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 Responsiveness
• A stimulus is a change in the environment of an organism.
• Animals respond to a stimulus in order to keep themselves in
favourable conditions.

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• There are different ways to respond, such as (1) Regulation, (2)
Conformation, (3) Migration, and (4) Hibernation and aestivation

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• Regulation: Some organisms are able to maintain homeostasis by
physiological means which ensures constant body temperature
(thermoregulation), constant osmotic concentration

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(osmoregulation), etc.

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• All birds and mammals are capable of such regulation.
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• Humans maintain a constant body temperature of 37°C.

• In summer, when outside temperature is more than our body

temperature, we sweat profusely. This brings down the body
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temperature. In winter when the temperature is much lower than
37°C, we start to shiver, which produces heat and raises the body
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temperature.

• (2) Conformation: Majority (99%) of animals cannot maintain a

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constant internal environment. Their body temperature changes

with the ambient temperature.
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• In aquatic animals, the osmotic concentration of the body fluids

change with the water osmotic concentration. These animals are
conformers.
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• (3) Migration: The organism can move away temporarily from

the stressful habitat to a more hospitable area and return when
stressful period is over.

• Many birds, during winter undertake long-distance migrations to

more hospitable areas.
 • Every winter the famous Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur) in
Rajasthan host thousands of migratory birds coming from Siberia
and other extremely cold northern regions.

• (4) Hibernation and aestivation: Some animals, if unable to

migrate, might avoid the stress by escaping in time.

• Ex: Bears going into hibernation during winter.

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• Some snails and fish go into aestivation to avoid summer related
problems such as heat and desiccation.

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 •
Sign stimuli
What is sign stimuli ? Sign stimuli, also known as releaser or key
stimuli is a kind of stimulus that produces a response.
• Sign stimuli are capable of releasing fixed action pattern (FAP)

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of the animal.
• Konrad Lorenz (1972) was the first biologist who identified sign
stimuli which he called key stimuli because they function as

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keys to unlock the fixed action pattern of the animal.
• Fixed action patterns are released due to certain sign stimuli such
as colour, shape, odour, and sound.

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• Examples of sign stimuli: Male mosquitoes are attracted to

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the sounds of the female’s wings which beat at a
characteristic frequency different from their own.
• Bird chicks respond to jerks in the nest, which is a sign stimulus
for them to open their beak for eating food. Similarly distress
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calls given by chicks are a sign stimuli for hens to release
rescuing behaviour.
• Types of sign stimuli: There are three types of sign stimuli, such
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as, (1) Visual, (2) Auditory, and (3) Chemical.
• (1) Visual sign stimuli: Visual sign stimuli is displayed to release
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fixed action pattern of the animal.

• Ex: Fire flies emit light signals that bring about response from
mates.
• (2) Auditory sign stimuli: It includes a sound to release fixed
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action pattern of the animal.

• Ex: Song birds such as cuckoos attract the female for mating by
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singing.
• (3) Chemical sign stimuli: It includes release of certain chemicals
to unlock the fixed action pattern of the animal.
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• Ex: Ants and termites produce trail pheromones from the

posterior end of abdomen which help them to follow each other.
 •
Learning
What is learning ? Learning is defined as a relatively permanent
change in behaviour as a result of experience.
• Animals learn from their surroundings and also from their

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experiences, particularly during the growing period.
• Types of learning: Leaning is divided into the following types,
(1) Habituation, (2) Imprinting, (3) Conditioning, (4) Trial

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and error learning, (5) Latent learning, and (6) Insight
• (1) Habituation: When a stimulus is repeated frequently with
neither reward nor punishment, resulting in a gradual

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decrease in behavioural responsiveness then it is called

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habituation. Here the animal learns to ignore insignificant
stimuli.
• Ex: Scarecrows erected to drive away birds in crop-fields are
effective for a short time. Soon the birds get habituated to this
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harmless scarecrow.
• (2) Imprinting: Imprinting is a type of learning in animals
immediately after birth to recognize their caregiver for food and
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protection.
• Types of imprinting: There are three types of imprinting, such as
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(a) Filial imprinting, (b) Sexual imprinting, (c) Limbic imprinting

• (a) Filial imprinting: Filial imprinting is seen between a parent
and the newborn. After birth, the newborn follows another
animal that it recognizes as its mother.
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• Ex: ducks and geese.

