E3 Innate and learned behaviour

1. E3 Innate and learned behaviour Pp471- 480

2. What is Behaviour? • An activity or action that helps an organism survive in its environment. • Example; linking, eating, running, walking, flying, sleeping etc. • Animals behave in certain ways for four basic reasons: • to find food; • to interact in social groups; • to avoid predators; • to reproduce.

3. A behaviour comes in response to a stimulus. • A stimulus is any change in the environment that affects the activity of an organism or what causes an animal to act in a certain way. • Stimuli may include: • the sight of food • the sound of a potential predator • the smell of a mate • daily events such as nightfall • seasonal events such as decreasing temperatures.

4. Innate behaviour Learned behaviour • independent of experience • independent of environmental conditions • inherited from parents - genetic pre-disposition • present in all members of a population • evolves through natural selection • example: blackcap southern or western migration, nest building in birds, feeding in new-borns, fly larvae moving away from light • influenced by experience • influenced by environmental conditions • not inherited from parents – no genetic pre-disposition • the behaviour varies among individuals of a population • specific behaviour may not be naturally selected • example: dog learning to walk on heel, human learning to juggle three balls, learning to ride a bike, ducklings following the first thing they see moving

5. Describe an experiments to investigate innate behaviour in invertebrates • place the invertebrates such as wood lice in a controlled environment • observe their behaviour to see which stimuli elicit a response • choose one stimulus that appears to change behaviour • ensure that other factors are controlled so that they do not have an effect on the response • use an appropriate method to measure the response • ensure sufficient numbers of repeats & animals to ensure reliability of the data collected • ensure that ethical standards are met i.e. animals should not be harmed

6. Kinesis and Taxis behaviour • taxis is movement toward (positive) or away from (negative) a stimulus i.e. directional movement in response to stimulus • Examples: planaria worm moving towards food; euglena moving towards the source of light • Kinesis is more movement in unfavourable conditions and less movement in favourable conditions • the movement is not in any particular direction • Example: woodlice moving more in unfavourable dry conditions

7. Discuss how the process of learning can improve the chance of survival • animals learn to avoid dangerous situations such as predators or poisonous substances • animals learn how to hunt & (or) obtain food • animals learn to adapt to changing environmental conditions such as extreme weather • Example: birds learn to avoid the bad-tasting black and orange caterpillars of the cinnabar moth (by classical conditioning) and thus avoid possible poisoning hence increasing their chances of survival

8. Pavlov's experiments into conditioning of dogs

9. Outline Pavlov's experiments into conditioning of dogs • Pavlov’s experiment involved Classical Conditioning • unconditioned stimulus - smell & sight of food presented to the dogs • unconditioned response, salivation occurred • unconditioned stimulus - smell & sight of food accompanied by ringing of bell, the dogs salivated • conditioned stimulus of bell ringing given without unconditioned stimulus - sight of food • conditioned response, salivation occurs due to the bell ringing without the presence of food

10. Role of inheritance and learning in the development of birdsong in young birds • young birds learn birdsong from parents or other adults • when young birds are removed from parents, they are capable of singing own songs • thus, basic song template may be inherited, then modified by learning • learned birdsong is louder & richer in syllables