WORK LOG ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

Day 1: March 31 , 2017

st

Goal: To research some information about guinea pigs, discuss findings with friends and come up
with the research question
Reflection: In this class, we are assigned to come up with the research question that will drive the
maze experiment as a whole. At first, I and group member started to do the research on species
that we will use to conduct the experiment which we have to select form four species: guinea pig,
hamster, rat and mouse. I researched through several website and saw that guinea pig is very
interesting candidate as some researches suggest that it can solve the maze pretty fast and time
in completing the maze dramatically decrease in just several days. Also, it has quite long life
comparted to the other species that we are allowed to choose. After doing some researches, I and
group members discussed what we had found. We decided that we will choose the guinea pigs and
our research question will be which genders of guinea pigs can learn to run the maze faster in
which we believed that male guinea pigs has ability to solve the maze faster than female guinea
pigs. Next time, we will finalize the research questions again to make sure that is sufficient enough
to drive our research for the experiment accompanying with some research that is needed.
Source:
1. http://www.peta.org/living/companion-animals/caring-animal-companions/caring-
guinea-pigs/
2. https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/rodents/guineapigs
3. https://prezi.com/mbficq70gwmz/guinea-pig-maze-running-science-
experiment/?webgl=0

Day 2: April 17 , 2017

th

Goal: To finalize the research question for our experiment in order to make sure that those
questions are effective to drive our researches
Reflection: Today, we further discuss about the research question to decide which ones will be the
best to represent our hypothesis and expectation that we have toward the experiment. I did some
more researches and found out that there is not enough information to support that there will be
the difference in male and female guinea pig. Most of the information present how to identify the
sex of guinea pig between male and female or the simple personality like the female is lovely which
literally do not help and support at all. However, we believed that there might be some differences
that scientist does not yet find out. Thus, next time we will find further information about the
difference of learning behavior in other species of rodents like mice, rat and hamsters so that we
can have good evidences to support and drive our further researches for the experiment. I already
started to do some research and found out that there is some information that presents the
difference of learning behavior between male and female rat which was the good sign to suggest
that there are difference processes in learning between sexes.

Source:
1. http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-male-and-vs-female-guinea-pigs/
2. http://guineapigcareonline.weebly.com/male-or-female.html
3. http://cnx.org/contents/QC8mZcRp@3/Sex-Differences-in-Learning-Pr

Day 3: April 24 , 2017

th

Goal: To come up and finalize all the material and instrument that is needed for experiments
Reflection: Although we planned on the last time to continue to research and finalize our research
questions in this class period, we were assigned by Ms. Charlene to search and finalize the
materials that are needed for our experiment so that she can send those lists to school for
sponsoring. I researched through the website to see what kinds of materials are essential in taking
care of the guinea pigs. I found out that in order to make good accommodation for the guinea pigs,
we need good cage, foods which are some vegetables like carrot and broccoli, water bottle, some
vitamin C since its content in food cannot last long enough for necessary needs of guinea pigs. We
also needed some place for guinea pigs to hide, and tools like brush and nail trimmer. After we
researched some information, we discussed things that we found with each other and add things
that we found in google document so that we can know that we can get the completed list of
material. After we finalized the lists of material and sent it via edmodo, we still had sometimes left.
Thus, we researched through some of the tips that we can use to teach our guinea pigs in which
we found that giving the treats and reward is very crucial for making our guinea pigs obedient and
following our instruction. This also engages and enhances the relationship between owners and
guinea pigs. Next time, we will finalize our research question and outline proposal.
Source:
1. https://www.lovethatpet.com/small-pets/guinea-pig/
2. https://pethelpful.com/rodents/10-Things-you-Need-to-Get-Before-Adopting-a-Guinea-Pig
3. https://www.thespruce.com/basic-guinea-pig-supplies-2662208

