Animal behaviour

Question 1

what are simple reflexes?

Answer 1

♣ Reflexes are automatic responses to simple stimuli

• Recognized as reliable behavioural responses following a given environmental stimulus

Question 2

where is a simple reflex controlled?

Answer 2

in the spinal cord–• Connects a two-neuron pathway from the receptor (afferent neuron) to the motor (efferent neuron)
o Efferent nerves innervates the effector (e.g. muscle or gland)

Question 3

when is reflex behaviour important?

Answer 3

in the cases of lower animals–not so much high animals like vertebrates

Question 4

see simple reflex arc page 210

Answer 4

ya

Question 5

what are complex reflexes?

Answer 5

♣ Involve neural integration at a higher level of the brainstem or even the cerebrum

Question 6

describe the “startle response”

Answer 6

• alerts an animal to a significant stimulus
o Can occur in response to potential danger or to hearing one’s name called
o Startle response involves the integration of many neurons in a system termed the reticular activating system
♣ Responsible for sleep-wake transitions and behavioural motivation

Question 7

what are fixed action patterns?

Answer 7

complex, coordinated, innate behavioural responses to specific patterns of stimulation in the environment–• The stimulus that elicits the behaviour is termed the releaser
• Since these patterns are innate, they unlikely to be modified by learning
• An animal has a repertoire of fixed-action patterns and only a limited ability to learn new ones
• The particular stimuli that trigger fixed-action patterns are more readily modified
o Provided certain cues or elements of the stimuli are maintained

Question 8

example of a fixed action pattern

Answer 8

o The retrieval and maintenance response of many female birds to an egg of their species (even if it’s not their own egg)–• Certain kinds of stimuli are more effective in eliciting a FAP
o E.g. an egg with the characteristics of that species will be more effective than one that only crudely resembles the natural egg
–also movement of an animal herding together; fish swimming a group or a flock of animals migrating

Question 9

what are behaviour cycles?

Answer 9

circadian rhythms

Question 10

what are circadian rhythms?

Answer 10

• Daily cycles of behaviour
• Animals with this behaviour lose their exact 24-hour periodicity if they are isolated from the natural phasesof light and dark
• Cyclical behaviour will still continue with approximate day-to-day phasing
o Cycle is thus initiated intrinsically but modified by external factors
• Daily cycles of eating provide a good example of cycles with both internal and external factors
o Internal controls
♣ Natural body rhythms of eating and satiation
o External controls
♣ Include the elements of the environment that occur in the familiar cyclic pattern
• Such as dinner bells and clocks
• Sleep and wakefulness are obvious examples of cyclic behaviour
These behaviour patterns have been associated with particular patterns of brain waves

Question 11

environmental rhythms

Answer 11

♣ In many situations, patterns of behaviour are established and maintained mainl by periodic environmental stimuli
• E.g. humans’ response to traffic light signals
Just as environmental stimuli influence many naturally occurring bio rhythms, bio factors influence behaviour governed by periodic enviro stimuli

Question 12

what is learning?

Answer 12

adaptive responses to the environment–occurs to some extent in all animals

Question 13

what is the predominant determinant of behavioural patterns in lower animals?

Answer 13

instinctual or innate behaviour

Question 14

♣ Capacity for learning adaptive responses is closely correlated with the degree of neurologic development
i.e. capcity of the nervus sytem (esp cerebral cortex) for flexibility and plasticity

Answer 14

ya

Question 15

what is habituation?

Answer 15

one of the simplest learning patterns–suppression of the normal response to stimuli after a long duration of exposure to it–repeated stimuli decreases the normal response

Question 16

what is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 16

the recovery of a once-suppressed response to stimuli (due to repeated stimulation by it)–happens when stimulus is removed for awhile or the stimulus has been modified

Question 17

classical conditions–aka pavlovian conditioning–what does it involve?

Answer 17

Involves the association of a normally autonomic or visceral response with an environmental stimulus–♣ For this reason, the reponse learned through pavlovian conditioning is sometimes called a conditioned reflex
♣ In pavlovian conditioning, the normal, innate stimulus for a reflex is replaced by one chosen by the experimenter

Question 18

what are the components in an innate reflex?

