Instinct and Learning (L3) Flashcards
What is instinct?
A highly stereotyped behavior, more complex than the simplest reflexes, that appears in a fully functional form from the first time it is performed.
What is learning?
Modification of behavior in response to information acquired from experience.
Components of Instinct: FAP
Fixed Action Pattern: Innate and stereotyped coordination and patterning of several muscle movements which, when released, proceed to completion without requiring further sensory input.
Ex: egg-rolling response of greylag goose.
CoI: IRM
Innate Releasing Mechanism: Innate and highly schematic filter (or recognition threshold) which, when stimulated, releases the FAP.
CoI: Releaser
aka Sign Stimulus: The feature of a stimulus required to trigger an IRM.
Ex: rounded edges of an egg-like object.
Supernormal stimuli
Stimuli that are perceived as being of greater value (ie, larger or more potent) than normal stimuli.
A stimuli that is SO strong that it gets to the point of absurdity.
What is motivation + what are some examples of short-term behavioral changes?
Adapting to what will give them the best return on their investment. Relatively short-term ability of animals to switch their behavioral priorities.
Hunger, thirst, circadian rhythms, mating, fight or flight.
Characteristics of Motivation:
- Vigor may decrease after a few performances.
- Strength or quality of releaser required to elicit FAP rises with repeated stimulation.
- Strength or quality of releaser required to elicit FAP decreases with time in absence of stimulation.
What is Drive?
Relatively long term ability of animals to switch their behavioral priorities. (Similar to motivation, but with a qualifier “long term”)
Examples: Circannual rhythms, territoriality, courtship, breeding, fat storage, and food storage.
Name some examples of supernormal stimuli
Bright colors, conspicuous armaments, loud fancy songs, elaborate courtship displays.
What are code breakers?
Species which break the code of communication of another species and exploit their FAP.
How do hatchlings know how to be fed?
Hatch with two innate releasing mechanisms for pecking at food:
- red spot
- horizontally moving vertical bar.
Honeybees: When is a flower’s color learned? What is learned more quickly, color or odor?
During the final seconds of approach before landing at the food source.
ODOR: Learned ONLY while at food.
When are landmarks learned + what are the relative rates of sensory learning in bees?
Only as they they fly away from food.
Odor > color > landmarks > time
Habituation + reinforcement
Decline of a response resulting from the repeated occurrence of a specific stimulus without reinforcement.
Anything that alters the probability of behavior.
