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History of the Study of Animal Behaviour. History of Studies of Animal Behaviour. Scala Naturae ( Aristotle ) Evolutionary Approach ( J.Lamarck; C.Darwin ) Ethology ( K.Lorenz; N.Tinbergen ) Comparative Psychology ( C.Morgan; E.Thorndike; M.&H.Harlow; K.Lashley )
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History of Studies of Animal Behaviour • Scala Naturae (Aristotle) • Evolutionary Approach (J.Lamarck; C.Darwin) • Ethology (K.Lorenz; N.Tinbergen) • Comparative Psychology (C.Morgan; E.Thorndike; M.&H.Harlow; K.Lashley) • Sociobiology/Behavioural Ecology (E.O.Wilson; W.D.Hamilton)
<-- Humans Scala Naturae (the great chain of beings)
Evolution according to Lamarck According to Lamarck, constant use of certain organs led to changes in the organs themselves. For example, stretching of the neck, in the case of the giraffe, led to its gradual lengthening.
Evolution according to Darwin Darwin maintained that the mechanism of natural selection was responsible for the evolution of longer-necks in giraffes: individuals with longer necks survived to pass their ‘long-neck’ trait along.
Evolution, function Innate behaviour Many species Natural habitats Species differences Mechanisms, development Learned behavour Few species Laboratory General laws Ethologists Comparative Psychologists
Fixed Action Pattern- a programmed behaviour pattern triggered by a specific environmental stimulus • It is innate or unlearned • It is stereotyped • It is difficult to disrupt
A gull attempting to incubate a super-egg instead of her own egg
Clever Hans - a horse with a head for numbers
Conwy Lloyd Morgan (1852-1936) Photograph from ca. 1900
Morgan’s Canon “In no case may we interpret an action as the outcome of the exercise of a higher psychical faculty if it can be interpreted as the outcome of the exercise of one which stands lower in the psychological scale.” (Morgan 1891, p. 53)
Mother-Infant Bonding Primates have a biological need for contact comfort Margaret and Harry Harlow
Karl Lashley attempted to locate the locus of learning in the cerebral cortex
Sociobiology/Behavioural Ecology • Focus on the function of behaviour • Cost/benefit analysis of the individual acts • All behaviour is ultimately selfish (it maximizes individual genetic success) Alarm call by a ground squirrel