This document discusses animal behavior and how it is influenced by both innate and learned responses. It defines behavior as a response to a stimulus and explains that behavior helps organisms maintain homeostasis to survive and reproduce. The types of stimuli that can trigger behaviors include internal cues like hunger or pain, as well as external cues from predators, mates, or environmental changes. Sensory receptors detect these stimuli and activate the nervous system. Behaviors can be innate or learned through various processes like habituation, observational learning, classical and operant conditioning, play, and insight learning. Both innate behaviors like migration and learned behaviors like language are described.

1. ANIMAL
BEHAVIOR

2. -continues or enhances response
away from set point
*blood clotting; childbirth
-stops and returns toward set point
*most body responses
The ability to maintain a relatively stable
internal environment even though
the outside world is changing
Body Temperature Regulation
Causes change
Sun
Monitors changes then
sends information to
the control center
Skin – Touch Receptors
5 senses
Taste
Smell
Sight/Light
Touch/Feel
Hear/Sound
Determines levels to be
maintained SET POINT
(98.6o
F), analyzes the
information, and determines
an appropriate response
Brain
Causes a response to
change conditions
Sweat Glands
A result of a stimulus
to correct the changes
Sweat - cooling
HOMEOSTASIS
REVIEW

3. WHAT IS BEHAVIOR?
A response to a stimulus
 Stimulus – a signal

4. WHY BEHAVE?
Behavior is adaptive, because it helps an organism
survive and reproduce.
Behavior maintains homeostasis, which helps the
organisms support the conditions it needs to live.

5. TYPES OF STIMULI
 Internal Stimuli
 Examples:
 Hunger signals a need for more energy and causes an animal to search for food
 Thirst signals a loss of internal fluid and causes an animal to look for water
 Pain warns an animal that some part of its body may be subject to injury and
causes it to take some action to avoid injury
 External Stimuli
 Examples:
 The sound of a predator can cause an animal to hide or run away to avoid being
caught
 The sight of potential mate can trigger courtship behaviors
 Changes in day length can trigger reproductive behaviors or migration

6. SPECIALIZED CELLS (A.K.A. RECEPTORS)
Sensory cells detect:
 Light
 Sound
 Chemicals
Activate the animal’s nervous system.
 May cause adrenaline release
 “Fight-or-Flight” Nervous System
 Muscles activated

7. FUNCTION OF BEHAVIOR - MOVEMENT
KINESIS
 Increase in random
movement
 Lasts until a favorable
environment is reached
TAXIS
 Movement in a specific
direction
 Either toward or away from
a specific stimulus

8. BEHAVIOR IN CYCLES
Circadian Rhythm – daily pattern of activity
 Example: Sleep – daily activity over 24-hours
Biological Clock – internal mechanism of activity
patterns
 Example: Melatonin secretion by the brain that can
detect light changes

9. BEHAVIOR IN CYCLES
Hibernation – avoidance of cold winter temperatures
 Animals have:
 Decreased body temperature
 Decreased heart rate
 Decreased breathing rate
 Prepare by eating large amounts of fat for:
 Food source
 Insulation
 Light and temperature determine when an animal enters
and exits hibernation

10. BEHAVIOR IN CYCLES
Migration
 Set in motion by a variety of internal and external
stimuli:
 Example: Birds
Day length  controls hunger  gain weight  increased
fat storage  fuels long distance migration

11. TYPES OF BEHAVIORS
Innate Behavior
 A behavior with which the organism is born
Learned Behavior
 A change in behavior due to experience

12. INNATE VS LEARNED BEHAVIOR
Innate Behaviors Learned Behaviors
Inborn behavior
Genetically Based
Based on Experience
Not modified by the individual
Modified by the individual by trial and
error
Generally uniform
Low variation in population
High variation in population
Unaffected by the environment Highly affected by the environment
Beneficial behavior
Survival and reproduction
Capacity to learn may be product of
natural selection

13. INNATE VS LEARNED BEHAVIOR
Innate Behavior Learned Behaviors
Examples:
• Suckling in newborns
• Migration
• Hunting instincts
Examples:
• Language acquisition
• Social Skills
• Domesticated behavior in pets
• Trained dolphins

14. INNATE OR LEARNED?
 Science Today: Facial Expressions | California Academy of Sciences

15. INNATE OR LEARNED?
 Chimpanzee Tool Use

16. INNATE OR LEARNED?
 Conversation with Koko

17. TYPES OF LEARNED BEHAVIOR
1. Habituation
2. Observational Learning
3. Conditioning
4. Play
5. Insight

18. HABITUATION
Forming a habit
Learning to get used to something after being
exposed to it for a while
 Example: The habit of seeing a scarecrow in the exact same place
in the garden every day causes birds to get used to, and basically
ignore, the stimulus

19. OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
learning by watching and copying the behavior of
someone else

21. CONDITIONING
A way to modify (train) an animal’s behavior in
response to a certain stimuli
 Reward or punishment
 2 types
1. Classical Conditioning
2. Operant Conditioning

22. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
A process in which an animal learns to associate a
previously neutral stimulus with a behavior once
triggered by a different stimulus
 Pavlov’s Dog

23. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

24. OPERANT CONDITIONING
A process in which the likelihood of a specific
behavior is increased by reinforcement

25. OPERANT CONDITIONING
 Rat Basketball at Wofford College

26. OPERANT CONDTIONING
 Big Bang Theory

27. LEARN BY PLAY
Young mammals, including humans, like to play
Play is one way they learn the skills that they will
need as adults

28. INSIGHT LEARNING
learning from past experiences and reasoning
Most complicated learning
Dog Insight Learning
Octopus Tool Use