Download Motor Mechanisms and Behavior

Motor Mechanisms
and Behavior
Sensory and Motor
Mechanisms
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Mechanoreceptors respond to physical
stimuli, such as touch or vibration.
Reception occurs when a receptor detects a
stimulus.
Perception occurs in the brain as the
information is processed.
Ex. When you view an optical illusion in
which a figure seems to change, what
changes is your perception of the object
Skeletal muscle
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For muscle function to occur, physical
interaction of actin (thin filaments) and
myosin (thick filaments) must occur.
Muscle fibers - myofibrils – actin and myosin
Muscle contraction – sliding
filament model
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Sarcomere – basic contractile unit of skeletal
muscle
Other types of muscle
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Cardiac muscle – the heart
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Smooth muscle – walls of hollow organs like
blood vessels and digestive tract
Nature versus Nurture
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Behavior – action that can be observed and
described.
Genetic influence
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Lovebirds, snakes, snails and human experiments
Nervous and endocrine systems are both
responsible for the coordination of body systems
Studies support the idea that certain types of
behavior have genetic basis
Nature versus Nurture
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Environmental influences (nurture)
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Learning: durable change in behavior brought
about by experience.
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Laughing gull chicks pecking behavior
Imprinting- sensitive period
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Associative learning – change in behavior that
involves an association between two events
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Song learning with white crowned sparrows
Classical conditioning - Pavlov, 2 types of stimulus
Operant conditioning – Skinner, stimulus/response
Insight, imitation, and habituation
Behaviors
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Innate – developmentally fixed, unlearned
Fixed Action Pattern: sequence of unlearned
acts that is largely unchangeable and usually
carried to completion once it is initiated.
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Ex. Male sticklebacks and red bellies, triggered by
a sign stimulus.
More behaviors
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Migration – carried out by using
environmental clues.
Kinesis – a simple change in activity in
response to a stimulus (pill bug lab)
Circadian rhythms – those behaviors that
occur on a daily cycle.
Signals
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A stimulus that causes a change in the
behavior of another individual and the basis
for animal communication
Communication
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Action by a sender that may influence the
behavior of a receiver.
Chemical – pheromones, anytime of day
Auditory – fast, night or day, can be modified
(length, pitch…) Language
Visual – restricted to daytime
Tactile – grooming, waggle dance of bees
Adaptive mating behavior
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Sexual selection – adaptive changes to
secure a mate
Fitness – ability to produce offspring
Female choice – based on genes and
survival or investment for offspring?
Male competition –
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Cost (competition) benefit (mating) analyses
This all applies to Humans too!
Sociobiology and animal
behavior
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Living in groups has a great reproductive
benefit than cost
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Ad: Avoid predators, rear offspring, find food
Disad: access to food, shelter, sickness
Behaviors are selected for the advantages they
provide for survival and reproduction.
Altruism
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Altruism – behavior that has potential to
decrease reproductive success of altruist to
benefit the reproductive success of another.
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Ex. Blue jay giving an alarm call attracts attention
to its location.
Inclusive fitness – personal reproductive
success and reproductive success of relatives
Reciprocal altruism – making a minimal short
term reproductive sacrifice in order to maximize
future reproductive potential