ANFS 350: Quiz 1

Behavior

the way organisms act in response to external or internal stimulus

Why Study Behavior?

tells about welfare, medical treatments, living/caring for them, safety with larger animals, changes can indicate illness or issues, protect wild animals in natural habitats and populations

Charles Darwin

natural selection and evolution, basis for biology, helpful for contextualizing behavior

George Romanes

early comparative psychology, animal behavior to explain human, anecdotal and anthropomorphic accounts of behavior

Anthropomorphism

assuming animals have similar thoughts and feelings/motivations as humans, human-centric, treating animals like people

C. Lloyd Morgan

comparative psychology through first hand observation, opposed Romanes' theory

Comparative Psychology

studying animal behavior to understand human psychology

Morgan's Cannon

simplest psychological process possible should be used to explain a behavior

Behaviorism

assume no higher mental capacity until proven, led to assuming animal's can't reason, behavior studied independent of mental state, only considering stimulus and response

E. L. Thorndike

1930's America, operant conditioning with puzzle boxes, cats in box with trial and error process

Operant Conditioning

animal learns that neutral stimulus requires them to perform a task, reinforced both positive and negatively

B. F. Skinner

operant/instrumental conditioning with Skinner boxes and rodents

Skinner Boxes

chamber to study operant conditioning, contains speaker, lights, lever, food chute, electric grid

Ivan Pavlov

classical/pavlovian conditioning, pavlov's dog and bells

Classical Conditioning

animal is exposed to a neutral stimulus and a second stimulus that provokes a biologically important response, over time recognition of the first stimuli will provoke response as they are paired together (correlation)

Margaret Floy Washburne

author of The Animal Mind, collection of 35 years of research on 100 different species of animals

Motor Theory of Consciousness

way to compromise consciousness and behaviorism, idea that thinking is based on movement

Karl von Frisch

studied honeybee communication and perception of where they are in time and space, waggle dance

Konrad Lorenz

studied fixed action patterns and sign stimulus

Fixed Action Pattern

behavior secondary only to very specific stimulus, ex. chicken dustbathing

Sign Stimulus

elicits strong behavioral response, ex. red spot on male stickleback's belly

Nikolaas Tinbergen

developed 4 questions to understand behavior, mechanism, adaptive function, ontogeny, phylogeny

Mechanism Questions

what underlying mechanism is occurring, what external stimuli/neural circuits/hormones are involved

Adaptive Function Questions

how is the behavior useful, how does it have a selective advantage, how does it improve the animal's fitness

Ontogeny Questions

how did the behavior develop, when did the behavior start, what experiences shaped it

Phylogeny Questions

what is the behavior derived from, why this particular response, why is this evolutionarily favorable

4 Questions How

mechanism, ontogeny

4 Questions Why

adaptive function, phylogeny

4 Questions Current Context

mechanism, adaptive function

4 Questions Historical Context

ontogeny, phylogeny

Ethology

biological study of behavior, studying behavior for the sake of understanding it

Behavior Study Approaches

observational, experimental, comparative

Observational Approach

simply observe and note behaviors, historically common but at risk of assuming causation

Experimental Approach

controlled experiments, allows assumptions about causation, can manipulate specific features of a behavior

Comparative Approach

comparing behavior between species or breeds, evolutionary history to trace how and why behaviors exist

Considerations When Recording Behavior

presence or absence, frequency, duration, intensity, timing related to other activities, latency

How to Describe Behavior

objective not interpretive, may make incorrect assumptions or influence another person

Specifics When Describing Motion

muscle movement, limb movement, body parts relative to others, whole animal movement, effect on environment, effect on individual

Ethogram

list of the types of behaviors performed by particular individuals in a specific environment, requires extensive observation

State

long duration behavior with start and stop points, ex. sleeping

Event

short duration behavior that can occur during a state, ex. yawning

Types of Studies

ad libitum recording, continuous/conspicuous sampling, point/instantaneous/scan sampling, period occurrance/one-zero sampling

Ad Libitum Recording

opportunistic with no constraints, good for early stages and determining important behaviors, not good for data collection

Conspicuous/Continuous Sampling

continuous observation with a camera, only noting certain behaviors, good to catch rare behaviors but may miss other important behaviors not listed

Point/Instantaneous/Scan Sampling

observing at predetermined time points, may miss rare behaviors or have trouble recognizing longer behaviors, good for one person and many animals

Period Occurrence/One-Zero Sampling

observing behaviors in a set time, either happened (1) or didn't (0), don't miss rare events but no account for duration

