Abstract

Comments on J. J. Cooper and C. J. Nicol’s (see record 1991-32340-001) paper on how stereotypic behavior affects environmental preferences in bank voles and their conclusion that stereotypies help captive animals cope with adverse environments. While Cooper and Nicol’s results may revitalize the coping hypothesis, problems with their study included (1) a lack of measurements to determine that the empty cage was aversive and (2) the fact that the study was correlational.