Animal Behaviour
Are you curious about what makes an animal tick? Want to solve the mystery of your pet's strange behaviour? Or are you looking to enhance your ability to handle animals in any situation? Our Online Courses Australia Animal Behaviour course will introduce you to the fascinating world of animal psychology and will help you to live and work in harmony with the animals in your life.
This course will be of benefit to anyone who lives or works with animals. It teaches students to:
- Identify factors affecting Animal Behaviour.
- Describe the influence of genes on animal behaviour.
- Explain how animals perceive and how they respond to various stimuli.
- Explain the influence of environment factors, such as circadian rhythms, on biological clocks, reproductive cycles, orientation and other animal behaviours.
- Explain the social influences on animal aggression, play, sexual behaviour, communication and other behaviours.
- Describe different ways that animals learn (such as conditioning and habituation) and some effects of learning on behaviour.
- Discuss psychological implications of different handling techniques.
- Identify abnormal animal behaviour and ways to reduce dependence on humans.
Career Prospects
- Animal Breeder.
- Veterinarian Assistant.
- Zoo Keeper.
- Animal Welfare Officer.
- Animal Carer.
- Employment at a cattery, kennel, pet shop or specialist pet service.
Course Delivery
This course is delivered 100% online. Upon enrolment students are issued with a login and password, providing access to OCA's e-learning centre. For a full demo of the OCA student experience from enrolment to graduation click here.
Recognition and Accreditation
Upon successful completion of this course you will receive an OCA Certificate of Achievement in Animal Behaviour. There are no pre-requisites to this course.
Units of Study
This course has 8 units of study.
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1. Introduction: Influences and Motivation.
- Ethology.
- What is behaviour.
- Purpose of Animal behaviour.
- What motivates behaviours.
- Behaviour types (reactive, active, cognitive).
- Learned behaviours (classic conditioning, reinforcement, extinction, operant conditioning, Skinner's experiments).
- Other influences (external stimuli, internal stimuli, physiological responses, psychological responses).
- Observing animals.
- Terminology.
2. Genetics and Behaviour
- Understanding basics of genetics.
- Terminology (e.g. alleles, allelomorphs, genes,phenotype, mitosis, homozygous, genotype).
- Environmental affect.
- Heritability.
- Epigenisis.
- Innate behaviour.
- Survival.
- Interaction between different species.
- Case study: inherited traits in horse behaviour.
3. Animal Perception and Behaviour
- Animal communication and perception.
- How animals perceive things.
- Imprinting.
- Types of stimuli: visual, auditory, tactile, chemical.
- Terminology.
- Monocular and binocular vision.
- Neural control.
4. Behaviour and the Environment
- Orthokinesis.
- Klinokinesis.
- Navigation.
- Homeostasis.
- Thermoregulation.
- Motivation.
- Biological clocks.
- Sun compass.
- Migration.
- Tolerance.
- Hibernation.
- Acclimatisation.
- Sexual and reproductive behaviours.
5. Social Behaviour
- Animal societies.
- Aggression.
- Fight or flight response.
- Social constraints.
- Sexual behaviour.
- Social order.
- Bonding.
- Courtship.
- Territorial behaviour.
- Feeding.
- Vocalisations.
- Terminology.
- Case Studies: birds and dogs.
6. Instinct and Learning
- Shaping.
- Extinction and habituation.
- Instrumental learning.
- Thorndykes Law of Effect.
- Operant and respondant behaviour.
- Biological aspects of learning.
- Cognition.
- Associative learning.
- Case studies: early learning in dogs and early learning in cats.
- Comparative intelligence.
7. Handling Animals
- Domestication of animals.
- Problems handling animals.
- Psychological affects of different handling techniques.
- Preventing problems with pets.
- Training animals including birds, rabbits, horses and cattle.
- Terminology.
- The student has a choice of which types of animals to focus on, though a variety will still be covered.
8. Behavioural Problems
- Abnormal behaviour (e.g. neurotic, psychotic).
- Domestication of animals.
- Diagnosing behaviour.
- Psychotic disorders.
- Case study: behavioural problems with cats - various types of aggression and other problems.
- Training cats.
- Case study: aggression and other problems with dogs.
- Training dogs.
- Case Study: behavioural problems with pigs.
- Terminology.
How Long Does The Course Take?
This short course should take approximately 100 hours.
Each unit should take approximately 10-12 hours. Maximum six months access to this online course.
Course Costs
Purchase this course online and complete it at your own pace in your own time.
Pay Now
To purchase this course, simply click on add to cart.
Save at least 15% if paid in full
Pay Now Cost$499
Payment Plan
You may pay for this course via a flexible payment plan. To do so simply select this option and click on add to cart.
$50 Deposit
$50/Week for 12 Weeks
Total Payment Plan Cost $650