• (b) Sexual imprinting: Sexual imprinting is a type of imprinting
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where the animal learns the mate preferences at a young age by

observing the parents as role models. Courtship display, such as
singing, feather display and dancing must be learned during the
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growing stage by watching the adults.

• Ex: male zebra finches prefer mates with the appearance of the
female bird that rears them.
• (c) Limbic imprinting: Any good or bad event, experienced in the
different stages of birth can leave an impact on the foetus which
can affect the psychology of the newborn.
• Ex: human beings.
• (3) Conditioning: When the response is modified by past
experience it is called conditioning.
 • The most famous conditioning experiment is that of Pavlov
and his dogs. Pavlov presented food to the dogs and
measured their salivary response. Then, he began ringing
a bell just before presenting food. At first the dogs did not
salivate until food is presented to them. After a while the
dogs began to salivate when the sound of the bell was
heard. Sound of bell became equivalent to presentation of
food.

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• (4) Trial and error learning: Through trial and error
method, animals learn things of day to day happenings. They
try various alternatives and gradually learn to solve the

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problem through failure and success.
• An experiment conducted by Skinner was with pigeons where
they learnt to press a lever to open the door of a box to get food

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grains. The experiment was repeated many times. The birds

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gradually pressed the bar in less and less time interval and
finally in no time.
• (5) Latent learning: Latent learning is the association of
different stimuli without any immediate reward or
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punishment.
• An example of latent learning was provided by Metzgar (1967)
who worked with deer-mouse (Peromyscus leucopus). One group
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of deer-mice was placed in an enclosed big hall containing
natural things like plants, hay, twigs, logs etc. A second group
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of mice was kept in laboratory cages without any exposure to

the natural things. Next, the mice from each group were placed
in the enclosed room along with a predatory owl. Metzgar
observed that only two of twenty deer-mouse with previous
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experience of the hall were captured by the owl, while eleven

of twenty mice with no prior experience of the natural things
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were caught. This shows that latent learning helped the

experienced deer-mouse to avoid the predator (owl).
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• (6) Insight: Insight is considered as the ability to respond

correctly to a situation that is experienced for the first time in
life and quite different from any experience encountered
previously.

• An experiment was performed by W. Kohler (1927) who worked

with chimpanzee. Kohler put a chimpanzee in a room where a
number of boxes were kept scattered on the ground. He hung
few bananas from the ceiling which were too high for the
 chimpanzee to reach. At first the chimpanzee tried to reach the
bananas by jumping. On failing to reach it, he sat down. After
some time he stood up and stacked the wooden boxes, one above
the other and climbed up to get the bananas. This response
appeared after a period of thought and is called insight.

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 Laws of learning
• Edward Thorndike worked on animal behaviour and developed
‘laws of learning’.
• He explained three laws of learning, such as (1) The law of effect,
(2) The law of exercise, and (3) The law of readiness.

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• (1) The law of effect: This law states that, behaviour that is
followed by a positive consequence is more likely to be repeated in
the future, while behaviour that is followed by a negative

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consequence is less likely to be repeated.
• Thorndike performed his experiments with cats. He put a cat in

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a closed box and observed how did it escape. The cat tried various

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techniques to escape, such as scratching or meowing. Eventually,
it learned to press a lever which opened the door. The cat was
more likely to press the lever in future if it received a positive
consequence, such as food. It was less likely to press the lever if
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received a negative consequence, such as a punishment.
• (2) The law of exercise: This law states that the more an individual
practices a behaviour, the stronger that behaviour becomes.
• In his experiment, he found that the cat became more efficient at
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escaping, the more times it was put in the box.
• (3) The law of readiness: This law states that learning occurs when
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an individual is ready to learn.

• If an individual is motivated to learn, he will be more successful
in the learning process. Conversely, if an individual lacks
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motivation, he is less likely to learn.

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 Conditioned learning
• What is conditioned learning? Conditioned learning is a type of
learning where a stimulus becomes associated with a consequence.
• Types of conditioned learning: There are two types of conditioned
learning, such as (1) Classical conditioning, and (2) Operant
conditioning

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• (1) Classical conditioning: In classical conditioning, a response is
associated with a stimulus that it had previously not been
associated with.