Day 4: April 25 , 2017

th

Goal: To check the information about the research question so that we can finalize our research
question and to start to outline our proposal that will be due by next Monday.
Reflection: Today, we continued to research about the information about gender differences in
solving maze for rodents in order to affirm our research question. I researched through website
and found a book that stated that generally male rodents tend to display better work and have
better reference memory compared to female. However, this result cannot be confirmed as some
of females memories are affected by the circulation of estrogen including progesterone in some
rodents. By the circulation of these two hormone especially estrogen as sometimes known as
estradiol, they can enhance memory of female. Nevertheless, as I continued to research further
about this, I found the experiment that has the result that females can solve the maze better than
males. Researching and finding these information, it affirmed that our research question is
effective since there are gender differences in solving maze and our experiment is benefit in finding
answer for this skeptical question. We also know that we need the young female guinea pig which
does not yet reach maturity as candidates for our experiment so that it does not have estrogen
that can affect its memory. When I finished this part, I still had time left. Thus, I started outlining the
proposal in which I was assigned to do literature review part one with Tientien. Next time, we will
continue to outline the proposal and try to finish it as soon as possible.
Source:
1. https://books.google.co.th/books?id=IeaLXPWsbuAC&pg=PA233&lpg=PA233&dq=mic
e+male+and+female+in+solving+maze&source=bl&ots=7IRDZFR_20&sig=2RVjhe7de7H
pPwnfVB2NSECP020&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjMuIPVj7_TAhUKsI8KHW5ZCZMQ6A
EILzAC#v=onepage&q=mice%20male%20and%20female%20in%20solving%20maze&f=
false
2. https://prezi.com/xz3wp8evgzww/mice-in-a-maze/

Day 5: May 1 , 2017

st

Goal: To finish outlining our proposal and to correct the parts that have flaws so that we can make
sure that the final draft that we need to send will be the best.
Reflection: Today is the day that we have to turn in the outline of the proposal for the experiment.
We finished most of the parts for the outline, so we let Ms. Charlene check if there were
something that we needed to work on. It turned out that we did not write the methodology or the
procedure yet and also personal pronoun should not be used. For the procedure, I talked to
teacher and other groups about what it should look like. I found out that before we begin the
experiment, we need to make the guinea pigs feel familiar with the member in which we can
choose the method and the condition that we learned in class to do that. Our groups decided to
use the counter conditioning method that can be done by giving the treat when the guinea pigs
encounter member to make them associate the good feeling of the treat with members. After the
guinea pigs are familiar, we will proceed directly to the process of teaching them to run the maze.
When we finished correcting and writing our outline, I continued to find more information to write
the literature review since there are a lot of information that are still needed to be found. Next
time, I will continue to research information for the literature review so that I can make sure that
final draft will be finished in time.
Source:
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2699937/
2. http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/~jason/reprints/Spring2007.pdf

Day 6: May 2 , 2017

nd

Goal: To decide whether we will continue to use guinea pigs in our experiment or change it to
hamsters since our school said that they will longer provide the guinea pigs for us.
Reflection: Unfortunately, teacher announced the bad news that school would no longer provide
guinea pigs for us due to the cost that is very expensive even though they already cut down the
cost of the cages out. However, there is high possibility that hamsters can be provided by school.
Thus, our group decided to discuss again whether we should change to hamsters or not because it
meant that we needed to change quite a lot of things in the proposal. In order to determine that, I
researched to several things about hamsters which included body languages and how to counter
conditioning hamsters. For example, hamsters stretch their limbs when they feel relaxed. I also
looked up in couple videos to see the performance of hamsters in running the maze. Once we
researched some information about hamsters, we discussed again. We decided that we will
choose to buy guinea pigs by our owns. This is because we already almost finish in writing proposal
and planning our experiment and we do not want to rewrite and plan all those things again. Next
time, I will continue to do the research for the literature review so that our proposal will have all the
information that is necessary by the day that we needed to send.
Source:
1. https://www.caringpets.org/how-to-take-care-of-a-hamster/behavior-body-language/
2. https://books.google.co.th/books?id=sYzp8WpQT4UC&pg=PT357&lpg=PT357&dq=ha
mster+counter+conditioning&source=bl&ots=7gvJQUZ8qQ&sig=uUg1YxRDFecFXTcK_j8
F1Mu9SdM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjgjNa32tDTAhUCNY8KHbPdAX8Q6AEIJDAA#v
=onepage&q=hamster%20counter%20conditioning&f=false
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssicv2OlMnM
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kje7C69tsg

