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55 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Why study animal behavior?
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1) exploit animals more efficiently
2) protect and conserve animals better 3) academic reasons, curiosity 4) it's COOL! |
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types of questions
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mechanistic (how do they do that?)
evolutionary/survival (what good does that do the animal?) evolutionary (how did the this behavior develop from that one?) developmental (did they know that at birth or did they need to be taught?) |
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techniques for studying behavior
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experimental
observational comparative |
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OBSERVATIONAL: crab eating macaques
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observation - they always sleep in the same trees, different patterns of fighting with other monkeys depending on which side of the river they slept
possible reasons: food source (trees were dead), predator avoidance (but predators often slept across the river from eachother), advertisement (likely) |
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EXPERIMENTAL: bats and owls nighttime flying
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1) Manipulation: blindfold owls and test flying ability
Result: blindfolded owls could not fly well Conclusion: owls need sight for flight Manipulation: put black hoods on bats and test flying ability Compare stomach contents of blindfolded bats and controls Result: black-hooded bats couldn’t fly Conclusion: bats need sight for flight 3)Manipulation: put transparent hoods on bats and test flying ability Compare stomach contents of hooded bats and controls Result: clear-hooded bats couldn’t fly Conclusion: What gives – the hood was the trouble whether light got through or not! 4)Manipulation: blind bats without covering mouth Compare stomach contents of blinded bats and controls Result: blinded bats flew just fine Conclusion: bats don’t really need sight for successful flight 5)Manipulation: plug ears of bats and test flying ability Compare stomach contents of deafened bats and controls Result: deafened bats did not fly well and did not feed Conclusion: bats need good hearing for successful flight 6) Manipulation: coat wings with varnish or flour paste to interfere with sense of touch Compare flying and feeding Result: varnished bats did fine Conclusion: touch not required for normal flying or feeding |
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phylogeny
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The natural, evolutionary relationships between groups of living things, inferred using a variety of techniques to establish the relative importance of various shared features
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Modern behavioral biology has its roots in two early 20th century fields of study...
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‘Classical’ Ethology
Comparative Psychology |
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"Classical" Ethology
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influenced by the new ideas of natural selection, wanted to understand how behavior made the animal “fit” for its environment
As a result: concentrated on field work and inherited behaviors |
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chain-reaction FAP's
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chain of programmes events, each action triggers the next
-very difficult to stop once started ex: sickleback mating behaviors - female show belly, triggers male zigzag swim, triggers female following behavior...... |
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comparative psychologists
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Used animals as models for human behavior, especially learning, pioneered the use of ‘controlled environments’ to reduce variablity; so did mostly lab work
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gene
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segment of DNA that encodes (usually) a protein
-NOT always turned on, ex: ans genetically programmed for different jobs |
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inbred strains
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produced by a series of brother-sister matings to produce a strain in which all individuals are at least 96% homozygous AND therefore genetically identical to each other
ex: avoidance in mice - mice with different genes in identical environmental conditions showed significant differences - GENES DO MATTER |
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artificial selection
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humans are selecting which animals breed this is called artificial selection based on certain characteristics
ex: breeding together of "maze bright" and "maze dull" rats resulted in divergent selection for being able to navigate the maze |
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cross fostering
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technique used with similar species that show small differences
ex: prairies and meadow voles parental behavior - Parental behavior is highly influenced by environment BUT genes still showed an effect |
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classic genetics
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ex: crossing of hygienic and unhygienic bees and observation of resulting behavior - found that different behaviors were controlled by different genes, unhygienic was dominant
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NMDA
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a membrane-bound ion channel, found in the hippocampus – a part of the brain important in memory and long-term learning
for it to open, the nerve cell must be electrically stimulated and glutamate must bind to the outside of the NMDA molecule |
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EXPERIMENT: spacial learning in mice
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mice without gene for NMDA did had significantly less ability for spacial learning
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action potential
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Means of signaling electrically within nervous system
Depends on opening & closing of ion channels Do not vary in size within the same cell Strength of stimulus conveyed by frequency of action potentials |
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central nervous system
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brain, nerve cord, ganglia
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peripheral nervous system
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sensory neurons, motor neurons, everything else
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inhibitory control in grasshoppers
