Download Animal Behavior Learning in Animals

Interactive Theory of
Development
Animal Behavior
Learning in Animals
Environmental Controls on
Behavior
• Environmental elements that develop
behavior:
– nutrients from diet
– hormones produced through developmental
expression of DNA cause instinctive drift
• different in different animal species
– social interactions of both like and different
organisms in environment
Types of Learned
Behaviors
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Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Insight Learning
Imprinting
Habituation
• Development of organism’s attributes
caused by complex interaction between
genotype and environment
– Animals learn because genetic code
produces memory cells in muscles and
nerves memory cells “remember information”
– Animals learn when they interact with
environment in different situations forcing
decisions they “remember” and apply in
future situations
Instinctive Drift
• Instinctive Drift is different in
differing animal species
• Some species of birds and
wolves learn to avoid snake
silhouettes to avoid being
preyed upon
– Wolves must encounter
snakes first whereas birds
avoid from hatchling on
– This process is called
avoidance
Associated versus Nonassociated Learning
• Associated Learning is defined as the
gaining of experience of a behavioral
response from the connection of a
stimulus to that response.
– Classical and Operant Conditioning
• Non-associated learning is defined as
the gaining of experience for a
behavioral response without the
connection to a stimulus and response
– Habituation
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Classical Conditioning
• Classical Conditioning is the type of learning made famous
by Pavlov's experiments with dogs.
• Pavlov presented dogs with food, and measured their
salivary response (how much they drooled).
• He began ringing a bell just before presenting the food.
• At first, the dogs did not begin salivating until the food was
presented.
• After a while the dogs began to salivate when the sound of
the bell was presented.
Operant Conditioning
• A Theory of scientist B.F. Skinner is
based upon the idea that learning is a
function of change in overt behavior.
• Reinforcement is the key element in
Skinner's Stimulus-Response Theory.
• A re-inforcer is anything that
strengthens the desired response (a reinforcer could be verbal praise, a good
grade or food)
Operant Conditioning
• SPACIAL LEARNING - Rats
allowed to explore maze with 3 routes
of different lengths between starting
position and goal.
• Objective of maze is to get to find the
reward and learn shortest route to
the food.
• Rats behavior when maze blocked
implies they have a mental map of the
maze.
• Rats prefer routes to shortness.
When maze blocked at point A,
stopping them using shortest route,
they will choose second shortest
route.
Classical Conditioning
• They learned to associate the sound of
the bell (one stimulus) with the
presentation of the food (as second
stimulus).
• As far as their immediate physiological
responses were concerned, the sound of
the bell became equivalent to the
presentation of the food.
• Classical conditioning forms an
association between two stimuli.
Operant Conditioning
• Training your dog to "shake" on command
– You speak the command "shake"
(stimulus), moves paws (response)
– Give dog a treat (positive re-inforcer)
– Called Shaping
Sponge
• Observations of your behavior as
conditioned animal
– List two associated and two non-associated
behaviors you do every day
– Describe the stimulus-response interaction for
each
– Consider a two day time frame--how many
times over these two days do you do each
behavior?
– Write which type of associated and/or nonassociated behaviors each is
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Instrumental Conditioning
• Trial and Error
• Edward Thorndike and cat experiment
– Like rat conditioning, used a lever released
latch on door to box, release cat, rewarded
food
– Thordike’s conclusions: 1.) trial and error 2.)
timing 3.) several behaviors led to discover
one successful one 4.) successful behavior
repeated 5.) stimulus ! stimulus (situation) !
response
Operant Conditioning
• Law of Effect - Stimulus
! Response followed
by satisfying event
• Association between
Stimulus ! Response
strengths desired
response
– Ex: Skinner Box
Contact Comfort
• Equipotentiality of primate may be reached through
social learning whereby touch, warmth and
protective security is provided and thus satisfies
basic needs
• Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs for
achievement of equipotentiality
– Extended mostly to humans
– Related motivation, curiosity and experience
– Physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem,
self-actualization
Operant & Instrumental
Conditioning Re-Inforcers
• Re-inforcers - anything shapes behavior
to desired response (feedback)
– Positive re-inforcers - shape behavior
when stimulus re-inforcer not
automatized
– Negative re-inforcers - such as
punishment
• Only functional when it satisfies five
criterion - Intensity, Consistency,
Immediacy, Brevity
Developmental
Homeostasis
• Ability of animals to
acquire neurons and
hormones for normal
behavior
– Under poor conditions
– Normal means
organism of same
species show similar
behaviors via ultimate
causation
–Socially isolated
rheses infants
permitted to
interact with other
social isloates for
short periods of
time, cling to each
other during
contact periods
Imprinting
• Form of social learning
– Early development, actions or presence of others
"imprints" behavioral traits
– Young geese offspring look for a mother figure
right after birth
• Anything present and living may imprint as
“mother”
• Follows and mimics
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Kin Recognition
• Young use this to recognize relatives
(=kin) over other organisms that look,
smell, act like relatives (eg. mothers,
fathers, etc.)
• Discrimination - differential treatment of
member of same species, depending on
genetic relatedness
– Kin discrimination facilitates actions that
may help propagate the discrimination of
relatives genes
– Important to prevent inbreeding in excess
Kohler’s Work on Insight
• Constructed variety of problems for
chimps
– Each involved obtaining food not directly
accessible
• Food put on other side of a barrier
• Chimp move crates under bananas
and use pole to knock down
• Solving problem by cognitive trial
and error
– Experimenting in mind before using tools
• Pattern of behavior - failure, pause,
look at potential tools, attempt again
– Involves insight and planning
Insight Learning
• Expressed in intelligent organisms
• Capable of using reasoned thought and past
experience to solve problems
– Utilize previous experience with reasoning to
conclude and learn new things
• Also known as ability to learn by observing
– A model of receiving instructions without
firsthand experience by observer
Observational Learning
• Social Learning - individual learns
through observing behavior of others
– Imitation
– Insight Learning is a component
– Can be associated with the
equipotentiality
• Acquired by individual experience,
independent of others around
• Involves trial and error
Habituation
• Accustomization to particular stimuli
produces no response
– Repeated exposure to a stimulus causes
an animal to automatize a stimulusresponse interaction
• A common example of a habit would be
waking in morning.
– After waking in morning at one set time with
an alarm, no longer need alarm to wake
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