Aim: This paper aims to describe how to decrease hair-plucking behavior in a female pig-tail macaque model as one of Self-Injurious Behavior (SIB) representations of human behavior by using a different way called 'pulling back' technique.
Method: An action researched by applying an environmental analyses used to examined its effectiveness on the case. The subject inserted from an artificial individual cage without any grass into a semi natural cage with plenty of grass, leaf, and insects. An instantaneous sampling method (per minute in a ten minutes) used to calculated the amount of hair-plucking behavior between two conditions.
Result: The level of hair-plucking behavior was lower at the semi natural cage with plenty of grass, leaf, and insects. It shown us that hair-plucking behavior had been replaced by plucking grass, leaf, and insects. It seems that plucking grass, leaf, and insects as a previous learning experience had evolved into a different form of maladaptive function as hair-plucking behavior. Although plucking behavior has a central function of feeding behavior since we knew that non-human primates used their hands to hold the food rather than other lower species, but here this behavior faced to malfunction since the behavior couldn't keep its normal function to support survival effort rather than produced serious injuried-body. Here, hair-plucking behavior seems like to be a consequence or side-effect of tick-seeking behavior.
Aim: This paper aims to describe how to decrease hair-plucking behavior in a female pig-tail macaque model as one of Self-Injurious Behavior (SIB) representations of human behavior by using a different way called 'pulling back' technique.
Method: An action researched by applying an environmental analyses used to examined its effectiveness on the case. The subject inserted from an artificial individual cage without any grass into a semi natural cage with plenty of grass, leaf, and insects. An instantaneous sampling method (per minute in a ten minutes) used to calculated the amount of hair-plucking behavior between two conditions.
Result: The level of hair-plucking behavior was lower at the semi natural cage with plenty of grass, leaf, and insects. It shown us that hair-plucking behavior had been replaced by plucking grass, leaf, and insects. It seems that plucking grass, leaf, and insects as a previous learning experience had evolved into a different form of maladaptive function as hair-plucking behavior. Although plucking behavior has a central function of feeding behavior since we knew that non-human primates used their hands to hold the food rather than other lower species, but here this behavior faced to malfunction since the behavior couldn't keep its normal function to support survival effort rather than produced serious injuried-body. Here, hair-plucking behavior seems like to be a consequence or side-effect of tick-seeking behavior.
Constantly, these behaviors observed at 100% level (36 times at first hour until 6 hours of observations) (Table 1). In second condition 'B' (a semi natural cage with plenty of grass, leaf, and insects), the subject performed a little of these plucking hair of 19,44% level (4 times at first hour (11.11%), 2 times at second hours (5.56%), 1 times at third hours (2.78%) and 0 time at fourth hours until sixth hours of observations) but plucking grass, leaf, and insects (Table 2) and then eating it (Figure 4 ). The level of hair-plucking behavior was lower at the semi natural cage with plenty of grass, leaf, and insects (condition 'B') (Figure 5).
Figure 1:Plucking hair as a side-effect of tick-seeking behavior in condition ‘A’.
Figure 2:Eating the hair when tick was unreachable in condition ‘A’.
Figure 3: Plucking grass, leaf, and insects in condition ‘B’
Table 1: The frequency of hair-plucking behavior in condition “A”.
Table 1: The frequency of hair-plucking behavior in condition “A”.
Figure 4: Eating grass, leaf, and insects in condition ‘B’.
Figure 5: Figure 5: The level of hair-plucking behavior in conditions.
This result shown us that hair-plucking behavior had been replaced by plucking grass or leaf or ticks. It seems that plucking grass, leaf, insects or something out of body as a previous learning experience had evolved into a different form of maladaptive function as hair-plucking behavior. This excessive behavior may seem first addressed to reduce itches-effect by plucking ticks than hair. But plucking ticks would be more easy when no hair exist. It meant that hair-plucking behavior were the first step done together with got the tick. The other hand, eating the hair was an alternation when the tick unreachable or it didn't exist. Although plucking behavior has a central function of feeding behavior since we knew that non-human primates used their hands to hold the food rather than other lower species, but here this behavior faced to malfunction since the behavior couldn't keep its normal function to support survival effort rather than produced serious injuried-body.
Figure 1:Plucking hair as a side-effect of tick-seeking behavior in condition ‘A’.
Figure 2:Eating the hair when tick was unreachable in condition ‘A’.
Figure 3: Plucking grass, leaf, and insects in condition ‘B’
Table 1: The frequency of hair-plucking behavior in condition “A”.
Table 1: The frequency of hair-plucking behavior in condition “A”.
Figure 4: Eating grass, leaf, and insects in condition ‘B’.
Figure 5: Figure 5: The level of hair-plucking behavior in conditions.
References
Nugroho DAA, Department of Primatology and multidiciplinary Program, Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia. Tel: +62-251-8313637/8324017.