Answer 18

Consists of an unconditioned stimulus (food) and the response that is naturally elicited termed the unconditioned response (salivation); • Neutral stimulus
o Stimulus that will not by itself elicit the response (prior to conditioning)
o During condition, it will, along with the unconditioned stimulus, will be presented togethere
♣ Eventually the neutral stimulus will elicit the response without the unconditioned stimulus
♣ Now the bell is called the conditioned stimulus
• Conditioned reflex
o Product of conditioning
In pavlov’s experiment, it was the salivation following the previously neutral stimulus

Question 19

what is conditioning?

Answer 19

o The establishment of a new reflex (association of stimulus with response) by the addition of a new, previously neutral stimulus to the set of stimuli that are already capable of triggering the response

Question 20

what is pseudoconditioning?

Answer 20

o A phenomenon that can be confused with the true classical conditioning
o A critical test of conditioning is the determination of whether the conditioning process is actually necessary for the production of the response by a previously “neutral” stimulus
♣ In many cases, the “neutral” stimulus is able to elicit the response even before conditioning
♣ Therefore not even a neutral stimulus
o Can be avoided by carefully evaluating all prospective stimuli before conditioning begins

Question 21

what is operant or instrumental conditioning?

Answer 21

♣ Involves conditioning responses to stimuli with the use of a reward or reinforcement
♣ When organism exhibits a specific behavioural pattern that the experimenter would like to see repeated, the animal is rewarded
The reinforcement/reward increases the likelihood the action will be preformed again

Question 22

describe the experiments of B.F. Skinner

Answer 22

–• First demonstrated the principles of operant conditioning and reinforcement
• In the original operant conditioning experiments he used the well-known “Skinner box”
o Consists of a cage with a lever or key and a food dispenser
o Food pellet delivered when animal pressed lever
♣ Depression of the lever was the operant response under study

Question 23

what are the types of reinforcements?

Answer 23

o Positive
♣ Reward
♣ Includes providing food, light, or electrical stimulation of the animal’s brain “pleasure centres”
♣ Following P.R. animal was more likely to repeat the behaviour
• In a sense, animal has developed a positive connection with the action (response) and the reward
♣ This type of conditioning likely to be in normal habit formation
o Negative
♣ Also involves stimulating the brain’s pleasure cetnres
♣ In contrast to PR, NR links the lack of a certain behaviour with a reward
• E.g. if a bird does NOT peck on a yellow circle, it will receive food
♣ In this case animal has developed a negative sense with an action and a reward
• Thus animal has developed a positive connection with the lack of action and the reward
• Animal is less likely to perform the behaviour
o Punishment
♣ Involves conditioning an organism so that it will stop exhibiting a given behavioural pattern
♣ May involve painfully shocking an organism each time the chosen behaviour appears
♣ After punishment, the organism is less likely to repeat the action
Animal develops a negative connection between the stimulus and response

Question 24

what is habit family hierarchy?

Answer 24

the probability of certain responses to stimuli–o E.g. a chicken may repond to light in many ways
♣ If one particular response is rewarded, that response will occur with a higher probability later on
♣ Reward strengthens a specific behavioural response and raises its order in the hierarchy
Punishment weakens a specific behavioural response and lowers its order in the hierarchy

Question 25

what is a modification of conditioned behaviour?

Answer 25

extinction–• Gradual elimination of conditioned responses in the absence of reinforcement
o i.e. unlearning of the response pattern

Question 26

extinction in operant and instrumental conditioning

Answer 26

• in instrumental and operant conditioning, the response is diminished and finally eliminated in the absence of reinforcement
o response is not completely unlearned
♣ inhibited by the absence of reinforcement
o will rapid reappear if the reinforcement is returned

Question 27

extinction in classical conditioning

Answer 27

• in classical conditioning, extinction occurs when the unconditioned stimulus is removed or was never sufficiently paired with the conditioned stimulus
o conditioned stimulus must be paired with the unconditioned stimulus at least part of the time for the response to be maintained
o after sufficient time has elapsed following extinction, the conditioned response may again be elicited by the conditioned stimulus
♣ recovery of the conditioned response after extinction is termed spontaneous recovery

Question 28

what is generalization and discrimination?