Day 7: May 3 , 2017

rd

Goal: To correct our proposal from the suggestion of Ms. Charlene and to find the place to by our
guinea pigs as we need to have them for our experiment next week
Reflection: Today, we discussed with Ms. Charlene about the outline that we sent on Monday.
Teacher told that our proposal was on the way to receive the approval if the following issues are
solved properly. First, for the literature review, we need to divide different topics into different
paragraphs. We also need to cite each source that we use in the literature review and literature
review and methodology. Second, for the introduction, we have to begin with the general ideas and
then follow by specific idea. Third, teacher suggest that we should make our record in the
experiment in the form that can be shown in the form of graph and table that will show the
progress of our guinea pig in learning to run the maze. We discuss with teacher and come up with
the idea that we will note down everything including specific trails and number of mistakes that
guinea pigs make in each trail. The last but not least is to describe more why and how male guinea
pigs are faster than female guinea pigs in the process of learning. After we finished discussing, we
know that we start to solve those issues. Next time, we will finish our proposal and begin our
experiment with guinea pigs.
Source:
1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lmeH1ofeSJTRJ1KYB57JvRy_ryishFbi_PE6IdfY
ZX4/edit?usp=sharing
2. https://books.google.co.th/books?id=ocl5AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=sexual
+differences+in+cognitive+abilities+rodent&source=bl&ots=WBjOBgxlal&sig=0-
xOYZVjw_hjFpOhzji2wzuuOmk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia5PzTn9PTAhWKKJQKHUkiA
S0Q6AEIPzAE#v=onepage&q=sexual%20differences%20in%20cognitive%20abilities%20
rodent&f=false
3. http://anthro.vancouver.wsu.edu/media/Course_files/anth-395-nicole-hess/jones-et-al-
2003-the-evolution-of-sex-differences-in-spatial-ability.pdf
4. http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/print_project_1128_78

Day 8: May 8 , 2017

th

Goal: To assemble the cage for the guinea and start counter conditioning our guinea pigs so that it
can be familiar with us before we start to make them run the maze
Reflection: Today is the first day that we take our guinea pigs to school so there are several things
that we need to do. First, we have to assemble the cage that will be home for our guinea pigs
during the experiment. We decided to put on only one incline in the cage since we are aware that
the guinea pigs are only about two months old and two incline plane might be too high for them
which can lead to the accident that causes our guinea pig to injure. We also decided to put the
water and food in the base of the cage as we are aware that our guinea pigs might be too young to
climb the the second floor for the food and water. We also put in the mini houses for guinea pigs in
the cages so that they will have the safe places to hide when they feel threatened and afraid. After
we finished making the cage, we put our guinea pigs in those and let it adapt that for a while. Then,
we began the processes of counter conditioning in which we feed the guinea pig with food like
grass and lightly pat them. We also fed them with some goat milk as they are young and still need
some milk to grow. During this time, guinea pigs show some signs of fear, however, they finally eat
the food that we feed and let us touch it. Next time, we will start to take guinea pigs out and make it
familiar with the touch.
Source: https://www.lovethatpet.com/small-pets/guinea-pig/

Day 9: May 9 , 2017

th

Goal: To continue conditioning our guinea pigs so that it can be familiar with us before we start to
make them run the maze
Reflection: Today, we continued to counter conditioning our guinea pigs. We began with same
process as yesterday in which we feed it with food. We tried to feed it with fresh carrot as it
contains high vitamin C that is essential nutrient for guinea pigs as they cannot synthesis vitamin C
by themselves. After that, we tried to take it out of the cage and hold it in the hand while feeding to
make it become familiar with human touch. However, guinea pigs especially for the male one
displayed sign of fear in which it shook vigorously to be free so we have no choice but to let it go
back into cage for its own comfortable. We let it take sometimes to make it adjust themselves
become comfortable again before taking it out again. However, when we tried to take it out again, it
ran away and hide in the corner. This made us have no choice but let them alone and treated it
with reward to make it feel better. Another obstacle that we faced today was that guinea pigs also
did not eat everything from hands as there were food present in the surrounding. This made us
come up with the idea that we will feed the food to guinea pig every time it approaches us or let us
instead of placing the food everywhere around the cage to make it become familiar with us faster.
Next time, we will start to build the maze for the guinea pigs so that we have everything that is
needed in time for the experiment.
Source:
1. https://www.lovethatpet.com/small-pets/guinea-pig/
2. http://www.peta.org/living/companion-animals/caring-animal-companions/caring-
guinea-pigs/

