Talk:Vacuum activity

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 4 September 2019 and 27 November 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Hmc442 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: JanuarytheCalico, Emw3181, Ethologyisfun31, Abeththorne.

What I wrote about humans is original, the rest is referenced. Proxima Centauri (talk) 11:33, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Unless you can provide references to support your statements about vacuum activity in humans, I would recommend deleting that section as it confuses the issue--at least to me. The humans in your examples hardly live in a vacuum, and their reactions to depicted situations are very complex. By your own admission, your statements are contrary to Wikipedia:No original research. Regards, Pinethicket (talk) 22:33, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Removed orphan tag

I'm removing the orphan tag. I arrived at this article via Raccoon. XXVII (talk) 02:09, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

A more familiar example?

Domestic dogs often walk around in a tight circle 3 or 4 times before lying down, independent of the floor covering. Could this be a vacuum activity inherited from ancestors that would tread down long grass before lying down? Sadly I have no time to seek a reference for this, hence no content page edit, however this would seem to me to be a well-known example. Careful With That Axe, Eugene ^Hello... 10:40, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

I was thinking the same thing. Dogs do it to make their beddng and inspect the area for dangerous objects and such. [-ref>{ {cite web|url =http://www.sarahsdogs.com/qa/why-do-dogs-circle-before-lying-down/%7C title =Why do dogs circle before lying down?|publisher= TGK|accessdate =26 April 2012}}<-ref>] MunkyJuce69 (talk) 19:15, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Maybe it's a case of OCD. (Huey45 (talk) 11:36, 22 June 2010 (UTC))

Perhaps I haven't grasped the humour but OCD is clearly a human behavioural condition? Careful With That Axe, Eugene ^Hello... 17:02, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

References

Change of first sentence

I find the first sentence of this article rather confusing - it actually seems to suggest that behaviours cause behaviours. I propose the first sentence be changed to - Vacuum activities are patterns of instinctive behaviour that animals perform in the absence of the external stimuli that normally elicit them. DrChrissy (talk) 18:35, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

Delete cat examples

I propose the following cat examples in the article should be deleted. "Adult cats that were weaned too early "suckle" exposed human skin when relaxed. Also, cat litterbox training is based on redirecting a vacuum activity (burying faeces to minimize scent exposure to potential rivals or prey; a usually unnecessary task for a housecat) into a productive habit for a pet."

The first example is RE-DIRECTED behaviour. The key stimuli of warmth and bare skin (as in a mammary gland) evoke suckling behaviour, therefore it is not a vacuum behaviour. In the second example, the key stimulus is the faeces. These are present during litter tray training and therefore it is not a vacuum activity. It is not the purpose or appropriateness of the behaviour that is important in vacuum activities, it is whether the key stimuli are present or not. DrChrissy (talk) 17:01, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

Example: Squirrels

The given reference for the squirrel example gives very different information than what is written here. The reference does not talk about any vacuum activity. Instead, it talks about innate behaviour: After having been handed a nut, the sheltered squirrel acts like wild squirrel without ever having seen a nut before (and without having acted as if a nut was around). Am I reading the article and the reference correctly? If so, I suggest, we should remove that false example.