Answer 28

• Stimulus generalization
o Ability of a conditioned organism to respond to stimuli that are similar but not identical to the original conditioned stimulus
o The less similar the two stimuli, the less response there will be
♣ E.g. organism might be conditioned to respond to a 1,000 Hz tone
♣ May also respond to a stimulus slightly higher or lower as well
• Stimulus discrimination
o Involves the ability of the learning organism to respond differentially to slightly different stimuli
♣ E.g. if rewards are given during only a very narrow range of sound frequencies (990 to 1010 Hz) but not to stimuli outside the range, the organism will learn not to respond to stimuli that are differnet in tone

Question 29

what is a stimulus generalization gradient?

Answer 29

Stimulus generalization gradient
o Established after the organism has been conditioned
Stimuli further and further away from the original conditioned stimulus elicit responses with decreasing magnitude

Question 30

what are limits of behavioural change?

Answer 30

imprinting and critical period

Question 31

what is imprinting?

Answer 31

♣ Process in which environmental patterns or objects presented to a developing organism during a brief critical period in early life because accepted permanently as an element of its behavioural environment
• i.e. “stamped in” and included in an animal’s behavioural response
• a duckling passes through a critical period in which it learns that the first large moving object it sees is its mother
o other things can be subsitited during the crit. Period and the duckling will see those as its mother
phenomenon first identified by Konrad Lorenz

Question 32

what is a critical period?

Answer 32

♣ Specific time peruiods during an animal’s early development when it is physiologically able to develop specific behavioural patterns
• If the proper environmental pattern is not present during the critical period, the behavioural pattern will not develop properly
o Some animals have a visual critical period
if light is not present during this period, visual effectors will not develop properly

Question 33

♣ Intraspecific Interactions

o Occur as a means of communication between members of a species

Answer 33

ya

Question 34

what are behavioural displays?

Answer 34

innate behaviour that has evolved as a signal for communication between members of the same species; e.g.a song, call, or intentional change in an animals physical characteristics is considered a display

Question 35

categories of behavioural displays?

Answer 35

• Reproductive displays
o Specific behaviours found in all animals
♣ Including humans
o Many animals have evolved a variety of complex actions that function as signals to prepare for mating
• Antagonistic displays
o E.g. a dog’s display of appeasement when it wags its tail or antagonistic behaviour when it directs its face straight and raises its body
• Other
o Include various dancing procedures exhibited by honeybees
♣ Especially the scout honeybee
♣ Conveys info concering the quality and location of food sources
♣ Displays utilizing auditory, visual, chemical, and tactile elements are often a means of communication

Question 36

what is pecking order?

Answer 36

♣ Relationship among members of the same species living as a contained social group frequently become stable for a period of time
• When food, mates, or territory are disputed, a dominant member of the species will prevail over a subordinate one
• Social hierarchy is frequently referred to as pecking order
Minimizes violent intraspecific aggressions by defining stable relationships among members of a group

Question 37

benefits of territoriality/having a territory

Answer 37

♣ Serves as the adaptive functions of distributing members of the species
• So the environmental resources are not depleted in an area
o Reduces intraspecific competition
o Although there is frequently a minimum size for a species’ territory region, territory size varies with the pop. Size and density
♣ The alrger the pop, the smaller the territory size

Question 38

pheromones influence the behaviour of other animals

Answer 38

ya

Question 39

types of pheromones

Answer 39

releaser pheromones and primer pheromones

Question 40

what is a primer pheromone?

Answer 40

• Produce long-term behavioural changes and physiological alterations in the recipient
o E.g. pheromones from male mice may affect the estrous cycles of females
• Pheromones have also been shown to limit sexual repro. In areas of high animal density
• Important in social insects such as ants, bees, and termites
Where they regulate role determination and reproductive capacities

Question 41

what is a releaser pheromone?

Answer 41

• Trigger a reversible behavioural change in the recipient
• E.g. female silkworms secrete a very powerful attracting pheromone
o So powerful that a male silkworm reacts to one ten-millionth of a gram from a distance of two-miles or more
• Act as ex attractant pheromones
o Secreted by many animals
• In addition to acting as SAP, releaser pheromones may also be secreted as an alarm or toxic defensive substances