Functional Analysis and Successful Treatment of a Captive Rhesus Macaque’s Disruptive Behavior

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Mollie Bloomsmith, Emory University; Andrea N Franklin, Emory University; A. L Martin, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA; J. E Perlman, Emory University; M. A Bloomsmith, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-07-01
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: Informa UK Limited
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2021.1931868
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JOURNAL OF APPLIED ANIMAL WELFARE SCIENCE
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 3
• Start Page: 287
• End Page: 296
• Grant/Funding Information: This project was funded by the NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Programs/OD P51OD011132 to the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. The Yerkes Center is fully accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, International.
• Keywords: nonhuman primate; disruptive behavior; functional analysis; animal welfare; Positive reinforcement training
• Research Categories: Biology, Zoology; Biology, Animal Physiology; Biology, Veterinary Science; Psychology, Physiological

Abstract

Functional analysis (FA) is a method developed and used by behavior analysts in human clinical settings to identify possible environmental variables that reinforce undesired behavior. FA is increasingly being applied to better understand the behavior of nonhuman animals. When training monkeys in a room with others, disruptive behavior displayed by neighboring monkeys can impede training progress. In the present study, a FA identified possible reinforcers of disruptive behavior (loud shaking of a toy) exhibited frequently (24% duration pre-treatment) by a rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) during in-room training sessions. The functional analysis identified that contingent delivery of foods was maintaining the disruptive behavior, with a mean percent duration of 57% in this condition. The implementation of a function-based treatment consisting of continuous access to a preferred food during in-room training sessions successfully decreased disruptive behavior by over 90% as measured during 15 subsequent sessions. This study advances the current literature applying functional analysis to nonhuman primates as a means of determining the reinforcers maintaining aberrant or undesirable behavior and applying effective treatments based on understanding this function.