Introduction to behaviour Flashcards
Animal behaviour definition
‘Any internally coordinated, externally visible pattern of activity that responds to changing external or internal conditions’ (Twiss, 2023)
Behaviour relates to:
Internal/external stimuli
Triggers
Feedback
Constraints/ limitations
Interactions
Modern animal behaviour research
Interdisciplinary & integrative, e.g.
Cellular & molecular processes (e.g. behavioural genetics)
Physiological processes underpinning behaviours and behavioural‘options’ (e.g. metabolic rates)
Evolutionary psychology & Cognitiveethology
Sociobiology: the social context
Behavioural ecology -Environment: biotic and abiotic
Conservation and welfare
Proximate vs. ultimate causation
- Ultimate factors: constraints that have arisen through evolution - establish the limits
e.g: Factors affecting feeding: Body size & energy needs, Digestive system, Social system, Bill size & shape (birds) - Proximate factors: affect the behaviour of an animal within those limits - the immediate ‘choices’ made by the animal e.g: Factors affecting feeding: Presence & abundance of food, Previous experience. Environmental conditions.
Tinbergens four whys
AB = CDEF
Animal Behaviour = Causation + Development + Evolution + Function
Causation - proximate factors initiating the behavior.
Development - the relative roles of genetics and learning in the expression of behaviour.
Evolution - how the behaviour evolved from ancestral phenotypes.
Function - how does the behaviour contribute to the survival of the organism - what are the `ultimate’factors involved.
Nature vs. nurture
Early ethologists argued that most behaviour was innate behaviour I.e. Nature
Nature: Inborn behaviour (‘instinct’) defined as genetically programmed and not affected to any great extent by experience.
Nurture: Psychologists argued that behaviour can be modified in response to environmental experience and learning from others
More recent view is that there is no true dichotomy. Nature and nurture interact as with genes and environment. The debate now is about the relative importance of genes, physiology & environmental experience.
All behaviour has a genetic basis and even the capacity to learn behavior is inherited BUT, behaviour can be modified by environment/experience.
Behaviour is the product of natural selection on phenotypes & indirectly on the genotypes that code for those phenotypes. Therefore an animals behavioural repertoire is a set of adaptations that equip it for survival in a particular environment
Intelligence ranking - a fools errand
A fools errand – how do we define/ compare it within and between species e.g. humans cannot ecolocate and fish cannot climb trees.
Research shows that humans can train bees to make decisions – honey bees have just 960 thousand cells in their brains but show high levels of intelligence completely unproportional to size. We can train dogs and they are capable to read and understand us.
The strength of spider silk at a larger scale would have the capacity to catch aeroplanes.
Different species have different forms of intelligence
Can comb jellies show complex learning?
How do humans interact interspecially?
Many negative impacts are observable but some species can adapt and benefit.e.g. foxes, coyotes and pigeons.
Arctic Terns benefit from human disruption as it reduces predation of their eggs and chicks by gulls. City adaptations include smaller territories and denser populations that reproduce faster. Birds that live off birdseed from feeders can adapt different beak formation.
Human traffic noise has caused some species of bird to sing at a higher pitch to hear each other in cities. City mice develop larger brains than country mice as they must find new ways to source food and avoid a denser population of predators
Do non-human animals experience emotions and empathy?
Yes
Prairie voles will take time to care and groom for a stressed mate
Elephants have been observed to show grief returning to visit bones of dead relatives and perhaps even holding funerals
Foundation of modern behavioural study developed in the late 19th century aka the Age of Exploration
Based on 3 major developments:
1) Publication of the theory of evolution by natural selection (Darwin & Wallace)
2) Theories of genets and inheritance (Gregor Mendell 1860)
3) Development of ethological study methods:
1) Publication of the theory of evolution by natural selection (Darwin & Wallace)
individuals vary
some variations are heritable
limited resources create competition
some phenotypes/genotypes are better suited/adapted to their environment.
better adapted individuals survive to produce offspring and pass on these characteristics to their offspring.
2) Theories of genets and inheritance (Gregor Mendell 1860)
Breeding experiments using garden peas
Principles of inheritance and biological characteristics
His research was expanded in 1930’s by Ronald A Fisher and others
3) Development of ethological study methods
The comparative method (George John Romanes 1848-1894)
More rigorous testing method
Compared the behaviour of humans and animals to gain insight into human behaviour
Suggested that similarities implied similar mental states and reasoning processes
BUT – relied heavily on inferences and anecdotes rather than quantitative structured behavioural records
The observational method ( Conwy Lloyd Morgan 1852-1936)
Only data gathered by direct experiment and observation could be used to make generalisations and develop theories
“Law of parsimony” (CL Morgan)
Seek out the simplest explanations for observed facts
Also:
Standardised methodology and experimental method pioneered by Edward Thorndike
Magaret Floy Washburn published a textbook on experimental methods in comparative psychology
Comparitive psychology
Functionalism: adaptive behaviour e.g. a behaviours role in the animals survival
Behaviourism: behaviour = response/reaction to stimuli. Most behaviours are therefore products of an individuals past experiences. E.g. BF Skinner’s (1904-1990) research concluded animals learnt behaviours are influenced by error and reward.
3 main disciplines study behaviour
1) Comparative psychology/physiology
2) Ethology
3) Behavioural ecology and sociobiology
