The document outlines various aspects of animal behavior, defining it as any action in response to a stimulus, which can provoke innate or learned responses. It describes concepts such as fixed action patterns, reflexes, and various social behaviors including dominance hierarchy and communication methods. The document also explores different types of learning, including habituation, imprinting, classical conditioning, and insight.

1. ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

2. What is Behavior?
Anything an animal does in response to
a stimulus
Stimulus: environmental change that
directly influences an organism
Example: change in day length, heat

3. Innate behavior: Inherited
Natural selection favors certain behaviors
Behavior that helps survival is passed on
to offspring
Examples: fixed action responses:
unchangeable behavior that once begun,
won’t stop till it is finished (toad sees
prey, flips out tongue)

4. Reflexes: Automatic Responses
Simplest form of behavior
Simple automatic response to a
stimulus that involves no conscious
control
Example: jerking hand from hot stove
Fight or flight response

5. Instinctive Behavior
Complex pattern
of innate behavior
Longer than a
reflex
Example: greylag
goose rolling eggs

6. Internal and external cues
A. Circadian rhythm: 24-hour wake-sleep
cycle regulated by light (some nocturnal)
B. Migration: instinctive seasonal
movement by animals (birds, whales)
C. Hibernation: inactivity during cold
weather
D. Estivation: state of reduced metabolism
during periods of extreme heat

7. E. Suckling: mammal babies instinctively know
how to get nourishment from their mother

8. F. Taxis:
responsive movement of a free-moving
organism or cell toward or away from an
external stimulus, such as light.
Positive phototaxis: movement toward light
Negative phototaxis: movement away from
light

9. Social Behavior:
1. Dominance Hierarchy
“Pecking order”
Social ranking
within a group
Usually a dominant
male (“alpha
male”) may sire
most of young

10. 2. Courtship behavior
Courtship behavior:
actions males and
females carry out
before mating
Insures that members
of the same species
find each other and
mate
May protect male from
being eaten long
enough to mate

11. 3. Territoriality
Physical space an
animal defends against
own species
May include breeding,
feeding, or mating
areas or all three
Reduces competition
so improves survival
Pheromones may mark
boundaries

12. 4. Communication: ants and bees
using pheromones
Bees “dance” to show
hive members the way
to food
Ants

13. 5. Aggressive Behavior
Intimidates others of
same species
Used to defend
young, territory, food
Teeth baring,
growling, bird calls
Rarely leads to death,
just submission

14. Learned Behavior: behavior changes
through practice or experience
Habituation:
repeated stimulus
not associated with
a reward or
punishment, so
animal eventually
ceases to respond

15. Learned behavior: Imprinting
At a critical time in its
life, animal develops a
social attachment to
another object
Usually irreversible
Mostly in birds

16. Learned behavior: Trial and Error
Animal receives a
reward for a certain
response
Motivation speeds up
this type of learning
Usually, satisfies a
need such as hunger

17. Learned behavior: Classical
conditioning (Pavlov’s dog)
“Learning by
association”
One stimulus
associated with
another to receive
reward
Eventually, first
stimulus no longer
needed

18. Learned behavior: Insight
Most complex type of
learning
Animal uses previous
experience to respond
to a new situation
Much of human
learning occurs by
insight

19. Which is it?