Amimal Behavior

Question 1

reflexes

Answer 1

autonomic responses to simple sitmuli and are recognized as a reliable behavioral response following a given environmental stimulus. Important in lower levels of life forms

Question 2

simple reflex

Answer 2

is controlled at the spinal cord connecting two-neuron pathway from the receptor to the motor. The efferent nerve innervates the effector (muscle or gland)

Question 3

complex reflexes

Answer 3

involve neural integration at a higher level- the brain stem or even the cerebrum. startle response is an example

Question 4

startle response

Answer 4

alerts an animal to a significant stimulus. it can occur in response to potential danger or to hearing ones name called.
-it involves the interaction of many neurons in a system termed the reticular activating system.

Question 5

reticular activating system

Answer 5

responsible for sleep-wake transitions and behavioral motivation.

Question 6

fixed patterns

Answer 6

complex, coordinated, innate behavioral responses to specific patterns of stimulation in the environment. the stimulus that elicits the behavior is referred to as the releaser.

• cannot be modified by learning or obtain new ones but the stimulus can be readily modified but to an extent
  ex. bird egg recognitions and schools of fish

Question 7

behavior cycles

Answer 7

daily cycles of behavior are called circadian rhythms. Animals with such cycles lose their exact 24 hr periodicity if they are isolated from the natural phases of light and dark.

• cyclical behavior will continue with approximate day to day phasing.
• the cycle is initiated intrinsically but modified by external factors.

Question 8

daily cycles of eating

Answer 8

provide a good example of cycles with both internal and external control. The internal controls are the natural bodily rhythms of eating and satiation. External modulators include elements of the environment like dinner bells and clocks.

Question 9

environmental rhythms

Answer 9

Principally patterns of behavior are established and maintained by periodic environmental stimuli. also just as environmental stimuli influence many naturally occurring biological rhythms, biological factors influence behavior governed by periodic environmental stimuli.

Question 10

learning

Answer 10

• involves adaptive responses to the environment.

- a complex phenomenon that occurs to some extent in all animals.

Question 11

learning in lower animals

Answer 11

instinctual or innate behaviors are the predominant determinants of behavior patterns and learning plays a relatively minor role in the modification.

Question 12

learning in higher animals

Answer 12

the major share of the response to the environment it is learned. the capacity of learning adaptive responses is closely related to the degree of neurological development

Question 13

habituation

Answer 13

one of the simplest learning patterns, involving the suppression of the normal startle responses to stimuli.
-repeated stimulation results in decreased responsiveness to that stimulus

Question 14

spontaneous recovery

Answer 14

when a stimulus is no longer regularly supplied the response tends to recover over time. Recovery can also occur with the modification of the stimulus

Question 15

classical conditioning

Answer 15

also Pavlovian conditioning involves the association of a normally autonomic or visceral response with an environmental stimulus.

Question 16

conditioned reflex

Answer 16

a response learned through Pavlovian conditioning, the normal innate stimulus for a reflex is replaced by one chosen by the experimenter.

Question 17

Palov’s Experiments

Answer 17

won a Nobel prize on his work on digestive physiology, studied the salivation reflex in dogs. He discovered that if a dog was presented with a arbitrary stimulus and then food. The arbitrary item would then initiate salivation

Question 18

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 18

a natural stimuli (food)

Question 19

unconditioned response

Answer 19

a naturally elicited response to a unconditioned stimulus (salivation)

Question 20

neutral stimulus

Answer 20

a stimulus that will not , by itself elicit the response (prior to conditioning). it is presented along with the unconditioned stimulus to created the ability to stimulate alone. becoming a conditioned stimulus (bell)

Question 21

conditioned reflex

Answer 21

the product of conditioning experience.

Question 22

conditioning

Answer 22

the establishment of a new reflex by the addition of new, previously neutral stimulus, to the set of stimuli that are already capable of triggering the response.

Question 23

pseudoconditioning

Answer 23

is a phenomenon that can be confused with true classical conditioning. A critical test of conditioning is the determination of whether the conditioning processes is actually necessary for the production of a response by a previously “neutral stimulus”. - the neutral stimulus may have already been a stimuli before conditioning.

Question 24

Operant / Instrumental conditioning

Answer 24

involves conditioning responses to stimuli with the use of reward or reinforcement. when an organism exhibits specific behavioral pattern that is preferred the animal is rewarded. this increases the likelihood that the behavior will appear.

Question 25

BF Skinner

Answer 25

first demonstrated the principles of operant conditioning and reinforcement. he used the “Skinner box” consisting of a cage with a lever or key and a food dispenser. food pellet was delivered when the animal pressed the lever. thus the lever pressing was the operant response under study.

