Animal Behaviour Flashcards
Innate
Molded by evolution
Is genetic
Usually beneficial for overall fitness of the animal
Behavioural Ecology
Behaviour that is beneficial for overall fitness of the animal
Learned
Behaviour learned through environment/experiences
Instinct
Inherited/genetic behaviour
i.e. In mammals, mother cares for offspring
FAP
Fixed Action Patterns
Type if instinctive behaiour
Types of behavior that almost always runs to completion
Sign stimulus stimulates behaviour
i.e. Sign stimulus= missing egg from nest
Causes goose to roll egg back to nest, will roll imaginary egg back to nest if egg becomes lost along the way
Imprinting
Inherited behavior that can be imprinted on the aniaml during a specific phase of their life
If critical period is missed, behaviour can’t be learned
i.e. Salmon have their birth region imprinted on them when they are young. Come back to the same spot to mate
Associative Learning
Learns that 2 or more events are connected
Classical conditioning
Trial and Error Learning
Operant Conditioning
Associative Learning
Animal connects behaviour to type of response
Spatial Learning
Associative learning
Connect location to a reward, causing the animal to return to that location
i.e. Wasps use landmarks to find nests
Habituation
Learned behavior
Allows animals to disregard meaningless stimuli
i.e. Sea anamones ignore things that bump into them that aren’t food
Observational Learning
Observes behavior of another animal, then copies this behaviour even though there was no positive reinforcement for it
i.e. Monkey washed sand off potato instead of using hands. Other monkeys copied
Insight
Animal gains insight into a new behavior that results in a positive outcome
i.e. Monkey can’t reach bananas. Builds a tower of boxes to reach bananas
Kinesis
Undirected change in speed in response to a stimulus
i..e Log lifted up, animals inside run away
Taxis
Directed movement in response to stimulus
either toward or away from stimulus
Phototaxis
Light (stimulus) directs movement towards light
