Biology 1030 Chapter 32 Behavior. Researchers from various disciplines study animal behavior. Animal behavior is the scientific study of everything animals

Biology 1030Chapter 32

Behavior

Researchers from various disciplines study animal behavior.

Animal behavior is the scientific study of everything animals do, whether the animals are single-celled organisms, insects, birds, mammals, fish, or humans. However, human behavior is more often studied by psychologists, anthropologists, human ethologists, or other social scientists.


The field of animal behavior is concerned with understanding the causes, functions, development, and evolution of behavior. The causes of behavior include all of the stimuli that affect behavior, whether external (food or predators) or internal (hormones or nervous system changes). The function of behavior include both the immediate effects of behavior on an animal (such as attracting a mate), and the adaptive significance of the behavior in a particular environment (such as huddling together in cold weather).

The development of behavior is concerned with the ways in which behavior changes over the lifetime of an animal. The evolution of behavior is concerned with origins of behavior patterns and how these change over generations of animals.


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Animal behavior is signals in mating rituals, territoriality,learning, feeding, communications, parenting, etc.

32.1 The history of the study of animal behavior

Animals exhibit behaviors in many different ways. Behaviors include:

• body movements

•Sounds

•Body positions

•Change in coloration

•Scent


Ethology (ee-THOL-uh-jee) the study of animal behavior in the natural environment. Ethology examines the biological basis of the patterns of movement, sounds, and body positions of animals.

Konrad Z. Lorenz referred to as the father of modern ethology. He believed that animal behaviors are evolutionary adaptations. He referred to behaviors as the animals “equipment for survival.”


Adaptive behaviors-behaviors that enhance the ability of members of a population to live to reproductive age and that tend to occur at an increased frequency in successive generations.

Behaviorists- psychologists who focused on behaviors, studying them in a laboratory without focusing on the cognitive events that took place during the behaviors.

In the 1950-60s, ethology and behavioral psychology merged to form the discipline of animal behavior.


In 1970s the science of behavioral ecology emerged.

Today, animal behavior is studied by many researchers:

• psychologists

•Socio-biologists

•Neurobiologists

•Behavioral ecologists

32.2 The link between genetics and behavior.

All behaviors depend upon nerve impulses, hormones, and other physiological mechanisms such as sensory receptors. Therefore, genes play an important role in the development of behaviors because they direct the development of the nervous system.

Margaret Bastock experimented in the 50s and showed that certain behavioral traits are under the control of single genes.

Innate behaviors- behaviors resulting from genetically determined neural programs that are part of the nervous system at the time of birth or develop at an appropriate point in maturation.

32.2 The link between genetics and behavior.

Learning is an alteration in behavior based on experience.

Ethologists are debating the relationship between innate behaviors and environment.

Innate behaviors

Learned behaviors

Why do people yawn? (Pg. 720 discussion)

32.3 Coordination and orientation behaviors To survive animals have to respond to the

environment. They must coordinate their

movements in ways that

result in effective responses.

Orientation behaviors – movements in relation to external stimuli.

32.3 Coordination and orientation behaviors Certain behaviors are characteristic of a

species and thus are considered innate.

A reflex is the simplest type of innate reaction to a stimulus and is an example of coordination behavior involving various muscles.

32.3 Coordination and orientation behaviorsReflexes- an automatic response to nerve

stimulation. Knee jerkKineses – change in the speed of random

movements of an animal with respect to changes in certain environmental stimuli. nondirect types of movements

Taxes – directed movement toward or away from a stimulus, such as light, chemicals or heat.

32.3 Coordination and orientation behaviorsTaxes- Female mosquitoes and ticks- detect warmth,

moisture and certain chemicals emitted by mammals.

Phototaxis- attraction of light to certain insects. (negative phototaxis-cockroach avoids light.)

Fish swim upright by orienting their ventral side to gravity and their dorsal side to light.

Some fish are oriented against a current and therefore face and swim upstream.

http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/psych26/spence.htm

32.4 Fixed action patterns (modal action)

Fixed action patterns are sequences of innate behaviors in which the actions follow an unchanging order of muscular movements.

Bird feeding her young;

Cat washing its face;

Courtship behavior

Next building

Food attainmentTotally instinctive behaviors.

32.5 Learned behaviors and survival

Important in many respects to the survival and fitness of animals, innate behaviors can become a liability if environmental conditions change and an animal’s behavior cannot change to adapt to new conditions.

Some behaviors are innate and permanent.

Many can be changed or modified by an individual’s experiences during the process of learning.

Learned behaviors help animals become better suited to a particular environment or set of conditions.

