An Experimental Arrangement to Study Spatial Dynamics of Behavior in Domestic Dogs under Pavlovian Contingencies: A Proof of Concept

Abstract

In most Pavlovian conditioning studies, the spatial dimension of behavior is often overlooked, with experimental subjects typically being immobilized. However, it has been reported that freely locomoting organisms exposed to Pavlovian contingencies form a Conditional Response that incorporates their spatial behavioral patterns, such as displacement and orientation toward sources of stimulation. This study presents an experimental setup and recording system designed to observe domestic dogs with unrestricted movement under Pavlovian contingencies. In one condition, we paired tones with food delivery using a FT 60-second schedule using an automated dispenser equipped with an integrated buzzer, while in a second condition, food was not presented. We continuously recorded locomotion patterns, orientation toward food, the owner, and other locations, as well as contacts with the stimulation source. Our results revealed distinct behavioral patterns in each condition. This research discusses the importance of including continuous spatial behavior recording in Pavlovian contingencies and demonstrates the feasibility of using domestic dogs as experimental subjects.

Full text

An Experimental Arrangement to Study Spatial Dynamics of Behavior in Domestic Dogs under
Pavlovian Contingencies: A Proof of Concept
Abraham Rivera, Varsovia Hernández, Fryda Díaz, Alejandro León
Laboratorio de Psicología Comparada, Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Veracruzana
Introduction
•In Pavlovian contingencies, the pairing of at least two stimuli presented independently of
the organism's activity is programmed: an initially neutral stimulus (NS) and another
stimulus (unconditioned stimulus or US) that systematically elicits an unconditioned
response (UR). After pairing, the EN (now conditioned stimulus or CS) begins to elicit a
response similar to the UR (conditioned response or CR).
•It has been reported that, in dogs with free locomotion exposed to this type of
contingencies, CR is conformed by the organization of the animal's spatial behavior -e.g.
orientation and displacement towards the source of stimulation- (Jenkins et al., 1978;
Kupalov, 1969; 1983).
•Most studies using dogs as experimental subjects (Jenkins et al., 1978; Kupalov, 1969; 1983;
Stepien, 1974; Wasserman, 1978; Zener, 1937, among others) have not systematically recorded
locomotion and the emergence of moment-to-moment orientation patterns.
•The systematic recording of moment-to-moment locomotion and orientation patterns
enables the analysis of the spatial dynamics of behavior and emphasizes the continuous
character of organism-environment interaction (León et al., 2021). Likewise, it allows the
visualization of spatio-temporal variables integrated in the behavioral organization, which
remain hidden due to the standard forms of recording.
Objective
Analyze the spatial organization of behavior in a domestic dog with free locomotion in the
establishment and extinction of a Pavlovian tone-food contingency.
Method
Apparatus and experimental situation
Results
Summary of results and discusion
Procedure
•CS = Three-second tone (23 kHz; 75 db).
•UC = Meal (one kibble per delivery).
•Fixed Time 60 seconds (FT60s).
•Each session lasted 16 minutes and 55 seconds.
•Event programming was made using Visual
Basic® language software developed in Visual
Studio® 2015 (Díaz et al., 2022).
Design
Phases
ABAB
Note: B = Trace pairing (0.5 sec): 10
daily sessions with 16 trials each; A =
Extinction (CS only): 10 sessions with
16 trials each.
Owner: coordinates: x=25, y= 148
Experimenter
Dispenser with integrated buzzer (Rivera,
Jiménez & León, 2022): coordinates: x=105,
y= 25
Video camera located on the roof
Event control and registration equipment
Subject: 12 hrs of deprivation; experimentally
naive; nine years old; height (floor-cross): 23
cm; length (end of back-cross): 25 cm.
1.69 m
1.15 m
Data recording and analysis
Recording:
Organism x and y coordinates were recorded
at each session (center of mass, 10 fps) with
Ethovision Software (ver. 14). Orientation
patterns were recorded with Behavioral
Observation Research Interactive Software
[BORIS] (see 8.13).
Orientation to the dispenser Orientation to the owner Non-specific orientation
s1 s5 s10 s1 s5 s10
Pairing Extinction
Representative displacement routes
Dispenser
Owner
Conditional probability tone-orientation
•The analysis of orientations and locomotion patterns moment by moment allowed us to
observe the establishment of different organism-environment organizations.
•In pairing, the displacement routes were more narrow and concentrated in areas close to
the dispenser, which is congruent with the mean distance to relevant areas. Also, the
tendency of the organism to orient more to the dispenser in the presence of the tone and in
the post-tone segment was observed, with a gradual decrease in the other types of
orientation as the post-tone segment was approached. The probability of orientation to the
dispenser in the presence of the tone was considerably higher in the pairing phases
compared to the extinction phases.
•In extinction, the displacement routes were distributed in a less restricted manner, with a
higher concentration in areas close to the owner and with lower values of mean distance to
the owner. The established orientation pattern was drastically altered with a more
homogeneous distribution of orientation patterns as a function of time segment. Finally,
location entropy values were higher in extinction compared to pairing phases.
•The results obtained are in agreement with previous findings on dogs regarding the spatial
differentiality supported by an CS-US correlation (Kupalov, 1969; 1983; Jenkins et al.,
1978), as well as the variation of behavioral patterns in extinction (Zener, 1937). However,
they make possible the extension of the conclusions insofar as the establishment of a
temporal differentiation of the orientation patterns in each segment (T/R, pre, tone and
post) could be observed from the same CS-US correlation.
•The present pilot study shows the relevance of including the continuous recording of
behavior in Pavlovian contingencies, since it allows the quantification of variables that
were previously only mentioned descriptively, enables the inclusion of robust measures
that account for behavioral change (e.g. distance, entropy, among others) and facilitates the
identification and systematic representation of aspects of the phenomenon commonly
ignored in the field, such as behavioral variability and the temporal organization of
orientation patterns. The promising findings of the work make feasible the implementation
of a study with a larger number of subjects and the inclusion of other types of variables
(e.g., changes in the values of the CS-US correlation).
aleleon@uv.mx
abrahamrivera.uv@gmail.com
ContactReferences:
Measures:
•Displacement routes.
•Distance to relevant zones.
•Location entropy.
•Dispenser orientations, owner and
non-specific (duration and probability
of each type of orientation in the
presence of tone).
Analysis and representation: Motus software, Jamovi (open statistical software)
and Microsoft Excel.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Distance (cm)
Sessions
Mean distance to relevant zones
Dispenser
Owner
B A B A
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
1 4 5 6 7 8 9 101 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Entrophy
Sessions
Location Entropy
BABA
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
12 3 45 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 45 6 7 8 9 10 12 3 45 6 7 8 9 10 12 3 45 6 7 8 9 10
Nonspecific
Owner
Dispenser
Sessions
Duration (Sec)
B A B A
Time segment
Probability of orientation
Distribution of orientation values (duration) in each time segment (sessions 6-10)
BABAOr-Dispenser
Or-Owner
Or-nonspecific