Animals do weird things…. Behavior is the way an organism reacts to changes in its internal condition or external environment.

Animal Behavior!

Animals do weird things…

Behavior is the way an organism reacts to changes in its internal condition or external environment

Stimulus – any kind of signal that carries information and can be detected

Ex. Being hungry – internal stimulus

Ex. Rain – external stimulus

Ex. Alarm clock – external stimulus

Ex. Headache – internal stimulus

Ex. Being tired – internal stimulus

Ex. The sun – external stimulus

Response to hunger – eating

Response – a specific reaction to a stimulus

Response to the sun – wearing sun glasses

Response to being tired – sleeping

Response to headache – taking aspirin

Response to alarm clock – waking up

Response to rain – using an umbrella

After natural selection has acted, organisms end up with adaptive behaviors to help them survive

Ex. Baby birds beg for food just after being bornEx. Spiders building websEx. Weaver birds building nestsEx. Suckling of newborn mammals

Innate behaviors (instincts) appear in fully functional form the first time they are performed, even though the animals may have had no previous experience with the stimuli to which it responds Innate behaviors are a

complex result of interactions between genes and the environment

Learned behaviors (acquired behaviors) develop over time due to experience

4 majors types of learned behaviors are habituation, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, insight learning

Classical conditioning – when an animal makes a mental connection between a stimulus and some kind of reward or punishmentExamples – Pavlov and his dogs

Habituation – a process by which an animal decreases or stops its response to a repetitive stimulus that neither rewards nor harms

Operant conditioning – when an animal learns to behave in a certain way through repeated practice in order to receive a reward or punishment

Insight learning (reasoning) – when an animal applies something it has already learned to a new situation without a period of trial and error

Imprinting – involves both innate behavior and learned behavior – learning based on early experience – once it is there it can’t be changed

Migration – periodic movement from one place to another

Ex. Birds migrate in the winter to keep from freezing

Animals respond to periodic changes in the environment/seasons

Circadian rhythm – behavioral cycles that occur during the day

It is basically our built in sleep/wake cycle – it tends to run on a 24 hour clock

Many animals will socialize/work in groups

Ex. Zebras graze together – they are safer as part of a group

Ex. Hyenas hunt as a pack – they can take down larger prey as a team

Animals can have a variety of social behaviors

Courtship rituals help animals find a suitable mate

Ex. Birds of paradise

Ex. Mockingbirds will aggressively defend their territory

Many animals can be territorial and aggressive

Ex. Giraffes can fight each other viciously for mates/territory

Communication

Chemical signals – animals can release hormones/other scents

Visual signals – usually involve color/movement

Language – the most complex form of communication – only used by humans

Sound signals –animals communicate “verbally” with their sounds

Ex. Dolphins