Question 26

Positive reinforcement

Answer 26

Reward- includes the providing of food, light or electrical stimulation of the animals brain’s “pleasure centers”. Following positive reinforcement the animal was much MORE likely to repeat the desired behavior. forming a connection to action and reward.
-likely to be involved with normal habit formation

Question 27

negative reinforcement

Answer 27

Involves stimulating the brains pleasure centers. yet is links the animals LACK of a certain behavior with a reward. in this case the animal has developed a negative connection between action and reward. Thus the animal learns that not doing something gets a rewards so they are LESS likely to do the action.

Question 28

Punishment

Answer 28

involves conditioning an organism to that it will stop exhibiting a given behavior pattern. Involves painfully shocking the organism each time the chosen behavior appears. after punishment the organism is less likely to repeat the action.

Question 29

habit family hierarchy

Answer 29

stimulus is usually associated with several possible responses. each having a diff probability of occurrence.
reward strengthens a specific response raising it on the hierarchy and punishment weakens a specific response and lowers its order on the hierarchy

Question 30

Extinction

Answer 30

the gradual elimination of conditioned responses in the absence of reinforcement.

Question 31

extinction of instrumental conditioning

Answer 31

the response is diminished and finally eliminated in the absence of reinforcement. the response is not completely unlearned-rather it is inhibited in the absence of but will rapidly appear if the reinforcement is returned.

Question 32

extinction of classical conditioning

Answer 32

occurs when the unconditioned stimulus is removed or was never sufficiently pared with the conditioned stimulus. must be present at least part of the time for maintenance of the conditioned response. after sufficient time elapses after extinction it can be recovered.

Question 33

stimulus generalization

Answer 33

is the ability of a conditioned organism to respond to stimuli that are similar but not identical to the original conditioned stimulus.

Question 34

stimulus discrimination

Answer 34

involves the ability of the learning organism to respond differentially to slightly different stimuli. Like differences in sound pitches being rewarded and not

Question 35

A stimulus generalization gradient

Answer 35

established after the organism has been conditioned, whereby stimuli further and further away from the original conditioned stimulus elicit responses with decreasing magnitude.

Question 36

Imprinting

Answer 36

a process in which environmental patterns or objects present to a developing organism during a brief “critical period” in early life become accepted permanently as an element of its behavioral environment. ex ducklings

Question 37

Konrad Lorenz

Answer 37

discovered that the duckling will follow the first large object they see as their mother. he swam in a pond with newly hatched ducklings and the followed him like he was the mother.

Question 38

Critical period

Answer 38

specific time periods during an animals early development when it is physiologically able to develop specific behavioral patterns. if proper environmental pattern is not present it will not develop.

Question 39

visual critical period

Answer 39

if light is not presented to some animals during this period, visual effectors will not develop properly either.

Question 40

intraspecific interactions

Answer 40

occur as a means of communication between members of a species.

Question 41

Behavioral displays

Answer 41

a display may be defined as an innate behavior that has evolved as a signal for communication between members of the same species.

• a song, call or intentional change in an animals physical characteristics are considered displays
• utilizing auditory, visual, chemical and tactile elements are used as means of communication

Question 42

reproductive displays

Answer 42

specific behaviors found in all animals including humans. a variety of complex actions that function as signals in preparation for mating

Question 43

agonistic displays

Answer 43

are such things as a dogs display of appeasement when it wags its tail or the dogs antagonistic behavior when it directs its face straight and raises its body

Question 44

Dancing

Answer 44

a form of display used by the scout honey bee to convey information concerning the quality and location of food sources.

Question 45

Pecking order

Answer 45

the relationships among members or the same species living in a contained social group frequently become stable for a period of time.
-a dominant member of the species will prevail over the subordinate one. it is a social hierarchy that minimizes violent intraspecifc aggression.

Question 46

territoriality

Answer 46

members of most land dwelling species defend a limited area or territory from intrusion by other members of the species.
-serves the adaptive function of distributing members of the species so that the environmental resources are not depleted in a small region and reducing intraspecific competition.

Question 47

response to chemicals

Answer 47

the olfactory sense is immensely important as it is a means of communication in many animals. Many animals secrete substances called pheromones that influence behavior of other members of the same species.

Question 48

releaser pheromones

Answer 48

trigger a reversible behavioral change in the recipient. example is the sex attractant pheromones, or alarm and toxic defense substances

Question 49

primer pheromones

Answer 49

produce long term behavioral and physiological alterations in recipient animals. example pheromones from male mice effects the estrous cycle of females. They are important in social insects to regulate role determining and reproductive capacities.