ANIMAL ACTIVITY AND VISITOR LEARNING AT THE ZOO

This study investigated the effect animal activity had on information visitors attended to at three bear exhibits. Attention was used as an indirect measure of what information visitors are consciously processi ng, or learning It was hypothesized that visitors would be more likely to attend to specific information about animal behavior when bears we re active rather than when inactive or out of sight. Visitor conversat ions were recorded during observations of polar; sloth and spectacled bears. Conversation was coded according to its content (animal-directe d, human-focused, behavior other) and to the corresponding behavior of the bear (active, inactive, pacing, not visible). The energy level of the activity was also considered. The hypothesis was supported for th e polar bears, but less so for the other two bears. Behavior conversat ion was highest and human-directed conversation was lowest in the pres ence of highly animated polar bears. Behavior content was limited in t he presence of the less animated sloth and spectacled bears. However i t was still significantly less frequent, and human content more freque nt, when the sloth and spectacled bears were pacing and/or not visible . Therefore, what visitors attended to was influenced by what the bear s were doing. The findings suggest that animated activity (rather than the more broadly defined 'activity') elicits the most visitor attenti on to behavior and this in turn potentially facilitates visitor learni ng.