Instinct vs. learned behavior
• Do you have or have had a pet?
• Describe some funny things they do
• Is it something learned or instinctive to their
species?
• Ask students to raise their hand if they have a pet. If
they do, have them describe some funny things they
do. As they tell their behaviors, ask them to decide if it
is something their pet has learned (playing dead,
rolling over, coming to their food dish at the sound of a
rustling bag) or if it is something instinctive to their
species (barking at cats, playing with their tails,
pouncing). Tell them that these are obvious behaviors.
You can tell if they are learned from their surroundings
or if they would act that way no matter where they
were. Sometimes it’s not so easy to tell.
• Behavior is how an animal responds to the
environment that surrounds it and within its
body
• A stimulus is a change in the animal's
environment or a change that occurs inside
the body.
• Depending on what sense organs an animal has,
it may react to temperature, light, sound, touch,
taste, and smell. In addition, an animal responds
to various stimuli from inside its body. Mating
behavior, for example, depends almost entirely
on the presence of various hormones in the body.
Drives for food, water, and oxygen are triggered
largely by events inside the body. (A satiated
animal will seldom eat even the most tempting of
foods placed before it.)
• There are 2 ways that you get your behavior:
• 1. Instinct (born with it)
• 2. Learned from your surroundings
BrainPOP
• Behavior BrainPOP video clip
http://www.brainpop.com/science/ecologyan
dbehavior/behavior/
• some of these behaviors are instincts, or traits
that the animal is born with, and some are
learned behaviors, or behaviors that were
taught to the animal, often by its parent.
• Instinct-
• Learned behavior-
• Heredity-
• Trait-
Discuss if time
• there are two ways that they get their actions and
behaviors. First, and sometimes most obviously, their
behaviors come from their environment. Their
surroundings are the easiest place for them to attribute
their actions. They will be the first ones to say, “Well, I’m
pretty hyper, but my house is a fun and crazy place. We’re
all pretty quiet at my house because my dad likes the
silence. I mess around with art supplies because there’s
nothing else to do at my house.” They understand that
there is something in their environment that has influenced
them to be the way they are. If you ask them if they think
they would act differently if they were raised in a different
home, they will almost always say yes.
• perhaps they play with art supplies because they
are genetically (instinctively) inclined to do so.
With a little investigation they might find a great
grandfather who loved to paint. Their enjoyment
of art might be instinctive, not just a matter of
finding something to do in the family room. Have
them stop and think about their personalities. Is
one of their parents like them in more ways than
one? A quiet, passive personality can be learned
and passed on through inherited traits.
Notes
• Think about what you do during the day from
the time you wake up. Record some of these
behaviors on your worksheet.
• DO NOT mark learned or instinct yet.
• Mark your behavior as learned or instinct.
• Think…..if they would act that way no matter
where they were it is probably INSTINCT. Would
that organism have that behavior if it were
removed from other organisms of that species at
birth? Would it still know to do that?
• OR It is LEARNED if they must learn from their
surroundings or parents.
• Sometimes it’s not so easy to tell then it is
probably BOTH learned and instinct.
Notes
• Record the following examples on the
following slides in your chart on the back of
your worksheet.
• For example, proboscis monkeys have an
instinct for swimming (they never learn how
to do it), but they must learn ways to cross a
crocodile-infested river safely.
• Humans instinctively use their voices to
communicate (newborn babies cry when they
want something), but in order to speak, they
must learn their language.
• Dolphins instinctively know how to swim, but
trainers at an aquarium can teach them to
swim certain ways—or do "tricks"—on
command.
• Many young animals, such as wolf and dog
pups and lion kits, are born with an instinct for
rough play with their siblings, but some may
learn the hard way not to play rough with a
larger adult of the species.