Animal Behavior
Mrs. Rightler
Methods of Study
 Comparative
psychology
 Ethology
 Behavioral
ecology
 Sociobiology
Instinct
 Basic
set of behaviors present at
birth
 May need a trigger
 Behavior improves or changes
with experience
Maturation
 Behavior
seen after a period of
development has occurred
 Improvement or change not
based on experience but on time
 Ex. Tadpole swimming
techniques
Imprinting
 Konrad
Lorenz
 Critical time period ONLY
 Young animal develops
attachment to another animal or
object
 Rapid learning
Learning
Habituation
 Animal
trained to ignore stimuli
 Dog examples
Classical Conditioning
 Pavlov’s
dog
 Animal learns to respond to
particular stimuli
 Basic obedience training
Instrumental Conditioning
 Trial-and-error
 Skinner
learning
Box
 Behavior can be “shaped”
Latent Learning
 Exploratory
learning
 No obvious reward
 Helps animal learn about its
surroundings
Insight Learning
 Animal
uses experiences and
thinking to solve problems.
 Tool use
 Primates
Behavior is Controlled by:
 Nervous
system
 Endocrine system
– Organizational
effects
– Activational effects
Animal Communication
 Transfer
of information from one
animal to the other (both must be
mutually adapted)
 Visual
 Auditory
 Tacticle
 Chemical
Behavioral Ecology
Habitat Selection
 Two
factors influence habitat
choice
– Physiological
– Psychological
Finding Food
Foraging Behavior
 Process
of locating food
resources
 Cost vs. benefit analysis
– Handling
time
– Nutritional value
– Status value
– Concentration/density
Specialists vs. Generalist
Social Behavior
 Members
of the same species
 Usually live full-time in groups
 Can refer to predator-prey
interactions
Group Living
society – stable group of
individuals of the same species
that have cooperative
relationships outside of mating
and raising young.
 Invertebrates and vertebrates
 Animal
Advantages to Group Life
 Protection
from predators
 Increase feeding efficiency
 Protection from elements
 Easy access to potential mates
Mating
Behavior
Disadvantages of Group
Life
 Competition
 Diseases
 Parasites
for resources
Aggression
 Agonistic
behavior
 Attacks
 Threat
displays
 Maintains territory
 Maintains dominance hierarchy
Altruism
 Individual
sacrifices reproductive
potential for the benefit of others
in the group
– Honeybees
– Turkeys
– Naked
 Kin
mole rats
selection