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32 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Simple Reflexes
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Reflexes are simple, automatic responses to simple stimuli. They can be defined as reliable occurrences of particular behavioral responses following a given environmental stimulus. A simple reflex is controlled at the spinal cord, connecting a two-neuron pathway from the receptor (afferent neuron) to the motor (efferent neuron). The efferent nerve innervates the effector (e.g. a muscle or gland). Reflex behavior is important in the behavioral response of lower animals. It is less important in the behavioral repertoire of higher forms of life such as vertebrates.
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Complex Reflexes
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More complex reflex patterns involve neural integration at a higher level – the brainstem or even the cerebrum. For example, the “startle response” alerts an animal to a significant stimulus. It can occur in response to potential danger, or to hearing one’s name called. The startle response involves interaction of many neurons; a system termed the reticular activating system.
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Fixed-Action Patterns
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These patterns are complex, coordinated, innate behavioral responses to specific patterns of stimulation in the environment. The stimulus that elicits the behavior is referred to as the releaser. Because fixed- action patterns are innate, they are relatively unlikely to be modified by learning. An animal has a repertoire of fixed-action patterns and only a limited ability for developing new ones. The particular stimuli that trigger a fixed-action pattern are more readily modified, provided certain cues or elements of the stimuli are maintained. EXMP: The retrieval and maintenance response of many female birds to an egg of their species. Certain kinds of stimuli are more effective than others in triggering a fixed-action pattern (e.g. an egg with the characteristics of that species will be more effective than one that only crudely resembles the natural egg). Another example is the characteristic movements made by animals that herd or flock together, such as the swimming actions of fish, and the flying actio
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Behavioral Cycles
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Daily cycles of behavior are called circadian rhythms. Animals with such cycles lose their exact 24-hour periodicity if they are isolated from the natural phases of light and dark. Cyclical behavior will continue with approximate day-to-day phasing. The cycle is thus initiated intrinsically, but modified by external factors. Daily cycles of eating, maintained by most animals, provide a good example of cycles with both internal and external control. The internal controls are the natural bodily rhythms of eating and satiation. External modulators include the elements of the environment that occur in familiar cyclic patterns, such as dinner bells and clocks. Sleep and wakefulness are the most obvious example of cyclic behavior. These behavior patterns have been associated with particular patterns of brain waves.
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Environmental Rhythms
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Patterns of behavior are established and maintained mainly by periodic environmental stimuli (e.g. human responses to traffic light signals). Just as environmental stimuli influence many naturally occurring biological rhythms, biological factors influence behavior governed by periodic environmental stimuli.
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Learning
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Learned behavior involves adaptive responses to the environment. It is a complex phenomenon that occurs to some extent in all animals. In lower animals, instinctual or innate behaviors are the predominant determinants of behavior patterns, and learning plays a relatively minor role in the modification of these predetermined behaviors. In higher animals, the major share of the response to the environment is learned. The capacity for learning adaptive responses is closely correlated with the degree of neurologic development; i.e., the capacity of the nervous system, particularly the cerebral cortex, for flexibility.
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Habituation
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One of the simplest learning patterns, involving the suppression of the normal startle responses to stimuli. Repeated stimulation will result in decreased responsiveness to that stimulus. The normal autonomic response to that stimulus would serve no useful purpose when the stimulus becomes a part of the background environment, so the response to the stimulus is suppressed. If the stimulus is no longer regularly applied, the response tends to recover over time. This is referred to as spontaneous recovery. Recovery of the response can also occur with a modification of the stimulus.
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Classical Conditioning
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AKA Pavlovian conditioning involves the association of a normally autonomic or visceral response with an environment stimulus. For this reason, the response learned through Pavlovian conditioning is sometimes called a conditioned reflex. In this conditioning, the normal, innate stimulus for a reflex is replaced by one chosen by the experimenter.
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Pavlov’s Experiments
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Worked on digestive physiology and studied the salivation reflex in dogs. In 1927 he discovered that if a dog was presented with an arbitrary stimulus (e.g. a bell) and then presented with food, it would eventually salivate on hearing the bell alone. The food elicited the unconditioned response of salivation. After repeated association of the bell with the food, the bell alone could elicit the salivation reflex. Thus, the innate or unconditioned response would occur with the selected stimulus.
