Understanding Animal Behavior and Communication

1. Chapter 16 Animal Behavior

2. Section 1- Animal Behavior • Types of Behavior • Behavior • a way an organism interacts with other organisms and its environment. • Communication • An exchange of information • Stimulus • anything in the environment that causes a reaction • Innate Behavior • A behavior that an organism is born with

3. Reflex- An automatic response that does not involve the brain • Ex. Yawning, shivering, and sneezing • A draft of cold air makes you shiver. • Reflex – simplest type of innate behavior • Innate Behavior • Insects exhibit this behavior • Kittiwake chicks stand still as soon as they hatch • When a baby whale is born, its mother immediately pushes it to the surface for its first breath • Innate behaviors must be right the first time an animal responds to a stimulus or they might die.

4. Instinct – A complex pattern of innate behavior • Baby sea turtles head straight for the water as soon as they hatch • Learned Behavior- 4types: • 1) Imprinting • 2) Trial & Error • 3) Conditioning • 4) Insight

5. Learning-A behavior that develops through experience • Ex. A child learns to play the piano. ( learned behavior) • Ex. Your dog is waiting for you as you are getting off the bus from school. • Imprinting- • Ex. When ducklings follow the mother duck • Ex. KonradLorenza was working with geese • Gosling (baby goose) will follow the first moving thing it sees after hatching.

6. Trial and Error-behavior that is modified by experience • Insight – when past experiences are used to solve problems • Conditioning – behavior is modified to respond to other stimuli • Ivan P. Pavlov • Scientists famous for his conditioning experiments. • He used food and a bell

7. Section 2- Behavioral Interactions • Instinctive Behavior patterns • Inherited • Social Behavior • Interactions among members of the same species • Live in groups (protection) • Types of social behavior • Courtship and Mating • Caring for young • Territorial • Protection of the group • Getting food

8. Courtship Behavior- Behavior animals perform before mating • Ex. Fireflies lighting up / frogs croaking/birds singing • Societies • Members of species living and working together in an organized way

9. Territorial Behavior • Aggression • A forceful act to dominate or control • Ex. Dog w/a bone growls at another dog • Submission • postures that make an animal seem smaller. When a puppy rolls over on its back. • Territory • An area that an animal defends from other members of its same species

10. Communication • Communication is an exchange of information • Some examples of communication • Courtship • Aggression • Pheromones • Submission • Courtship- • Behavior that animals perform to attract a mate. • Behavior that animals perform before mating. • Ex. A male peacock raises and displays his tail feathers while performing a courtship dance

11. Pheromones • Chemicals released by an animal • Chemical released by one animal to influence the behavior of another animal • Ex. released by both sexes to attract mates • Ex. Released to mark territories (dog urinating) • Ex. Released to mark a trail (ants) • Ex. Released to warn of predators

12. Cyclic Behavior • Circadian Rhythm – Behavior based on a 24 hour cycle • Migration – Instinctive seasonal movement