Animal Behavior

Ethology

Kinds of Animal Behavior

• Instinct – innate behavior• Fixed action patterns (FAP)- innate behaviors that

follow a regular, unvarying pattern.• Imprinting- a specific behavior that is acquired only

if the appropriate stimulus is experienced during a critical period.

• Associative learning – learns that two or more events are connected– Classical conditioning- Pavlov’s dog– operant conditioning – trial-and-error learning

Types of Animal Behavior ctd.

• Habituation – learned behavior that allows the animal to disregard meaningless stimuli

• Observational learning – animals copy the behavior of another animal without having experiences any prior positive reinforcement with the behavior.

• Insight – when an animal exposed to a new situation and without any prior relevant experience performs a behavior that generates a desirable outcome.

Animal Movement

• Kinesis (pl., kineses) undirected change in speed of an animal’s movement in response to a stimulus.

• Taxis (pl., taxes) directed movement in response to a stimulus. Either toward or away from the stimulus.

• Migration long-distance, seasonal movement of animals. In response to availability of food or degradation of the environment or both.

Communication in Animals

• Chemicals - pheromones–Releaser Pheromones – chemicals that

cause immediate and specific behavioral changes.–Primer pheromones those that cause

physiological changes..

• Visual– Courtship displays– Agonistic behaviors – aggression

• Auditory – sounds to communicate over long distances, through water, and at night.

• Tactile – social bonding, infant care, grooming, and mating

Foraging Behaviors

• Packs – increase success in attacking large prey

• Herds, flocks, and schools– Better concealment– Vigilance– Defense

• Search images-

Social Behavior

• Agonistic behavior – aggression• Dominance hierarchies - minimize fighting for

food and mates.• Territoriality – • Altruistic behavior – – Inclusive fitness – includes the fitness of the

individual plus the fitness of relatives . – Kin selection