Biology F215 Revision

Animal Behaviour

Key Words

Key words Definition

Adaptive behaviour Behaviour that increases the chances of an organism’s survival into adulthood

Addictive behaviour Behaviours such as smoking and gambling, thought to be more likely in the
presence of the DRD4 receptor gene

ADHD Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Classical conditioning
A form of learning in which two unrelated stimuli are applied to an animal, one
a ‘normal response’ (for example salivation in the presence of food) another
unrelated (for example the ringing of a bell). After repeated exposure to both
stimuli together the animal will eventually respond with the normal response to
the unrelated stimulus

Conditioned reflex A reflex in which an animal has learned to respond to a different stimulus from
the one that normally elicits a response

DRD4 One of five genes that code for dopamine receptor molecules

Fixed action patterns Instinctive behavioural responses to stimuli leading to a fixed pattern of
neuronal output

Habituation A learned behaviour. With repeated exposure animals learn to ignore stimuli
that lead to neither reward or punishment

Hierarchy A social grouping in which individuals have a place in the order of importance
within the group

Imprinting Young animals becoming associated with another organism – usually the parent

Innate behaviour A behaviour that an animal is capable of from birth without any learning or
practice

Insight learning Regarded as the highest form of learning. Based on the ability to think and
reason in order to solve problems

Kineses Orientation behaviours where the rate of movement increases when an

organism is in unfavourable conditions

Latent (or exploratory) learning Learning by exploration of new surroundings and retaining information that
may be of later use

Learned behaviour Animal responses that change or adapt with experience

Longitudinal study An investigation in which the same individuals are studied repeatedly over a
long period of time

OCD Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Thought to result from a deficiency in the levels

of the neurotransmitter serotonin

What is ethology?

- Ethology is the study of how patterns of behaviour adapt organisms to their environment
 o It is a descriptive field study approach

 Was replaced by behavioural ecology which assumes that optimal behaviour increases fitness

What is psychology?

- Psychology is the study of how animals learn new patterns of behaviour

o It is a laboratory based approach

What is behaviour?

- Behaviour is an organism’s response to changes in its environment (stimuli) that help it survive

o It may be innate or learned

 Both genes and the environment play a part in influencing behaviour

What is innate behaviour?

- Innate behaviour is any animal response that occurs without the need for learning

o A pattern of inherited, pre-set behaviour that does not require learning or practise

o It is instinctive

 Allows organism to respond to a stimulus without prior experience of it

o It is stereotyped

 Performed in the same way every time

o Similar in all members of a species

o Genetically determined so it can be passed on to offspring via reproduction

 Only survives if it does not confer a selective disadvantage to the species

What are the advantages and disadvantages of innate behaviour?

- Can be used immediately (no learning required) and may ensure survival

- Important if organism has a short life span with little/no opportunity for learning

o E.g. if solitary, no parental care or no overlap of generations

- May not be the best response

o Inflexible and cannot be altered by experience in response to a changing environment

What involves innate behaviour?

- Includes simple orientation behaviours such as kineses and taxes

o It can be a simple reflex action or a more complex set of behaviours carried out in a fixed sequence (Fixed
Action Pattern)

What is kineses?

- A kinesis is an orientation behaviour where the rate of movement increases

when the organism is in an unfavourable environment
 o The behaviour is non-directional

 For instance woodlice avoid predation by living in damp, dark areas

 If placed in dry/bright conditions they move rapidly and randomly until they are in a
more suitable conditions

What is taxes?

- A taxis is a directional orientation response

o It can be positive (towards stimulus) or negative (away

from stimulus)

- Phototaxis is a response to light

- Chemotaxis is a response to a specific chemical

 For instance the female silk moth (Bombyx mori)

produces a pheromone that attracts the male by

chemotaxis over large distances

What are reflex actions?

- They are responses which are controlled by the

autonomic nervous system are reflex actions

o They are rapid, automatic, involuntary

responses

 They are innate responses that

are not learned

 They have the same

response each time

o Important for
safety/survival

 Some are under voluntary control in adults e.g. emptying of

bladder/defaecation

What are escape reflexes?

- Many animals have an escape reflex to avoid predators

o They are involuntary responses that follow a specific pattern

 For instance Kangaroo rats leap when they hear a

rattling sound to try to avoid a rattlesnake

What is a Fixed Action Pattern (FAP)?

- FAP’s are stereotyped, fixed sequence of behaviours to a particular stimulus

o They are also species-specific

 - They are innate (genetically determined) and not usually modified by
learning

o Once started the FAP must run their course and be completed
even if circumstances change

 E.g. spider making a cocoon for its eggs

 E.g. A female sand wasp dig a nest then goes and hunts
for prey, e.g. caterpillar, when it returns to the nest with paralysed prey, it leaves it at the
entrance of the nest whilst it inspects nest, then retrieves prey. It then lays an egg next to prey in
chamber of nest

 If prey is moved away from the nest during inspection stage the wasp will retrieve prey
but will still inspect the nest again before dragging prey in

What examples are there of complex innate behaviour?

