E3 Innate and Learned Behaviour Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in E3 Innate and Learned Behaviour Deck (7)
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1
Q

Describe innate behaviour

A
  • Develop independently of the environmental context
    • Controlled by genes and inherited from parents
    • Uniform throughout population
    • Product of natural selection
    • e.g. suckling instinct in newborns, hunting instinct in some dogs
2
Q

Describe learned behaviour

A
  • Develops as a result of experience
    • Modified by trial and error
    • Variation within population
    • Capacity to learn may be innate (language in humans, learning period)
    • e.g. dolphin learning to perform, learning to drive a car, domestication of animals
3
Q

Define taxis

A

An innate directional response to a (directional) stimulus

4
Q

Define kinesis

A

An innate non-directional response to a stimulus

5
Q

Discuss how the process of learning can improve the chances of survival

A

Learning involves acquiring information from past experiences to adapt to new situations. Organisms capable of learning can modify their behaviours in response to environmental change in order to survive
• Animals learn how to avoid dangerous situations and predators
• Birds learn that scarecrows pose no actual threat, and so eat crops
• Animals can learn who their mother is and stay close to avoid predators
• Animals learn how to hunt and obtain food

6
Q

Outline Pavlov’s experiment

A
  • 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)
7
Q

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

A
  • Birdsong has both inherited and learned components
    • Each species has a species-specific crude template which is genetically inherited
    • Within a species, birds have varied song, as they can learn to improve the song they have inherited
    • After hatching there is a ‘sensitive period’ lasting about 100 days during which birds listen to adult song and modify their template
    • If a bird does not hear song within this period, it will not modify its template.
    • The second phase is a motor phase in which the young bird practices singing the song it has learnt