stereotypic behavior

stereotypic behavior

[stir′ē·ōtip′ik]

a pattern of body movements that has autistic and symbolic meaning for an individual. It may occur in persons with schizophrenia.

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behavior

the activity or pattern of activity of the patient; can be modified by training and medication; used clinically as a measure of cerebral activity.

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abnormal behavior

includes any activity judged to be outside the normal behavior pattern for animals of that particular class and age, including the vices, the fixed patterns of abnormality.

aggressive behavior

is common in animals as part of the establishment of territorial rights by males, as competition for sexual favors, because of fear of the unknown, and as maternal protection of young. In companion animals, aggression and dominance directed against humans can also be learned. See also aggression.

allelomimetic behavior

group activity behavior; those behavioral traits used to interact with others, particularly developed during the early socialization period.

auditory behavior

the use of the voice to communicate is poorly developed in animals but is used for example in the various voices used by cattle including mooing, lowing, bellowing. Is used most extensively by animals in communicating between mother and young and in courtship.

automatistic behavior

see stereotypic behavior (below).

communicative behavior

the behavioral patterns that result in communication between animals. Includes auditory, visual and chemical patterns.

consumptive behavior

includes inappropriate sucking and wool sucking, particularly in cats. May be the result of early weaning.

destructive behavior

involves digging or the destruction of items, such as furniture, doors, or toys, by chewing. Causes include separation anxiety, fear-induced aggression and play aggression.

elimination behavior

the ritual and method of passing urine and feces, particularly as seen in dogs and cats. This includes searching for the site, pre-elimination behavior of sniffing, scratching, etc., posture and post-elimination action such as scratching the ground or covering feces with dirt. Housetraining involves modification of this behavior.

epimeletic behavior

maternal behavior; that demonstrated by a dam caring for her young in the early stages.

et-epimeletic behavior

care-seeking behavior; young responding to the dam's care giving. In puppies, this includes tail-wagging, licking the dam's face, and following the dam closely.

hallucinatory behavior

behavior which suggests dementia. This may be inherent or acquired, e.g. shying at nonexistent objects in cows with nervous acetonemia, biting at imaginary flies by dogs.

ingestive behavior

includes overeating, inadequate intake of food, predation, wool sucking, pica, coprophagia, garbage eating and food-related aggression.

behavior modification

the use of learning techniques to alter behavior.

predatory behavior

chasing and killing is commonly displayed by cats in catching birds and rodents. Dogs, particularly in packs, may show predatory behavior in threatening and killing of livestock and, in some instances, humans.

sexual behavior

includes courtship and the mating act. Much of the behavior is visual including posture, feather fluffing, tail carriage; some of it is auditory, especially in cats, but chemical communication via pheromones is the clincher.

social behavior

behavior relative to others in the group. Includes establishment of the peck order, bulling by steers in feedlots, crowd pressure in the feeding of large groups of pigs, cannibalism in overcrowded communities, even self-immolation in lemming communities. The social stress that may follow abnormal group behavior may result in lowered production, reduction in disease resistance, or the expression of actual disease, e.g. esophagogastric ulcer of pigs.

stereotypic behavior

constant and repetitive actions, such as vocalization, grooming, walking or weaving, which would otherwise be seen normally in the species. See also obsessive-compulsive behavior.

thermoregulatory behavior

actions such as seeking cool places, lapping water, huddling are self-explanatory examples.

visual behavior

body language for animals. Posture, gait, other body movements all convey information about the animal.