Numerically restricted food intake in the rat in a free-feeding situation

Rats were trained to leave an array of food after they had consumed a fixed number (three, four, or five) of food items. This discrimination remained in effect despite a shift from 45-mg Noyes pellets to larger and irregularly sized sunflower seeds. The present demonstration replicates work first reported 50 years ago by Otto Koehler and his associates (e.g., Marold, 1939; see also Koehler, 1950), who used avian subjects, and, like those studies, it involved both positive and negative social reinforcement. The present procedure provided a rare instance in which numerical control was exerted over behavior that was primarily consummatory in nature. The results are viewed in terms of the wider literature of numerical competence in animals and are discussed in terms of a numerical process known asprotocounting (Davis & P’erusse, 1988b).     

The Use of Risk Management to Support Preventive Conservation

ABSTRACT

Risk management approaches have been increasingly used at the British Library to inform and support collection care decisions. This paper addresses the ways in which these methods have been used to address specific preservation issues at the Library, using appropriate case studies: rehousing the microfilm collection, adapting pest management protocols, replacing box-making equipment and assessing the environmental conditions of the philatelic collection. As well as allowing complex, multi-faceted preservation problems to be addressed, this approach also allows options to be presented in a succinct and readily understandable manner to non-specialist colleagues and other stakeholders and helps to ensure buy-in.