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prohibits an animal from doing two things at the same time (grasshoppers - walking and grasping food simultaneously)
protocerebral ganglion send inhibitory commands to subesophageal ganglion until action is appropriate exception - when decapitate, abdomen make copulatory motions - attempt to mate with female even if she eats his head |
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sensory feedback
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idea that behavior isn’t happening in a vacuum, environment must be taken into account for animal to make right decision about behavior
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sensory feedback in blowflies
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-Crop sensory organ with stretch receptors that fire info back to the brain via nerve called recurrent nerve to monitor fly’s feeding behaviors
-When recurrent nerve was cut, sensory feedback telling brain not to eat anymore was cut off, so brain did not shut off command center for feeding behavior, fly kept eating |
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patterned movements in
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UP AND DOWN FLYING MOVEMENTS
-Glued locust to stick, put platform under feet, only when platform was removed would flying behavior be triggered -Head cut off, wings still went up and down – eliminated possibility of command center in brain (only specific to flying behavior does not include ability to react to conditions like sudden wind gusts) -Flight muscles located in abdomen located in thorax along body wall, contract and relax to move wings up and down -Wings removed – muscles still contracted and relaxed like they would to fly -To get the pattern itself, sensory feedback not necessary for simply flying pattern -central pattern generator – group of neurons that work together to produce the pattern –in the locust located in thoracic ganglia -sensory processing in brain allows maneuverable flight |
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tritonia sea slug escape behavior
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DFN and VFN – different neurons that fire bursts separately = pattern
Sensory information > trigger cell (DRI) > Dorsal Swim interneuron (DSI) > dorsal flexion neurons (excitatory information +) > ventral swim interneuron (VSI) (inhibitory information -) > c2 cell (+) > excites VSI (above) enough to overwhelm inhibition Sending of both positive and negative info turns off one action and allows other, keeps muscles in tritonia’s body from going out of control with built in delay allowed by C2 cell as “middle man,” the two actions don’t occur simultaneously |
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worm detection in toads
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-eyes of toad set up to be attentive to motion and especially to take notice of things that are wormlike in shape
-toad eye (>)>retina receptors > info to ganglion cell > optic tectum -single ganglion cell receives info simultaneously from many photoreceptors -retina – receptive field for eye – donut with excitatory in middle and inhibition in outer ring, only reacts to timing of moving objects -ganglion cell does not react to something that is not moving, so brain will not react -also only stimulates enough photoreceptors for longer objects to trigger feeding response (more neuron firing) |
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neuroethology
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understanding how the nervous system generates behavior
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moth bat detection
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Roeder – noticed that moth flying in the dusk suddenly dived for no apparent reason, noticed behavior repeatedly when bats were flying nearby
-played ultrasonic frequencies to the moths to detect which frequencies they were sensitive to -increased intensity of sound = more action potentials from A1 cell means A1 cell has graded response – more intensity, more response -A2 cell – low intensity sound spurred no more action potentials than normal background firing, but loudest sound got A2 to fire turns out, A2 has “all or none” response which acts like an alarm for loud sounds (or a closer bat) -If bat starts hunting from far away, bat can plan its response How moth tells if a bat is to its right or left -Moth locates bat by weighting difference in sound in each ear (more activity on cell closer to bat) |
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habituation (aplysia)
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simple form of learning – animal has gotten used to the stimulus and doesn’t worry about it anymore
> with repetitive touching of the siphon, eventually aplysia habituates to the stimulus and stops reacting |
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sensitization (aplysia)
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touch the aplysia with glass rod it responds, if you do it again and pair it with something less pleasant, it will associate touch with less pleasant thing
> pair glass rod touch with electric shock > leads to MUCH stronger response |
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chemical explanation of habituation and sensitization and aplysia
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-cells fire, cause muscles to contracts
Are the muscles fatigued? No, when stimulated directly they worked fine Is the motor neuron working? Maybe, no response when siphon was stimulated. When stimulated directly, it worked fine. For some reason it was not getting signal from sensory system. Recorded from excitatory neuron – did not fire in response to siphon stimulation, worked fine when stimulated directly Recorded from sensory cell, fired normally Verdict – After repeated stimulation, Ca2+ channels stick in closed position, synaptic fusion not triggered |
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hunger control in leeches
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-Sit on a rock or other surface under water and wait for animal, swim around until they find warm spot on animal to feed, drop off when they are full
-Don’t respond unless they are hungry How do they know when they are hungry or not? >Serotonin levels in the brain are higher in hungry leeches than in satiated leeches >ADD Experiment : put leeches in a serotonin bath (leeches have very permeable skin) If the leech has been hungry, it would still feed Satiated leeches would also feed – acted hungry just because of serotonin >TAKE AWAY Experiment : Made a bath with a serotonin inhibitor Hungry leech did not feed Satiated leech did not feed |
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hormone
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substance released by gland into the bloodstream, and can therefore theoretically acts anywhere in the body
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Anolis dewlap display
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WHAT DOES TESTOSTERONE HAVE TO DO WITH IT?
