Chapter 44 Animal Behavior

1. Chapter 44Animal Behavior Section 1 Development of Behavior

2. The Study of Behavior • Snakes play dead • Chimpanzee gathers termites on stick • Leaf-cutter ants cut leaves and take bits back to their nest- colony helps load food • Ethologists- biologists who study behavior

5. The Study of Behavior • Behavior- action or series of actions performed by an organism, usually in a response to a stimulus • To learn more, ethologists ask questions

6. 1. What causes the behavior? What are the mechanisms that respond to a stimuli? • 2. What is the role of genes in the behavior, and how does it develop during an individual’s lifetime? • 3. What is the behavior’s evolutionary history? • 4. How does the behavior affect the organism’s survival and reproduction?

7. Genes and Behavior • Ethologists ask how much behavior is based on genetics and how much is based on the environment • Example: aggressive animals- snapping turtle vs tiger or bear

9. Natural Selection & Behavior • Animals promote offspring production by changing their surroundings • Example: new male lion takes over a pride- he kills all young cubs so that he is only the father of all new offspring

10. Innate Behavior • Innate behavior- instincts- inherited actions that are performed effectively the first time without being taught • Example: spider webs & hatchling sea turtles

11. Fixed Action Pattern • Fixed action pattern- rigid innate behavior that all members of a species perform the same way each time • Example: eastern hognose snake- spreads its jaws, hisses, and rolls on its back when threatened (plays dead)

12. Learned Behavior • Actions change with experience • Learning- modification of a behavior based on experience • Simple or complex • What are some examples of learned behavior that you display?

14. Habituation • Habituation- animal learns to ignore a frequent, harmless stimulus • Example: Sea gulls- shadows from overhead cause them to hide, overtime they learn that small objects (leaf) is not dangerous, but a larger object (hawk) is

15. Operant Conditioning • Operant conditioning- trial and error learning • Example: dog learns a cat hissing and arched back is dangerous when it gets scratched • Example: B.F. Skinner- rat in box trained to pull level if food came out

16. Classical Conditioning • Classical conditioning- animals learn to associate a response with a previous stimulus • Example: ringing a bell and a dog salivating

17. Problem-Solving & Reasoning • Reasoning- type of problem solving- involves the ability to solve a problem not previously encountered by the individual in a way that is not dictated by instinct • Example: chimp using tool to get insects • Other examples?

18. Genes, Learning, & Behavior • Genes can shape behavior • Behaviors are also shaped by an animal’s experience • But, overall, behavior is shaped by both genes and by experience

19. Imprinting • Imprinting- form of learning in which young animal forms permanent associations with its environment • Example: geese learn to follow the first thing they see when they hatch (humans) • Example: sea turtles hatch and return to same beach to lay eggs years later

20. Imprinting • Sensitive period- imprinting occurs during a specific phase in an animal’s development • Example: young children can learn multiple languages

21. REVIEW!!! • What are four questions that an ethologist might ask when studying behavior? • How is it possible for natural selection to affect an innate behavior? • Describe four types of learned behavior.