Option E3 Innate and

Learned Behaviour

Assessment StatementsE3.1 Distinguish between innate and learned behaviourE3.2 Design experiments to investigate innatebehaviour in invertebrates including either a taxis or akinesisE3.3 Analyse data from invertebrate behaviourexperiments in terms of the effect on chances of survivaland reproduction.E3.4 Discuss how the process of learning can improvesurvival.E3.5 Outline Pavlov’s experiment into conditioning ofdogs.E3.6 Outline the role of inheritance and learning in thedevelopment of birdsong in young birds.

E3.1 Distinguish between innate and learned behaviour

Definitions

Innate behaviour An instinctive response that is developmentally fixed (i.e. independent of environmental context)

Learned behaviour Is modified by experience

Click on the link to read more about innate and learned behaviour in invertebrates

1. Click on the link and watch the videos2. Record your observations of the animal behaviour3. Classify the behaviours as innate/learned4. Explain how the behaviour helps the animal to survive

Innate Behaviour in InvertebratesTaxis is a change in movement in response toa stimulus

Positive - towards the stimulus Negative - away from the stimulus

Kinesis is a change in activity rate inresponse to a stimulus

Euglena is a photosynthetic unicellular organism that requires light as a source of energy

● Step 1: Place Euglena in a petri dish with appropriate environmental conditions

● Step 2: Cover dish with aluminium foil, excluding a few small exposed sections

● Step 3: With a light source placed above, Euglena should aggregate towards holes

Woodlice have gills for respiration that will tend to dry out in dry conditions

● Step 1: Place a woodlouse in a dry petri dish and mark its movements every 30 seconds

● Step 2: Repeat for a second woodlouse placed in moist conditions

● Step 3: Compare the rate of movement for the two woodlice (should be more in dry dish)

Choice Chamber Experiment

E3.4 Discuss how the process of learning can improve survival.

Learning involves acquiring information frompast experiences to adapt to new situations

Organisms capable of learning can modifytheir behaviours in response to environmentalchange in order to survive

Non-Associative Learning

Habituation

Sensitization

Reduced response to repeated stimulus e.g. tuning out background noise

Increased response to a repeated stimuluse.g.ticking clock preventing sleep

Can you think of more examples of each?What survival advantages do each of these types of learning provide?

Associative LearningObservation - learning by copying others

Classical Conditioning - pairing stimulus withresponse (involuntary behaviours)

Operant Conditioning – reinforcementincreases behaviour, punishment decreases it(voluntary behaviours)

Imprinting - rapid phase sensitive learning

Observational Learning

Classical Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

Imprinting

Animals learn how to avoid dangerous situations and predators

Imprinting

Watch the video.How does imprinting improve survival?

Animals learn how to hunt and obtain food

Operant conditioning

The bears get better at catching salmon the more practice they get!

Positive and Negative Reinforcement

The difference between classical and operant conditioning

Try operant conditioning on yourself!

TOK

How far can wetrust animal behaviouralexperiments?Do the experimentsthemselves changethe behaviour?

E3.5 Outline Pavlov’s experiment into conditioning of dogs.

● Pavlov was a Russian scientist who conducted experiments into classical conditioning

● Dogs normally salivate (unconditioned response) in anticipation of being fed (unconditioned stimulus)

● Pavlov sounded a bell (neutral stimulus) prior to feeding a dog

● After many repetitions, the dog came to associate the bell with food and began to salivate when the bell was rung (conditioned response)

● Pavlov described this as a conditioned reflex - the stimulus that prompted the response had been changed

Pavlov’s Dogs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMJJpbRx_O8

E3.6 Outline the role of inheritance and learning in the development of birdsong in young birds.

● Male birds use birdsong as a means of communication - either signalling attraction or establishing territorial boundaries

● Most birds are born with a crude template song that is genetically inherited

● Whilst young, fledglings learn to expand the song by listening to, and mimicking, the adult version (motor learning)

● The possession of an innate template prevents the bird from learning the wrong species song, however birds raised in isolation will lack the complexity that develops from social interaction

● Birds are generally selective in what song they learn (not any song can be learnt) and once learnt the song is rarely modified

● Innate component: the innate template song prevents hatchlings learning the wrong species song.

● Learned component: allows the bird to modify the song to the correct local dialect.

Find out more about how birds learn to sing here:

Questions

1.(a) Suggest an experimental design that could be used to investigate either taxis or kinesis in an invertebrate.(3)

2.a) Distinguish, using examples, between innate behaviour and learned behaviour. (3)

(b) Using two examples, discuss how the process of learning can improve survival. (2)

1.taxis:named independent variable e.g. light, humidity, dissolved nutrient or other suitable example;

named example of suitable invertebrate e.g. Flatworm, maggots;

named dependent variable e.g. direction of movement / time taken to change direction;

use of choice chamber to record number or percentage of organisms in a particular environment;

use of video to monitor and then analyse movement;

1. orkinesis:named independent variable e.g. light, humidity, dissolved nutrient or other suitable example;

named example of suitable invertebrate e.g. woodlice;named dependent variable e.g. rate of movement / rate ofturning (of the head);use of choice chamber to record percentage of active versus inactive organisms;

use of video to monitor and then analyse movement;

3 max

2a)learned behaviour occurs as a result of experience (while innate is independent of environment);

innate behaviour is controlled by genes/inherited (while learned is not inherited);

correct example of both;

2b)name of animal, how they learn and advantages for survival;

name of another animal, how they learn and advantages for survival;

e.g. grizzly bears by operant conditioning/practise how to catch salmon

providing needed food supply;goslings learn who their mother is/imprinting, avoid predators by staying near mother;