Chapter 19 - Animal Behaviour Flashcards
What is a reflex?
Automatic response to simple stimuli and are recognized as reliable behavioural responses following a given environmental stimulus
How is a simple reflex controlled?
Controlled at the spinal cord which connects a 2 neutron pathway from the receptor (afferent) to motor (efferent) neuron
What does the efferent neutron innervate?
Effector (ex. gland or muscle)
How is a complex reflex controlled? How is the reticular activating system involved with it?
Controlled by the brainstem or even cerebrum
- Involved because it integrates many neurons which is responsible for sleep-wake transitions and behavioural motivation
What is a fixed-action pattern? What is a stimulus that elicits this behaviour? Can this pattern be modified?
A complex, coordinated, innate behavioural response to specific patterns of stimulation in the environment
- Releaser
- Cannot be modified by learning because they are innate; limited ability to develop new ones
What is circadian rhythm? Can you lose this rhythm? How is this cycle initiated?
Daily cycles of behaviour
- Yes, if isolated from natural light/dark phases
- Intrinsically by modified by external factors
What are environmental rhythms?
Patterns of behaviour that can be established/maintained by periodic environmental stimuli
What does learned behaviour involve? What is learning adaptive responses correlated to/
Adaptive responses to the environment
- Degree of neurologic development
What is habituation? How does it work? What happens if the stimulus is no longer applied?
Simplest learning patterns involving the suppression of the normal start response to stimuli
- Repeated stimulation results in decreased responsiveness to that stimulus, therefore the normal autonomic response would serve no useful purpose since the stimulus becomes part of the background environment (suppressed)
- No longer applied = response recovers over time (spontaneous recovery) or via modification of the stimulus
What is classical conditioning (Pavlov)? How does it work?
Involves association of normally autonomic response with an environmental stimulus (i.e. conditioned response)
- The normal innate stimulus is replaced by one chosen in the experiment
Describe Pavlovs terminology:
- An established (innate) response consists of an unconditioned stimulus and the response that is naturally elicited (unconditioned response)
- Neutral stimulus does not elicit the response is presented with the unconditioned stimulus and eventually the neutral stimulus can elicit the response in absence of unconditioned stimulus; now called the conditioned stimulus
- Product of this is called the conditioned effect
- Conditioning is the establishment of a new reflex by the addition of new, previously neutral stimulus to the set of stimulus that are already capable of triggering a response
What is pseudo-conditioning? Why is it a problem? How can it be avoided?
May be confused with true classical conditioning
- Critical test of conditioning is the determination of whether the condition process is actually necessary for the production of a response by a preciously neutral stimulus
- In many cases, the neutral stimulus is able to elicit a response before conditioning and hence, is not a real neutral stimulus
- This can be avoided by evaluating prospective stimulus before conditioning begins
What is operant or instrumental conditioning?
Involves conditioning responses to stimuli with the use of reward or reinforcement
- When the organism exhibits a specific behavioural pattern that the experimenter would like repeated, the animal is rewarded
- This increases likelihood of it occurring again (reinforced)
What is positive and negative reinforcement? What is punishment?
Positive reinforcement: Providing a reward for for specific behaviour; more likely to repeat action
Negative reinforcement: Developing a positive connection between the lack of action and reward; less likely to repeat action
Punishment: Providing negative conditioning such as pain so the organism will stop exhibiting a behaviour; negative connection between stimulus and response
What is the habit family hierarchy?
A stimulus that is usually associated with several possible responses, each response having a different probability of occurrence
- Reward strengthens specific behaviour responses and raises order in the hierarchy
- Punishment weakens specific behaviour response and lowers order in the hierarchy
In relation to modifications of conditioned behaviour, what is extinction? Operant vs. Classical
Extinction: Gradual elimination of conditioned response in the absence of reinforcement
- Operant = Response is diminished/eliminated with absence of reinforcement but can reappear with reinforcement
- Classical = Response is removed when unconditioned stimulus is removed or was never really there; may be spontaneously recovered
In relation to medications of conditioned behaviour, what is generalization and discrimination? What is the stimulus generation gradient?
Stimulus generalization: Ability of a conditioned organism to response to stimuli that are similar but not identical to original stimulus
- Less similar = less response
Stimulus discrimination: Ability of the learning organism to response differentially to slightly different stimulus
Stimulus generalization gradient: Established after organism has been conditioned, whereby stimulus further and further away from original conditioned stimulus elicit responses with decreasing magnitude
What is imprinting?
A process in which environmental patterns or objects presented to a developing organism during a brief critical period early in life become accepted permanently as an element of its behavioural environment
- Ex. Duckling learns first moving object is their mother
Can objects be substituting for imprinting?
- Yes
What is the critical period during imprinting? What happens if it is not present? What is visual critical period?
Specific time periods during an animals early development when it is physiologically able to develop specific behavioural patterns
- Not present = behavioural pattern will not develop properly
- If light is not present = visual effectors will not develop properly
What is intra-specific interaction?
Occur as a means of communication between members of a species
What are behavioural displays?
Can be defined as innate behaviour that has evolved as a signal for communication between members of the sam species
- Ex. Song call, dance, etc.
What types of display are there?
1) Reproductive: Certain behaviours and/or actions to prepare for mating
2) Agonistic: Ex. Dog wagging tail when happy
3) Others: Dancing, auditory, chemical, visual, tactile, etc.
What is pecking order? How does it work? What does it minimize?
The relationships among members of same species living as a contained social group frequently become stable for a period of time
- Dominant member prevails over subordinate one
- Aggression by defining stable relationships among member of the group
What is territoriality? Who occupies it? What does it do? How large/small is a territory?
Most land-dwelling species defend a limited area or territory from intrusion by other members of species
- Male or male-female pairs
- Serves to distribute members of species to avoid resource depletion
- If large population = smaller territories likely to be
What is an important way animals communicate? What do they secrete?
Response to chemicals (i.e. olfactory sense - smell)
- Pheromones: Influence behaviour of other members
What types of pheromones are there?
1) Releaser: Trigger reversible behavioural change in recipient
- I.e. Sex attractant pheromones are secreted by animals
- I.e. Alarm or toxic defensive substances
2) Primer: Produce long-term behavioural and physiological alterations in receiving animals
- Ex. Pheromones may affect cycles of females
- Ex. Limit sexual reproduction in areas of high density
- Ex. Regulate role determination and reproductive capacities in social insects