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• The most famous conditioning experiment is that of Pavlov
and his dogs. Pavlov presented food to the dogs and

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measured their salivary response. Then, he began ringing

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a bell just before presenting food. At first the dogs did not
salivate until food is presented to them. After a while the
dogs began to salivate when the sound of the bell was
heard. Sound of bell became equivalent to presentation of
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food.
• (2) Operant conditioning: Operant conditioning is a method of
learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behaviour.
• The experiment was performed by B.F. Skinner who worked with
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some rats to explain operant conditioning.

• Skinner put rats in his boxes that contained a lever that would
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dispense food to the rat when depressed.

• Initially the rat would push the lever a few times by accident, and
receive food. Eventually it began pushing the lever more
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frequently to get the food. This type of learning is an example of

operant conditioning.
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• Operant learning is the basis of most animal training.

• Types of behaviour and consequences: (a) Positive reinforcement,
(b) Negative reinforcement, (c) Positive punishment, (d) Negative
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punishment
• a) Positive reinforcement: It occurs when the behaviour is
followed by a reward. It increases the frequency of that
behaviour. For example, if a rat in Skinner’s experiment gets food
when it presses a lever, its rate of pressing will increase.
• (b) Negative reinforcement: It occurs when a behaviour is
followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus. It also
increases the frequency of that behaviour. For example, if a rat
in Skinner’s experiment experiences a loud sound continuously
 inside the box, negative reinforcement would happen when the
rat presses a lever to turn off the noise.
• (c) Positive punishment: It occurs when the behaviour is followed
by a punishment. It decreases the frequency of that behaviour.
For example, if a rat in Skinner’s experiment gets a loud noise,
when it presses a lever, its rate of pressing will decrease.
• (d) Negative punishment: It occurs when a behaviour is followed
by the removal of a stimulus. It also decreases the frequency of

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that behaviour. For example, if a rat in Skinner’s experiment gets
a good food already, but it is taken away when the lever is
pressed, its rate of pressing will decrease.

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 •
Memory
Memory is the retention and storage of information.
• Types of memory: (1) Explicit or declarative memory, (2) Implicit
or procedural or non-declarative memory

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• (1) Explicit or declarative memory: Memory of experiences that
can be declared, such as facts, objects, events, places, and names.
• For example, we can remember our name or name of our country.

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• This type of memory requires conscious recall.
• It is stored in the cerebral cortex.
• (2) Implicit or procedural or non-declarative memory: Memory of

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motor skills, procedures and rules.

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• For example, if we know how to ride a cycle, we will never forget
it.
• This type of memory does not require conscious recall. It is a
spontaneous process.
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• It is stored in the cerebellum.
• This is not declarable.
• Explicit memory is further divided into (a) Semantic and (b)
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Episodic memory.
• (a) Semantic memory: Does not require personal experience.
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• This is based on general fact.

• It deals with ideas and concepts that are not drawn from personal
experience.
• For example, we know what is a dog. It does not require any
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personal experience to recall a dog.

• (b) Episodic memory: Requires personal experience.
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• It deals with ideas and concepts that are drawn from personal
experience.
• For example we can remember our first day of school. It depends
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on personal experiences. Two persons may have different

experiences on it.
• Implicit memory is further divided into (a) Priming, (b)
Procedural, (c) Associative and (d) Non-associative memory.
• (a) Priming: A phenomenon in which previous stimuli influences
how organism reacts to subsequent stimuli.
• For example, if a child sees a bag of candy next to a red bench, he
might begin looking for or thinking about candy the next time he
sees a bench.
 • (b) Procedural memory: It includes skills and habits which once
acquired, become unconscious and automatic.
• It requires procedures to recall, hence called procedural memory.
• Examples of procedural memories are knowledge of how to cook
rice or how to walk.
• (c) Associative memory: Ability to remember the relationship
between unrelated items.
• For example, we may associate the smell of freshly baked biscuits

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with our childhood kitchen.
• (d) Non-associative memory: Form of memory that habituates or
sensitizes an animal’s response to a stimulus upon repeated

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exposure.
• For example, if we scold a child, he will cry for the first time. But
if we continuously scold him, he will get habituated and not be

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scared any more, and he will not cry. This is called habituation.

