Adaptive Behavioral Responses

• Stimulus – type of information that has the potential to make an organism change its behavior– Internal stimuli tell an animal what

is happening in its own body• Ex. Thirst, hunger, pain

– External stimuli give animals information about its surroundings

• Ex. sound, sight, changes in length of day

Internal and External Stimuli

• Interactions between internal and external stimuli usually trigger specific behaviors.– Ex. What might be some

internal and external stimuli that cause you to wake up in the morning?

Detection and Response to Stimuli

• Organs that are activated in response to stimuli:

1. Nervous System

-fight or flight response

2. Muscular System

Function of Behavior

• Homeostatic mechanism-animal behaviors help maintain homeostasis

• Two types of movement-related behaviors:

1. kinesis – random movement

2. taxis – movement in a specific direction

Cyclical Behaviors• Circadian Rhythm – daily cycle of activity

ex. sleep at night, active during day

- Biological clock –internal mechanism that controls activity patterns

Hibernation

• Avoiding changing temperatures by entering a dormant state– Lower body

temperature– Reduced heartbeat– Slowed breathing rate– Estivation (summer

sleep) ectotherms escaping the heat

Migration

• Periodic movement from one place to another and then back again.– Ex. birds, butterflies, whales– Seasonal

Instinct vs. Learning

• Instinct – inborn behavior accomplished the first time is tries.

• Innate – behavior that is performed correctly the first time an animal tries it– Ex. spiders building

webs

Instinct vs. Learning

• Learned behaviors- Animals often change their innate behavior as they gain experience

Types of learning: • Habituation – learning to

ignore a repeated stimulus (ex. plastic garden owls in garden)

Types of learning continued…• Imprinting – a rapid and

irreversible learning process that only occurs during a short time in an animal’s life– Ex. identifying parents

• Imitation – learning by observing others– Ex. babies learning

to speak

Associative Learning

• Associative Learning – An animal learns to associate a specific action with its consequences

– Ex. Trial and error learning

1. Classical Conditioning – animal learns to associate a previously neutral stimulus with a behavior that was once triggered by a different stimulus

Ex. Pavlov’s Dogs

Types of Associative Learning continued…

2. Operant Conditioning – positive or negative reinforcement increases or decreases a behavior

Ex. “Skinner boxes” or electrical fence

for pets

Benefits and Costs of Behavior

Benefits Costs

- Survivorship

- Reproduction

- Increased fitness

- Energy Costs

- Opportunity Costs

- Risk Costs

Benefits Must Outweigh Costs

• Territoriality – control of a specific area by one or more species

• Optimal Foraging Theory – natural selection should favor behaviors that get animals the most calories for the cost

Social Behavior• Some animals live in groups that have definite social structures.• Benefits:

– Improved foraging– Members can help each other– Reduces chance of predation

Costs:• Increased visibility to predators• Increased competition• Increased chance of spreading diseases or parasites

Social Behaviors

• Communication - visual, sound, touch chemical- pheromones

• Mate Selection – Courtship behaviors

• Defense – aggressive actions for protection

Helpful Social Behaviors

• Cooperation

• Reciprocity

• Altruism – animal reduces its own fitness to help others

Animal Cognition

• Cognition is the mental process of knowing through perception or reasoning.- Includes awareness and ability to judge- Solving complex problems

Solving Problems

• Insight – ability to solve problems without repeated trial and error (ex. Monkey and bananas)

• Animals use tools (inanimate objects to help accomplish a task)

Video clip on animal intelligence