Transcript What is behavior? - BronxPrepAPBiology

BEHAVIORIAL BIOLOGY
Behavior
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What is behavior?
What an animal does and how it does it
What is behavioral ecology?
The genetic component of behavior that
associates animals behavior with an
increase in fitness.
Proximate vs. Ultimate Cause
• What is proximate causation?
• The immediate cause and/or mechanism
underlying a behavior. The “how”
• What is ultimate causation?
• The evolutionary reason for the existence of
a behavior. The “why”
• Human sweet tooth • proximate cause = ?
Proximate vs. Ultimate Cause
• What is proximate causation?
• The immediate cause and/or mechanism
underlying a behavior.
• What is ultimate causation?
• The evolutionary for the existence of a
behavior.
• Human sweet tooth • proximate cause = enjoyment of sweets
makes us eat them.
• Ultimate cause = ?
Proximate vs. Ultimate Cause
• What is proximate causation?
• The immediate cause and/or mechanism
underlying a behavior.
• What is ultimate causation?
• The evolutionary for the existence of a
behavior.
• Human sweet tooth • proximate cause = enjoyment of sweets
makes us eat them.
• Ultimate cause = high energy in sweets is
beneficial to survival
Ethology
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How animals behave in nature
Physiological mechanisms for behavior
How does development lead to behavior
Evolutionary history of the behavior
How does behavior provide adaptive
advantage?
Innate behavior
• FAP = fixed action patterns, highly stereotyped
innate behavior
• sign stimulus or releaser
• once behavior begins, can’t be stopped
Red bellies
release
aggressive
behavior in
male fish
2. Imprinting
• What is imprinting?
• Konrad Lorenz showed this with his
geese.
• Imprinting is limited to critical period and
usually irreversible.
• Young imprint to “know” parents and
parents imprint to “know” young.
• Song development in birds is an example
of imprinting
Directed Movements
• Identify if the following pictures display
taxis or kinesis….
Signals and Communication
• Nocturnal animals use auditory and
chemical signals
• Diurnal animals use visual and auditory
signals
• What are pheromones?
Genetic influences on Mating
• Seen with prairie voles
• Drosophila shows how
diet influenced mate
choice
Preference of males
with larger repertoires
Learning
• What is the difference between instinctive
behavior and learned behavior?
• Learned behavior shows modification of
behavior based on a specific experience.
• Different from maturation.
1. Habituation
• What is habituation?
• Loss of responsiveness to stimuli that
convey little information
• e.g. teacher threatens detentions yet
never actually assigns one, you stop
responding to the threat of detention.
Spatial Learning
What did Tinbergen
learn about the ability
of the wasp to find its
nest?
It is not the pinecones
but the shape of the
landmark that is
important.
What are the proximate
and ultimate causes of this
behavior?
Proximate cause landmark arrangement.
Ultimate cause - fitness
is enhanced by the
wasps’ ability to find the
nest.
3. Associative learning
• Animals learn to associate one stimulus
with another.
• Classical conditioning - ?
3. Associative learning
• Animals learn to associate one stimulus
with another.
• Classical conditioning - Pavlov and
dogs. Learn to associate arbitrary
stimulus with reward or punishment.
• Operant conditioning - ?
3. Associative learning
• Animals learn to associate one stimulus
with another.
• Classical conditioning - Pavlov and
dogs. Learn to associate arbitrary
stimulus with reward or punishment.
• Operant conditioning - trial and error
learning. Used to train animals
4. Play
• What is the ultimate cause of play?
• Exercise
• practice
Animal cognition
• Problem solving skills ….
Natural Selection
• Prey Selection…
– Garter snake that is raised near banana
slug recognizes it as prey
– Other group not raised there did not eat
the slugs
Science as a
process;
cost/benefit
analysis of
foraging
behavior
Social behavior
• What is social behavior?
• Interaction between two or more
animals
• sociobiology studies the evolutionary
causes of social behavior.
Mating Behavior
• Promiscuous
• Monogamous
• Polygamous
– Polyandrous – single female with several
males
– Polygynous – single male with several
females
• Female selection for mates is most
common…
• Leads to…
Female selection leads to
1. Agonistic behavior
• What is agonistic behavior?
• Contest that involve threatening and
submissive behavior to gain access to a
resource (food or mate)
• What is the evolutionary importance of
agonistic behavior?
• The victor may win the right to mate have
successful reproductive fitness.
2. Territoriality
• What is a territory?
• An area that an individual defends
excluding other members of its species.
• Territory can provide strongest with the
best food source and space.
3. Dominance Hierarchy
• What is a dominance hierarchy?
• Agonistic behavior helps establish the
strongest member as the alpha animal.
• Territoriality, agonistic behavior and
dominance hierarchy all help to stabilize
the reproductive fitness of the group.
Inclusive Fitness
• What is altruism?
• Reduce fitness of self to increase
fitness of others
• How does this work with evolution?
• Leads to kin selection and coefficient of
relatedness
Where
B(r) > c
B is benefit
R is coefficient of
relatedness
C is cost