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Fagan et al. 2014 - Coggle Diagram
Fagan et al. 2014
Research Method, and Design
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Elephants were graded based on a success rate of 80%, and their progress was evaluated at regular intervals.
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Sample
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Elephants were all captive, with no previous training in positive reinforcement.
Procedure
Elephants were trained to perform a series of trunk movements needed for a trunk wash, including:
Placing the trunk in the trainer’s hand. Saline was then injected.
Lifting the trunk. To keep the saline in.
Blowing the saline into a bucket. After lowering the trunk into the bucket
Holding the trunk steady.
The training methods included capturing spontaneous behaviours, luring them with treats, and shaping their actions with rewards. Secondary reinforcers were also introduced, with the whistle sound conditioning the elephants to associate it with food rewards.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Operationalised Behaviour Checklist: The behavioural criteria were clearly defined, ensuring reliable and consistent measurement of outcomes.
High Validity: Mahouts (elephant caretakers) did not influence the elephants' behaviour, ensuring that changes were due to training methods alone.
Ethical Considerations: Elephants could walk away, and their distress was minimised, which also protected trainers.
Ecological Validity: The natural setting of the study increased its generalisability to other captive elephant populations, such as in zoos or safaris.
Weaknesses
Small Sample Size: Only five elephants were used, with just one adult, limiting the generalisability of the findings to older elephants or males.
Standardisation Issues: Variations in the number of trials given to Elephant 1 due to her impatience could have affected the consistency of results.
Subjectivity in Measurements: The trainers’ assessments of the elephants’ success were subjective and could have been enhanced by using video recordings for objective review.
Task Difficulties: The elephants had difficulty completing the "trunk steady" task, affecting the overall success rate and validity of the study.
Aim
To investigate whether secondary positive reinforcement can train elephants to voluntarily complete a trunk wash, enabling them to be tested for TB.
Results
Elephants learned the task within 25–35 sessions.
Training sessions lasted about 12 minutes on average.
Elephants achieved an 89.3% success rate after 35 sessions, improving from 39% after 10 sessions.
Conclusions
Secondary positive reinforcement effectively trained juvenile elephants to participate voluntarily in trunk wash procedures, demonstrating its potential for veterinary purposes.
Background
This study focuses on training captive elephants for trunk wash tests to screen for tuberculosis (TB). The elephants were trained using operant conditioning, specifically positive reinforcement, to reduce stress during testing.