EXPERIMENT Took males in middle of breeding season and established baseline of how many dulap displays per hour were observed Chart number of displayed, then castrate animal -dulap displays at castration time go way down and are barely there -add back (testosterone capsule or implant) at levels similar to natural levels -dulap displays returned to normal -decrease and rise in dulap displays match exactly with testosterone levels |
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garter snakes mating rituals
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-garter snakes mate before testosterone levels are up in early spring
-Castration at end of previous breeding season -As years progress, their becomes a much larger difference in male courtship behavior -Turns out it is necessary that the snakes tested were active at the end of the last breeding season -Brain forgets behavior |
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effector mechanisms
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structure that carries out a certain behavior
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effector mechanisms: larynx in mating frogs
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In this position, both the male and female vocalise
-Female clicks – slow, deep -Male – high pitched, twittering Both are responding to the same hormonal changes in their bodies Larynx in male has much more fast-twitch muscles in larynx -Testosterone exposed during development, increased # of fast-twitch muscles |
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Ways that hormones alter behavior
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1) Effect on Effector Mechanisms (frogs)
2) Activational Effects: triggering a behavior 3) Organizational Effects: reorganizing the brain to make permanent changes (mice) |
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effect of hormones on brain organization in mice
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EXPERIMENT
Take newborn male rat When 1-6 days old, castrate it, then let it grow to adulthood and observe sexual behaviors -In the presence of females, does not do much, in the presence of courting males shows lordosis (even with extra testosterone) Take newborn male rat and castrate it, but give testosterone implant, observe adult sexual behavior -in presence of receptive females, shows mounting behavior (with extra shot of testosterone) ~Testosterone triggers mounting behavior, but rat needed testosterone early in development to organize brain into male pattern -default brain female -without testosterone, rat grows up with female behaviors -CRITICAL PERIOD – brain reorganized by testosterone – must be before day 6 If male castrated after critical period, with a shot of testosterone it will still exhibit mounting behavior Female given testosterone implants during critical period will exhibit mounting behavior given extra shot of testosterone later adulthood |
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role of JH in bee behavior
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-bees change behaviors as they grow older, gene expression changes along with the behaviors
-hive can be manipulated to be a “single-cohort” colony (all same age) – younger bees will take on jobs of older bees and will also show gene expression of old forager bees, and vis versa if cohort colony formed of older bees EXPERIMENT (addition and subtraction of JH) If the new bees were younger, they became foragers, if they were older they stayed nurse bees -ethyl oleate – stays undigested in stomach of foraged (comes from food, but it is not digested) >when foragers feed younger nurse bees, they pass on the ethyl oleate >turns out ethyl oleate represses juvenile hormone (JH) levels, so they stay as nurse bees >as younger bees age, they get less ethyl oleate and transition to foragers – keeps proportion of nurse bees and foragers >amazing interaction of social interactions, genetics, diet, etc |
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cannibalism in tiger salamanders
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-some baby salamanders change behavior – become cannibal salamanders
-look physically different, gene expression is different due to environmental situation in which salamanders find themselves -advantage – don’t have to compete for limited insect supply -environmental circumstances – not related to other salamanders, bigger in size, pond with many other salamanders – turns on cannibalistic gene expression |
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developmental or phenotypic plasticity
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ability to change gene expression based on environmental circumstances
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dominance in Astatotilapia burtoni
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-usually one dominant male and many subordinate males
-dominant males are usually bigger, more aggressive, and gaudier in color -if dominant male is removed, series of changes can be triggered to turn a subordinate male into a dominant one -GnRHneurons – triggers growth of testes and production of testosterone >start expression egr-1 transcription factor for GnRHgene >spikes in activity during transition stage, one transition is made levels will go back down, but the fish is more sensitive >social circumstance influences gene expression and behavior |
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marsh tit feeding behavior
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In study of spatial learning, fed birds either 1) whole sunflower seeds or 2) powdered seeds. Birds receiving whole seeds stored them and a grew larger hippocampus.
