Comportamento adjunto: controvérsias e contribuições teóricas

Abstract

RESUMO -A área de investigação sobre comportamento adjunto, cujas pesquisas tiveram início na década de 60, é extensa e controvertida. O presente trabalho analisa as interpretações mais importantes do fenômeno, e mostra que diversas caracterís-ticas apresentadas como próprias do comportamento adjunto também estão presentes em outros comportamentos. Falk interpretou o comportamento adjunto como atividade deslocada, Staddon como comportamento induzido por esquema, Timberlake como parte de um sistema comportamental pré-programado, e Wetherington questionou a existência de uma terceira classe de comportamento. Conclui-se que as tentativas de sistematização têm se mostrado incompletas devido à diversidade de topografias de comportamentos adjuntos e a sua dependência de variáveis tanto do esquema como da espécie e do ambiente.Palavras-chave: comportamento adjunto; polidipsia; comportamento induzido por esquema; estímulo não contingente.Adjunctive Behavior: Controversial Issues and Theoretical Contributions ABSTRACT -Dated from the sixties, the research field of adjunctive behavior is extensive and controversial. This review presents an analysis of the main theoretical interpretations of the phenomenon, and demonstrates that many of the features considered to be characteristic of adjunctive behavior are also present in non adjunctive behavior. Falk has interpreted adjunctive behavior as displaced activity, Staddon as schedule-induced behavior, Timberlake as a part of a pre-programmed behavioral system, and Wetherington has called into question the existence of a third class of behavior. It is concluded that all theoretical approaches appear to be incomplete due to the diversity of adjunctive behavior topographies and to their dependence on species and environmental variables, besides schedule parameters.Key words: adjunctive behavior; polydipsia; schedule-induced behavior; non contingent stimulus.A área de pesquisa sobre comportamento adjunto é extensa e controvertida. Diante da diversidade de comportamentos adjuntos observados sob esquemas contingentes e não contingentes, surgiram diferentes interpretações teóri-cas. O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar as mais importantes contribuições teóricas e as principais controvérsias ainda hoje não resolvidas na área. Após breve histórico, serão revistas as principais características do comportamento adjunto, destacando-se seu aspecto consensual ou controverso. A seguir serão expostas e analisadas as posições de Falk, Staddon, Timberlake e a crítica de Wetherington. Breve HistóricoEm 1961, condicionando respostas de pressão à barra em sujeitos ratas mantidas sob privação alimentar (70% a 80% do peso ad libitum), Falk verificou que os animais foram capazes de ingerir grandes quantidades de líquido de uma garrafa com água que ficara permanentemente disponí- a descartar definitivamente a hipótese de polidipsia fisiológi-ca, ao mesmo tempo que outros comportamentos foram estudados, como por exemplo: agredir em pombos, lamber jatos de ar em ratos, correr em uma roda de atividade em...

Communication breakdown! Signal modality drives the effect of information loss on the behavioral responses of the threatened Great-Billed Seed-Finch, Sporophila maximiliani (Thraupidae: Passeriformes)

“…When the signal is hampered, due to environmental noise, the evaluation of the information about the sender is also hampered and the receiver must deal with the fragment of information available. Potentially, this effect can affect the individual decision-making (i.e, evaluation the strength of a potential competitor or the quality of a mate), generating a motivational con ict, which is a state in which the individual does not have enough information about the context, hesitating about what should be the best behavior to display (Benus et al 1991;Santarém and Silva 1999). In this circumstance, the uncertainty about information received, due to signal degradation or other effects, could increase anxiety levels, which have already been demonstrated for mammals and anura (Choi et al 2022;Furtado and Nomura 2014).…”

“…However, anxiety can also elicit nonintentional behaviors, called displacement activities, whose function is not related to the context in which the behavior is emitted (Tinbergen 1952). Displacement activities are generated when one stimulus ends up activating two antagonistic pathways simultaneously, like in a motivational con ict context (Falk 1977;Santarém and Silva 1999). In this state, the inability to display the two incompatible movements results in the release of energy by an irrelevant behavior (Zeigler 1964).…”

Communication breakdown! How information loss affects behavioral responses in the Great-Billed Seed-Finch, Sporophila maximiliani (Thraupidae: Passeriformes)

“…When the signal is hampered, due to environmental noise, the evaluation of the information about the sender is also hampered and the receiver must deal with the fragment of information available. Potentially, this effect can affect the individual decision-making (i.e, evaluation the strength of a potential competitor or the quality of a mate), generating a motivational con ict, which is a state in which the individual does not have enough information about the context, hesitating about what should be the best behavior to display (Benus et al 1991;Santarém and Silva 1999). In this circumstance, the uncertainty about information received, due to signal degradation or other effects, can increase anxiety levels and, consequently, increase stress levels of the organism (Choi et al 2022).…”

“…As a result, anxiety can also induce the emission of non intentional behaviors, called displacement activities, whose function is not related to the context in which the behavior is emitted (Tinbergen 1952). These commonly occur in situations where it is di cult to decode the information so that one stimulus ends up activating two antagonistic pathways simultaneously, like in a motivational con ict context (Falk 1977;Santarém and Silva 1999). In this state, the inability to display the two incompatible movements results in the release of energy by an irrelevant behavior (Zeigler 1964).…”