Chapter 34
Notes
Animal Behavior
(Ethology)
Behavior – an organism’s reaction to changes in
its internal condition or external environment.
Anything an animal does in response to
environmental stimulus.
• Example:
Stimulus
Presence of peahen
Change in daylength
Heat of the desert sun
Movement of potential prey
Response
peacock displaying colorful tail
whales wintering in S. Calif.
lizard seeking shade
tiger shark swimming toward
movement
Inherited Behavior - behavior patterns
that are genetically programmed.
p.873
1.) Innate behavior (inborn behavior)
• Inherited behavior of animals, fully
functional on first performance. (mammal
nursing/ spider web weaving)
• Consisting of automatic response and
instinctive behavior.
A.) Automatic response (quick)
• Reflex – simple response; no conscious
control.
• Fight or flight – mobilizes the body for
greater activity (fight or run)
B. Instinctive behavior (complex pattern)
• Courtship behavior – species recognition.
• Territoriality – physical space defended.
• Aggressive behavior – growling/teeth baring.
• Migration – seasonal movement cycle of
animals.
• Hibernation – physiological change that
reduces an animal’s need for energy.
• Circadian rhythms – sleep at night, awake
during day for example.
Learned Behavior
(Acquired behavior) p. 873
Learned Behavior – behavior patterns that
develop/change over time through
practice/experience.
1. Habituation : stimulus repeatedly given
not associated with punishment or
reward; eventually animal ceases to
respond to stimulus.
2. Classical Conditioning: learning by
association; Pavlov’s dog experiment.
3. Operant Conditioning (Trial and Error
Learning): Learning in which an animal
receives a reward for a particular
response; motivation commands quicker
learning. First described by B.F. Skinner,
American psychologist; Invented the
“Skinner Box” around 1930.
4. Insight: Learning based on previous
experience when responding to a new
situation.
Experimental example: a hungry chimpanzee
was able to reach bananas suspended
overhead by stacking boxes on top of one
another, then climbing the stack and
successfully feeding.
• Imprinting: occurs at a specific critical time
in life; social attachment established.
Imprinting is believed to be unchangeable
once it has occurred.
• Involves both innate and learned behavior.
• Imprinting example: Newly hatched
ducks/geese learn to recognize/follow the
first moving object they see, usually their
mother.
• Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist, 1900;
won the Nobel Prize in 1904.
• B.F. Skinner, American psychologist;
Invented the “Skinner Box” around 1930.