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• If we apply a loud sound to an animal, it will be agitated, and will
try to escape from that sound. If we continuously apply that loud
sound, the animal may respond even more strongly, since it gets
sensitized to that sound. This is called sensitization.
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• Based on the span of memory, declarative or non-declarative
memory will be of two types, (i) Short-term memory, and (ii) Long-
term memory.
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• (i) Short-term memory: Temporary ability to recall information
for seconds to minutes.
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• Examples of short term memory include where I parked my car

this morning, what we had for lunch yesterday, and remembering
details from a book that we read a few days ago.
• (ii) Long-term memory: Permanent ability to recall information
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for months to years, even for lifetime.

• A few common examples include the memory of how to ride a
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bike, important life events, and the knowledge that the sun on
Earth rises in the East.
• Mechanism of memory formation: Memory forms by a process of
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Long Term Potentiation (LTP). LTP is a process by which synaptic

connections between neurons become stronger.
• When the presynaptic neuron is stimulated, it releases certain
neurotransmitters such as glutamate.
• Neurotransmitters bind to the NMDA glutamate receptors on
the post-synaptic neurons.
• This event leads to opening of some channels in post-synaptic
neurons.
 • These channels allow the sodium and calcium ions to flow in post-
synaptic neurons.
• The number of ions, entering the post-synaptic neurons alter its
membrane potential.
• This event strengthens the synaptic connection between pre and
post synaptic neurons.
• With repeated stimulation, synaptic strength gets increased.
• When the increased strength lasts for a long time, it is called Long

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Term Potentiation (LTP), that helps us to recall.

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 UPSC PYQs (Ethology:section ‘a’)
1. Define ‘insight’. Explain this behaviour using the example of
Chimpanzees. (UPSC 2013)
2. What do you understand about conditioning ? Explain with relevant

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examples. (UPSC 2014)
3. With the help of suitable examples explain conditioning and
imprinting in animals. (UPSC 2016)

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4. Habituation and Conditioning (UPSC 2018)
5. Explain the process of learning and memory in animals with suitable
example. (UPSC 2021)

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6. Conditioned learning in animals (UPSC 2022)

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7. Describe two basic laws of learning. Explain habituation, trial and
error learning and latent learning in animals. (UPSC 2022)

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 Role of hormones in drive
• Hormones are chemical messengers secreted from endocrine
glands of animals.
• The hormones and behaviour are closely interlinked.
• Any type of desire, directed by hormone is known as hormonal
drive.

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• There are different types of hormonal drives, such as (1) hunger
and thirst drive, (2) hoarding drive, (3) migratory drive, (4)
aggression drive, (5) territorial drive, (6) sexual drive, and (7)

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parental care drive.
• (1) Hunger and thirst drive: Certain hormones act on the
hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is a part of the brain, which in

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turn produces hormones that regulate hunger, and thirst. The

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hunger and thirst drives depend on hours of deprivation of food.
• (2) Hoarding drive: Hoarding in animal behaviour is the storage
of food in locations hidden from others.
• Hoarding is done either on a long-term basis where food to be
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consumed months down the line or on a short-term basis, where
food will be consumed over a period of one or several days.
• Some common animals such as rodents, hamsters and squirrels,
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and many different bird species, such as rooks and woodpeckers
possess hoarding drive.
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• Low oestrogens and testosterone levels stimulate hoarding drive

in mammals.
• (3) Migratory drive: Migratory drive occurs in fishes and birds
and may be seasonal or related to reproduction.
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• In birds prolactin, cortical steroids, thyroid hormones,

gonadotropins and gonadal steroids can all influence migration.
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• Gonadal maturation which is controlled by different hormones

causes the fishes to migrate long distance from sea to rivers or
vice versa.
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• (4) Aggression drive: Hormones are also important in creating

aggression.
• The male sex hormone testosterone is associated with increased
aggression in animals. Hence males are more aggressive than
females.
• In females high oestrogen levels reduce aggression and make the
female peaceful.
• (5) Territorial drive: Many vertebrates mark and defend their
territory. Territorial behaviour is also hormone dependent.
 • Dogs and hyenas mark their territory by their own urine.
• Marsupials have anal glands which they rub on the ground to
mark territory.
• Tigers and cheetahs spray the secretion from their anal glands
on the trees to mark their territory.
• (6) Sexual drive: Sexual drive involves courtship behaviour such
as singing and dancing in birds, croaking in frogs and fighting
in males of many vertebrates.

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• Various hormones stimulate sexual desire in animals.
• Dopamine is involved in sexual motivation.
• Noradrenalin is involved in sexual arousal.

