Animal Behavior

Question 1

Ethology

Answer 1

The study of animal behaviors, which are inherited (innate, should increase an animals fitness) or learned

Question 2

Behavioral ecology

Answer 2

The study of how innate behaviors increase fitness

Question 3

What are the 4 innate behaviors?

Answer 3

Instinct
Reflexes
Fixed action patterns
Imprinting

Question 4

Instincts

Answer 4

• Innate behaviors that occur without thought (i.e. it has never been taught)
• Example: birds undergoing migration in response to seasonal change or an infant suckling or a parent carring for offspring

Question 5

Reflexes

Answer 5

• rapid, involuntary responses to a stimulus
• involve a neural circuit
• 2 types: simple reflex arc and complex reflex arc

Question 6

Simple reflex arc

Answer 6

• Most rapid reflexes
• Peripheral nerves synapse within the spinal cord
• An afferent sensory neuron travels from the stimulus to the central nervous system and synapse on efferent motor neurons which travels from the central nervous system to muscles
• response to stimulus is controlled at the spinal cord

Question 7

Complex reflex arcs

Answer 7

• Slower reflex
• Peripheral nerves do not synapse with each other in the CNS
• Separated by an intermediary, the interneuron
• controlled by brainstem (or cerebrum)
• ex: startle response, which is controlled by the reticular activating system

Question 8

Fixed action patterns

Answer 8

• Innate behaviors
• initiated by specific stimulus called sign stimulus (releases if same species)
• Once initiated, behavior will continue to completion even if the stimulus is removed during the behavior
• follow a regular, unvarying pattern

Question 9

What are benefits of fixed action patterns?

Answer 9

Generates predictable and appropriate response
Response tends to increase an animals fitness
Do not need to be learned by new generation

Question 10

Imprinting

Answer 10

• An innate way animals learn certain behaviors that will never be forgotten once behavior is acquired
• Only occurs during critical period or critical imprinting stage
• can influence sexual selection

Question 11

habituation

Answer 11

• learned behavior
• allows individuals to ignore repetitive events that they know are inconsequential
• they remained focused on other things

Question 12

sensitization

Answer 12

• opposite of habituation
• increase in reponse to a repeated stimulus

Question 13

insight

Answer 13

• when an animal is exposed to a new situation that they have never seen before, but they perform a behavior that generates a positive outcome
• mechanism to learn new behaviors in reponse to unexpected events without receiving reinforcement
• reduces the time for new behaviors to be acquired

Question 14

stimulus generalization

Answer 14

• organisms respond to stimuli similar to the original stimuli but not identical to it

Question 15

stimulus discrimination

Answer 15

• the ability of an organism learning to differentially respond to slightly different stimuli

Question 16

observational/social learning

Answer 16

• when an animal copies the behavior of another animal without having experienced any feedback themsleves
• allows for a mechanism to learn new behaviors in response to unexpected events without recieving reinforcement

Question 17

foreagning behavior

Answer 17

• the goal is to maximize the amount of food eaten, searched for, recognized and/or captured and to minimize energy expenditure and risk