Animal Behavior

Introduction An important warning. Always try to strike a balance between anthropomorphism and considering animals as machines. Does an animal need to be able to anticipate future events in order to act in an apparently purposeful way (i.e. protect its young)?

Introduction Probably true that much of what an animal does is the result of past events = evolutionary history. Ancestors did it and passed trait on so it is here today. Much more difficult to show that an animal is aware of future events, but can’t be certain that it isn’t, either.

Introduction Your authors separate important questions to be answered by the study of animal behavior into “how” questions and “why” questions. I have difficulty with trying to answer “why” questions in a scientific way. I don’t ask the question, “why does an animal do that”, but rather, “what is the adaptive value of doing that”? The second question leads to data which can answer it. I think the first does not.

Proximate vs. Ultimate Factors Ultimate factors are the indirect, evolutionary factors that produce behavior. Proximate factors are the structural and mechanical influences that directly produce and control behavior. = the immediate conditions that cause an animal to act in a particular way and the tools it has to perform efficiently.

Proximate vs. Ultimate Factors Both ultimate and proximate factors are generally considered to be environmental. Proximate are triggered by current environmental and internal physiological factors. Ultimate, by previous environmental factors which caused some individuals to survive and pass on genes to the present generation. Very important.

The Monarch Butterflies Read about the monarch butterfly in your text. Understand how the study of this one insect can lead to questions regarding all of the varying components of animal behavior. Be prepared to discuss question 4 in class next time.

Foundations of Animal Behavior The principles of evolution apply to the study of animal behavior just as they do to other aspects of the biology of animals. Review the concept of natural selection as a mechanism for evolution.

Comparative Method Romanes concept. Highly anthropomorphic. He believed that there existed a hierarchy of mental processes extending from the “lowest” animals to human beings. He believed that worms exhibited fear and surprise, birds exhibited pride and terror, etc. His theory relied upon inferences from anecdotes with no experimental data to support it.

Observational Method C. Lloyd Morgan gave us “law of parsimony”. Basic idea is that we should not ascribe to animals “a higher psychical faculty” if the behavior can be explained in simpler terms. Not nearly so anthropomorphic. Does a robin build a nest because it loves its babies and knows the nest will protect them? Or is there a simpler explanation for this behavior.

Ethology Ethology (from greek ethos, manner or behavior) Study of what animals do, how they do it and the adaptive value of the behavior. Study of the mechanisms and evolution of behavior.

Ethology European origin ‑‑ background of ethologists traditionally in zoology. Generally, research animals of ethologists have been insects, fish and birds, although, recently more emphasis is being placed on mammals, especially primates. Material gathered through field work in natural habitats.

Ethologists Interests Accurate observations and descriptions of an animal's behavior (ethogram). How does it make a living? Mechanisms and programming (neural and muscular) which underlie it (proximate factors). Adaptive value of the behavior (ultimate factors).

Ecologists Interests Ecologists are concerned with the animal’s behavior in the natural environment which leads to information about the adaptive value of the behavior. The term “environment” is an inclusive term  Includes not only ecology of the physical surroundings but,  Social interactions - inter and intra specific  Sensory world of animal  Evolutionary history past environments in which ancestors lived that contributed to current adaptations.

Ethology So evolution, ecology, sensory ability (including sensory processing) and social organization are crucial to understanding behavior. Ethologists, therefore, have relied first on careful and inconspicuous observations and only secondarily (and very warily) on experimentation. Regarded as unscientific by psychologists.

Ethology Ethologists believe the secrets of animal behavior lie largely in the animal's genes since these are the units of selection. How has evolution prepared an animal to deal with its particular environment?  Forced them to look for inherited behavior = innate or instinctive behavior.  Believe the neural mechanisms, programming and evolutionary strategies which combine to --> a well adapted animal provide ethologists with the most interesting and important questions in science today.

Comparative Psychology Traditionally American Proponents are generally grounded in psychology Came to focus on white rat. Usually carried out work in lab. Emphasis on learning and development of theories of behavior.

Behaviorism Developed by J.B. Watson and elaborated and popularized by B. F. Skinner. Based on 3 basic assumptions. Watson: " Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select -- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant- chief and, yes, even beggarman and thief...."

Assumptions of Behaviorists The elements of behavior are not the largely pre- wired neural circuits (of ethologists) - but reflexes linked together by "conditioning" (= simple form of learning) to --> behavior. Learning is, therefore, the ultimate basis of behavior, and instinct (even as the director of learning) need not exist. Worrying about what might be happening inside animals is irrelevant or even dangerous. It can generate untestable concepts such as feelings and expectations. These concepts = "mental states"

Behaviorists and Experimentation Believed that the study of animals is relevant to humans because there are "laws" of behavior which apply to higher animals in general. Used animals (reluctantly because they couldn't use humans for their experiments) Obsessed with controlling the only variable they admitted in behavior. = the animals' physical environment. Environmental input related to behavioral output.

Behaviorists and Experimentation Laws formulated without regard for evolution of trait, etc. Forced to work in lab to control the environment. Took care to decrease genetic differences In nature. Natural selection operates to prevent close relatives from mating. Behaviorists used inbred and domesticated animals for dozens of generations.

Behaviorists and Experimentation With genes and the environment under control, the stage can be set for precise and reproducible experiments. Asked questions irrelevant to the natural behavior of animals. Regarded as unbiological by ethologists.

Ethologists vs. Psychologists So ethologists were considered "unscientific" by psychologists and psychologists as "unbiological" by ethologists. This resulted in a bitter nature- nurture controversy in 50's and 60's.

Present Situation Behaviorism on decline. Couldn't admit existence of innate behavior much less mechanisms and evolution. Replaced by comparative psychology.

Present Situation (Comparative Psychology) Much more broadly based than the behavior of the domesticated white rat. Still retains its traditional focus on learning and controlled lab experiments.

Present Situation (Ethology) Early ethologists were often scientifically unrigorous. Too descriptive – anecdotal. Now quantify rigorously. Use many of the tools of psychology (e.g. statistics) Early ethologists no better than psychologists at working on neural and physiological mechanisms. Still have the tendency to describe what happens and leave how to physiologists and neurologists.

Present Situation (Ethology) Early ethologists often observed something, pointed out it was adaptive, labeled it as innate and left it at that. Too easily used "innate" as if it were an explanation. (Often right, though, as to which behaviors have instinctual bases and which do not.)

Present Situation (Ethology) For ethologists human beings are simply one tip of a branch on the branching bush of evolution. We differ from other animals because of the particular course our species took as we diverged from our ancestors. Therefore man is best understood in the context of the mechanisms and evolutionary forces which shape the rest of the animal world. Overall “laws” of behavior must be considered only in this evolutionary context. When we study learning in insects we can hope that the underlying processes will be similar in humans.