Animal Behavior

Biology 155

Spring 2010

B. L. Krilowicz

I. Definition:• Behavior is the

observable response that an animal makes to a stimulus.

• Responses can have –– A genetic (innate =

instinctive) component

– An environmental (learned) component

– Usually both (especially for human behaviors)

II. Instinctive Behaviors:

• Entirely genetically programmed• Behavior is performed in its entirety the first and

all subsequent times that it is performed; caveats -– Animal must be at the correct developmental age

• ex. Reproductive behaviors

– Animal must encounter the appropriate environmental stimulus

– Animal must be in the correct motivational state • ex. feeding

II. Types of Instinctive Behaviors:

• Kinesis = change in rate of random movement in response to a stimulus – ex. Pill bugs in dry versus moist conditions

II. Types of Instinctive Behaviors (continued):

• Taxis = directed movement toward or away from a stimulus

– ex. Female mosquitoes movement toward moisture, warmth, etc.

– ex. Male gypsy moth’s movement toward chemical produced by female

II. Types of Instinctive Behaviors - continued

• Reflex = stereotyped movement of a body part or the whole body

– ex. Autonomic and somatic reflexes studied in lab

– ex. Jellyfish response to touch discussed in lecture

II. Types of Instinctive Behaviors - continued

• Fixed Action Pattern = a complex behavior triggered by a simple stimulus (sign stimulus = releaser)– ex. Grey lagged goose nesting behavior– ex. Gull chicks pecking at red spot on adult bill

to initiate adult feeding behaviors

II. Types of Instinctive Behaviors - continued

• Fixed Action Pattern (continued)– ex. Aggressive and

courtship behaviors in the Bettas studied in the lab

III. Learned Behaviors:

• Behaviors change based on experience = environment

• Requires a complex nervous system

III. Types of Learned Behaviors:

• Imprinting is a genetically programmed form of learning in which an animal makes a strong association during a particular developmental stage called the sensitive period

–ex. Konrad Lorenz’s goslings

III. Types of Learned Behaviors - continued

• Habituation is a decline in a response to a repeated harmless stimulus– ex. Aplysia (note that jellyfish and their

relatives do not habituate, as the textbook incorrectly states)

• Conditioning is a type of learning usually seen in the laboratory in which an animal –– Learns to respond to a new stimulus =

classical conditioning• ex. Pavlov’s dogs

III. Types of Learned Behaviors - continued

• Conditioning – continued– A type of learning in which an animal learns to

perform a behavior to receive a reward or avoid a punishment = operant conditioning

• ex. Skinner’s rats and bar pressing for food

III. Types of Learned Behaviors - continued

• Trial and Error is a type of learning seen in nature in which an animal is faced with naturally occurring rewards and punishments that lead to modifications in behavior; (Social Learning described in the textbook falls under this category)– ex. Hummingbirds and feeders– ex. Dog reaching a food item

• Note that your text categorizes conditioning and trial-and-error learning together as Associative Learning

Trial and error learning versus

Reasoning or insight or problem

solving

III. Types of Learned Behaviors - continued

• Insight or reasoning or problem solving is a type of behavior in which concepts are manipulated in the mind to arrive at a behavior, does not require previous experience

– ex. Monkey stacking boxes to reach bananas

Insight (continued)

Evidence from birds (Clayton 2007, reviewed in News and Comment portion of Science) – 1) birds spend 1 day (24 hours) in the complete “suite” below (A+B+C), 2) birds spend 1 day in room A with door closed to C, 3) birds spend 1 day in room B with door closed, 4+5) repeat 2 + 3, 6) repeat 1

A) End room with pine nuts

B) End room without pine nuts

C) Middle room with pine nuts

door door

Insight (continued)

Spontaneously began stashing pine nuts in end room B – looks as though they remembered going hungry in that room and were storing nuts in anticipation of being locked up in there again!

Spatial Learning and Cognitive Maps Described in Textbook

• Omit these as specific types of learning. Depending on the situation they could be a type of fixed action pattern, imprinting or trial and error learning