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Behavioral Biology
Chapter 51
Behavioral Biology

Part I
 What
is behavior?
 Innate Behavior

FAP/ Sign stimulus
 Learned



Part II
(current areas of
research)

Behavior
Habituation
Imprinting
Associative learning



Classical
Operant
ob
 Optimal
Foraging
 Cognitive maps
 Sociobiology
Behavior
 What
an animal does and how it does it
 can be
Muscular
seen or heard
Non muscular secretion of sex
attractants
 Genes
influence behavior can evolve
 Behav. ecology understand behav. In
the evolutionary sense (Darwin)
Causes of Behavior
 Proximate
Cause mechanistic,
environmental stimuli trigger
behavior,
 Ultimate Cause why or how behav.
improves fitness
Courtship behavior in cranes
Behavior
 Both
genes and environment
influence behavior
 Case studies have shown this
Fig. 51.1
Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Innate Behavior
 Behavior
that is preprogrammed
into the animal all individuals
exhibit the behavior, despite
environmental differences
 Automatic, developmentally
fixed
Ex:
blind birds, human infant
Ethology
 The
study of how animals
behave in their natural
habitat
Foraging
 Food
searching behaviors
 Why animals choose the food they
do at that time  cost benefit
 Optimal Foraging compromise
between feeding cost and feeding
benefits
 NS refines behaviors to enhance
efficiency of feeding
1941|1973
Pioneers in the study of animal behavior
Karl von Frisch
Niko Tinbergen
Konrad Lorenz
Fixed Action Patterns (FAP)
 Sequence
of behaviors
essentially unchangeable
& usually conducted to
completion once it is started
 sign stimulus
releaser
that triggers FAP
courtship display in
sticklebacks
B. Learned Behavior
 Innate
behavior improves with
performance
 Modification resulting from
experience
Imprinting

Learning at a specific critical time &
forms social attachments to another
 both
learning & innate components
Konrad Lorenz was “mother” to
these imprinted graylag goslings
Habituation

Loss of response to
stimulus
 “cry-wolf”
effect
 learn not to respond to
repeated occurrences
of stimulus
Associative learning
 Learning
to associate 1 feature of
the
environment (stimulus) with another
classical conditioning
stimulus
operant
trial
& reward/punishment
conditioning
& error learning
Classical Conditioning
 Pavlov’s
Ivan
dog is a good example.
Pavlov exposed dogs to a bell
ringing and at the same time sprayed
their mouths with powdered meat,
causing them to salivate.
Soon, the dogs would salivate after
hearing the bell but not getting any
powdered meat.
Operant Conditioning

Trial-and-error
learning - an
animal learns to
associate one of
its own behaviors
with a reward or a
punishment
Cognition & Problem-Solving


Connecting behavior with nervous system
to perceive, store, process, and
use information gathered
problem-solving
by sensory receptors
tool use
Directed movements

Kinesis
 simple
change in activity or turning rate
in response to a stimulus

Taxis
 more
or less
automatic, oriented
movement toward
(positive taxis) or
away from
(negative taxis)
a stimulus
Directed movements
Use of landmarks within a familiar area.
Some organisms move in response to a
recognized object or environmental
cue, the object is the landmark
 Cognitive maps.
Some animals form cognitive maps
(internal codes of spatial relationships
of objects in the environment


Migration Behavior.
Migration is the
regular movement
of animals over
relatively long
distances.
Piloting: an animal
moves from one
familiar landmark
to another until it
reaches its
destination.
Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Fig. 51.15

Orientation: animals can detect directions
and travel in particular paths until
reaching destination.
 Navigation
is the most complex, and
involves
determining one’s present location relative
to other locations in addition to detecting
compass directions.
 Cues for these behaviors include the
earth’s magnetic field, the sun, and
the stars.
Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Fig. 51.15
2. Competitive social behaviors often
represent contests for resources

Sometimes
cooperation
occurs.
Fig. 51.18
Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Agonistic behavior is a contest involving
threats.
Submissive behavior.
Ritual: the use of symbolic activity.
Generally, no harm is done.
Fig. 51.19
Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Reconciliation behavior often happens
between conflicting individuals.
Fig. 51.20
Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
 Dominance
hierarchies involve
a ranking of individuals in a
group (a “pecking order”).
Alpha, beta rankings exist.
The
alpha organisms control
the behavior of others.
Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Territoriality is behavior where an
individual defends a particular area,
called the territory.
Territories are typically used for
feeding, mating, and rearing young and
are fixed in location.
Fig. 51.21
Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Natural selection favors mating
behavior that maximizes the
quantity or quality of mating
partners

Courtship behavior consists of patterns
that lead to copulation and consists of a
series of displays and movements by the
male or female.
Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Also need to know
Altruistic Behavior
 Inclusive fitness
 Kin selection
 Pheromones
 Signal/communication Honey bee
dance

Both genes and culture build
human nature
Fig. 51.32
Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings