``` Lauren's mom Study the critical period in the imprinting of geese & determine the effects of incorrect imprinting ```

``` Behaviors that are modified by experiences Flexible & changeable within a complex & changing environment ```

Animal Behavior Flashcards by Ika Lin

Behavior Ecology

places an emphasis on the evolutionary significance of behavior and how they result in increased fitness

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Proximate Causation

focuses on the environmental stimuli that triggers behavior and the mechanism that allowed for the behavior to occur

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Ultimate Causation

focus on the evolutionary significance of the behavior and how it contributes to survival and/or reproductive fitness

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example of Proximate Causation

seasonal change, visual stimulus, hormonal changes, touch stimulus

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example of Ultimate Causation

wolves exhibit agonistic behavior to increase social standing in order to gain more resources (ie mates, territory, food)

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Ethology

The scientific study of how animals behave,

especially in their natural environments

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Ethology Scientists

Karl Von Frisch, Niko Tinbergen, &

Konrad Lorenz

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Karl Von Frisch

“fresh bees”

-discovered that bees have color vision and dance to communicate

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Niko Tinbergen

Studied fixed action patterns
Developed four essential questions to study
behavior

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Konrad Lorenz

"Lauren's mom"
Study the critical period in
the imprinting of geese &amp;
determine the effects of
incorrect imprinting

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Innate Behaviors definition

Genetically
programmed behaviors
that do not require
learning
Despite different
circumstances all
individuals exhibit the
same behavior

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Innate Behavior examples

early survival &
reproduction
Fixed Action Pattern
Directed Movements (kinesis and taxis)

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Learned Behaviors

Behaviors that are
modified by
experiences
Flexible &amp; changeable
within a complex &amp;
changing environment

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examples of Learned Behaviors

associative learning (operant & classical conditioning) and habituation

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examples of Fixed Action Patterns

egg rolling in geese, courtship dance in fruit flies, red belly of intruding stickleback male that releases aggression

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Kinesis

innate behavior - directed movement
– Directed movement
– A change in activity or turning rate based on a
stimuli
– Once desirable conditions are obtained the
movement will decrease

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Taxis

innate behavior - directed movement
– Automatic directional movement toward (positive)
or away (negative) from a specific stimuli
– Examples: phototaxis, chemotaxis, geotaxis

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Innate & Learned Behavior

Imprinting, Migration, Communication

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Imprinting

innate & learned behavior
A critical period when a young animal comes to
recognize another animal as a parent
– Irreversible
– Innate: result of an imprinting stimulus that is
genetically programmed
– Learned: once imprinting has occurred the animal
will learn appropriated behaviors

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Imprinting

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Proximate & Ultimate Cause of Imprinting

Study These Flashcards

P: the young geese observe their mother moving away from them and calling in an early, critical developmental stage
U: Geese that follow and imprint on their mother receive more care and learn necessary skills, and thus have a greater chance of surviving than those that do not follow their mother

Migration

Study These Flashcards

innate & learned behavior
Animals pass from one region/climate to another for
feeding or breeding
– Innate: the need to migrate has been found to
polygenic & passed between generations
– Seen in the blackcap study on migratory restlessness
– Learned: parents teach young many aspects
associated with migratory patterns

Communication (behavior)

Study These Flashcards

innate & learned behavior
– The transmission, reception of, & response to
signals
– Signal: a behavior that causes a change in the
behavior of another animal
– Some types of communication are innate while others are learned

Visual Communication

Study These Flashcards

Visual displays relay essential information

– Useful for animals that are diurnal

Chemical Communication

– Odors relay essential information – Useful for nocturnal animals – Pheromones: a released chemical that affects the behavior/physiology of others in the same species – Alarm pheromones – Trail pheromones – Sexual attractants

Examples of Chemical Communication

- spiders use moth sex pheromones to lure its prey | - female mosquitos use CO2 concentrations to locate victims

Sound/Auditory | Communication

– Vocalizations are used to relay essential information – Useful for both diurnal & nocturnal species

Associative Learning

learned behavior Learning to associate a stimulus with a consequence – Accomplished through personal experience, parental teaching, & observations of other members of the species – Animals learn to modified their behavior based on feedback from their environment -operant and classical conditioning

Operant Conditioning

– AKA Trial & Error Learning – Learning where an animal associates its own behavior with punishment or rewards – Positively reinforced behavior will increase in frequency while negatively enforced behaviors are stopped quickly – voluntary behavior is followed by stimuli (reward/punishment)

Classical Conditioning

– An arbitrary stimulus followed by involuntary behavior is associated with a reward or punishment – Pavlov’s dogs were trained to drool at the sound of a bell

Habituation

learned behavior The loss of responsiveness to a stimuli that conveys little or no information – Essential for survival because it allows animals to focus on relevant information only

What are the three types of communication?

-visual, chemical, and sound

What are the two types of associative learning and which behavioral ecologists studied which?

``` Operant Conditioning (B.F. Skinner) Classical Conditioning (Ivan Pavlov) ```

Social Behavior

Behaviors that are the result of being social organisms – Often this is selfish behavior that benefits only one member

examples of Social Behavior

- communication/language - agonistic behaviors - dominance hierarchy - cooperation - altruism

Communication/Language (social behavior)

The ability for members of the same species to communicate essential information

Agonistic Behavior

Ritualized contests that determine which competitor gains access to resources including mates, food, & territory -death and maiming are rare

Dominance Hierarchy

– Arises when members of a social group interact to create a ranking system – Most are patriarchal & determined by agonistic behavior

Cooperation

– Members of social groups working together to complete tasks that would be too difficult alone or for safety

Examples of Communication/Language

– bee’s dancing & | whale songs

Examples of Cooperation

– hunting in packs, bird flocking, & fish | schooling

Altruism

When animals behave in a way that decreases their fitness but increase the fitness of others in the population *kin selection

Kin selection

increasing survival of close relatives | to keep those genes in the population

Key Behaviors for | Reproductive Success:

– Optimal Foraging Theory | – Mating & Mate Choice Behavior

Optimal Foraging Theory

– A compromise between the benefits of nutrition & the costs of obtaining food – Focuses on energy costs & predation costs – Decrease energy expenditure and risk to increase return

Mating & Mate Choice | Behavior

– Seeking, choosing, attracting, & competing for a mate

Mating Systems

The system is based on the amount of parental care needed for successfully raising young -result in physical differences between the sexes (sexual dimorphism) -promiscuous, monogamous, polygamous

Promiscuous

no lasting bonds due to little parental | care

Monogamous

long relationships with mating pairs due | to need for lots of parental care

Polygamous

one individual mates with many – Polyandry: one female – Polygyny: one male

Sexual Selection

– Mate choice by one gender affects that appearance & behavior of the other gender – Typically this is females picking characteristics in males that correlate with male quality often resulting in exaggerated characteristics & agonistic behavior

Animal Behavior Flashcards

(51 cards)