Animal Behavior

Elements of Behavior Behavior: the way an organism reacts to changes in its internal condition or external environment Stimulus: any kind of detectable sign that carries information Response: single, specific reaction to a stimulus

Types of Stimuli Light Sound Odors Heat THE SENSES Some are different for different animals; i.e. echolocation in dolphins

How Animals Respond When an animal responds to a stimulus, the body systems… sense organs nervous system muscles …interact to produce the resulting behavior

Behavior and Evolution If a behavior that is influenced by genes increases an individual’s fitness, that behavior will tend to spread through a population. Over many generations, various kinds of adaptive behaviors can play central roles in the survival of populations and species.

Behavior and Evolution Innate Behavior: instinct, or inborn behavior; behavior that appears in a fully functional form the first time it is performed Learned Behavior: behavior that is altered as a result of experience

Classical conditioning Learned Behavior Habituation Classical conditioning Operant conditioning Insight learning

Habituation Learning process by which an animal decreases or stops its response to a repetitive stimulus that neither rewards nor harms it

Classical Conditioning Learning process in which an animal makes a mental connection between a stimulus and some kind of reward or punishment

Operant Conditioning Learning process in which an animal learns to behave in a certain way through repeated practice, in order to receive a reward or avoid punishment Trial-and-error learning

Insight Learning Learning process in which an animal applies something it has already learned to a new situation without a period of trial and error Reasoning

Imprinting A complex behavior that combines innate behavior with learning Learning based on early experience Once imprinting has occurred, the behavior cannot be changed

Competition and Aggression Patterns of Behavior Behavioral Cycles Courtship Social Behavior Competition and Aggression Communication

Behavioral Cycles Many animals respond to periodic changes in the environment with daily or seasonal cycles of behavior Migration: periodic movement and return of animals from one place to another Circadian Rhythm: behavioral cycle that occurs in a daily pattern; i.e. sleep

Courtship Type of behavior in which an animal sends out stimuli… Sounds Visual displays, or Chemicals …in order to attract a member of the opposite sex

Social Behavior Usually members of a society are related to one another Related individuals share a large proportion of each other’s genes Kin selection: helping a relative survive increases the chance that the genes an individual shares with that relative will be passed along to offspring

Competition and Aggression Territory: specific area occupied and protected by an animal or group of animals Aggression: threatening behavior that one animal uses to gain control over another

Communication Passing of information from one organism to another Visual signals Chemical signals Sound signals Language**