animals behaviors

Animal behavior studies are about understanding what animals do in response to environmental stimuli. An environmental stimulus could be any change in the environment that elicits a response in the animal. Most animal behaviors result from complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors with the former playing a major role in some behaviors and the latter playing a more significant role in others. The behavior that does not require learning or environmental input to develop is innate behavior. Kinesis is a nondirectional response to a stimulus. Instead of moving toward or away from a specific stimulus, the animal moves faster or makes more turns if the stimulus is not favorable. When the animal slows down or makes fewer turns, it suggests that the animal has found its comfort zone. Therefore, kinesis leads to increased chances for the animal to find a location where it feels more comfortable as a result of increased random movement. Taxis is a directional response to a stimulus. If it is a movement in response to light, it is called phototaxis. If it is a movement in response to a chemical, it is called chemotaxis. If the animal moves toward the stimulus, the animal is said to exhibit positive taxis. If the animal moves away from the stimulus, the animal is said to exhibit negative taxis.

The behavior that is acquired or modified later in life by various experiences is learned behavior. Learning involves acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge about the world and modifying behavior. Learning includes non-associative learning and associative learning. Non-associative learning involves behavioral changes from a particular stimulus not associated with other stimuli. Habituation is the production of a decreased response after repeated exposure to a particular stimulus. For a squirrel that has never encountered a human being before, it would very likely run away the first time it sees a human. However, for a squirrel that has been exposed to human beings all the time, it would very likely ignore your presence and carry on its own business when it sees you. The rate of habituation generally increases with the intensity and frequency of the stimulus. Habituation is different from fatigue in which the response to a stimulus decreases due to physical or mental exhaustion. The opposite of habituation is sensitization in which repeated exposure to the same stimulus produces a heightened response.

Associative learning involves linking unrelated stimuli to a response. Conditioned reflex is associative learning in that an animal learns to produce a response to an artificial stimulus when it is paired with a normal stimulus. For example, it is well known that a dog exhibits salivary reflex when it sees food. In this case, salivation is the dog’s response to a normal stimulus which is the sight of food. Ivan Pavlov discovered that if he rings the bell every time he feeds the dog, it starts to exhibit salivary reflex even when he rings the bell without providing the food. Therefore, the dog has learned to associate a response which is salivary reflex to the presence of food with an artificial stimulus which is bell ringing (Pavlov 1928 & 1955).