Innate Behaviors

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Innate Behaviors
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Notes

• Innate behaviors includes both automatic and
  instinctive.
• Innate behaviors are also known as inherited
  behaviors.

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Automatic Responses

• A reflex is a simple, automatic response that
  involves no conscious control.
• Example jerking your hand away from something
  hot.
• A fight or flight response mobilizes the body for
  greater activity. Your body is being prepared to
  either fight or run from the danger.

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Instinctive behaviors

• An instinct is a complex pattern of innate
  behavior. Instinctive behavior patterns may have
  several parts and may take weeks to complete. It
  begins when the animal recognizes a stimulus and
  continues until all parts are complete.

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Instinctive cont.

• Courtship behavior is the behavior that animals
  exhibit when trying to find a mate.

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Instinctive cont.

• A territory is a physical space an animal defends
  against other animals(including members of the
  same species).
• Reduces conflicts, controls population growth.
• Many animals produce pheromones to mark
  territorial boundaries.

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Instinctive cont.

• Aggressive behavior is used to intimidate other
  animals.
• A dominance hierarchy is a form of social ranking
  within a group in which some individuals are more
  subordinate than others.

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Instinctive cont.

• A 24-hour cycle of behavior is called a circadian
  rhythm.
• Migration occurs on a seasonal cycle and involves
  the movement of animals.

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Instinctive cont.

• Hibernation-state in which the body temperature
  drops breathing rates decline to a few breaths
  per minute.
• Aestivation- a state of reduced metabolism that
  occurs in animals living in condition of intense
  heat.

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Learned Behaviors

• Tabs include Habituation,
• Imprinting, Conditioning,
• And Insight

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Habituation

• Occurs when an animal is repeatedly given a
  stimulus that is not associated with any
  punishment or reward.
• Loss of sensitivity.
• Young horses are often afraid of cars, but
  gradually, they become habituated to the city and
  ignore normal sights and sounds.

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Imprinting

• A form of learning in which an animal, at a
  critical time, forms a social attachment to
  another object.
• Usually irreversible.
• Trial and error learning is when an animal
  receives a reward for making a particular
  response.
• Motivation, an internal need that causes an
  animal to act, is necessary for learning to take
  place.

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Conditioning

• Learning by association.
• Example Pavlovs dogs
• Pavlov trained a dog to salivate when it heard a
  bell.

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Insight

• Learning in which an animal uses previous
  experience to respond to a new situation.
• Much of human learning is based on insight.

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List examples for each

• Innate behavior
• Reflex
• Fight/flight
• Courtship
• Territorial
• Pheromones
• Aggression
• Dominance hierarchy
• Circadian rhythm
• Migration
• Hibernation
• Aestivation
• Learned behavior
• Imprinting
• Trial and error
• Motivation
• Conditioning
• Insight