Lecture 2 - Proximate questions

role of nerves in animal behaviour

1. sensory input - perception of environment, recognise threats, find food

2. motor output - orient towards stimuli, feed, defend themselves

3. autonomic regulation - influence visceral states ie heart rate, breathing, digestion

internal factors causing behaviour

- biological rhythms; time schedules set by zeitgebers

- homeostatic or non-homeostatic motivations

- cirdadian rhythms

homeostasis

main aspects - does not stagnate, dynamic stability, coordinated response

- has a regulatory role over behaviour

- can be over-ridden if changes to behaviour increase overall fitness

external factors causing behaviour

- biotic; population density, sex ratio (desert locust)

- abiotic; light, temperature, tide

context dependent factors causing behaviour

- weather; dictates movement patterns (swans from Iceland to UK)

- stimulus filtering; differentiate between stimuli to produce most appropriate response to increase survival (camouflage)

errors in behavioural responses

- misconception or misidentification of stimuli (swans on motorways)

- human impact; litter ingested

why does learning develop

- spreads behaviour faster than genetic inheritance

- horizontal & vertical behaviour transmission

- copying errors

types of learning with decreasing genetic influence

innate behaviour

maturation

chance

self learning

learning from others

insight learning

innate behaviour

fixed action patten = an innate behaviour sequence performed in a predictable way when triggered by a stimulus. once started, always the same sequence

characteristics - stereotyped, complex, triggered, independent of experience

maturation

behaviours change at predictable stages as an animal ages

- full behavioural repertoire is developed to enhance fitness of adult animal

chance

- behaviour determined by specific environmental event

self learning

behaviour changes as its repeated, modifying actions in response to experienced outcomes

- imprinting, conditioning (Skinner & Pavlov), habituation (stop learning), discriminative learning,

learning from others

behaviour learnt by observation & replication

- teaching food identification in meerkats ie bird eggs vs scorpion

insight learning

using perception & abstract conceptionalisation

- Kohler study; chimpanzee learnt to fish by assembling fishing rod, then taught others how to reach bananas by stacking boxes