Day 10: May 11 , 2017

th

Goal: To start making the maze for the guinea pigs so that we can have the maze in time for the
experiment around next week.
Reflection: Today, as we were going to have long holiday, so our guinea pigs are resting and living
happily at Gams and Millys house. Since our guinea pigs were not here, we decided to make the
maze for the experiment instead. I brought cardboard box from home as a material to make the
maze. To ensure that we are going to make in the correct form, we opened our proposal that was
recently approved by teacher as a guide. We began to make the maze by cutting the boxes at the
side to make it become the one big sheet. We used the biggest box as the base, however, it was
still to small for the size that we set which was 70 x 90 cm. In order to solve that problem, we cut
the piece from other boxes and assembled it along the side. We also cut extra pieces to make it as
walls and barriers of the mazes. One of our concerns is that the cardboard seemed to be too weak
and soft for the maze that we are afraid that it will not be strong enough for guinea pigs to run the
maze without breaking it. Thus, we thought that we might need to make it from another material
instead. Next time, we will still continue to counter condition and teach our guinea pigs, and make
the maze so that we are ready for the experiment as soon as possible.
Source
1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lmeH1ofeSJTRJ1KYB57JvRy_ryishFbi_PE6IdfY
ZX4/edit?usp=sharing

Day 11: May 17 , 2017

th

Goal: To continue counter conditioning the guinea pigs and to clean up the cage so that we can
ensure that our guinea pigs live in the good condition
Reflection: Today, we took a look at our guinea pigs and saw that the cage started to become dirty.
We were aware that this could affect the live quality for the guinea pigs, thus we decided that we
had to clean it up. First, we took every equipment including food tray, water bottle, and restroom
out of the cage. We clean each equipment individually. For the cage, we trashed all the sawdust
and grass the we put as a base out. To make sure that it is thoroughly clean, we clean it with water
and shampoo for the guinea pigs. The reason that we use shampoo for the guinea pigs instead of
detergent is because we wanted to make sure that our guinea pigs would not expose to the
chemical that might be possibly harmful to them. After that we dried our cage by using towel and
assembled the cage, we put every equipment back. For this time, we decided to put only sawdust
as a base as we saw that putting grass which is its food as a base can be messy and put the grass
in the food tray instead. For the counter conditioning, there is a positive progress. Guinea pigs now
eat things from hand of our group members, and let us touch them without running away or
showing any sign of fear. They also seem to be cheerful and active too. Next time, we decided that
we will make the maze since we are afraid that it will not finish in time for the experiment.
Source
1. https://www.lovethatpet.com/small-pets/guinea-pig/
2. http://www.peta.org/living/companion-animals/caring-animal-companions/caring-
guinea-pigs/

Day 12: May 18 , 2017

th

Goal: To continue making the maze with stronger equipment so that we can start the experiment
as soon as we can
Reflection: Today, we continue to make the maze for the experiment. As cardboard from the boxes
seemed to be too weak for making the maze, we used another type of cardboard that are about
three times thicker compared to the normal one. This can ensure that it will be strong enough and
still safe for the guinea pigs to run the maze. Since it is the priority for our guinea pigs to feel
comfortable in this experiment, we decided to try to put guinea pig on the board that we layout the
path to see as if the path is big enough for them. This came to the point that we realized that the
path might be too small for the guinea pig. Hence, we changed the path to became bigger in width
from 8 centimeters to 10 centimeters, but we still used the same complexity as what we had
planned in our proposal. We also decided to barriers and walls that are 10 centimeters in height
as guinea pigs cannot cross that height and we can take it out of the maze immediately if the
guinea pigs display sign of fear of discomfort. Next time, we will try to finish our maze and start the
first trial of our experiment.
Source
1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lmeH1ofeSJTRJ1KYB57JvRy_ryishFbi_PE6IdfY
ZX4/edit?usp=sharing

