ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
I.
INTRODUCTION
Living things respond using one or more senses
animal behavior
innate
learned
communication: sensual detection of signal and response
visual
auditory
olfactory
tactile
taste
II. INNATE (Instinctive) BEHAVIOR
A. Controlled genetically
B. Members of a species all perform exact same sequence under
the same environmental conditions.
C. Types
1. Taxis
a. Movement of organism toward or away from
stimulus
b. ex: moth to light
2. Reflex
a. Automatic, involuntary response of organism to
stimulus
b. ex: eye blink
3. Instinct
a. Fixed action pattern (FAP)
sign stimulus  behavior
b. ex:
1) Biological clock (sun)
2) Flight/fight response (aggression)
III.
IV.
LEARNED BEHAVIOR
Change in behavior as a result of experience
A. Imprinting
1. Innate & learned components
2. Acquired during specific & limited pd. of organism's
life
B. Operant conditioning
1. trial - & - error learning
2. Reinforced w/pos or neg feedback
C. Classical conditioning (associative learning)
respond to unrelated stimuli because of pos. or neg.
feedback
ex; gulls to dam when sirens heard
D. Insight learning
ability to respond correctly to new situation first time
it is encountered by using reasoning
NATURAL SELECTION & BEHAVIOR
A. Behavior survives if leads to more viable individual
(more of its genetic material passes to next generation)
ex:
1. Feeding behavior
1
B.
V.
desert: single
lush areas: flocks / herds
2. Territorialism
forest birds vs pelagic birds: nesting
(location of food)
sea lions: breeding (care of young - only
female)
3. Reproductive behavior
courtship
4. Altruism: indirect benefit
ex: alarm call
5. Selfish: only individual survives
6. Inclusive fitness: only close kin survive
Social behavior
society = population organized to cooperate beyond
sexual & parental behavior
colony of nesting birds - not
family group of gorillas - yes
1. Advantages
a. Predator protection
b. Food location
c. Division of labor
2. Disadvantages
a. increase competition for resources
b. increase disease & parasites
c. interference w/reproduction
unrelated members of society sometimes
aggressive toward other's young
SUMMARY
Simple -- > complex
taxis --> reflex --> instinct --> imprinting --> operant --> reasoning
innate
learned
2