Approaches to Animal Behavior
• Comparative Psychology
• Ethology--adaptation
• Behavioral Ecology
• Sociobiology
• Evolution of Behavior
• Neurobiology—physiological mechanisms
Evolution of behavior
• Behavioral genetics—polygenic inheritance
• Adaptation
• Inclusive fitness—includes fitness of relatives
• Evolutionarily stable strategies
Mechanisms of behavior
• Nervous system– Neurons– Sensory receptors– Hormones
• Sensory perception– Chemoreception and thermoreception– Mechanoreceptors and hearing– Vision and echolocation
Physiology and behavior
• Acclimatization
• Biological clocks
• Hormones and reproductive behavior
• Hibernation
• Migration
• Lunar rhythms
• Circadian rhythms
Animal learningPsychological approach
• Ivan Pavlov’s dogs
• Conditioning– Acquisition– Habituation
• Reinforcement– Positive reinforcement– Negative reinforcement
Biological aspects of learning
• Evolutionary constraints on learning
• Stimulus relevance
• Cognitive aspects of learning
Instinct
• Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen
• Releasing mechanism
• Imprinting
• Displacement activities
• Communication
• Conflict
Decision-making
• Karl von Frisch’s honeybees– Foraging– Flower recognition– Communication
• Evolutionary optimality– Optimal foraging– Trade-offs– Time and energy budgets
Mentality of animals
• Language and mental representation– Non-verbal communication in humans– Teaching apes and parrots to converse
• Intelligence, tool use, and culture– Comparative intelligence– Tool use– Culture