Chapter 3 The Process of Science: Studying Animal Behavior

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Chapter 3 The Process of ScienceStudying Animal
Behavior

• 3.1 Biologists study behavior through observation
  and experiments
• 3.2 Experiments show that both genes and
  environment affect behavior
• 3.3 Learning is behavior based on experience
• 3.4 Social behaviors are important adaptations in
  many species

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3.1 Biologists study behavior through observation
and experiments

• Objectives
• Define animal behavior.
• Describe examples of studying behavior through
  observations and experiments.
• Distinguish between immediate and ultimate causes
  of behavior.
• Key Terms
• animal behavior
• immediate cause
• ultimate cause

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3.1Define animal behavior

• Animal behaviorwhat an animal does as it
  interacts with its environment.
• Scientists rely on two approaches to explore
  life discovery science (observation and careful
  description) and hypothesis-based science
  (testing explanations, usually with experiments)

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3.1Define animal behavior

• Observation-
• Jane Goodall
• chimps
• Experimentation-
• Tinbergen
• Digger Wasps
• Tinbergen used simple materials
• pine cones and stones
• and a simple procedure.
• The results led him to conclude that
• digger wasps use a pattern of
• landmarks to find their nests.

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3.1 Define animal behavior

• Tinbergen's studies looked for the immediate
  cause of the wasp's behavior an explanation of
  the organism's immediate interactions with the
  environment
• But behavioral biologists also ask "why"
  questionswhy do organisms behave as they do?
  Answering "why" questions involves finding the
  ultimate cause of a behavioran explanation based
  on the organism's evolutionary adaptations

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3.2

• Objectives
• Explain the term innate behavior.
• Describe the influence of environmental cues on
  rhythmic behaviors.
• Describe how both genes and experience can
  influence behavior.
• Key Terms
• innate behavior
• fixed action pattern
• circadian rhythm

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3.2 Explain the term innate behavior.

• Researchers have observed that digger wasps
  raised in isolation build nests in the same way
  as wasps raised among other wasps A behavior that
  is performed correctly by all individuals of a
  species, even if they have no previous experience
  with the behavior, is called an innate behavior.

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3.2 Explain the term innate behavior

• fixed action pattern
• (abbreviated FAP)
• an innate behavior
• that occurs as an
• Unchangeable
• sequence of actions

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3.2 Explain the term innate behavior

• This type of innate
• rhythm with a cycle
• of about 24 hours is
• called a circadian
• rhythm
• Circadian rhythms
• are controlled by
• an organism's
• internal "biological
• clock

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3.2 Investigating the Interaction of Genes and
Experience A Case Study

• An experiment
• with lovebirds
• demonstrated
• that hybrid offspring
• could alter inherited
• behavior based
• on experience

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3.3

• Objectives
• Distinguish habituation, imprinting, and
  conditioning as forms of learning.
• Explain the term insight.
• Summarize two hypotheses about the purpose of
  play behavior.
• Key Terms
• learning
• habituation
• imprinting
• conditioning
• insight

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3.3 Distinguish habituation, imprinting, and
conditioning as forms of learning

• A change in an animal's behavior resulting from
  experience is called learning. A simple form of
  learning is habituation, in which an animal
  learns not to respond to a repeated stimulus that
  conveys little or no important information

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3.3 Distinguish habituation, imprinting, and
conditioning as forms of learning

• Some of the most interesting cases involve
  imprinting. Imprinting
• is learning that is limited to a
• specific time period in an
• animal's life and that is usually irreversible
• imprinting takes place during a particular time
  period in an animal's development called a
  critical learning period

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3.3 Distinguish habituation, imprinting, and
conditioning as forms of learning

• Learning that a particular
• stimulus or a particular
• response is linked to
• a reward or punishment
• is called conditioning
• Ivan Pavlov
• classical conditioning

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3.3Explain the term insight.

• At a level above operant conditioning is the
  ability to respond appropriately to a new
  situation without previous experience, called
  insight or innovation. For example, an octopus
  can figure out how to unscrew the lid of a jar
  and obtain the food inside

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3.4 Explain the significance of courtship rituals

• Objectives
• Identify examples of competitive behaviors.
• Explain the significance of courtship rituals.
• Relate communication to other social behaviors.
• Give an example of cooperation in an animal
  species.
• Key Terms
• aggressive behavior
• dominance hierarchy
• territory
• courtship ritual
• communication
• cooperation

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3.4 Identify examples of competitive behaviors

• Actual physical struggles or threatening
  behaviors between animals are classified as
  aggressive behaviors
• Aggressive behaviors
• within a group of animals
• often result in a ranking of
• individuals, called a dominance hierarchy
• Many animals exhibit territorial behavior. A
  territory is an area that individuals defend and
  from which other members of the same species are
  usually excluded

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3.4 Explain the significance of courtship rituals

• In some species, animals perform elaborate
  behaviors before mating, called a courtship
  ritual

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3.4 Relate communication to other social behaviors

• .
• One of the most complex
• social systems
• is found in honeybees.
• In the 1940s, biologist
• Karl von Frisch
• carried out several
• experiments to study
• bee communication

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3.4 Give an example of cooperation in an animal
species

• The social system of the honeybees is one example
  of a group of behaviors described as cooperation,
• in which individuals
• work together in a way
• that is beneficial to the group.