Behavioral Biology Flashcards
what is behavior?
change in activity in response to stimuli
what is cognition?
ability of an organism’s nervous system to process and store information
what are the different ways behavioral biology is studied?
ethology: studying the animal in its natural setting
cons: human presence may alter actual behavior
Experimenting: removing all variables and putting animal in controlled environment
innate behavior
born knowing how to do it -> don’t have to deal the risk of failure (R-selected species)
learned behavior
can learn how to adapt in various situations (K-selected species, lots of parental care)
types of innate behavior
reflex, directed movements, fixed action pattern, instinct
Directed movement
overall movement is stimulated by stimulus
ex: kinesis and taxis
Kinesis
increase in activity in response to stimulus (mostly non-directional)
ex: Photokinesis: when light turns cockroach starts moving around
Taxis
directional movement towards a stimulus (positive taxis) or away (negative stimulus
ex: Positive chemotaxis: move toward chemical cue (release of pheromones)
positive rheotaxis: move towards the water flow
negative geotaxis: move away from gravity (upward)
Sign Stimulus
stimulus of one animal triggering behavior of another animal
Fixed Action Pattern
a sign stimulus triggers a series of specific behaviors that once started it must be completed
what are the downsides of FAP?
nest parasites can take advantage of the behavior
ex: if a chick does gape and fluff even if it not parent own child it will still feed it
Instinct
not as hardwired as FAP but still a response to a sign stimulus
example of complex instinct
courting behavior
instinct inheritance
sometimes 2 instincts can be inherited as a result from hybrids and often clash with eachother
biological rhythms and circadian cycles
entrained (innate) behaviors correspond to the cycle of the environment (ex: day and night)
types of learned behavior
habituation, imprinting, association, imitation, problem solving
habituation
loss of a response to a stimulus after repeated exposure
imprinting
behavior is learned and hardwired at a critical period
ex: baby chicks establish the first thing they see as their mom
conclusion from Crossfostering between deer mice
behavior can be learned socially and come can not
association
learning that a particular stimulus or response is linked to a reward or punishment
classical conditioning
natural response to a natural stimulus is associated to a new stimulus
ex: pavlov experiment the bell is the new stimulus stimulating digestive system
Operant conditioning aka Trial and Error learning
association between have a behavior and a consequence (operant)
negative reinforcement
response removes the punishment
