Transcript Animal Behavior!

Animals do weird things…
Behavior is the way an organism reacts to changes in its
internal condition or external environment
Stimulus – any kind of signal that
carries information and can be detected
Ex. Being hungry – internal stimulus
Ex. Being tired – internal stimulus
Ex. The sun – external stimulus
Ex. Headache – internal stimulus
Ex. Alarm clock – external stimulus
Ex. Rain – external stimulus
Response – a specific reaction to a stimulus
Response to hunger – eating
Response to being tired – sleeping
Response to the sun – wearing sun glasses
Response to headache – taking aspirin
Response to alarm clock – waking up
Response to rain – using an umbrella
After natural selection has acted, organisms end up with
adaptive behaviors to help them survive
Innate behaviors (instincts) appear in fully functional form
the first time they are performed, even though the animals
may have had no previous experience with the stimuli to
which it responds
Innate behaviors are a complex result
of interactions between genes and the
environment
Ex. Baby birds beg for food just after being born
Ex. Spiders building webs
Ex. Weaver birds building nests
Ex. Suckling of newborn mammals
Learned behaviors (acquired behaviors)
develop over time due to experience
4 majors types of learned behaviors are
habituation, classical conditioning,
operant conditioning, insight learning
Habituation – a process by which
an animal decreases or stops its
response to a repetitive stimulus
that neither rewards nor harms
Classical conditioning – when an
animal makes a mental connection
between a stimulus and some kind of
reward or punishment
Examples – Pavlov and his dogs
Operant conditioning – when
an animal learns to behave in a
certain way through repeated
practice in order to receive a
reward or punishment
Insight learning (reasoning) –
when an animal applies
something it has already learned
to a new situation without a
period of trial and error
Imprinting – involves both innate
behavior and learned behavior –
learning based on early experience –
once it is there it can’t be changed
Animals respond to periodic changes
in the environment/seasons
Migration – periodic movement
from one place to another
Ex. Birds migrate in the winter
to keep from freezing
Circadian rhythm – behavioral
cycles that occur during the day
It is basically our built in
sleep/wake cycle – it tends to
run on a 24 hour clock
Animals can have a variety of social behaviors
Courtship rituals help animals
find a suitable mate
Ex. Birds of paradise
Many animals will socialize/work in
groups
Ex. Zebras graze together – they are
safer as part of a group
Ex. Hyenas hunt as a pack – they
can take down larger prey as a team
Many animals can be territorial and aggressive
Ex. Giraffes can fight each other Ex. Mockingbirds will
aggressively defend their
viciously for mates/territory
territory
Communication
Visual signals – usually
involve color/movement
Chemical signals –
animals can release
hormones/other scents
Sound signals –animals communicate
“verbally” with their sounds
Ex. Dolphins
Language – the most complex form of
communication – only used by humans