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Animal Behavior

Learning in Animals

Interactive Theory of

Development

• Development of organism’s attributes

caused by complex interaction between

genotype and environment

– Animals learn because genetic code

produces memory cells in muscles and

nerves memory cells “remember information”

– Animals learn when they interact with

environment in different situations forcing

decisions they “remember” and apply in

future situations

Environmental Controls on

Behavior

• Environmental elements that develop

behavior:

– nutrients from diet

– hormones produced through developmental

expression of DNA cause instinctive drift

• different in different animal species

– social interactions of both like and different

organisms in environment

Instinctive Drift

• Instinctive Drift is different indiffering animal species

• Some species of birds andwolves learn to avoid snakesilhouettes to avoid beingpreyed upon

– Wolves must encountersnakes first whereas birdsavoid from hatchling on

– This process is calledavoidance

Types of Learned

Behaviors

• Classical Conditioning

• Operant Conditioning

• Insight Learning

• Imprinting

• Habituation

Associated versus Non-

associated Learning

• Associated Learning is defined as thegaining of experience of a behavioralresponse from the connection of astimulus to that response.– Classical and Operant Conditioning

• Non-associated learning is defined asthe gaining of experience for abehavioral response without theconnection to a stimulus and response

– Habituation

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Classical Conditioning• Classical Conditioning is the type of learning made famous

by Pavlov's experiments with dogs.

• Pavlov presented dogs with food, and measured theirsalivary response (how much they drooled).

• He began ringing a bell just before presenting the food.

• At first, the dogs did not begin salivating until the food waspresented.

• After a while the dogs began to salivate when the sound ofthe bell was presented.

Classical Conditioning• They learned to associate the sound of

the bell (one stimulus) with the

presentation of the food (as second

stimulus).

• As far as their immediate physiological

responses were concerned, the sound of

the bell became equivalent to the

presentation of the food.

• Classical conditioning forms an

association between two stimuli.

Operant Conditioning

• A Theory of scientist B.F. Skinner isbased upon the idea that learning is afunction of change in overt behavior.

• Reinforcement is the key element inSkinner's Stimulus-Response Theory.

• A re-inforcer is anything thatstrengthens the desired response (a re-inforcer could be verbal praise, a goodgrade or food)

Operant Conditioning

• Training your dog to "shake" on command

–You speak the command "shake"

(stimulus), moves paws (response)

–Give dog a treat (positive re-inforcer)

– Called Shaping

Operant Conditioning• SPACIAL LEARNING - Rats

allowed to explore maze with 3 routesof different lengths between startingposition and goal.

• Objective of maze is to get to find thereward and learn shortest route tothe food.

• Rats behavior when maze blockedimplies they have a mental map of themaze.

• Rats prefer routes to shortness.When maze blocked at point A,stopping them using shortest route,they will choose second shortestroute.

Sponge

• Observations of your behavior asconditioned animal

– List two associated and two non-associatedbehaviors you do every day

– Describe the stimulus-response interaction foreach

– Consider a two day time frame--how manytimes over these two days do you do eachbehavior?

– Write which type of associated and/or non-associated behaviors each is

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Instrumental Conditioning

• Trial and Error

• Edward Thorndike and cat experiment

– Like rat conditioning, used a lever released

latch on door to box, release cat, rewarded

food

– Thordike’s conclusions: 1.) trial and error 2.)

timing 3.) several behaviors led to discover

one successful one 4.) successful behavior

repeated 5.) stimulus ! stimulus (situation) !

response

Operant & Instrumental

Conditioning Re-Inforcers

• Re-inforcers - anything shapes behaviorto desired response (feedback)

–Positive re-inforcers - shape behaviorwhen stimulus re-inforcer notautomatized

–Negative re-inforcers - such aspunishment

• Only functional when it satisfies fivecriterion - Intensity, Consistency,Immediacy, Brevity

Operant Conditioning

• Law of Effect - Stimulus

! Response followed

by satisfying event

• Association between

Stimulus ! Response

strengths desired

response

– Ex: Skinner Box

Developmental

Homeostasis

• Ability of animals to

acquire neurons and

hormones for normal

behavior

– Under poor conditions

– Normal means

organism of same

species show similar

behaviors via ultimate

causation

–Socially isolatedrheses infantspermitted tointeract with othersocial isloates forshort periods oftime, cling to eachother duringcontact periods

Contact Comfort

• Equipotentiality of primate may be reached throughsocial learning whereby touch, warmth andprotective security is provided and thus satisfiesbasic needs

• Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs forachievement of equipotentiality

– Extended mostly to humans

– Related motivation, curiosity and experience

– Physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem,self-actualization

Imprinting• Form of social learning

– Early development, actions or presence of others

"imprints" behavioral traits

– Young geese offspring look for a mother figure

right after birth

• Anything present and living may imprint as

“mother”

• Follows and mimics

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Kin Recognition• Young use this to recognize relatives

(=kin) over other organisms that look,smell, act like relatives (eg. mothers,fathers, etc.)

• Discrimination - differential treatment ofmember of same species, depending ongenetic relatedness

– Kin discrimination facilitates actions thatmay help propagate the discrimination ofrelatives genes

– Important to prevent inbreeding in excess

Insight Learning

• Expressed in intelligent organisms

• Capable of using reasoned thought and past

experience to solve problems

– Utilize previous experience with reasoning to

conclude and learn new things

• Also known as ability to learn by observing

– A model of receiving instructions without

firsthand experience by observer

Kohler’s Work on Insight

• Constructed variety of problems for

chimps

– Each involved obtaining food not directly

accessible

• Food put on other side of a barrier

• Chimp move crates under bananas

and use pole to knock down

• Solving problem by cognitive trial

and error

– Experimenting in mind before using tools

• Pattern of behavior - failure, pause,

look at potential tools, attempt again

– Involves insight and planning

Observational Learning

• Social Learning - individual learnsthrough observing behavior of others

– Imitation

– Insight Learning is a component

–Can be associated with theequipotentiality

• Acquired by individual experience,independent of others around

• Involves trial and error

Habituation

• Accustomization to particular stimuliproduces no response

–Repeated exposure to a stimulus causesan animal to automatize a stimulus-response interaction

• A common example of a habit would bewaking in morning.

– After waking in morning at one set time withan alarm, no longer need alarm to wake