-fed birds same volume of sunflower seeds either whole or powdered -group that got whole seeds would eat one then hide the others -group that got powdered ate without storing -in group with whole seed, experience of hiding seed helped hippocampus/spacial learning grow significantly |
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stages of development in bird songs
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Silent phase -> subsong (babbling) -> plastic song (sounds close to species song, but not perfect or consistent) -> crystalized song (bird settles on final method of song)
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species bias (bird songs)
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bird prefers song of own species over that of another species
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critical period (bird songs)
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bird must hear song by certain point in life or it will never learn it
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white-crowned sparrow song learning experiment
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-If you take a WC sparrow and play it a tape of WC sparrow song, but has social interaction with an adult male singing song sparrow, the social interaction will override the tape and the bird with learn the song sparrow song
-WC sparrow raised with a strawberry finch will sing song much like that of a strawberry finch |
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importance of context cues in sparrow song learning
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EXPERIMENT
Two nest next to each other with a male and female each Son of one next put in nest beside the first two, could listen to his father and to his neighbor 9 out of 11 birds copied the father, 1 out of 11 copied the neighbor, 1 out of 11 sang a new song EXPERIMENT Zebra finches put in aviary – large cage with many birds Songs were combinations of fathers and neighbors with which they interacted the most – social interaction most important factor |
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role of estrogen in song learning behavior
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Males make estrogen in early development, females don’t
Song areas in brain – interact to produce song (hearing, memorizing, producing, etc) Area x doesn’t exist in females, area RA is much smaller most areas grow in males, regress in females Females given estrogen at young age could produce song – not perfect but present Chromosomal difference leads to change in behavior - Gene expression in area x (zince) high when songs are being learned, decreases later |
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role of bird song in repelling predators
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Generally, a male song wards off other males from intruding on their territory
EXPERIMENT: allowed males to establish territory -captured male from other territory and replaced him with speaker -measured number of times territory was visited by other males -when played back, males only visited 5 times/hr or less -when speaker quieted, males visited over 20 times/hour -once males have set up territory, other males can recognize specific voices -if owner’s song is played, other birds stay away longer than if a stranger’s song is played |
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effect of female presence on male bird song
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Male doesn’t sing much when female mate is present
EXPERIMENT : male taken away -Male sings a TON (orange) Other circumstance – unmated male -sings some, but just an average amount (green) -female added to territory, he stops singing There’s a difference in level of song if a male has had a female and lost or or if he never had one at all |
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cowbird song learning behavior
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Other birds will raise their cowbird as their own
Baby cow bird raised by large range of other species – aren’t raised in conditions to hear their own species song during critical period Baby usually is raised by foster parent, is attracted to sound of cow birds and joins winter flock of cow birds -younger males subordinate to older males – distinct differences can be heard in their songs EXPERIMENT: Raise male cow bird in isolation (without other birds around) >When it grows up, goes through subsong phase and develops a normal cowbird song >genetically programmed to sing cow bird song, no critical period (still have subsong period) >song is that of an older cowbird, not the subordinate males in nature >SOCIAL CUES – change the way the younger birds sing in response to older males Males raised in isolation released back into wild in spring >joins flock, accepted until he begins to sing then is attacked by other older males >turns out younger males are only allowed to sing less attractive songs >younger bird that sang normal (“fully attractive”) song was a threat to older males |
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duckling imprinting behavior
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EXPERIMENT: Mallard ducklings
-played different sounds to ducklings: 1)mallard 2)wood duck (similar to mallard) 3)chicken -pulled skateboard with stuffed mallard on it while they played different sounds -Results 1)ducklings followed 2)most followed 3)about 40% follows -Silence or totally non-bird sounds were non-effective -Ducklings had own species preference, or higher inclination to follow sounds of their own species – is this learned or genetic?? Ducklings can hear quite well before they hatch – hear their mothers sounds before they hatch and learn them? EXPERIMENT: Raised eggs in incubators -Repeated basic study and ducklings still had own species preference, suggesting they didn’t learn the preference from their mothers -however – ducklings make significant sounds before they are hatching, maybe they hear eachother call and learn that sound Next, raised eggs in separate incubators (all in isolation) so they would not hear the sound from outside -STILL had preference CONCLUSION: have genetic preference? –NO -Duckling in one egg can hear itself cheeping before it hatches -Duckling’s sound is genetic, the preference is learned EXPERIMENT: micro surgery on egg embryo before it hatches to cut nerve to vocal chords – they could hear just find but could not make noise >ducklings were silent in the egg AND did not show any preference for sound – all responses equal (to sounds) > LEARNED PREFERENCE >Preference for sound in general and the sound they make themselves are both genetic |
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whooping cranes migrating behavior
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Endangered species of migrating birds – migrate to Texas and Florida from Utah for the winter
Became endangered because of beautiful tail plumes and habitat loss Captive breeding programs: -remove eggs from nests to encourage faster reproduction -eggs removed from nest didn’t have parents – raised in aviaries and released back into wild -birds raised without parents don’t know where to migrate to without adult model -once they have followed parent to winter ground, they can get back on their own and make the journey independently in later years -Scientists came up with way to guide baby cranes to winter ground by having them imprint on small planes -Plane flies from Utah to winter grounds, once the baby birds are their they are fine on their own |
