Biology 1030 Chapter 32

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Biology 1030Chapter 32

• Behavior

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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.
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Researchers from various disciplines study animal
behavior.
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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Researchers from various disciplines study animal
behavior.
y
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Animal behavior is signals in mating rituals,
territoriality,learning, feeding,
communications, parenting, etc.
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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

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32.1 The history of the study of animal behavior
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.
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32.1 The history of the study of animal behavior
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.
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32.1 The history of the study 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

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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.
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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)
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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.
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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.
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32.3 Coordination and orientation behaviors

• Reflexes- an automatic response to nerve
  stimulation.
• Knee jerk
• Kineses 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.

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32.3 Coordination and orientation behaviors

• Taxes-
• 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.

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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
attainment
Totally instinctive behaviors.
http//www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/psych26/spence.htm
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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 animals behavior cannot change to adapt to
new conditions. Some behaviors are innate and
permanent. Many can be changed or modified by an
individuals 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
• Imprinting 4. Trial-and-error learning
• Habituation 5. Insight
• Classical conditioning

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32.5 Learned behaviors and survival

• 1. Imprinting 4. Trial-and-error learning
• Habituation 5. Insight
• 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)
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32.5 Learned behaviors and survival

• 1. Imprinting 4. Trial-and-error learning
• Habituation 5. Insight
• Classical conditioning

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.
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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 geese2 halves
of eggs- One left with mother One in
incubator Behaviors followed mother- followed
Lorenz Lorenz group courted adult humans.
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32.6 Types of learning
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
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32.6 Types of learning
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.
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32.6 Types of learning
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)
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32.6 Types of learning
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.
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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.
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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 Earths magnetic field

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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.
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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.
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32.10 Competitive behaviors

• Submissive behaviors
• Make body appear smaller
• Put away weapons (claws, fangs)
• Turning away
• When one is loosing a fight, might display
  submission.

Signal the intent not to fight.
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32.10 Competitive behaviors

• Territorial Behavior
• Marks off its territory
• Patrolling
• Sounds
• Odor (urine)
• Bucks (scent gland) leaves sent on high plant,
  more impressive.

Signal of claim of area.
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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.
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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.
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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.

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32. 14 Rank Order in Vertebrate Groups

• Social hierarchy-rank order
• Fish, reptiles, birds and mammals
• Peck order

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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.