1. Animal Behavior Mrs. Rightler

2. Methods of Study Comparative psychology Ethology Behavioral ecology Sociobiology

3. Instinct Basic set of behaviors present at birth May need a trigger Behavior improves or changes with experience

4. Maturation Behavior seen after a period of development has occurred Improvement or change not based on experience but on time Ex. Tadpole swimming techniques

5. Imprinting Konrad Lorenz Critical time period ONLY Young animal develops attachment to another animal or object Rapid learning

6. Learning

7. Habituation Animal trained to ignore stimuli Dog examples

8. Classical Conditioning Pavlov’s dog Animal learns to respond to particular stimuli Basic obedience training

9. Instrumental Conditioning Trial-and-error learning Skinner Box Behavior can be “shaped”

10. Latent Learning Exploratory learning No obvious reward Helps animal learn about its surroundings

11. Insight Learning Animal uses experiences and thinking to solve problems. Tool use Primates

12. Behavior is Controlled by: Nervous system Endocrine system – Organizational effects – Activational effects

13. Animal Communication Transfer of information from one animal to the other (both must be mutually adapted) Visual Auditory Tacticle Chemical

14. Behavioral Ecology

15. Habitat Selection Two factors influence habitat choice – Physiological – Psychological

16. Finding Food

18. Foraging Behavior Process of locating food resources Cost vs. benefit analysis – Handling time – Nutritional value – Status value – Concentration/density

19. Specialists vs. Generalist

20. Social Behavior Members of the same species Usually live full-time in groups Can refer to predator-prey interactions

21. Group Living Animal society – stable group of individuals of the same species that have cooperative relationships outside of mating and raising young. Invertebrates and vertebrates

22. Advantages to Group Life Protection from predators Increase feeding efficiency Protection from elements Easy access to potential mates

23. Mating Behavior

24. Disadvantages of Group Life Competition for resources Diseases Parasites

25. Aggression Agonistic behavior Attacks Threat displays Maintains territory Maintains dominance hierarchy

26. Altruism Individual sacrifices reproductive potential for the benefit of others in the group – Honeybees – Turkeys – Naked mole rats Kin selection