Behavioral Biology

Chapter 51

Behavioral Biology

Part I What is behavior? Innate Behavior

FAP/ Sign stimulus Learned Behavior

Habituation Imprinting Associative learning

Classical Operant ob

Part II(current areas of

research) Optimal Foraging Cognitive maps Sociobiology

Behavior What an animal does and how it does it can be

Muscular seen or heardNon muscular secretion of sex attractants

Genes influence behavior can evolve Behav. ecology understand behav. In

the evolutionary sense (Darwin)

Causes of Behavior

Proximate Cause mechanistic, environmental stimuli trigger behavior,

Ultimate Cause why or how behav. improves fitness

Courtship behavior in cranes

BehaviorBoth genes and environment influence behavior

Case studies have shown this

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Fig. 51.1

Innate BehaviorBehavior that is

preprogrammed into the animal all individuals exhibit the behavior, despite environmental differences

Automatic, developmentally fixedEx: blind birds, human infant

EthologyThe study of how animals behave in their natural habitat

Foraging

Food searching behaviors Why animals choose the food they

do at that time cost benefit Optimal Foraging compromise

between feeding cost and feeding benefits

NS refines behaviors to enhance efficiency of feeding

Pioneers in the study of animal behavior

Karl von Frisch Niko Tinbergen Konrad Lorenz

1941|1973

Fixed Action Patterns (FAP)

Sequence of behaviors essentially unchangeable & usually conducted to completion once it is started

sign stimulusreleaser that triggers FAP

courtship display in sticklebacks

B. Learned Behavior

Innate behavior improves with performance

Modification resulting from experience

Imprinting Learning at a specific critical time &

forms social attachments to anotherboth learning & innate components

Konrad Lorenz was “mother” to these imprinted graylag goslings

Habituation

Loss of response to stimulus“cry-wolf” effect learn not to respond

to repeated occurrences of stimulus

Associative learning

Learning to associate 1 feature of the environment (stimulus) with another

classical conditioningstimulus & reward/punishment

operant conditioningtrial & error learning

Classical Conditioning

Pavlov’s dog is a good example.Ivan Pavlov exposed dogs to a bell

ringing and at the same time sprayed their mouths with powdered meat, causing them to salivate.

Soon, the dogs would salivate after hearing the bell but not getting any powdered meat.

Operant Conditioning

Trial-and-error learning - an animal learns to associate one of its own behaviors with a reward or a punishment

Cognition & Problem-Solving Connecting behavior with nervous system to perceive, store, process, and

use information gatheredby sensory receptors

tool use

problem-solving

Directed movements Kinesis

simple change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus

Taxismore or less

automatic, oriented movement toward (positive taxis) or away from (negative taxis) a stimulus

Directed movements Use of landmarks within a familiar area.

Some organisms move in response to a recognized object or environmental cue, the object is the landmark

Cognitive maps.Some animals form cognitive maps

(internal codes of spatial relationships of objects in the environment

Migration Behavior.Migration is the

regular movementof animals overrelatively longdistances.

Piloting: an animalmoves from onefamiliar landmarkto another until itreaches its destination.

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Fig. 51.15

Orientation: animals can detect directions and travel in particular paths until reaching destination.Navigation is the most complex, and

involvesdetermining one’s present location relative to other locations in addition to detecting compass directions.

Cues for these behaviors include the earth’s magnetic field, the sun, and the stars.

Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin CummingsFig. 51.15

Sometimescooperation occurs.

2. Competitive social behaviors often represent contests for resources

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Fig. 51.18

Agonistic behavior is a contest involving threats.Submissive behavior.Ritual: the use of symbolic activity.Generally, no harm is done.

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Fig. 51.19

Reconciliation behavior often happens between conflicting individuals.

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Fig. 51.20

Dominance hierarchies involve a ranking of individuals in a group (a “pecking order”).Alpha, beta rankings exist.The alpha organisms control the behavior of others.

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Territoriality is behavior where an individual defends a particular area, called the territory.Territories are typically used for

feeding, mating, and rearing young and are fixed in location.

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Fig. 51.21

Courtship behavior consists of patterns that lead to copulation and consists of a series of displays and movements by the male or female.

Natural selection favors mating behavior that maximizes the quantity or quality of mating

partners

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Also need to know

Altruistic Behavior Inclusive fitness Kin selection Pheromones Signal/communication Honey bee

dance

Both genes and culture build human nature

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Fig. 51.32