Animal behavior
Sensory inputs
Proximate and Ultimate Causation
Proximate causation
Ultimate causation
HOW actions occur (fish attacks the color red)
WHY actions occur (red is what the fish's enemy is colored)
Fixed action pattern (FAP) is the sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to a stimulus
The trigger is a sign stimulus
Why do animals migrate? (less food availability)
How do animals migrate? (They use the North Star, the sun, and earth's magnetic fields)
Circadian rhythm affects animal behavior, and seasonal behavior is affected by cirannual rhythm
Communication
Visual, chemical (pheromones, e.g. mating or alarm), tactile (through touching), or auditory
Learning
Some behavior is innate
Imprinting
There is a short window (sensitive period/critical period) where the young are easily molded
Spatial learning
Discovering a location (such as a nest) based on markers
Associative learning
The ability to associate one environmental feature with another (color, taste)
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Arbitrary stimulus associated with a particular outcome (Pavlov's dogs)
Trial and error, where an animal learns to associate a behavior with a reward or punishment
Cognition
Most complex form of learning
Awareness, recollection, reasoning and judgement
Insects, as well as humans, display cognitive behavior
Problem solving
Social learning
Learning by observing others
The foundation of culture
Foraging (food finding behavior)
Optimal foraging model
Natural selection favoring a foraging behavior that minimizes costs and maximizes benefits
Fruit flies have an allele for 'roving' or 'sitting;' roving allele are present in high populations, where roving is beneficial. Sitting allele is present in low concentrated populations, where flies do not need to expend as much energy
Drop height in crows trade-offs
Mating behavior
Mating systems
Promiscuous
Multiple mates and no strong-pair bonds
Monogamous
One male with one female
Polygamous
One sex of the animal mates with many of the others
Polygyny
Polyandry
One male with many females
One female with many males
Less common
Certainty of paternity
Females are usually certain that the offspring is their own, so they care for it; males do not always know
The more certain a male is that the offspring is his own, the more likely he will care for it rather than going off and finding another mate
In many species, there is external fertilization, where the male fertilizes the offspring (eggs) outside of the female's body; there is then a greater likelihood of the male sticking around
Sexual selection
A type of natural selection where offspring success result from mating success
Intersexual selection
Members of one sex chose mates based on a certain characteristic
Females are frequently more "chosey" about their mates
Mate choice copying is when a mate is chosen as a result of other's choices (social learning)
Intrasexual selection
Members of one sex (generally males) compete directly for mates
May involve antagonistic behavior
Antagonistic behavior is sometimes territorial, but mostly during mating season
Game Theory
An approach to evaluating alternative strategies in situations where the outcome of a particular strategy depends on the strategies used by other individuals (often applied to evolutionary problems)
"What's the other person gonna do?"
Altruism
Behavior that reduces an individuals fitness while increasing the fitness of another individual
Kin selection
Natural selection favoring altruistic behavior by enhancing the reproductive success of relatives
Inclusive fitness
The total effect an individual has spreading its genes by producing its own offspring AND providing aid that enables other close relatives (who share many of those genes), to produce offspring
Reciprocal altruism
Altruistic behavior in individuals not related, when behavior is expected to be reciprocated in the future
Sociobiology
The study of social behavior in regards to evolutionary theory
Using sociobiology to explain human behavior is controversal