–12. Smithsonian Press: Washington, DC, USAGoogle Scholar
Tarou, LR, Kuhar, CW, Adcock, D, Bloomsmith, MA and Maple, TL 2004 Computer-assisted enrichment for zoo-housed orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). Animal Welfare 13: 445–453Google Scholar
te Boekhorst, IJA, de Weerth, C and van Hooff, JARAM 1991 Does scratching signal stress in chimpanzees? In: te Boekhorst, IJA (ed) Social structure of Three Great Ape Species pp 159–175. University of Utrecht Press: Utrecht, The NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Washburn, DA, Harper, S and Rumbaugh, DM 1994 Computer-task testing of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in the social milieu. Primates 35(3): 343–351. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02382730CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Washburn, DA, Hopkins, WD and Rumbaugh, DM 1989a Automation of learning-set testing: the video-task paradigm. Behavioural Research Methods, Instruments and Computers 21(2): 281–284. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/BF03205596CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Washburn, DA, Hopkins, WD and Rumbaugh, DM 1989b Video-task assessment of learning and memory in macaques (Macaca mulatta): effects of stimulus movement on performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 15(4): 393–400. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0097-7403.15.4.393Google ScholarPubMed
Washburn, DA and Rumbaugh, DM 1992a Investigations of rhesus monkey video-task performance: evidence for enrichment. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 31(5): 6–10Google ScholarPubMed
Washburn, DA and Rumbaugh, DM 1992b Testing primates with joystick-based automated apparatus: lessons from the Language Research Center's computerized test system. Behavioural Research Methods, Instruments and Computers 24: 157–164. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/BF03203490CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, RJ 2003 Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford, UK. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470751046CrossRefGoogle Scholar