ANIMAL BEHAVIOR - elsd.ssru.ac.th

ANIMALBEHAVIOR

Behavior : is a coordinated response within (Action or response) of all living beings to internal and / or external stimuli resulting from the interaction of heredity with the environment.

◆External Stimulus is a stimulus that comes from outside an organism.

◆Internal Stimulus is a stimulus that comes from inside an organism.

Stimulus: any change in an organism’s environment that causes the organism to react.

Mechanism of animal behavior

external Stimulus receptor internal Stimulus

CNS

effectors

behavior

Behavior may occur as a result of- external stimulus (e.g., sight of a

predator)- internal stimulus (e.g., hunger)- or, more often, a mixture of the two

How to study the behavior of animals?

physiological approach : focuses on the relationship between our biological makeup and our behaviour and experience.

psychological approach : Study on the factors affectinganimal behavior.

Agapornis fischeri

Agapornis roseicollis

Types of behavior

Innate behavior → closely controlled by genes with little or no environmental influence→ behaviors that occur naturally in all members of a species whenever they are exposed to a certain stimulus→ do not have to be learned or practiced→ instinctive behaviors

Orientation Reflexes is an organism's immediate response to a change in its environment, when that change is not sudden enough to elicit the startle reflex.

Kinesis - an organism changes its movement in a non-directional way.

Innate behavior

Example : woodlice move faster in response totemperatures that are higher or lower than theirpreferred range.

Example : Temperature response of Parameciumshows the shift away from a high temperature to alow temperature. This moves away from hightemperature, with direction uncertain. Or are notassociated with the stimuli.

Taxis - moving toward or away from a stimulus with a certain direction. - often found in the organism receptor powerful enough to be able to

recognize and compare stimuli

Example : approached the female cricket male cricketsafter hearing the wings of male crickets

Example : movement toward the light of the mayfly

Reflex is an innate, automatic reaction, involving a simple, rapid response to specific stimulus, which does not depend on conscious thought or processing by the brain.

→ Chain of reflex or fixed-action pattern - a complex instinctual innate behavior that is species specific - triggered by certain environmental stimuli- still automatic and involuntary - once triggered, it will go on to completion, even if the key stimulus is

removed in the meantime

Example : Red-Bellied Stickleback Aggression

Example : Reed warbler feeding a cuckoo

Example : Egg Rolling and the Greylag Goose

Types of behavior

Learning behavior → one that an organism develops as a result of experience→ influenced by genes and the environment

Habituation is a simple form of learning in which an animal stops responding to a stimulus, after a period of repeated exposure. This is a form of non-associative learning, meaning that the stimulus is not linked with any punishment or reward

Learning behavior

Example : prairie dogs habituation Example : Ducks habituation

Example : mouse habituation

Imprinting is a simple and highly specific type of learning that occurs at a particular age or life stage during the development of certain animals.

Example : ducks and geese parental imprinting - a newly hatched or newborn animal is able to recognize its own parents from among other individuals of the same species.

Example : Konrad Lorenz’s experiment

Sexual imprinting - the process by which a young animal learns the characteristics of a desirable mate.

Example : Flamingo

Classical conditioning is a form of learning whereby a conditioned stimulus becomes associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus, in order to produce a behavioral response known as a conditioned response.

By teaching dogs to associate the sound of a buzzer with being fed, Pavlov established the principles of classical conditioning.

Trial-and-error learning or operant conditioning learning in which an animal comes to associate particular behaviours with the consequences they produce. This tends to reinforce the behaviour (i.e. the behaviour is likely to be repeated if the consequences are pleasant, but not if they are unpleasant).

Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

Observational learning is learning that occurs through observing the behavior of others.

Blue tits live in the UK taught themselves to break into milk bottles and drink the cream from the top.

Insight learning or reasoning refers to the sudden realization of the solution of any problem without repeated trials or continuous practices

Example : chimpanzee

Example : Pigeon and Crow

Behavior - Nervous system

external stimulus

receptorinternal stimulus

CNS

sensory neuron

effectors motor neuron behavior

Animal communication

Animals may not be able to speak in master language techniques, but they're certainly able to communicate with one another; their survival depends on it. Animals generally communicate using four methods: auditory, tactile, chemical and visual. Some species rely more on one form of communication over another; however, they all various methods to show affection, ward off threats or attract a mate.

Sound communication/Auditory communication

contact calls mating calls

warning calls echolocation

Tactile communication

Chemical communication

Visual communication

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