ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

What is Behavior? Anything an animal does in response to a stimulus Stimulus: environmental change that directly influences an organism Example: change in day length, heat

Innate behavior: Inherited Natural selection favors certain behaviors Behavior that helps survival is passed on to offspring Examples: fixed action responses: unchangeable behavior that once begun, won’t stop till it is finished (toad sees prey, flips out tongue)

Reflexes: Automatic Responses Simplest form of behavior Simple automatic response to a stimulus that involves no conscious control Example: jerking hand from hot stove Fight or flight response

Instinctive Behavior Complex pattern of innate behavior Longer than a reflex Example: greylag goose rolling eggs

Internal and external cues A. Circadian rhythm: 24-hour wake-sleep cycle regulated by light (some nocturnal) B. Migration: instinctive seasonal movement by animals (birds, whales) C. Hibernation: inactivity during cold weather D. Estivation: state of reduced metabolism during periods of extreme heat

E. Suckling: mammal babies instinctively know how to get nourishment from their mother

F. Taxis: responsive movement of a free-moving organism or cell toward or away from an external stimulus, such as light. Positive phototaxis: movement toward light Negative phototaxis: movement away from light

Social Behavior: 1. Dominance Hierarchy “Pecking order” Social ranking within a group Usually a dominant male (“alpha male”) may sire most of young

2. Courtship behavior Courtship behavior: actions males and females carry out before mating Insures that members of the same species find each other and mate May protect male from being eaten long enough to mate

3. Territoriality Physical space an animal defends against own species May include breeding, feeding, or mating areas or all three Reduces competition so improves survival Pheromones may mark boundaries

4. Communication: ants and bees using pheromones Bees “dance” to show hive members the way to food Ants

5. Aggressive Behavior Intimidates others of same species Used to defend young, territory, food Teeth baring, growling, bird calls Rarely leads to death, just submission

Learned Behavior: behavior changes through practice or experience Habituation: repeated stimulus not associated with a reward or punishment, so animal eventually ceases to respond

Learned behavior: Imprinting At a critical time in its life, animal develops a social attachment to another object Usually irreversible Mostly in birds

Learned behavior: Trial and Error Animal receives a reward for a certain response Motivation speeds up this type of learning Usually, satisfies a need such as hunger

Learned behavior: Classical conditioning (Pavlov’s dog) “Learning by association” One stimulus associated with another to receive reward Eventually, first stimulus no longer needed

Learned behavior: Insight Most complex type of learning Animal uses previous experience to respond to a new situation Much of human learning occurs by insight

Which is it?