Our continuing research on self-injurious behavior is concerned with how SIB is expressed and how it relates to other patterns of behavior The typical form of self-injurious behavior is self-directed biting However, the relationship between non-injurious biting and wounding (SIB) is not linear Wounding, in fact, is exceptionally rare in the context of relatively high rates of noninjurious biting Monkeys with a veterinary record of self-inflicted wounding bite themselves regularly but wound themselves only rarely There is also a smaller cohort of monkeys that bite themselves regularly but have never wounded themselves The vast majority of the monkeys neither bite nor wound Based on scar count measures and behavioral observations, monkeys typically direct bites to the arms and legs (in rare cases, to the stomach) Monkeys have biting preferences such that either arms or legs are preferred We have now followed a group of monkeys with veterinary recor ds of self -inflicted wounding and compared them to matched controls Monkeys with a veterinary record of SIB are rated as more aggressive by animal care staff and are more aggressive and less affiliative in their response to other monkeys in the room than controls They also vocalize more and consume more fluid per day than controls Attempts to treat this disorder using various forms of environmental enrichment have failed Neither toys nor more elaborate foraging devices such as grooming boards or puzzle feeders have reduced the incidence of self-directed biting Future research will be directed toward understanding the role of social partners in alleviating this response PUBLICATIONS Bayne, K A L , & Novak, M A (1998) Psychological disorders In B T Bennett, C R Abee, & R Henrickson (Eds ) Nonhuman Primates in Biomedical Research, Vol II Diseases New York Academic Press, pp 485-500 Novak, M A , West, M , Bayne, K A L , & Suomi, S J (1998) Ethological research methods In L Hart (Ed ) Responsible Conduct of Research in Animal Behavior New York Oxford University Press, pp 51-66 Novak, M A , Kinsey, J H , Jorgensen, M J , & Hazen, T J (1998) The effects of puzzle feeders on pathological behavior in individually housed rhesus monkeys American Journal of Primatology, 46, 213-227 Novak, M A (1998) Experiences with environmental enrichment for nonhuman primates In J C Gonder & L Krulisch (Eds ) Performance Standards and Animal Welfare Definition, Application, and Assessment Part 1 Greenbelt, MD Scientists Center for Animal Welfare (pp 7-9) Jorgensen, M J , Kinsey, J H , & Novak, M A (1998) Risk factors for self-injurious behavior in captive rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) American Journal of Primatology, 45, 187 Kinsey, J H , Jorgensen, M J , Pagliuca, L A , & Chase, W K (1998) The effects of photographic slides on self-injurious behavior in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) American Journal of Primatology, 45, 190-191
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