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Pavlov’s Terminology
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1. An established (innate) reflex consists of an unconditioned stimulus (US) (e.g. food for salivation), and the response that is naturally elicited is termed the unconditioned response (UR) (e.g. salivation). 2. A neutral stimulus is a stimulus that will not by itself elicit the response (prior to conditioning). During conditioning, the neutral stimulus (the bell) and the US (the food) are presented together. Eventually, the neutral stimulus is able to elicit the response in the absence of the US, and is then called the conditioned stimulus (CS). Pavlov’s example of a CS is the sound of a bell for salivation. 3. The product of the conditioning experience is termed the conditioned reflex. The conditioned reflex in Pavlov’s experiment was salivation (the conditioned response) following a previously neutral stimulus (now the conditioned stimulus) such as the sound tone. 4. Pavlov defined conditioning as the establishment of a new reflex (association of stimulus with response) by the addition of a new, previous
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Pseudoconditioning
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A phenomenon that can be confused with true classical conditioning. A critical test is the determination of whether the condition process is actually necessary for the production of a response by a previously “neutral stimulus.” In many cases, the so-called “neutral” stimulus is able to elicit the response even before conditioning, and hence is not really a neutral stimulus. This can be avoided by carefully evaluating all prospective stimuli before conditioning begins.
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Operant or Instrumental Conditioning
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This type of conditioning involves conditioning responses to stimuli with the use of reward or reinforcement. When the organism exhibits a specific behavior pattern that the experimenter would like to see repeated, the animal is rewarded. This type of conditioning increases the likelihood that the behavior will appear. This has been successfully applied more recently to the conditioning of visceral responses such as changes in heartbeat.
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Experiments of B.F. Skinner
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He first demonstrated the principles of operant conditioning and reinforcement. In the original operant conditioning experiements, he used the well known "Skinner box," consisting of a cage with a lever or key, and a food dispenser. A food pellet was delivered whenever the animal pressed the lever. Thus, depression of the lever was the operant response under study. In later experiments, he varied the type of reinforcement. Reinforcers fell into two categories: Positive and Negative reinforcement.
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Positive Reinforcement
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AKA reward, includes providing food, light, or electrical stimulation of the animal's brain "pleasure centers." Following this reinforcement, the animal was much more likely to repeat the desired behavioral response (e.g. to press the bar). The animal has developed a positive connection between the action (response) and the reward (stimulus which followed). This type of reinforcement is likely to be involved in normal habit formation.
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Negative Reinforcement
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Reinforcement that also involves stimulating the brain's pleasure centers, but it links the lack of certain behavior with reward (e.g. a bird may learn that it will receive a food pellet if it does not peck on a yellow circle in its cage). The animal has developed a negative connection between action (response) and reward (stimulus that followed). Thus, the animal developed a positive connection between the lack of the action and the reward, and the animal is less likely to repeat the behavioral response.
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Punishment
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Involves conditioning an organism so that it will stop exhibiting a given behavior pattern. It may involve painfully shocking the organism each time the chosen behavior appear. After, the organism is less likely to repeat the behavioral response and it develops a negative connection between the stimulus and the response.
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Habit Family Hierarchy
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A stimulus is usually associated with several possible responses, each response having a different probability of occurrence. For example, a chicken may respond to a light in many ways, but if one particular response is rewarded it will occur with higher probability in the future. Reward strengthens a specific behavioral response and raises its order in the hierarchy. Punishment weakens a specific behavioral response and lowers its order in the hierarchy.
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Extinction
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The gradual elimination of conditioned responses in the absence of reinforcement; i.e., the "unlearning" of the response pattern. In instrumental and operant conditioning, the response is diminished and finally eliminated in the absence of reinforcement. The response is not completely unlearned, rather it is inhibited in the absence of reinforcement. It will rapidly reappear if the reinforcement is returned. In classical conditioning, this will occur when the unconditioned stimulus is removed or was never sufficiently paired with the conditioned stimulus. The conditioned stimulus must be paired with the unconditioned stimulus, at least part of the time for the maintenance of the conditioned response. After sufficient time elapses following extinction, the conditioned response may again be elicited by the conditioned stimulus. The recovery of the conditioned response after extinction is called spontaneous recovery.
