Lecture 13 - Behavior Flashcards
Behavior
A sum of an animal’s response to internal and external enviornmental cues
Innate and Learned
Innate Behaviors
Behavior that is under a strong genetic control
Fixed action patterns
Fixed action patterns
An unchangeable series of actions triggered by a specific stimulus
Learned behavior
Modification of behavior as a result of specific experiences (enviornmental)
Habituation
An animal learns not to respond to a repeated stimulus that conveys
Imprinting
Learning that is limited to a specific time period in an animal’s life and is generally irreversible
Spatial learnin
An animal establishes memories of landmarks in their enviornment that indicate the location of food, nest sites, mate, hazard, etc.
Migration, Kinesis, Taxis
Kinesis
Random movement in response to stimuli
Taxis
A response direct towards or away from a stimulus
Associate learning
The ability to associate one enviornmental feature with another
Trial-and-error learning
Social Learning
Learning by observing behavior of others
Imitation/Teaching
Problem Solving
The process of applying past experiences to overcome obstacles in new situations
Highly developed in mammals, relies on cognition
Foraging
- Food obtaining behavior
- Generalists
- Speciaist
Optimal foraging theory
Animal feeding behavior should provide maximum energy at a minimum of risk or energy expended
Energy gained > cost
Communication
The transfer of information from one individual (sender) to another (receiver) that affects current or future behavior and the fitness of one or both individuals
Communication is an essential element of interactions between animals
