The document discusses animal behavior and its study in ethology. It defines key terms like stimuli, behaviors, and types of learning. Stimuli can be external, like sounds or smells, or internal, like hunger. Behaviors are either innate genetic behaviors important for survival like foraging, parenting or courtship, or learned through processes like imprinting, conditioning, or reasoning. The document categorizes different innate behaviors and provides examples of each, like migration, communication, play, and elimination. It also describes different types of learning animals engage in and provides examples like imprinting, habituation, classical and operant conditioning.

1. Animal Behavior
The things animals do….

2. Animal Behavior Vocabulary
 Ethology = study of animal behavior
 Behavior = action performed in response
to stimulus
Whale tail

3. Vocabulary
 Stimulus = something that elicits a
response
Examples of stimuli?
Sight
Touch
Smell
Taste
Sound

4. Stimuli
 External Stimulus =
something
outside the animal
e.g. sound, sight, smell, etc,
presence of another animal

5. Stimuli
 Internal Stimulus =
something inside the animal
e.g. hunger, fatigue, feeling cold,
hormones

6. Vocabulary
 Anthropomorphism =
attributing human emotions to animals
★We need to be careful about ascribing
human emotions to animals
E.g. the animal is happy

7. Types of behaviors
 Genetic / Innate
 Foraging
 Parental care
 Courtship
 Reproductive
 Offensive / defensive
 Territorial
 Migratory
 Social
 Inprinting
 Curosity
 Resting
 Elimination
 Learning
 Imprinting
 Habituation
 Classical conditioning
 Operant conditioning
 Reasoning

8. Types of Behavior
1. Foraging = feeding
e.g. locate, obtain
& consume food

9. Types of Behavior
2. Parental Care =
ensuring survival of young
e.g. carrying, nursing,
cuddling, holding young

10. Types of Behavior
3. Courtship = attracting a mate
e.g. courtship displays, bright feathers, songs, other
vocalizations, head butting, fighting

11. Courtship

12. Types of Behavior
4. Reproductive =
e.g. mating, giving birth

13. Types of Behavior
5. Offensive/Defensive =
aggression, submissive behavior,
defense from aggressors
e.g. hiding, fighting, escape, threatening

14. Types of Behavior
6. Territorial = protect a resource for
exclusive use
e.g. scenting / marking, birdsong,
protection of mate / offspring,
space, food or water source

15. Types of Behavior
7. Social = work to create
alliances, help the group
e.g. grooming, babysitting,
defense of musk ox young,
play, play fight

16. Types of Behavior
8. Migratory = movement to a more
suitable environment as seasons
change
e.g. dry vs. rainy seasons,
winter vs. summer range
for browsers & birds
e.g. salmon upriver to spawn,
artic tern –
1800 m from
Arctic
to Antarctic,
2x/year

17. Types of Behavior
9. Communication =
signaling between one animal & another
 Greeting e.g. sniff, hug, kiss “bite”
 Aggression e. g. charge, bite, hit, fight, etc.
 Non-aggression e.g. patting, head butting,
stroking

18. Types of Behavior
10. Curiosity = investigating
new stimulus in environment
e.g. approach, sniff, chew, bite, mount

19. Types of Behavior
11. Elimination = defecation, urination

20. Types of Behavior
12. Resting = apparent inaction
e.g. lying down, sitting, basking,
sleeping, loafing

21. Types of Behavior
13. Play
Purpose = training for life
(defense, hunting,
etc)

22. Types of Behavior Development
2. Learning
 development of behaviors through
experience
 determines final shape of innate
behaviors
 5 types of learning

23. Types of Learning
1. Imprinting (both innate & learned)
 occurs only during a critical time frame
 once learned, can’t be changed
(see Conrad Lorenz with ducklings)

24. Imprinting

25. Types of Learning
2. Habituation
Animal learns to ignore frequent,
harmless stimulus
 E.g. scarecrow, habituation to observer

26. Types of Learning
3 Classical Conditioning
Animal learns to associate unrelated
response with a stimulus
 E.g. Pavlov’s experiments
 bell ringing, food,  salivation
 bell ringing, salivation (even if no food is
given)
+ + 

27. Classical Conditioning
E.g. 1. leash = going for a walk,
excitement
2. sight of leash = excitement

29. Types of Learning
4. Operant Conditioning and 5th Reasoning
 Animal learns to behave in a certain way
through repeated practice
 Trial & error learning – animal tests
conditions for desired response
e.g. Skinner box
 Animal learns that a behavior gets a certain
response
 e.g. rat presses lever, gets food

31. Can primates reason?
 Primates? yes
 e.g. chimp, bananas, boxes

32. Can primates reason?