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Stimulus Generalization
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The ability of a conditioned organism to respond to stimuli that are similar, but not identical, to the original conditioned stimulus. The less similar the stimulus is to the original conditioned stimulus, the lesser the response will be (e.g. an organism may be conditioned to respond to a stimulus of 1000 Hz tone, but it may respond to stimuli somewhat higher or lower in pitch.
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Stimulus Discrimination
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Involves the ability of the learning organism to differentially respond to slightly different stimuli (e.g. if rewards are given to only a very narrow range of sound, such as a tone of 990-1010 Hz, but not to stimuli outside this range, the organism will also learn not to respond to stimuli that are very different in tone.
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Stimulus Generalization Gradient
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Established after the organism has been conditioned, whereby stimuli further and further away from the original conditioned stimulus elicit responses with decreasing magnitude.
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Imprinting
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A process in which environmental patterns or objects presented to a developing organism during a brief "critical period" in early life, become accepted permanently as an element of their behavioral environment (e.g. "stamped-in" and included in an animal's behavioral response. A duckling passes through a critical period in which it learns that the first large moving object it sees is its mother. In the natural environment, this is usually the case, but other objects can be substituted during this period, and it will follow anything that is substituted for its mother. This phenomenon was first identified by the ethologist Konrad Lorenz, who swam in a pond amongst newly hatched ducklings separated from their mother and found that they eventually followed him as if he were their mother.
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Critical Period
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Specific time periods during an animal's early development when it is physiologically able to develop specific behavioral patterns. If the proper environment pattern is not present during this time frame, the behavioral pattern will not develop properly. In addition to this period, some animals have a visual critical period. If light is not present during this period, visual effectors will not develop properly.
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Intraspecific Interactions
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Interactions that occur as a means of communication between members of a species.
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Behavioral Displays
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A display may be defined as an innate behavior that has evolved as a signal for communication between members of the same species. According to this definition, a song, call, or an intentional change in an animal's physical characteristics are considered displays. Categories of displays include: Reproductive, agonistic, and other displays including dancing procedures exhibited by honeybees, especially the scout honeybee, to convey information concerning the quality and location of food sources. Displays utilizing auditory, visual, chemical, and tactile elements are often used as a means of communication.
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Reproductive Displays
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Specific behaviors found in all animals including humans. Many animals have evolved a variety of complex actions that function as signals in preparation for mating.
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Agonistic Displays
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Include a dog's display of appeasement when it wags its tail, or the dog's antagonistic behavior when it directs its face straight and raises its body.
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Pecking Order
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The relationships among members of the same species living as a contained social group frequently become stable for a period of time. When food, mates, or territory are disputed, a dominant member of the species will prevail over a subordinate one. The social hierarchy is frequently referred to as the pecking order. It minimizes violent intra-specific aggressions by defining stable relationships among members of the group.
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Territoriality
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Members of most land-dwelling species defend a limited area or territory from intrusion by other members of the species. These territories are typically occupied by a male or a male-female pair and are frequently used for mating, nesting, and feeding. Territoriality serves the adaptive function of distributing members of the species so that the environmental resources are not depleted in a small region; furthermore, intraspecific competition is reduced. The larger the population, the smaller the territories are likely to be.
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Response to Chemicals
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The olfactory sense is immensely important as a means of communication in many animals. Many animals secrete substances called pheromones that influence the behavior of other members of the same species. Pheromones can be classified in one of two types: releaser and primer pheromones.
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Releaser Pheromones
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Trigger a reversible behavioral change in the recipient (e.g. female silkworms secrete a very powerful attracting pheromone, so powerful that a male responds to one ten-millionth of a gram from a distance of two miles or more). Sex attractant pheromones are secreted by many animals, including cockroaches, queen honeybees, and gypsy moths. In addition, releaser pheromones are secreted as alarm and toxic defensive substances.
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Primer Pheromones
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Produce long term behavioral and physiological alterations in recipient animals (e.g. pheromones from male mice may affect the estrous cycles of females). Pheromones have also been shown to limit sexual reproduction in areas of high animal density. Primer pheromones are important in social insects such as ants, bees, and termites where they regulate role determination and reproductive capacities.
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