1. Motor Mechanisms and Behavior

2. Sensory and Motor Mechanisms
Mechanoreceptors respond to physical stimuli, such as touch or vibration.
Reception occurs when a receptor detects a stimulus.
Perception occurs in the brain as the information is processed.
Ex. When you view an optical illusion in which a figure seems to change, what changes is your perception of the object

3. Skeletal muscle
For muscle function to occur, physical interaction of actin (thin filaments) and myosin (thick filaments) must occur.
Muscle fibers - myofibrils – actin and myosin

4. Muscle contraction – sliding filament model
Sarcomere – basic contractile unit of skeletal muscle

6. Other types of muscle Cardiac muscle – the heart
Smooth muscle – walls of hollow organs like blood vessels and digestive tract

7. Nature versus Nurture
Behavior – action that can be observed and described.
Genetic influence
Lovebirds, snakes, snails and human experiments
Nervous and endocrine systems are both responsible for the coordination of body systems
Studies support the idea that certain types of behavior have genetic basis

8. Nature versus Nurture Environmental influences (nurture)
Learning: durable change in behavior brought about by experience.
Laughing gull chicks pecking behavior
Imprinting- sensitive period
Song learning with white crowned sparrows
Associative learning – change in behavior that involves an association between two events
Classical conditioning - Pavlov, 2 types of stimulus
Operant conditioning – Skinner, stimulus/response
Insight, imitation, and habituation

9. Behaviors Innate – developmentally fixed, unlearned
Fixed Action Pattern: sequence of unlearned acts that is largely unchangeable and usually carried to completion once it is initiated.
Ex. Male sticklebacks and red bellies, triggered by a sign stimulus.

10. More behaviors Migration – carried out by using environmental clues.
Kinesis – a simple change in activity in response to a stimulus (pill bug lab)
Circadian rhythms – those behaviors that occur on a daily cycle.

11. Signals
A stimulus that causes a change in the behavior of another individual and the basis for animal communication

12. Communication
Action by a sender that may influence the behavior of a receiver.
Chemical – pheromones, anytime of day
Auditory – fast, night or day, can be modified (length, pitch…) Language
Visual – restricted to daytime
Tactile – grooming, waggle dance of bees

13. Adaptive mating behavior
Sexual selection – adaptive changes to secure a mate
Fitness – ability to produce offspring
Female choice – based on genes and survival or investment for offspring?
Male competition –
Cost (competition) benefit (mating) analyses
This all applies to Humans too!

14. Sociobiology and animal behavior
Living in groups has a great reproductive benefit than cost
Ad: Avoid predators, rear offspring, find food
Disad: access to food, shelter, sickness
Behaviors are selected for the advantages they provide for survival and reproduction.

15. Altruism
Altruism – behavior that has potential to decrease reproductive success of altruist to benefit the reproductive success of another.
Ex. Blue jay giving an alarm call attracts attention to its location.
Inclusive fitness – personal reproductive success and reproductive success of relatives
Reciprocal altruism – making a minimal short term reproductive sacrifice in order to maximize future reproductive potential