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Published byJune Craig Modified over 9 years ago
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History of the Study of Animal Behaviour
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History of Studies of Animal Behaviour Scala Naturae ( Aristotle ) Evolutionary Approach ( J.Lamarck; C.Darwin ) Ethology ( K.Lorenz; N.Tinbergen ) Comparative Psychology ( C.Morgan; E.Thorndike; M.&H.Harlow; K.Lashley ) Sociobiology/Behavioural Ecology ( E.O.Wilson; W.D.Hamilton )
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Scala Naturae (the great chain of beings) <-- Humans
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Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829) Engraving in 1821
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Charles Darwin (1809-1882) wedding portrait done in 1841
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Evolution according to Lamarck According to Lamarck, constant use of certain organs led to changes in the organs themselves. For example, stretching of the neck, in the case of the giraffe, led to its gradual lengthening.
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Evolution according to Darwin Darwin maintained that the mechanism of natural selection was responsible for the evolution of longer-necks in giraffes: individuals with longer necks survived to pass their ‘long-neck’ trait along.
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EthologistsComparative Psychologists Evolution, function Innate behaviour Many species Natural habitats Species differences Mechanisms, development Learned behavour Few species Laboratory General laws
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The egg retrieval response of the greylag goose
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Fixed Action Pattern- a programmed behaviour pattern triggered by a specific environmental stimulus It is innate or unlearned It is stereotyped It is difficult to disrupt
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A gull attempting to incubate a super-egg instead of her own egg
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Clever Hans - a horse with a head for numbers
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Conwy Lloyd Morgan (1852-1936) Photograph from ca. 1900
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Morgan’s Canon “In no case may we interpret an action as the outcome of the exercise of a higher psychical faculty if it can be interpreted as the outcome of the exercise of one which stands lower in the psychological scale.” ( Morgan 1891, p. 53 )
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Thorndike’s puzzle box
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Margaret and Harry Harlow Mother-Infant Bonding Primates have a biological need for contact comfort
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Karl Lashley attempted to locate the locus of learning in the cerebral cortex
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Sociobiology/Behavioural Ecology Alarm call by a ground squirrel Focus on the function of behaviour Cost/benefit analysis of the individual acts All behaviour is ultimately selfish (it maximizes individual genetic success)
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