Elements of BehaviorChapter 34-1

Learning Years ago, biologists in Koshima,

Japan, left sweet potatoes on a sandy beach to get the local Macaque monkeys out into the open

One day, a small female monkey washed her sand-covered potato in a nearby pool of water

Eventually more monkeys (including her mother) began washing their potatoes in the pool of water

Generations later, this learned behavior is still practiced by all of the macaque monkeys living on the island of Koshima

These macaque monkeys from Japan have learned to wash the sand off their food before eating

Stimulus and Response Behavior - the way an organism

reacts to changes in its internal OR external environment• May be simple or complex• Ex: Turning your head to a noise,

stomach rumbling when you smell food

Stimulus - any signal that can be detected and carries information• The five senses take in stimuli (plural)

Response - A single, specific reaction to a stimulus• A behavior may consist of more than

one responseStimulus = heatResponse = letting go

Types of Stimuli and Responses Not all organisms have the

same “Senses”• Sharks have electroreceptors in

their nose to detect the electricity of heartbeats in fish

• Bats hear high frequency noise produced from echo-location to find their food

• Bees can see UV light on flowers Responses involve complex

communication between the body systems• The Nervous System(senses)

take in the information and use it to stimulate the Muscular System into a response

Behavior and Evolution Behavior is just as

important to survival as physical characteristics

Many behaviors are influenced or controlled by genes and are therefore inherited

Natural selection acts on beneficial behaviors for a species the same way it acts on physical traits• If the behavior helps the

species survive and reproduce, the gene will be passed on to future generations

Types of Behaviors: Innate Innate behavior - also

called instinct or inborn behavior

These behaviors are fully functional the first time they are performed• There is no learning period

Examples:• Spiders building webs• Weaver birds building

hanging nests

Types of Behavior: Learned When animals alter

their behavior as a result of experience, it’s called learning

The four major types of learning are1. Habituation2. Classical

Conditioning3. Operant

Conditioning4. Insight Learning

Learning Behaviors: Habituation The simplest of learning

types The process by which an

animal decreases or stops its response to a stimulus that neither rewards nor harms the animal• Allows animals to spend their

time and energy more efficiently Example: an animal no longer

running away from humans after learning that their presence won’t help or hurt them

This deer is no longer afraid of humans because it has learned they will neither hurt nor help it

Learning Behaviors: Classical Conditioning

A learned behavior in which an animal makes a mental connection between a stimulus and some kind of reward or punishment

Example: Pavlov’s Dog• He rang a bell and gave the dog a

treat• After repeated trials, the dog

made a mental connection between the bell and food

• After a while, ringing the bell was enough to make the dog salivate even when no food was present

Example 2: You guys pack up the second the bell rings whether it’s a double period or not

Pavlov’s Dog has learned that the bell means food and therefore salivates when it hears the bell

Learning Behaviors: Operant Conditioning

Practice makes perfect Learning a behavior through

repeated practice in order to receive a reward or avoid punishment

Also called trial-and-error learning• Most trials lead to error but

occasionally a reward or punishment occurs

Example: The Skinner Box• An animal accidently pushes a

lever in a cage and receives food• Eventually the animal learns that

pushing the lever on purpose delivers food

Skinner box

Learning Behaviors: Insight Learning

The most complex form of learning

Involves applying a learned concept to a NEW situation WITHOUT a trial-and-error period

Example: Once you learn how to perform long division, you can apply the knowledge to new questions on a test

Example 2: The monkeys to the left have figured out how to get bananas by stacking boxes

Instinct and Learning Combined Imprinting (mimicking)

keeps young animals close to their mother by combining instinct with a learned behavior

Example: Baby geese learn to recognize and follow the first moving object they see during a critical time

Imprinting can occur with odor and sounds in addition to sights• Newly hatched salmon imprint

on the odor of the stream in which they were hatched. This allows them to find it later so they can spawn as adults

These baby Geese have learned to follow the first moving object they saw