Behavioral Biology Chapter 51

Behavioral Biology Part I Part II (current areas of research) What is behavior? Innate Behavior FAP/ Sign stimulus Learned Behavior Habituation Imprinting Associative learning Classical Operant ob Part II (current areas of research) Optimal Foraging Cognitive maps Sociobiology

Behavior What an animal does and how it does it can be Muscular seen or heard Non muscular secretion of sex attractants Genes influence behavior can evolve Behav. ecology understand behav. In the evolutionary sense (Darwin)

Causes of Behavior Proximate Cause mechanistic, environmental stimuli trigger behavior, Ultimate Cause why or how behav. improves fitness Courtship behavior in cranes

Behavior Both genes and environment influence behavior Case studies have shown this

Fig. 51.1 Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Innate Behavior Behavior that is preprogrammed into the animal all individuals exhibit the behavior, despite environmental differences Automatic, developmentally fixed Ex: blind birds, human infant

Ethology The study of how animals behave in their natural habitat

Foraging Food searching behaviors Why animals choose the food they do at that time  cost benefit Optimal Foraging compromise between feeding cost and feeding benefits NS refines behaviors to enhance efficiency of feeding

1941|1973 Pioneers in the study of animal behavior Karl von Frisch Niko Tinbergen Konrad Lorenz

Fixed Action Patterns (FAP) Sequence of behaviors essentially unchangeable & usually conducted to completion once it is started sign stimulus releaser that triggers FAP

courtship display in sticklebacks

B. Learned Behavior Innate behavior improves with performance Modification resulting from experience

Imprinting Learning at a specific critical time & forms social attachments to another both learning & innate components But how do the young know on whom—or what—to imprint? How do young geese know that they should follow the mother goose? The tendency to respond is innate in the birds; the outside world provides the imprinting stimulus, something to which the response will be directed. Experiments with many species of waterfowl indicate that they have no innate recognition of “mother.” They respond to and identify with the first object they encounter that has certain key characteristics. In classic experiments done in the 1930s, Konrad Lorenz showed that the most important imprinting stimulus in graylag geese is movement of an object away from the young. When incubator–hatched goslings spent their first few hours with Lorenz rather than with a goose, they imprinted on him, and from then on, they steadfastly followed him and showed no recognition of their biological mother or other adults of their own species. Again, there are both proximate and ultimate explanations Konrad Lorenz was “mother” to these imprinted graylag goslings

Habituation Loss of response to stimulus “cry-wolf” effect learn not to respond to repeated occurrences of stimulus

Associative learning Learning to associate 1 feature of the environment (stimulus) with another classical conditioning stimulus & reward/punishment operant conditioning trial & error learning

Classical Conditioning Pavlov’s dog is a good example. Ivan Pavlov exposed dogs to a bell ringing and at the same time sprayed their mouths with powdered meat, causing them to salivate. Soon, the dogs would salivate after hearing the bell but not getting any powdered meat.

Operant Conditioning Trial-and-error learning - an animal learns to associate one of its own behaviors with a reward or a punishment

Cognition & Problem-Solving Connecting behavior with nervous system to perceive, store, process, and use information gathered by sensory receptors problem-solving tool use

Directed movements Kinesis Taxis simple change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus Taxis more or less automatic, oriented movement toward (positive taxis) or away from (negative taxis) a stimulus The sow bugs become more active in dry areas and less active in humid areas. Though sow bugs do not move toward or away from specific conditions, their increased movement under dry conditions increases the chance that they will leave a dry area and encounter a moist area. And since they slow down in a moist area, they tend to stay there once they encounter it. In contrast to a kinesis, a taxis is a more or less automatic, oriented movement toward (a positive taxis) or away from (a negative taxis) some stimulus. For example, many stream fish, such as trout, exhibit positive rheotaxis (from the Greek rheos, current); they automatically swim or orient themselves in an upstream direction (toward the current). This taxis keeps the fish from being swept away and keeps them facing the direction from which food will come.

Directed movements Use of landmarks within a familiar area. Some organisms move in response to a recognized object or environmental cue, the object is the landmark Cognitive maps. Some animals form cognitive maps (internal codes of spatial relationships of objects in the environment

Migration Behavior. Migration is the regular movement of animals over relatively long distances. Piloting: an animal moves from one familiar landmark to another until it reaches its destination. Fig. 51.15 Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Orientation: animals can detect directions and travel in particular paths until reaching destination. Navigation is the most complex, and involves determining one’s present location relative to other locations in addition to detecting compass directions. Cues for these behaviors include the earth’s magnetic field, the sun, and the stars. Fig. 51.15 Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

2. Competitive social behaviors often represent contests for resources Sometimes cooperation occurs. Fig. 51.18 Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Agonistic behavior is a contest involving threats. Submissive behavior. Ritual: the use of symbolic activity. Generally, no harm is done. Fig. 51.19 Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Reconciliation behavior often happens between conflicting individuals. Fig. 51.20 Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Alpha, beta rankings exist. Dominance hierarchies involve a ranking of individuals in a group (a “pecking order”). Alpha, beta rankings exist. The alpha organisms control the behavior of others. Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Territoriality is behavior where an individual defends a particular area, called the territory. Territories are typically used for feeding, mating, and rearing young and are fixed in location. Fig. 51.21 Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Natural selection favors mating behavior that maximizes the quantity or quality of mating partners Courtship behavior consists of patterns that lead to copulation and consists of a series of displays and movements by the male or female. Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Also need to know Altruistic Behavior Inclusive fitness Kin selection Pheromones Signal/communication Honey bee dance

Both genes and culture build human nature Fig. 51.32 Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings