Transcript Animal Behavior - Cal State LA

Animal Behavior
Biology 155
A. Russo-Neustadt
I. Definition:


Behavior is the
observable response
that an animal makes
to a stimulus.
Responses can have –
A
genetic (innate =
instinctive) component
 An environmental
(learned) component
 Usually both (especially
for human behaviors)
II. Instinctive Behaviors (Innate):



Entirely genetically programmed
Behavior is performed in its entirety the first
and all subsequent times that it is performed
Requirements:
 Animal must be at the correct
 ex. Reproductive behaviors
 Animal
developmental age
must encounter the appropriate
environmental stimulus
 Animal must be in the correct motivational state

ex. feeding
II. Types of Instinctive
Behaviors:

Kinesis = change in rate of random movement
in response to a stimulus
 ex.
Pill (Sow) bugs in dry versus moist conditions
II. Types of Instinctive Behaviors:

Taxis = directed
movement toward or
away from a stimulus
 ex. Female
mosquitoes movement
toward moisture,
warmth, etc.
 ex. Male gypsy moth’s
movement toward
chemical produced by
female
 Trout
II. Types of Instinctive
Behaviors - continued

Reflex = stereotyped
movement of a body
part or the whole
body
 ex.
Autonomic and
somatic reflexes
studied in lab
II. Types of Instinctive
Behaviors - continued

Fixed Action Pattern = a complex
behavior triggered by a simple stimulus
(sign stimulus = releaser)
 ex.
Grey lagged goose nesting behavior
II. Types of Instinctive
Behaviors - continued

Fixed Action Pattern
(continued)
 ex.
Aggressive and
courtship behaviors in
the Bettas studied in
the lab
III. Learned Behaviors:
Behaviors change based on experience =
environment
 Requires a complex nervous system

Learned Behaviors
Imprinting
 Habituation
 Conditioning
 Trial and Error
 Insight (Reasoning)

III. Types of Learned Behaviors:

Imprinting is a genetically programmed
form of learning in which an animal makes
a strong association during a particular
developmental stage called the sensitive
period
–ex. Konrad Lorenz’s goslings
III. Types of Learned Behaviors

Habituation is a decline in a response to
a repeated harmless stimulus
 ex.
Aplysia – Sea Slug
III. Types of Learned Behaviors

Conditioning (associative) is a type of
learning usually seen in the laboratory in
which an animal –
 Learns
to respond to a new stimulus =
classical conditioning

ex. Pavlov’s dogs
III. Types of Learned Behaviors
- continued

Conditioning – continued
A
type of learning in which an animal learns to
perform a behavior to receive a reward or
avoid a punishment = operant conditioning

ex. Skinner’s rats and bar pressing for food
III. Types of Learned Behaviors
- continued

Trial and Error is a type of learning seen
in nature in which an animal is faced with
naturally occurring rewards and
punishments that lead to modifications
in behavior
 ex.
Dog reaching a food item
 Potential Porcupine Predators
III. Types of Learned Behaviors
- continued

Insight or reasoning is a type of behavior
in which concepts are manipulated in
the mind to arrive at a behavior, does not
require previous experience
 ex.
Monkey stacking boxes to reach bananas
Trial and error learning versus
Reasoning or insight
Next time….
Feeding and Digestion