- The waggle dance is used by worker honey

bees to communicate the direction and
distance of a food source – an example of
complex behaviour in invertebrates

A summary of innate behaviour

- Innate behaviour is a pattern of inherited,

pre-set behaviour that does not require learning or practice

- A reflex action is one in which a particular stimulus brings about an automatic response

- Most behaviours are the result of genetically-determined features of the NS interacting with the environment in
which the animal developed

- Innate, stereotyped patterns of behaviour can be modified by experience

What is learned behaviour?

- Learned behaviour refers to any animal responses that change or adapt with experience

o It shows a change or adaptation in response to experience

 The organism acquires behaviour pattern during its lifetime

 Can adapt an organism to a changing environment

- Depends upon the interaction of genes and environment

o See variation in response amongst members of a species

- Ability to learn is inherited but not the behaviour which cannot be passed on to offspring via reproduction

 May be passed on to offspring by teaching

 E.g. from observing and copying other members of its family or social group (cultural or
observational learning)

What are the differences between innate and learned behaviour?

- Innate behaviour

o Stereotyped
  Not modified by experience

 Not adaptable and flexible

o Genetically determined

- Learned behaviour

o Not stereotyped

 Modified by experience

 Adaptable and flexible

o Ability to learn is inherited but not the behaviour

What is learning?

- Learning is a durable and usually adaptive change in an animal’s behaviour traceable to a specific experience in the
individual’s life

o Or, more simply, it is a change in behaviour as the result of experience

What is the modification of behaviour patterns?

- It is the ability to learn and modify patterns of behaviour by experience which has adaptive advantages

o There may be narrow developmental time window in which learning can occur

- This is an example of learned behaviour

o Learned behaviour is not innate, it is modified in response to experience

 It allows adaptation to a changing environment

 It is found in organisms with a longer life span (so time to learn)

o Where there is parental care or time spent with other members of the species,
in order to learn from them

What examples of learned behaviour are there?

- Habituation

o An animal can learn not to respond to a stimulus that is neither beneficial nor harmful

 It allows an animal to ignore irrelevant stimuli and to allocate time and energy more efficiently

 For example when a nestling bird sees a shadow passing overhead, it first hides in fear of
a bird of prey flying over

o In time, the young bird learns that some shadows come from its parent flying
back to feed it, and some shadows are simply nonthreatening

- Imprinting

o A form of learning in which a young animal becomes associated with (imprinted on) another organism -
usually the parent

 Allows the young to learn new skills from parent e.g. appropriate type of organism for mating,
song call
  Closely associated with innate behaviour

o Tendency to imprint is innate

 The object the response is directed towards is the imprinting stimulus

o Only occurs within a narrow developmental period (sensitive

period), often soon after birth or hatching

 Usually irreversible

 e.g. goslings imprint on first moving object

o By three days old goslings are already

imprinted

 If the organism receives the wrong imprint it can affect survival and ability to reproduce

 e.g. If a male bird does not sing the correct species-specific song (if did not hear song as
a nestling) it may be unable to find a mate

- Conditioning

o Many reflex actions are innate

 Others can be modified by experience - conditioned reflex

 It is a simple form of learning

o Is it involuntary or conditioned?

 Laughing gull chicks learn by sight to rotate their heads so it is easier for the parents to feed them

 If they are fed in the dark then they do not rotate their head when begging for food

o Begging for food is involuntary reflex but rotating the head is a conditioned
reflex (must be learnt)

- Classical and operant conditioning can both be described as associative learning

o In classical conditioning the subject associates two stimuli (short-lived conditioned response)

o In operant conditioning the subject associates a stimulus with a response (long lived conditioned
response)

- Uses the association areas of the brain

- Classical conditioning

o Animal passively learns to associate a

neutral stimulus with an important one

 Involuntary, temporary and

reinforced by repetition

 For instance the work

of Ivan Pavlov – the
classical conditioning in
dogs

- Operant conditioning
 o Can also be called Trial and error learning

o The animal actively learns to associate an action with a reward (so action repeated) or punishment (so
action not repeated)

 A Reward or punishment acts as a reinforcer of the behaviour

 Burrhus Skinner investigated operant conditioning in pigeons and rats (using the Skinner
box)

o Initially the animal accidentally presses the lever which results in a reward

 The reward provides positive reinforcement

 Leads to repetition of the behaviour (lever pressing)

o It is a voluntary response

 Learnt to associate the operation with the

reward

o Is the unconditioned behaviour voluntary?

 Voluntary - Operant

o Is the unconditioned behaviour involuntary?

 Involuntary - Classical

o Is a reward or punishment involved?

 Operant

o How many stimuli are involved?

