Ethology 2nd lecture Flashcards
What are the two ways of describing behaviour?
Descriptive (explaining the shape of behaviour: eg. bird moves its head up and down) and functional (explaining what is done: e.g. bird is trying to impress females).
What is a behavioural pattern?
It is a unit of behaviour. It can be either a simple action (such as blinking of the eye) or sequence of actions (such as lying down).
What are the two characteristics of a behavioural pattern?
They are species specific (all individuals of the same species perform it more or less the same way) and it produces a functional outcome (it looks as if the animal had a purpose, although other mechanisms may be at play).
What is a reflex action?
Voluntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus. It is mediated via the reflex arch.
What is a reflex arch?
It is a neural pathway where sensory neurons activate spinal motor neurons without the delay of routing signals through the brain.
What is a rhythmic motor pattern?
A stereotypic repetitive movement that, once initiated, can continue in an automatic manner. It combines characteristics of reflexes with voluntary movement to adapt to changing needs (so it is a mix of reflexes and voluntary behaviour: e.g. walking).
What is a voluntary movement?
Purposeful, goal-directed movement produced and controlled by the brain. It usually requires learning, and thus, performance improves by experience.
( Voluntary behaviour which can, or not, be useful depending on the environment where one is living in. Genes give the ability to learn a specific behaviour, so depending on the milieu etc a relevant behaviour somewhere is not necessarily learned elsewhere by the same species, but the same need might be fulfilled by another behaviour).
List behavioural patterns in order of decreasing stability.
Reflex action -> rhythmic motor pattern -> voluntary movement (stability decreases to right).
Give an exception to the rule of behavioural pattern stability.
Courtship behaviour is very stable, even though it is a voluntary movement. This is because the correct performance is vital for reproduction.
What are the different levels of behaviour?
Species, population, family group, dyad, individual macro (whole organism), organ system, organ, cell.
Why we can study animal behaviour by applying the scientific method?
Because animal behaviour is observable (=quantifiable).
What are the steps of the scientific method?
Question Hypotheses Predictions Measuring variables Conclusion