Behavior Based Recording

ad libitum recording, conspicuous/continuous sampling

Time Based Recording

point/instantaneous/scan sampling, period occurrence/one-zero sampling

Domestication

adapting wild things to man and the captive environment for human use through genetic and environmental changes over the course of generations

Artificial Selection

direct human intervention over what traits are passed on

Why Domesticate?

food and fiber, companionship, work

Taming

behavior modification of an individual, doesn't override innate instincts

Feral Animals

animal that has ended up in the wild, will revert back to wild behavior and physiology, little or no dependence on humans

Development of a Trait

genotype plus environment

Thoroughbred Curiosity Development

linked to A to G substitution in DAD4 receptor and to foals fed high fat/fiber as opposed to high starch/sugar

Sensitive Phase

time when a small amount of experience can have major effects on an animal's later behavior, behavior specific timeline

Sensitive Phase Considerations

animal in the correct environment, recognize genetic differences between species, breeds, and individuals

Behavioral Genetics

how genetics can influence an individual behavior, result of selective breeding and domestication

Feline: A allele for oxytocin receptor

female spayed cats tend to be more dominant and agressive

Feline: Inherited Responses

response to strangers, rats, and agressive adult cat sounds is heritable

Feline: Sex Linked Female Orange, Black and White, and Grey and White Coat Colors

more often aggressive towards humans

Feline: Siamese and Tonkinese Colored

more likely to have separation issues

Canine: Learning Pointing

border collies > airedales > andalusian shepherds

Canine: Isolation

at 3-20 weeks beagles are behaviorally not normal, scottish terriers did ok

Canine: Reaction to No and Newspaper Swat

basenjis ignore punishment, beagles listen and correct

Canine: Basic Obedience Learning

cocker spaniels excelled, shelties got tangled in the leash

Canine: Heritability Goldens

golden retriever aggression is highly heritable (.9)

Canine: Heritability Shepherds

police german shepherds have highly heritable hyperactivity and impulsivity linked to dopamine receptor allele

Equine: Visual Discrimination Task

quarter horses are much better/faster than thoroughbreds

Equine: Tennessee Colors

bay mares more likely to have separation anxiety than black mares

Bovine: Mothering

beef cows make better mothers than dairy, angus show more maternal protectiveness than simmental

Bovine: Whorls

cattle with lower facial whorls calmer than those with higher whorls

Porcine: Aggression

yorkshire more aggressive than berkshire

Porcine: Breeding Behavior

male hampshires assert more dominance than durocs, landrace boars have low libido

Porcine: Mothering Heritability

piglet survivability and savaging in sows is highly heritable

Ovine: Aggregation

forest breeds will stick closer together than mountain breeds

Ovine: Twins

merino are more likely to abandon a twin than dorset or romneys

Ovine: Temperment

tunis are very calm and docile, finnish landrace are crazy

Cognition

mechanisms by which animals acquire, process, store, and act on information from the environment

Cognition Processes

perception, learning, memory, decision making, communication, reasoning

Consciousness

whether animals are self-aware, understand emotions, have intention or planned outcomes

Cognitive Abilities

increase with time and expertise, not always clear what is intentional, stimuli can affect and alter certain components of a behavior

Specific Cognitive Abilities

object permanence, copying actions, detour paradigm, mirror recognition, time estimation, metacognition

Object Permanence

understanding that an object still exists when it is out of view

Object Permanence Examples

3-4 day old chicks have ability, dogs and pigs can recognize image representations of objects

Copying Actions

learning by observation requires significant cognitive ability, limited by action being copied and physical capabilities

Copying Actions Example

a chimp can learn and interpret speech but cannot physically speak, parrots can learn, interpret, and respond

Detour Paradigm

modifying what is known about the location of a resource in order to obtain it

Detour Paradigm Examples

going around a fence to get a resource, tortoise, chickens, dogs

Mirror Recognition

self recognition or object recognition

Mirror Recognition Example

chimps, elephants, dolphins, and magpie recognize themself, pigs recognize food around a wall

Time Estimation

understanding the concept of time

Delayed Gratification

chimps will wait longer to get a larger reward, understands time estimation and rewards

Metacognition

to know what one does know and be aware that there are things one does not know

Brain Size

brain to body weight ratio is better indicator than general size, having a large brain is energetically expensive

Brain Structure for Analysis

mammals use cortex, birds use striatum, fish have diverse structures

Memory

ability to store, retain, and retrieve learned information over time

Types of Memory

short term, long term

Short Term Memory

seconds or minutes in animals

Long Term Memory

anything longer than a few minutes