1. Animal Behavior

2. Ethology Study of how animals behave 4 main questions
What stimulus elicits a behavior and what physiological mechanisms mediate a response?
How does the animals experiences during development influence the response
How does the behavior aid survival and reproduction
What is the behaviors evolutionary basis.

3. Behavioral Ecology
Study of the ecological and evolutionary basis of behavior
Proximate cause – focuses on immediate causality (how it happens)
Ultimate cause – focuses on the bigger picture
(why it is evolutionarily beneficial)

4. Movement Kinesis – change in activity due to a stimulus
Taxis – orientation towards or away from a stimulus

5. Migration
Migration – a long distance change of locations done at regular intervals
Usually stimulated by seasonal changes
Use the sun, north star, or the earth magnetic field

6. Rhythms
Circadian rhythms – daily cycles (rest, eating, etc), usually regulated by light and dark
Circannual rhythms – yearly cycles usually linked to seasons.
Cortisol, released by the adrenal gland

7. Signaling
Usually, visually, chemical, or auditory

8. Instincts Innate behavior – fixed behaviors that all the
animals in a population
are born with (instinct)
Fixed action pattern –
a sequence of innate
behaviors initiated by
a stimulus.

9. Learning
Habituation – a reduction or loss of reaction to a stimuli (crying wolf)

10. Imprinting
Imprinting – a life long reaction or bond to an object or individual created at a young age
Usually a baby raised by a different species mistakenly believes he is of that species

11. Spatial Learning Spatial learning – able to remember the structures in
an environment
(using landmarks)

12. Cognitive Maps
Cognitive maps – a memorized mental representation (map) of an environment. (do not have to rely on land marks.

13. Associative Learning
Associative learning – the ability to connect two environmental factors as being related (color and taste)
Classical and operant learning

14. Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning – a stimulus elicits a response
Povlov’s dog – ringing a dinner bell before dinner causes the dog to salivate without food being present

15. Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning – an animal connects his behavior with a good or bad response (trial and error)
Pups or cubs with porcupines

16. Cognition
Cognition – the ability to think, reason and process information.
Cognition can be used to problem solve

17. Selection and Survival
Most behaviors are ultimately formed by natural selection for survival and reproduction

18. Foraging
Foraging – activities and strategies an animal uses for survival.
optimal foraging model – benefits should outweigh costs

19. Fight or Flight
The decision to fight or run is also measured by risk and reward (benefits should out weight costs)

20. Mating Systems Promiscuous – no mating bonds
Monogamous – strong bond forms one male one female for a long period
Polygamous – one sex mates with others
Polygyny –the males mate with many females
Polyandry – the females mate with many males

22. Antagonistic behavior
Competition to gain access to a resource.

23. Game theory
Evaluates the success of strategies used when the strategies depend on other strategies (paper, rock, scissors.)
Orange aggressive, blue small territory, yellow sneaky

24. Altruism
Altruism- animals reduces their individual fitness to increase the population fitness
Inclusive fitness – total of an individual getting their genes into the next generation through their own offspring or a relatives offspring.
Kin selection – selection favors altruism

25. Social Learning
Social learning – an individual learns by copying the behavior of a more experienced individual.
This breeds culture.
Passes behavior
to increase fitness

26. Mate choice copying
Mate choice copying – females choose mates that other females find attractive