Animal Behavior : Ethology

1
Animal Behavior Ethology

• Chapter 51
• Pgs. 1106-1133

2
Key Things to Remember for Lab 13-Invertebrate
Behavior

• Be sure to have an introduction/background
  discussing key characteristics complete
  description of your invertebrate
• Be sure to have a research question
• Clear hypothesis relating the independent and
  dependent variables
• Must have a control Ex. Organisms in the chamber
  with nothing else present
• Experimental Design methods must have any and
  all revisions you did w/diagram or picture
• Minimum of three trials and 20 organisms for each
  trial
• Data table with title, units of measurements, and
  error
• Analysis of data probably need to determine the
  overall mean and do a Chi-square analysis

3
Experiment example

• Earthworm reactions toward different substrates
• Cotton and sandpaper
• Must do experimental trials (3) with just the
  chamber and the animals (control)
• Three separate experiments can be done
• Empty chamber Cotton
• Empty chamber Sandpaper
• Cotton, empty (plain) chamber, and sandpaper
• Minimum of three trials for each experiment
  must be done.

4
Statistical Tools to Analyze results

• Chi-Square Will tell you how much your data is
  different from expected (calculated) results. It
  is Non-Parametric and deals with different
  catagories.
• Formula ? 2 ? (o e)2
• e
• ?2 what we are solving
• o observed value
• e expected (calculated value)

5
Accepting or Rejecting your hypothesis?

• plt0.05 is accepted as being significant
• Accepting the Null (H0) means that there is NO
  SIGNIFICANT difference between the observed and
  expected value (plt0.05). Chance alone can explain
  the differences observed.
• Rejecting the Null (H0) means that the
  observations are significantly different from the
  expectations. (pgt0.05). Evaluate the results.

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Solving Question 3

• Formula ?2 ? (o e)2
• e
• Degrees of Freedom Critical Value
• 1 3.84
• 2 5.99
• 3 7.81
• 4 9.49
• 5 11.07

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Animal Behavior Ethology

• Chapter 51
• Pgs. 1106-1133

8
Video Inside the Animal Mind (Pt. I)Text pgs
1114-1125

• I. Name three types of learning mentioned in the
  video
• II. Give an example for each of the three
  learning types that was presented.
• III. What was the most fascinating type of
  learning you saw?
• IV. Give one situation from the video that you
  were not aware of before watching the video.
• Give TEN Key statements (numbered)
• Give FIVE questions you have after watching the
  video.

9
Five Types Learning

• Changes in behavior that caused by an experience
  a-ha experience
• Five general types of learning
• Imprinting (pg. 1108)
• Associative
• Operant conditioning (pg. 1117)
• Classical conditioning (pg. 1116)
• Habituation (pg. 1115)
• Insight Learning (pg. 1116)
• Cognitive

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Introductory Questions 3

• 1) How are proximate causes different from
  ultimate causes of behavior
• 2) Name four different types of learning and
  provide one example of each.
• 3) Which type of learning is more complex than
  the others. Why?
• How is habituation different from any other type
  of learning?
• How do circadian rhythms effect behavior?
• Name three ways in which animals communicate.

11
Defining Behavior-Ethology

• Involves how organisms react (respond) and cope
  to the stimuli from the environment. Everything
  an animal does.
• Two types of Explanations
• Proximate Causes
• -focuses on the how a behavior is formed
• -triggered by environmental stimuli
• -involves genetic, physiological, anatomical
  mechanisms.
• Ultimate causes
• -focuses on why a behavior occurs.
• -evolutionary significance evolutionary
  explanations
• -Long term purpose for the behavior
• Modifications of behavior occur through learning
• There are five different types of Learning

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Example of Proximate Ultimate Questions about
Behavior

• See pg. 1107 read the example of the
  red-crowned crane.
• What is the Proximate Question?
• How does day length influence the breeding
  of the red-crowned cranes?
• What is a reasonable hypothesis?
• Breeding is most productive during the spring
  and early summer.
• What would be an Ultimate Question you could
  address about this behavior?
• Why did natural selection favor this behavior
  and not a different one?
• What would be a reasonable hypothesis? Fitness is
  improved for a particular reason

13
Evolutionary link to Behavior

• Animals are expected to behave in ways to
  maximize their fitness (optimum behavior)
• What is the genetic influence?
• Ex. Lovebirds a repertoire of song types
• Why has natural selection favored multisong
  behavior?
• Poss hypothesis A repertoire of songs makes
  older, more experienced males more attractive to
  females.
• Testable predictions males learn more songs as
  they get older so
• The repertoire of songs is an indicator of age
• Females prefer to mate with males having large
  repertoire of songs
• actual outcome some songbirds show their
  correlation while others dont.

