week 2 Flashcards
what is instinctive behaviour
- behaviour produced without learning - innate
- genetically predetermined
- neurologically casual
- stereotyped
It is an innate fixed response to an environmental stimulus
deprivation experiment
compare behaviour of individuals with and without a given experience
Grohmann prevented young pigeons from moving wings
- flew as proficiently as normal birds when constraint removed
Conclusion: practice not necessary for normal development of flight
example of unexpected necessary experience
some non-specific experiences are necessary for development of what might otherwise be thought to be ‘instincts’
examples: kittens deprived of light have abnormal depth perception and do not avoid a drop
appetitive behaviours
seek, find approach
Consummatory response
eating, drinking etc
‘westermarck effect’
inbreeding depression
- inbred individuals have poor health and fertility
due to higher frequency of recessive, deleterious traits in homozygous form when close relatives breed.