ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

Once begun, FAPs continue to completion, even without appropriate feedback.

Sign stimulus: Supernormal releaser - a model that exaggerates a Fixed Action releaser; elicits a stronger response than does the natural object. Patterns

Herring gull chicks obtain food from their A male three-spined stickleback fish mother by pecking on her bill. shows its red underside. Normal releaser is red spot on an oblong object.

Supernormal releaser is an oblong object that is totally red or has red stripes.

The realistic model at the top, without a red underside, produces no aggressive response in a male three-spined stickleback fish. The other models, with red undersides, produce strong responses.

Proximate and ultimate causes of aggressive behavior by male sticklebacks

BEHAVIOR: A male stickleback fish attacks other male sticklebacks that invade its Learned Behavior nesting territory. • Habituation • Classical Conditioning • Operant Conditioning • Imprinting • Insight • Latent Learning PROXIMATE CAUSE: The red belly of the intruding male acts as a sign stimulus that releases aggression in a male stickleback. ULTIMATE CAUSE: By chasing away other male sticklebacks, a male decreases the chance that eggs laid in his nesting territory will be fertilized by another male.

1 1. Habituation 2. Classical Conditioning Animal learns ignore an irrelevant stimulus. Animal learns to associate a new stimulus (conditioned • Young chicks learn not to run from blowing leaves stimulus) with an unconditioned stimulus. • Raccoons learn to ignore a light that is always on • Dog associates the sound of a bell with food. [Pavlov’s dogs] • Ducks associate people with food.

Seabirds ignore neighbors during Bears associate cars with food. breeding season. Extinction - loss of a conditioned response.

3. Operant Conditioning (trial-and-error) 4. Imprinting Animal learns to associate one of its own behaviors Animal learns during a limited time period (critical period). with a reward (positive reinforcement) or punishment • Newly hatched chicks, goslings or ducklings learn to (negative reinforcement). identify the first moving object they see as “mother”. Used extensively by animal trainers. (Konrad Lorenz)

Coyote learns to avoid porcupines. Rat learns to press a lever to obtain food. Baby birds learn species-specific songs. Mother goat learns to identify her Parrot learns to ride a scooter. kid’s odor.

Proximate and ultimate perspectives on imprinting in 5. Insight graylag geese Animal can reason

BEHAVIOR: Young geese follow and imprint on their mother. • Chimp will stack boxes to reach bananas hung from the ceiling.

A dog won’t usually figure out how to untangle himself! PROXIMATE CAUSE: During an early, critical developmental stage, the young (the kid’s still developing his critical geese observe their mother moving away from them and calling. thinking skills) ULTIMATE CAUSE: On average, geese that follow and imprint on their mother receive more care and learn necessary skills, and thus have a greater chance of surviving than those that do not follow their mother.

2 6. Latent Learning Animals will learn by simple observation. Learning is What type of learning is exhibited? not apparent until later • A coyote exploring his habitat will be able to find a water source more quickly.

Even if you sleep through school--you probably learned something!

Young chimpanzees learning to crack oil palm nuts by observing older chimpanzees--What type of learning is this?

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