Day 12: May 19 , 2017

th

Goal: To finish the maze and start the experiment so that we can have the result to write the
report and make video in time
Reflection: Today, we continue to make the maze from the last class. At first, we decided to make
the whole maze from the cardboard paper, however, we actually ran out of it before completing the
maze. We headed toward the store in front of the university after school to see if they sold this type
of cardboard. Unfortunately, they did not have this type of cardboard and cardboard that they sold
was very thin compared to the ones that we have. Hence, we had to adapt the maze. We decided
that we will make the make barrier from the cardboard and inside wall from the feature board
since it is strong as same as cardboard and safe for our guinea pigs. In order to make sure that
the wall will not hurt our guinea pigs, we cover every edge with tape. After finished making the
maze, we started the first round of our experiment. Our male guinea pigs still cannot finish the
maze, but showing good sign by completing half of them. All of these took around 6 minutes before
we decided to take it out due to the sign of discomfort. Next, we started experiment with our
female guinea pig. Unfortunately, we could not finish experiment because school was going to close
soon and we needed to get out of the building. Next time, we will continue our experiment with our
guinea pigs.
Source
1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lmeH1ofeSJTRJ1KYB57JvRy_ryishFbi_PE6IdfY
ZX4/edit?usp=sharing
Day 13: May 24 , 2017
h

Goal: To continue the experiment with our guinea pigs

Reflection: Today, we continue to do the experiment from the previous time. We already stopped
by during this week to teach our guinea pigs to run the maze. Thus, we began our experiment after
we finished lesson during that day. We decided to test for 3 trials each and we set time that guinea
pigs should be able to complete the maze in five minutes interval. Surprisingly, the results are
contradicting with what we hypothesized. On the first trial, both male and female guinea failed to
complete the maze. Both of them show signs of fear like shaking and shivering. This made us have
to take it out of the to settle it down as we prioritize the comfortable of guinea pig as the number
one. On the second trial, female guinea pig was almost able to solve the maze. It ran to very near
the exit, but suddenly it ran all the way back which made she cannot finish the experiment in time.
For male guinea pig, it cannot solve the maze. He walked back and forth and later showed sign,
thus we needed to take out of the maze and this trial still failed. Next time, we will continue to last
trail of experiment and start to make video right away.
Source
1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lmeH1ofeSJTRJ1KYB57JvRy_ryishFbi_PE6IdfY
ZX4/edit?usp=sharing

Day 14: May 25 , 2017

h

Goal: To continue the experiment with our guinea pigs and to start making the video
Reflection: Today, we continue to do the experiment from the previous time. Today, our female
guinea pig could solve successfully in three minutes and twenty-three seconds. For male guinea pig,
it shows slightly sign of improving in which it no longer showed signs of fear. However, it still could
not figure the ways out and usually ran toward dead end route. After we finished experiment, we
came downstairs at classroom to continue to make the video. We decided to divide the information
that will be layout in the form that can be put in the video in accordance to the topic that that
person did on the proposal. On the proposal, I did the literature review, thus I had to layout the
information for this part. I decided to put and layout information in the piktochart as it allows to me
to create the presentation that contains necessary information and image that will make the
audience understand about our experiment while looking attractive and beautiful. Next time, we will
continue to make the video so that we can make sure that we will finish it in time.
Source
1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lmeH1ofeSJTRJ1KYB57JvRy_ryishFbi_PE6IdfY
ZX4/edit?usp=sharing

Day 15: May 26 , 2017

th

Goal: To continue making the video so that we can finish in time

Reflection: Today, we continue to make video from the previous class. I already finished layouting
my part which is the literature review. Thus, I continued to layout other parts of information that did
not yet lay out which is the background information. However, due to the time constraint that we
have the exam about half of the class before beginning to do the project, I did not finish it in class.
Thus, I continued to do it after school that we all stayed together to finish the video and during
weekend at home. At last, I was able to finish it around Saturday and sent it to Gam along with the
voice that I narrated about literature review.
Source
1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lmeH1ofeSJTRJ1KYB57JvRy_ryishFbi_PE6IdfY
ZX4/edit?usp=sharing