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INTRODUCTION TO ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR - Coggle Diagram
INTRODUCTION TO ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
DEFINITION
B.F Skinner & D.O Hebb
(Shows physiological response and a crucial role in communication)
Oxford
(Deportment, manners, moral conduct- response to stimulus)
Behavior is the nervous system’s response to a stimulus, carried out by the
muscular or the hormonal system and is subject to natural selection
4 question
(stimulus, experiences during growth, the survival & reproduction, history)
why study?
To conserve & protect endangered species, Economically important predators, pest parasites)
Purpose of behaviour
(goal directedness, goal achieving, goal seeking)
Measurement of behaviour
(repeatable measurement, clear beginning and end & unique pattern and distinguishable)
FOUNDATIONS
Evolution by natural selection
Reproductive potential, competition, heritable variation > adapt to environment
Behaviour subject to natural selection
Systematic comparative method
G.J Romanes
(study to gain insight into human behaviour- similar metal states & reasoning processes)
Relied on inference rather than direct observation
C.L Morgan
(direct experiments & observational method)
Law of parsimony (simple explanation for observe fact, reduce complex hypotheses)
Genetics and inheritance
Gregor Mendel
(law of inheritance)
behavioural traits have genetic component & may change as species evolve
EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES
1) Ethology (ethogram)
Biology of behaviour
an ethogram (inventory of behaviour by experimental animal)
divided to broad categories > specific units
basis for adaptive value, regulations of behaviour pattern
Tinbergen's work
(behaviour of black headed gulls)
adult remove shells when chick hatch (minimize predators)
+
(behaviour of animals are not restricted, f(x) and adapative behaviour shows how evolution affects morphology)
-
(cant control environment, lack of h(x), difficult to test hypothesis)
2) Comparative Psychology
(Early)
wide spectrum of animals,
(later)
theory of learning and development,
(now)
pattern tied to learning, motivation & physiological psychology
Begun et al (1988)
- snakes respond to airbones odorants
+
(Manipulative variables, environment of subject can be control, concerned w learning
-
(animal stuck in lab stock-not natural, & how affect behaviour)
3) Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
work in lab & experimental manipulate in field
Reasoning process > ecological realm & how natural selection shaped behaviour
Lindstrom (1988)
Mating of gobies divided into 2 section (given food & fed naturally)
+
(animal designed to mimic natural habitat, provide specific data to test particular hypothesis
-
(lack of environment control,Difficult to provide testable hypotheses for functional and evolutionary aspects of behaviour
HIERARCHY OF POTENTIAL DECISION
Tower of Generate-and-Test of Dennett’s (1995)
– 4 levels of complexit
1) Darwinian creatures
(hard-wired)
choose between diff genetically encoded options
simplest level (developmentally fixed)
Possible solution to problems of survival and reproductions cause by environment & organisms have to choose the solution
2) Skinnerian creatures
(reinforcement & learning)
genetically encoded but allow variety of responses
(phenotypic plasticity)
3) Popperian creatures
(hypothesis testing)
ability choose best option (view prob, use past approach memory, select best approach)
4) Gregorian creatures
(cultural enhancement)
cultural artifact (provide new means choosing appropriate responses)
Lathes, computes, language
Tinbergens (1963) 4 Whys
Function
what is the behaviour for?
Mechanism
how does system operate
what the stimulus & response
Development
how behaviour develop
Evolution
where it comes from