1 of 33© Boardworks Ltd 2008. 2 of 33© Boardworks Ltd 2008 What is behaviour.

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What is behaviour


What is behaviour?

Behaviour is the way in which a person acts in response to a stimulus or situation. These responses can aid survival.

Some human behaviour is much more complex.

For example, if you hear a loud noise you put your hands over your ears. This prevents the noise from damaging your ears.

The stimulus is the loud noise.Your response is to cover your ears.


What do we respond to?

Humans respond to both internal and external stimuli.

An internal stimulus is a change inside the body. For example, the feeling of hunger.

An external stimulus is a change in the environment around us. For example, the heat of an oven.


Internal or external?



Nervous system

The nervous system can coordinate a response to a stimulus, using nerve cells.

Nerve cells, or neurones are specialized cells that transmit electrical impulses around the body.

nucleus

cell body


If a stimulus is detected your nervous system sends an impulse along neurones to and from different parts of the body, to coordinate a response.

1. Specific receptors in a sense organ detect a stimulus.

2. An electrical impulse is sent to the brain.

3. The brain processes the information.

4. An electrical impulse is sent to an effector (e.g. a muscle or gland).

5. The effector produces a response.

How are responses coordinated?


The senses


Parts of the nervous system


What is a reflex?

Reflex reactions happen without you having to think about them – they are involuntary. This is because the central nervous system sends electrical signals to the muscles before the brain can pick up the message.

Reflexes can stop you from getting hurt. For example if you touch a hot surface, your body automatically moves your hand away from the heat, preventing you from being burnt.


Knee-jerk reaction


Reflex arc


The brain and drugs


Types of behaviour



The hormonal system

Hormones are produced by glands. These chemicals are released into the blood where they are carried around the body. A response is produced when the hormone reaches its target organ.

The hormonal system also coordinate some of the body’s responses, using hormones.

Hormones control growth and reproduction processes.

Hormonal responses are slower and longer lasting than those coordinated by the nervous system.

gland

hormone


Hormone glands



Do humans have innate behaviour?

The fight or flight response is thought to be a human innate behaviour. When humans are threatened or stressed this can cause a chemical change in the body. This causes a person to react or retreat.

This behaviour can help us to survive in dangerous situations.

Humans have some innate or instinctive behaviour. This is pre-programmed behaviour, which is not learnt.


Fight or flight


Learned behaviour

Learned behaviour is behaviour developed through experience. Experience allows us to improve or change our existing responses and develop behaviour to new situations.

For example, from an early age babies will react to the positive responses of their parents.

If a baby displays behaviour that its parents respond to, the baby will soon learn to continue the same behaviour.

Learning can help humans acquire new skills for survival.


Learned behaviour

Animals, including humans, can learn to ignore a stimulus if it is harmless.

There are so many stimuli in the environment around us that we can learn not to respond to those that are unimportant.

For example, if you live near a noisy road or airport you soon stop noticing the noise. However, other people might find these noises loud and annoying.


Complex behaviour

The brain is the site of your consciousness. It is the site of your thoughts, emotions, ideas, instincts and memories.

If the brain is damaged it can cause a change in behaviour.

cerebellum

brainstem

cerebral hemisphere

spinal cord


The brain

Flash from GCSE coreSimplified


How does behaviour help us to survive?

Complex behaviour, such as speech, emotion and memory, can help us to communicate and cooperate with each other.

Humans work together in many aspects of life, helping us to survive and reproduce. This is called cooperative behaviour.

Can you think of an example of cooperative behaviour in humans?


Cooperative behaviour

This cooperative behaviour involves parents working together to protect, feed and teach their children.

Do you think this type of behaviour is innate or learned?

There are lots of different examples of cooperative behaviour, as humans are very social animals. Most humans choose to live together in small family groups or units.


What determines behaviour?

Others believe that people do and think certain things because they learn to do them – they are taught by others. This is called the nurture theory of behaviour.

Some scientists think that people behave in the way they do because of instincts or innate behaviour that we are born with. This is called the nature theory of behaviour.

In reality most behaviour is likely to be a mix of both nature and nurture. Humans are influenced by both genes and the environment.



Nervous or hormonal?


Glossary


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Multiple-choice quiz

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