Chapter 41: Animal Behavior
Terms:
Ethology – the study of animal behavior; an approach to the study of animal
behavior that focuses on studying many species in natural environments and addresses
questions about the evolution of behavior.
Behavioral Biology – the study of the interaction between behavior and biology;
ethology
Proximate causes – physiological or environmental factor or event that triggers an
immediate behavior; how things happen; immediate neurological, hormonal,
neurological, developmental, skeletal, muscular mechanisms reaction: Causation and
Development
Ultimate causes – the evolutionary explanation for an animal behavior; why thing
happen; evolutionary significance; usually has to do with reproduction, survival, and
food; the evolutionary processes that produced the animal’s capacity and tendency to
behave in particular ways over many generations of natural selection: Function and
Evolution
Releasers – a stimulus that causes a specific behavior pattern in an animal;
sensory stimulus that triggers performance of a stereotyped behavior pattern
Cost-benefit analysis – each activity an animal participates in has benefits and
costs; an animal has a limited supply of energy and time
Adaptive behavior – behavior used to adjust to another behavior or situation;
allows an individual to improve unconstructive habits
Instinctal behavior – an inborn patter of behavior in a specific species in response
to an environmental stimulus; reflex
Imprinting – in animal behavior, a rapid form of learning in which an animal
learns, during a brief critical period, to make a particular response, which is maintained
for life, to some object or other organism.
Innate behavior – genetically based behaviors
Fixed action patterns – in ethology, a genetically determined behavior that is
performed without learning, stereotypic (performed the same way each time), and not
modifiable by learning.
Habituation – when an animal stops responding to a stimuli
Operant behavior – utilizes reinforcement and punishment to create associations
between behaviors and the consequences for those behaviors
Classical conditioning – process that involves creating an association between a
naturally existing stimulus and a previously neutral one
Insight learning – learning/problem solving that happens all of a sudden through
understanding various parts of the problem; not trial and error
Circadian rhythms – A rhythm of growth or activity that recurs about every 24
hours; sleeping and waking up on daily occurences
Diurnal – active chiefly during the day time
Nocturnal – active chiefly at night
Crepuscular – active at dawn and dusk
Superchiasmatic nuclei – area of the brain where the master circadian clock is
located in mammals
Distal – away from the point of attachment or other reference point. (Contrast
with proximal.)
Sexual Selection – selection by one sex of characteristics in individuals of the
opposite sex. Also, the favoring of characteristics in one sex as a result of competition
among individuals of that sex for mates.
Culture – (1) a laboratory association of organisms under controlled conditions.
(2) The collection of knowledge, tools, values, and rules that characterize a human
society.
Direct fitness – the number of offspring an individual produces.
Inclusive fitness – the sum of an individual’s genetic contribution to subsequent
generations both via production of its own offspring and via its influence on the survival
of relatives who are not direct descendants.
Kin selection – that component of inclusive fitness resulting from helping the
survival of relatives containing the same alleles by descent from a common ancestor.
(Contrast with individual fitness.)
Hamilton’s rule – the principle that, for an apparent altruistic behavior to be
adaptive, the fitness benefit of that act to the recipient times the degree of relatedness of
the performer and the recipient must be greater than the cost to the performer.
Altruistic behavior – when an animal preforms an action to benefit another
Cooperative behavior – the interaction of two or more organisms directed toward
a common goal, which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting
together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action
Questions:
1. An animal’s behavior is affected by both proximate and ultimate causes.
Proximate causes trigger an individual animal to immediately respond to a
releaser. In contrast ultimate causes are evolutionary processes that cause species
to behave a certain way. Behaviors develop and evolve in response to the
environment and natural selection.
2. Behaviors are complex traits that are usually determined by multiple genes;
however, evidences show that mutations to a single gene can change an animal’s
behavior.
3. A fixed-action behavior is triggered by a simple stimuli, a releaser (EX: sound ,
color, or smell). EX: Gull chicks will peck a red spot on their parents beaks to
stimulate the regurgitating reflex. It was determine in a study that the presence of
a red dot is the releaser that triggers the chick to peck.
4. An innate behavior is a behavior that is instinctually know by an animal.
Whereas, Learned behaviors must be taught to or learned by an animal through
experiences.
5. Imprinting is when a parent and offspring bond during a critical period. The
parent and offspring study each other behavior, and they learn to identify each
other. Imprinting might not happen if a parent is not present during the critical
period. Also, if a animal is incapable of preforming or interpreting their
offspring’s/parent’s behavior the will not be able to imprint.
6. Operant and classical conditioning are both forms of teaching an animal. An
operant conditioning is a form of learning by associating an action with positive
reward or negative reinforcement. While, classical conditioning is when an animal
is conditioned to associate a neutral stimuli with a certain stimuli that produces a
response. Eventually, the animal will respond to the neutral stimuli in the same
way that it responded to the unconditioned stimuli.
7. Natural selection favors traits that are advantageous to the survival of the species.
If a behavior is beneficial to the survival of an animal, it is more likely to be
passed down from generation to generation. However, if a trait lessens the
likelihood of an animals survival, it is less likely to be passed on.
8. Living in a group increases forging efficiency, and it can reduce the risk of its
members being preyed upon. However, living in a group may reduce the amount
of food available for an individual.
9. Biological rhythm affects when an organism is active, sleeping, eating, drinking,
and all other activities. It tells an organism when to behave in a certain way.
Biological rhythms can be controlled by seasons, daylight, temperature, and other
factors.
10. The cost/benefit analysis assumes that each animal has a limited amount of time
and energy, and each activity they participate in uses up some of their resources.
The animal must determine if an activity benefits them more than it tolls them of
these resources. Social behaviors, like living independently or in a group, are
determined by the cost/benefit analysis.
11. Animals have to adapt to the culture and environment they live in. Sexual
selection can shape and change an animal’s behavior. For example the type of
mating system an animal has can shape its life style. One type of vole mates for
life; whereas, another type has males that mate with as many females as possible.
12. While altruistic behavior is not directly beneficial to the animal, it can help
increase another species member or relative’s fitness. For example, if an animal
helps raise its mother youngest litter of children, each member of the litter has a
higher life expectance. Therefore, the inclusive fitness of a family of animals can
often reflect the altruism of a species.