Transcript Animal Behavior

• Behavior – the way an organism reacts to
change
• Stimulus – change in the organisms
environment (can be inside or outside the
organism’s body)
• Response – reaction to the change
• Usually involves multiple body systems
interacting and working together
• Innate – behaviors an organism is born
with
•Ex: a spider weaving a web
• Learned – behaviors acquired due to an
organism’s experiences (not born with
these behaviors)
• Habituation
• Classical Conditioning
• Operant Conditioning
• Insight Learning
• DO NOT WRITE THIS SLIDE IN YOUR
NOTES!!!
• Habituation – response is slowed or
stopped due to being exposed to the
stimulus a number of times
•Simplest form of learning
•Ex: Ragworms will retreat to their
burrows when a shadow passes over
them. They will eventually stop
retreating to their burrows when shadows
continually pass over them.
• Classical Conditioning – mental connection
is made between a stimulus and an event
•Ex: Pavlov’s dog
• Every time Pavlov fed his dog he
would ring a bell. Eventually the dog
would salivate every time it heard the
bell (even if food was not present).
• Operant Conditioning – behavior is
learned through rewards and punishments
•Ex: Training a dog
• Most dogs are trained by giving it a
reward (treat, toy, affection) when it
does the desired behavior (sit, stay,
etc.). Dog will not receive the reward
if it does not do the behavior.
• Insight Learning – applies prior knowledge
to a new situation
•Most complex form of learning
•Performed mostly by humans
•Ex: Chimpanzee experiment
• Bananas were placed out of reach for
a chimp. The chimp stacked boxes on
top of one another to climb up and
reach the bananas.
• Imprinting
•Newborn ducks have an innate behavior
to follow the first object they see (usually
their parent)
•They do not know what the object will
look like when they are born
•They must learn which object(s) to follow
and not to follow
• Many animals respond to periodic
changes in their environment (daily or
seasonal cycles of behavior)
•Ex: dormancy/hibernation,
migration, circadian rhythm (daily
pattern)
• Behaviors help animals to reproduce
•Ex: courtship – behavior that helps
animals choose the healthiest mate
• Social Behavior – how animals
interact with their own species
• Some behaviors protect territories
•Ex: aggression, competition
• Communication
• Use of visual signs
• Ex: movement, color
• Pheromones – chemicals emitted that affects an
animal’s behavior
• Ex: animals “marking” their territory
• Vocal communication
• Ex: birds chirping, humans speaking
• Language – combines sounds, signals, and
gestures
• Most complex form of communication
• Known to be only used by humans