The Study of Animal Behavior

Question 1

ethology

Answer 1

Biologists and veterinary specialists refer to the study of animal behavior as ethology.

Question 2

Charles Darwin (1809–1882).

Answer 2

The entire field of biology, including ethology, was revolutionized in the nineteenth century by British scientist Charles Darwin (1809–1882). After graduating from Cambridge University in 1831, the 22-year-old Darwin traveled aboard the English survey ship HMS Beagle as an unpaid naturalist on a scientific expedition around the world. The expedition allowed Darwin to study an enormous variety of fossils and living creatures.

Question 3

On the Origin of Species

Answer 3

theory of evolution by Darwin, the book was published in 1859

On the Origin of Species introduced the theory of evolution, which characterizes all related organisms as descended from common ancestors.

Darwin devoted an entire chapter to animal behavior, most of which he believed was generated by a combination of unlearned responses characteristic of a species, or instinct.

Question 4

Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936).

Answer 4

One of the first scientists to question the all-encompassing role of instinct was a Russian physiologist named Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936).

Ivan Pavlov provided compelling evidence that animal behavior wasn’t based entirely on instinct.

Question 5

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 5

something that produces an unconditioned response (like the hammer tapping the patient’s knee).

Question 6

the school of animal psychology was founded on Pavlov’s discovery

Answer 6

that animals could learn to build novel associations between various stimuli, and therefore develop novel responses to their environment.

Question 7

behaviorism

Answer 7

which holds that behavior is learned rather than genetically programmed/

Behaviorism originated with American psychologist John B. Watson, who proposed an approach to psychology based on objective laboratory procedures. His experiments led him to formulate a stimulus-response theory of psychology, which holds that all complex forms of behavior, including emotions, thoughts, and habits, are complex muscular and glandular responses that can be observed and measured. Watson claimed that emotional reactions are learned in much the same way as other skills.

Question 8

John B. Watson claims

Answer 8

Watson claimed that emotional reactions are learned in much the same way as other skills.

Question 9

Behaviorists recognized two general categories of conditioned learning

Answer 9

Classical conditioning—based on Pavlov’s experiments—refers to the association of stimuli that occur at approximately the same time or in roughly the same area.

Operant conditioning works on the principle of associating a certain activity, known as the operant (functioning or tending to produce effects), with punishment or reward.

Question 10

operant

Answer 10

functioning or tending to produce effects, with punishment or reward.

Question 11

B. F. Skinner (1904–1990)

Answer 11

Probably the foremost expert on the mechanism of operant conditioning was the American psychologist B. F. Skinner (1904–1990). A classic example of the experiments he devised was teaching a rat to press a bar for food. The experiment proceeded in stages. First, the rat was rewarded simply for facing the correct end of the cage. In the second stage, the rat was rewarded only when it stood next to the bar. Subsequent stages successively delayed the reward until the rat touched the bar with its body. Such conditioning used specific environmental responses to shape the rat’s behavior to a specific task.

Question 12

nature-nurture controversy

Answer 12

The distinction between animal psychologists and the classical ethologists became the stuff of caricature: psychologists put animals in boxes and look inside to see what they do, while ethologists put themselves in boxes and look outside to see what the animals around them do. The crux of these two opposing schools came to be called the nature-nurture controversy, with the psychological school stressing the importance of learning, or nurture, while the ethological school stressed the primacy of instinct, or nature.

Question 13

Sociobiology

Answer 13

he study of the biological basis of the social behavior, seeks to extend the concept of natural selection to the social behavior of animals.

Sociobiologists theorize that complex social patterns arise, develop, and sometimes even disappear based on their survival value.

The sociobiological approach has fostered a deeper understanding of how environmental influences specifically affect animal behavior.

Question 14

Nobel Prize

Answer 14

In 1973, the ethologists Niko Tinbergen, Karl von Frisch, and Konrad Lorenz shared a Nobel Prize for their discoveries about the ways individual and social behavior patterns develop in groupings of animals.

Question 15

Classical conditioning

Answer 15

based on Pavlov’s experiments—refers to the association of stimuli that occur at approximately the same time or in roughly the same area.

Question 16

Operant conditioning

Answer 16

g works on the principle of associating a certain activity, known as the operant, with punishment or reward.

Question 17

social behavior

Answer 17

can be traced to their typical approach to hunting, killing, and disposing of food.

Question 18

Habituation

Answer 18

is the process of learning that certain objects and events have little bearing on survival and can thus be ignored

Question 19

Mapping

Answer 19

sometimes referred to as spatial learning, is the process an animal uses to assess a new environment.

Question 20

WHAT EVERY DOG SHOULD KNOW

Answer 20

No—the only word of reprimand an owner should use

Sit—used to control a dog’s excitement or curiosity in a variety of situations

Down or Lie down—used in situations that require greater control

Heel—used to keep the dog by the owner’s side while walking
Stay—tells the dog to maintain whatever position it’s in

Okay—a universal command used to release the dog from staying, sitting, or lying down

Come—used to call a dog to the owner’s side when it’s off-leash or to release the animal from sitting or lying down

Question 21

to tackle problem behaviors

Answer 21

is to understand the interplay between instinct, conditioning, reward, and reprimand. The more familiar you are with the principles and techniques we’ve explored here, the more confidently you’ll approach the typical pet owner’s problems.