Lecture 7: Animal Behavior

What is the difference between instinctive vs. learned behavior?

Instinctive = genetically programmed – it appears in complete and functional form the first time it is used.

Learned = dependent upon having a particular kind of experience during development.

What are stereotyped behaviors or fixed action patterns?

Instinctive behaviors that are performed over and over in almost the exact same way.

The simple cues that trigger fixed action patterns are called sign stimuli.

What is imprinting?

When animals learn the identity of a caretaker or the key features of a suitable mate during a restricted stage of development (critical period) early in life.

E.g. newly hatched geese imprint on their mother’s appearance and identity. At sexual maturity, geese mate with another goose because it exhibits the visual/behavioral stimuli on which they imprinted when young.

What is the difference between classical and operant conditioning?

Classical = animals develop a mental association between 2 unrelated phenomena.

Operant (trial-and-error learning) = animals learn to link a voluntary activity (an operant) with a reward (a reinforcement).

What is cognition?

When animals can solve a novel problem using insight – “thinking up” a solution rather than making a series of trial-and-error attempts at solving it. This process implies that an animal is aware of its circumstances, defines a specific goal, and then uses reasoning to achieve the goal.

What is habituation?

Learned loss of responsiveness to frequent stimuli that are not quickly followed by the usual reinforcement. This saves time and energy.

How do genes affect behavior?

Alleles present affect the kinds of enzymes that cells can produce, influencing the biochemical pathways involved in development of an animal’s nervous system. Resulting neurological differences can translate into a behavioral difference between individuals that have certain alleles and those that do not. 

What is seasonal migration?

Travelling from the area they were born to a distant location and returning to their birth site later.

What is piloting?

Animals use familiar landmarks to guide their journey.

What is compass orientation?

Animals move in a particular direction over a specific distance/time. 

What is navigation?

An animal moves towards a specifc direction using both a compass and a “mental map” of where it is in relation to the destination. 

What are the costs and benefits of migratory behavior?

Costs = time and energy devoted to the journey and the risk of death from exhaustion/predator attack.

Benefits = seasonal changes in food supplies and avoiding the cold of winter.

What is kinesis?

A change in rate of movement of frequency of turning movements in response to environmental stimuli (how some animals find suitable habitats).

What are the costs and benefits of defending a territory?

Costs = patrolling territory borders, performing displays hundreds of times a day, and chasing intruders take time and energy.

Benefits = access to nesting sites, food supplies, and refuge from predators.

What is communication?

The conveyance of information to other individuals. All communication systems involve an interaction between a signaler that transmits information and a signal receiver that intercepts the information and makes a behavioral response.

What is parental investment?

Time and energy devoted to producing and rearing offspring.

What is sexual selection?

Selection for mating success, male competition for access to females and the females’ choice of mates.

What is social behavior?

Interactions that animals have with other members of their species, affecting reproductive success. 

What are the costs and benefits of group living?

Costs = increased competition for food, spread of contagious diseases/parasites.

Benefits = prey is captured more effectively.

What is altruism?

When group members sacrifice their own reproductive success to help individuals that are not their direct descendants. 

What are degrees of relatedness?

The average percentage of alleles that relatives are likely to share.

What is inclusive fitness?

The sum of an individual’s classical fitness (number of successful offspring) + fitness gained through offspring produced by its relatives. 

What is Hamilton’s Rule?

If altruistic behavoir allows the assisted relative to produce proportionately more offspring than the altruist might have produced without helping them, the allele for altruism can increase in frequency in the population.