 One - Operant

 Two - Classical

o Uses of conditioning

 Training animals

 E.g. dogs where reward is attention from owners/treat

 Purchase of a product in response to advertising

 Treatment of phobias

- Latent (exploratory) learning

o Observational (or cultural) learning

 Ability of young animals to learn by observing others

o Latent (or exploratory) learning

 Animals will explore new surroundings and retain information about the surroundings for future
use

 E.g. young rabbits explore area around burrow – may need knowledge to escape a
predator
 - Insight learning

o Most complex form of learned behaviour

 Problem-solving behaviour using observations and previous experiences

 Solution not achieved by trial and error but based upon putting together actions from
two or more different sources

o Once solved the solution is remembered

o Wolfgang Kohler conducted research into insight learning in

chimpanzee

 Chimpanzees stacked boxes in order to reach bananas

o Is insight learning evidence of rational thinking?

 With chimps it is easy to anthropomorphise

 Evidence is often anecdotal, involving a description of behaviour in a few individuals and

cannot be repeated

What happens in primates?

- Most primates live in family groups

o Young remain in group until they reach sexual maturity

 A hierarchy exists within the group where individuals have a different status and role within the
group

 This social organisation protects all group members

- They have a highly developed cerebral cortex – involved in social development and interaction

What is social behaviour?

- Social behaviour refers to the behaviour of organisms of a particular

species living together in groups with relatively defined roles for each
member of the group

o It is important in primates due to extended dependency period

of offspring

 Also exists in other animals

 Arises when benefits of group living outweigh

the costs

Why do primates have extended care of young?

- Primate gestation periods are relatively short, so the skull is small enough to pass down the birth canal

o Once born there is a lengthy period of development when infant is dependent on

parental care

 This allows the brain to develop and provides time to acquire all learned
behaviours necessary for survival
What is carry behaviour?

- Primates are born less mature and spend first part of lives in constant contact with mother

- Aids learning and social development

What is follow behaviour?

- In other species, young are born more fully developed and can be left or are quickly able to follow mother

What is the social organisation in gorillas?

- Mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) live in stable family groups (troops) of around 10 individuals

o There is one mature dominant male (a silverback) who protects group, leads search for food and mates
with mature females

 Several adult females and their offspring

 All young males and most young females leave group when they reach sexual maturity

o The sexually mature males would cause conflict with dominant silverback male

 It also helps to promote greater genetic variation by avoiding

inbreeding

What is the social behaviour in gorillas?

- Grooming

o Reinforces relationships

- In first 12 months, young are cared for by the mother

o Mother provides protection

- Infants learn social and other skills, to allow them to live independently

- From 2 years, juvenile gorillas play together and imitate adult behaviour e.g. whilst
foraging for food

- From 3 years, silverback protects young from older males and is important in
teaching new skills

- Gorillas rely on calls and facial expressions for communication

What are the advantages of social behaviour in gorillas?

- Female gives birth to one or a few infants at a time

- Survival rates are higher due to maternal care and group protection

- Young learn through observation and play (cultural learning)

- Important to acquire skills e.g. for foraging, that are necessary for survival

- Group protection allows time for brain to develop allowing the acquisition of more learned behaviours

- Knowledge of food sources and foraging skills e.g. use of tools is shared within group

- Greater ability to detect and deter predators within group

What is dopamine?

- Dopamine acts as a hormone and as a neurotransmitter

o Hormone:

 Produced in hypothalamus and

inhibits release of prolactin from
anterior pituitary

 Dopamine is also a precursor of adrenaline and noradrenaline

o Neurotransmitter:

 Low levels of dopamine

 Associated with Parkinson’s

o Treated using the dopamine precursor L-dopa

 High levels of dopamine

 Associated with mental health conditions, e.g. schizophrenia, compulsive gambling

What is the role of dopamine?

- Dopamine has many diverse roles

o It increases general arousal and decreases inhibition

o It also has a role in the control of motivation and learning

What are the receptors for dopamine?

- Dopamine exerts its effects by binding to a receptor

o There are five types of receptors (DRD1-5), coded for by different genes, lead to different cellular
responses

 A large number of variants of DRD4 exist, e.g. differing in the number of tandem repeats (2-11) of
a 48bp sequence

 Some variants are implicated in certain human behavioural conditions, e.g. ADHD (attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder), autism and bulimia nervosa linked to 7R variant

 Certain variants of DRD4 are also implicated in various addictive behaviours, e.g. gambling,
smoking

 One study compared effects of

administering L-dopa and
haloperidol (blocks dopamine
receptors)

o Observed difference
in risk-taking levels of
individuals

How is ADHD treated?

 - ADHD is treated with the drug Ritalin, that lowers dopamine levels in brain

- The brain scan to the right shows the differences in activity between someone without ADHD and another person
with ADHD

Do any other neurotransmitters affect behaviour?

- OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is thought to result from low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin