A theoretically based model of rat personality with implications for welfare.

Autor: Becca Franks, E Tory Higgins, Frances A Champagne
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 4, p e95135 (2014)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095135
Popis: As animal personality research becomes more central to the study of animal behavior, there is increasing need for theoretical frameworks addressing its causes and consequences. We propose that regulatory focus theory (RFT) could serve as one such framework while also providing insights into how animal personality relates to welfare. RFT distinguishes between two types of approach motivation: promotion, the motivation to approach gains, and prevention, the motivation to approach or maintain safety. Decades of research have established the utility of RFT as a model of human behavior and recent evidence from zoo-housed primates and laboratory rats has suggested that it may be applicable to nonhuman animal behavior as well. Building on these initial studies, we collected data on 60 rats, Rattus norvegicus, navigating an automated maze that allowed individuals to maintain darkness (indicative of prevention/safety-approach motivation) and/or activate food rewards (indicative of promotion/gain-approach motivation). As predicted, both behaviors showed stable individual differences (Ps
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