Five groups of learned behaviors:

1. Imprinting 4. Trial-and-error learning

2. Habituation 5. Insight

3. Classical conditioning





Imprinting, habituation, classical conditioning and trial-and-error learning are all rote memory. These are regarded as automatic and machine-like. These kinds of learning take place in a stimulus/response fashion, possibly reinforced by some type of reward that may or may be not be readily apparent. (Schools)





Behaviorism- is theoretical basis for many of the rote, drill-and-practice type approaches to learning.

Cognitivism- suggests that indiviuals acquire and then store information in memory. Leaning takes place as new information builds and merges with the old, leading to new types of behaviors. We learn both ways.

32.6 Types of learning

Imprinting: a rapid and irreversible type of stimulus/response learning that takes place during an early developmental stage in animals.

Lorenz experiments with geese—2 halves of eggs-

One left with mother

One in incubator

Behaviors:

followed mother- followed Lorenz

Lorenz’ group courted adult humans.


Habituation – the ability of animals to “get used to” certain types of stimuli that they perceive as non-threatening.

Pigeons living in the city

Gunshots on a firing range

“Cry wolf” type learned behaviors


Classical Conditioning –a form of learning in which an animal is taught to associate a new stimulus with a natural stimulus that normally evokes a response in the animal.

Dog correctly performs trick-gets reward.

Ivan Pavlov- conditioned dogs to salivate in response to response normally not associated with food.


Trial-and-error Learning: Operant Conditioning – form of learning in which an animal associates something that it does with a reward or punishment.

Able to control the reward or punishment with the behavior.

B.F. Skinner studied conditioning rats. (rats in box with levers-pushed lever-got food)


Insight- (reasoning) the capability of recognizing a problem and solving it mentally before ever trying out a solution.

This is the highest form of learning. Able to able to perform a correct or appropriate behavior the first time it tries, without having been exposed to the specific situation.

Wolfgang Kohler performed experiments with chimpanzees in 1920. He showed that an animal must perceive relationships and manipulate concepts in its mind to solve a problem on the first try.

No animal but primates can learn this way.

32.7 Circadian rhythms and biological clocks

24-hour cycles of physiological activity and behaviors are called circadian rhythms. These are regulated by biological clocks.

Circadian rhythms is genetic.

32.8 Migration

Migrations are movements of animals from one region to another with the change of season. In animals, migration occurs once per year and result from interaction among various environmental factors:

• Day length

• Temperature

• Snow and food shortage

•Biological clocks

•The sun, stars or Earth’s magnetic field

32.9 communication via social behaviors

Grooming behaviors- cleaning dirt, debris and parasitic insects.

Strengthens the social bond between animals.

Sociobiology-the study of social behavior.

In sexually reproducing animals, interactive patterns, care of offspring and the defense of a territory.

32.10 Competitive behaviors

When two or more animals strive to obtain the same needed resource, such as food, water, nesting sites or mates, they are exhibiting competitive behavior.

Threat displays- (intimidation)

• Show of fangs or claws

• Changing body color

• Making body appear bigger Signal the intent to

fight.


Submissive behaviors –

• Make body appear smaller

• Put away weapons (claws, fangs)

• Turning away

• When one is loosing a fight, might display submission.

Signal t

he inte

nt not t

o fight.


Territorial Behavior

• Marks off its territory

• Patrolling

•Sounds

• Odor (urine)

• Bucks (scent gland) – leaves sent on high plant, more impressive.

Signal o

f claim

of a

rea.

32.11 Reproductive behaviors

Genetic variability – the species will adapt more readily – biologically significant because it provides genetic variability among organisms of the same species. Combining of genes from two parents produces offspring that are similar but different from their parents.

For reproduction to take place, animals must communicate and cooperate with one another. Form bonds for the purposes of reproduction and parenting.

Behaviors that promote successful sexual reproduction are highly adaptive.

Courtship- males and females must find each other; attract each other; ritual of communication.

32.11 Reproductive behaviors

Aggressive behaviors against other males are often the same behaviors that attract a female.

Males can attract female by displaying body colors or markings like peacock.

Birds sing songs to attract mate.

Frogs and insects use other sounds.

Many male mammals and insects produce odors that are attractive to females.

Males congregate and perform dances or songs as a group to attract mates.

32. 13 Group behaviors

Search for food together Work together Insect societies

Ants (pg. 737) Bees

Cast system- 3 types of bees- queen, workers and drones 50,000 workers, 5000 drones and 1 queen Waggle dance to communicate location of flowers Queen controls the workers with pheromone- queen

substance.

32. 14 Rank Order in Vertebrate Groups

Social hierarchy-rank orderFish, reptiles, birds and mammalsPeck order

32. 15 Human behavior

The nature of nurture Humans different from other animals in

their behaviors. Behavior is genetically determined but can

be modified, within limits, by learning.

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Biology 1030 Chapter 32 Behavior. Researchers from various disciplines study animal behavior. Animal behavior is the scientific study of everything animals