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Instinct Behavior (pg. 1110)

• Controlled by strong genetic influences
• Inborn
• Animals dont have to witness the behavior
• Unlearned
• Triggered by the environment (sign stimulus or a
  releaser)
• Inherited neurological circuitry that directs
  behavior
• Examples
• Kinesis Taxis-change in activity in response to
  stimuli
• Migration
• Signals Communication (pheromones)
• Fixed Action patterns (FAP) observed in the
  Graylag goose egg rolling

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Egg Rolling w/Graylag Goose
Ex. of Fixed Action Pattern action is carried
out to completion
16
Tinbergens Sand Wasp Experiment
Nest finding behavior of wasps responding to the
arrangement of the cones rather than the cones
themselves Spatial Learning
Pg. 1115
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Imprinting (pg. 1098)

• Early recognition of the same group
• Acquired during a limited critical period
• Occurs right after birth
• Forms from the parent-offspring bond
• Small window of time where the offspring react to
  some animal or object.
• Commonly seen with birds
• Ex. Konrad Lorenz duck hatchlings
• Human infants
• Grasping -smiling w/parent
• cheek feeding -Babinski reflex

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Classical Conditioning(pg. 1116)

• Associative learning between normal body
  condition and a new stimulus
• Pavlov (dog salivation with a ringing bell)
• Can opener w/dogs and cats

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Pavlovs Classical Conditioning
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Operant Conditioning (pg. 1099)

• Instrumental conditioning
• Trial Error
• The animal must do something to gain a reward
  (food)
• Use positive negative reinforcement
• Skinner Expts w/Rats (lever Food)

21
Insight Learning (pg. 1099-1100)

• Most complex type of learning (video)
• Animal solves a problem
• Requires past experiences
• Need to make associations with objects and what
  can be done with them
• Chimps the hanging banana

22
Insight Associative Learning
23
Habituation (pg. 1100)

• Animals learn not to respond to a stimulus
• The response gets ignored despite the stimulus
• Ex. Hydra stops contracting if disturbed too
  often by water currents

24
Other Social Behaviors

• Agnostic aggressive behavior usually resulting
  from competition of resources
• Dominance heirarchy pecking order
• largest male leader in the group
• Territorality protection of its own area
• Defending the area from invaders
• Altruistic unselfish behavior that benefits
  another in the same group at the expense of that
  individual.
• Courtship Sexual Selection (pg. 1129-1131)

25
Pheromones

• Very specific (species)
• Triggers hormonal activity
• Communicates danger, attraction to others
• In vertebrates pheromones can effect sexual
  cycles and reproductive behavior, choice in mate.
• Known to synchronize menstrual cycles
• Used in perfumes and fragrances

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Introductory Questions 3

• 1) How are proximate causes different from
  ultimate causes of behavior
• 2) Name four different types of learning and
  provide one example of each.
• 3) Which type of learning is more complex than
  the others. Why?
• How is habituation different from any other type
  of learning?
• How do circadian rhythms effect behavior?
• Name three ways in which animals communicate.

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Foraging (pg. 1119)

• Behavior associated with recognizing, searching,
  capturing, and consuming food.
• Food habits are part of the animals niche
• Can be shaped by competition
• It is a compromise between benefits and costs
  (energetically)
• Natural selection dictates minimizing costs
  Max. benefits
• What are some of the Costs and Benefits of
  Foraging?
• Optimal foraging weighs the benefits and costs .
  Do animals weight the trade off? See info about
  the Bluegill fish and Daphnia. (pg. 1122-1123)
  When the prey density is high what does the blue
  gill concentrate on? Did they become more or
  less selective?

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Effects of the Environment on Foraging Behavior

• What did Susan Riechert discover about the
  Agelenopsis aperta spiders in regards to their
  attack times while inhabiting a riparian forest
  vs. arid habitats? (pgs 1119-1120)

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Communication Observed with Bees

• Observed by Karl Frisch (1940s)
• Scouts Signal to others that food is nearby and
  relative location
• Round Dance Simply signals to others that food
  is nearby (no direction or distance)-used for
  short distances from the hive and excites the
  bees to fly in all directions (approx. 50 m)
• Waggle Dance Used for longer distances and
  performs a figure eight path. This path
  communicates both the distance and direction
  using the sun, the hive, and the food source as
  reference points.

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Round Dance Waggle Dance
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Communication

• Necessary for social behavior
• Animals can use the following methods
• Auditory
• Visual
• Tactile
• Chemical (pheromones)
• Electrical

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Final Note

• All behavior is based on responding to the
  environment (external stimuli) and is dependent
  on receiving/responding using specialized cells
  called sensory neurons
• Next topic Exploring the senses CH. 49

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Key Terms People

• Innate vs. Learned Behavior
• Proximate vs. Ultimate causes
• FAP (fixed action patterns) - graylag goose egg
  rolling
• Tinbergens wasp Experiment
• Habituation
• Imprinting
• Positive Negative reinforcement
• Classical conditioning (Pavlov experiment)
• Operant conditioning
• Insight learning (problem solving w/chimps)
• Circadian Rhythms
• Migration
• Communication Pheromones
• Sexual Selection Dominance heirarchy
• Round dance Waggle dance (honey bees)

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Introductory Questions 4 (Ch. 49)

• Name five different types of specialized neurons
  used to receive external stimuli. What is sensed
  by a nocioreceptor? What is substance P? What
  substance can be used to block the release of
  substance P? (See pg. 1048-1049)
• What are the five basic senses in humans? Match
  one of these five with each structure listed
  below
• -olfactory -statoliths
• -pacinain corpuscle -oval window
• -rods cones -taste buds
• -lateral line system -rhodopsin
• -saccule utricle (otoliths) -incus stapes
• -sclera, cornea, retina -vitreous humor
• -tectorial, basilar, tympanic membranes