Animal Behavior Exam I

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animal behavior

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scientific study of the wild and wonderful ways in which animals interact with each other, with other living beings, and with the environment.

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previous lesser definitions of animal behavior

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"Behavior is motion"

"What a plant or animal does, in the course of an individual's lifetime, in response to some event or change in its environment."

"Behavior is all observable or otherwise measurable muscular and secretory responses (or lack thereof) and related phenomena in response to changes in an animal's internal or external environment.”

"Behavior is characterized by entropic and energetic transductions by an organism, in which the long-term averages convert high entropic and low energetic sensory inputs into low entropic and high energetic outputs."

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Tinbergen's 4 Aims

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Niko Tinbergen- gifted experimentalist

four different types of questions that can be asked of any animal behavior

proximate and ultimate explanations

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proximate explanations

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closest to the event that is to be explained

explain how a behavior is elicitied and coordinated

anatomical or physiological mechanisms that underlie the behavior

how does the behavior develop and change during the lifespan of a single individual

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ultimate explanations

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focus on deeper reasons for why something happened

natural selection

what were the macroevolutionary patterns of changes that lead to the behavior today

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Aim 1: Proximate Mechanisms

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particular mechanics that cause the behavior via its underlying neural, endocrine, and genetic mechanisms

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Aim 2: Development, Learning

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what role does maturation play?

to what degree does the behavior depend on learning processes and tutors

what neural substrates are involved in its acquisition

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Aim 3: Functional Significance

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know what function this particular territorial display serves

if selection favors individuals with a behavior that is beneficial to the bearer's reproductive success

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Aim 4: Evoltion

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what were the precise patterns of change throughout the evolutionary lineage that result in behavior today

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Plato

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the human mind as an entity pre-existed somewhere in the heavesn before being sent down to join a body on earth

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Hippocrates

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that the brain is the seat of intelligence

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Aristotle

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first written records of mutulistic ties between individuals, animal tool use, and brood paratism

tabula rasa- individuals are born with no innate or built in mental content

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Herophilus

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studied the nervoud system and distinguised between sensory and motor nerves

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Erasistratus

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studied the brain and distinguished the cerebrum and cerebellum

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Galen

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roman empire

wrote on the connection between paralysis and severance of the spinal cord

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Rene Descartes

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supplied a foundation for the pursuit of knowledge

* Unity of all sciences through deductive reasoning
* Never accept anything as true that is not known clearly to be such
* Divide problems into as many parts as possible, and proceed from the simplest to the hardest

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Charles Darwin

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evidence for natural selection

all human characterisitcs are fundamentally inherited and all have been subject to evolution

emotions may be best understood as consequences of adaptive reactions

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psychophysics

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aimed to relate matter to mind via a study of inner experiences or feelings towards defined physical stimuli

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psychoanalysis

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psychopathologies stemmed from culturally unacceptable, thus repressed and unconscious, desires and fantasies of a sexual nature

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Carl Jung

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cautioned that modern humans rely too heavily on science and logic and would benefit from integrating spirituality and appreciation of the unconscious realm

Collective unconscious refers to a human experience reservoir, a kind of knowledge, we are all born with but can never be directly conscious of

Archetypes represent generic, idealized models of personalities with unlearned tendencies to experience things in a certain way

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comparative psychology

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viewed science less as a framework for explaining events but rather for predicting and controlling them

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William James

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described psychology as "the science of mental life." As a rigid application of the scientific method is only possible for learned behaviors, he felt that our studies should foremost focus on studying those.

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Ivan Pavlov

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realized that behavior changes when an organism comes to associate one stimulus with another. Specifically, a reflexive or automatic response transfers from one stimulus to another - Classical Conditioning.

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Edward Thorndike

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Using a Puzzle Box, he demonstrated that behaviors that are followed by a positive outcome are often repeated, while those followed by a negative outcome or none at all are extinguished (i.e., Operant Conditioning). He postulated the Law of effect where behavior changes when the results of an action proved of consequence (e.g. rewarding, noxious).

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John B. Watson

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he conducted the controversial "Little Albert" experiment

stimulus-response theory of psychology, emotional reactions are learned in much the same way as other skills

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B.F. Skinner

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contends that nearly all behavior is shaped by complex patterns of reinforcement in a person's environment. Skinner Box: An animal placed inside the box is rewarded with a small bit of food each time it makes the desired response, such as pressing a lever or pecking a key. A device outside the box records the animal's responses.

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Ethology

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explores animal behavior in the context of animal anatomy and physiology

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Karl von Frisch

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honey bee language

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Konrad Lorenz

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studied the behavior of geese, ravens and ducks

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Niko Tinbergen

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gulls and stickle backs