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• Oxytocin and melanocortin are involved in sexual attraction.
• Vasopressin is also involved in the sexual behaviour of some
animals.

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• (7) Parental care drive: In vertebrates, hormones regulate

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maternal behaviour.
• Pituitary hormone prolactin influence milk secretion.
• Multiple hormones such as oestrogen, progesterone, oxytocin, and
prolactin contribute to the maintenance of maternal behaviours.
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 Role of pheromones in
alarm spreading
• Pheromone is a chemical that is produced and released into the
environment by an animal which affects the behaviour of

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another animal of the same species.
• Karlson and Luscher (1959) coined the term ‘pheromones’.
• The word ‘pheromone’ is derived from two Greek words, (1)

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Pherein, which means ‘to carry’ and (2) Harman, which means
‘to excite’.
• Many social animals release alarm pheromones when they are

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in danger.

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• In social insects, the alarm pheromones perform three main
functions: (1) To alert the colony, (2) To release aggression, (3) To
mark the target to be attacked.
• Ants and termites release several pheromones from anal glands,
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Dufour’s glands, and mandibular glands to send alarm and
confuse the attacker at the same time.
• Alarm pheromones in the form of formic acid are produced by
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ants from the abdomen to protect themselves from enemies.
• Alarm pheromones of ants spread to a distance of 6 cm in 13
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seconds. Pheromones that spread to long distances elicit alerting

behaviour in other members of colony, while short range
pheromones elicit attacking and biting behaviour.
• When honey bees sting, their sting along with their glands are
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left on the skin of victim and keep pumping venom into its body.
The sting as well as the dying bee release distress pheromones
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from Nassanoff’s glands to attract the other bees to attack the

intruder.
• Minnows and catfish release alarm pheromones when injured,
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which cause nearby fish to hide.

• Deer emit a special scent when they are attacked by a tiger.
• Whenever an antelope is frightened it produces alarm
pheromones from large glands concealed in the fur on the
sacral region of the body.
• The Canadian skunk (Mephitis) emits an extremely foul smelling
secretion from the anal glands which not only repels the
predator but also sends alarm to other members of species.
 • Earthworms, sea urchins and snails also release alarm
pheromones when injured.

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 Crypsis, Predator detection, Predator tactics
• Crypsis is the ability of an animal to avoid detection by other
animals.
• It may be a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation.
• Methods of crypsis: There are different methods of crypsis, such
as visual, olfactory, and auditory.
• Visual crypsis: Visual crypsis includes camouflage, nocturnality
etc.

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• Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials or
colouration for concealment, either by making animals hard to
see or by disguising them as something else.

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• For example, some animals such as the tawny dragon lizard may
resemble rocks, sand, twigs, and leaves.

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• In some cases, animals have darker shade on the dorsal side and

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lighter on the ventral side of body. This is to neutralise the
sunlight falling from above, which lightens the upper side of the
body, while the shade below darkens the colour. It helps animals
erase their own shadows or blend into different backgrounds. This
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is called counter shading. This pattern is found in many species
of mammals.
• Disruptive coloration is when an animal has a patterned
coloration like spots or stripes that make it hard to determine its
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outline. A white-tailed deer fawn has white spots that can look
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like sunlight filtering through the trees and helps blur its outline,
protecting it from predators.
• Some animals resemble their habitat not only in colour but also
in structure. Caterpillars of the family Geometridae resemble
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the twig of the plant on which they feed in colour as well as

shape.
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• Feigning death is sometimes adopted to distract the attention of

predator. Many beetles lie like pebbles and remain motionless to
escape attention of the predator.
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• Some butterflies, such as Melanitis, expose bright colours of

wings when they suddenly fly, which temporarily frightens the
predator and gives them time to escape. This is called
dymantism.
• Some animals have bright colours on the body to advertise their
presence, so that the predators are warned not to attack them.
For example, some butterflies, such as Danaus, are brightly
coloured and are carefully avoided by the birds. This is called
aposematism.
 • Some animals have cryptic organs to misdirect attack.
Swallowtail butterflies have long brightly coloured tail while the
rest of the body is dull coloured. When the predators attack, they
tend to catch the brightly coloured tail while the vital parts of
the body escape damage.
• Nocturnality is an animal behaviour characterized by being
active during the night and sleeping during the day.
• Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed senses

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of hearing, smell, and specially adapted eyesight.
• For example, some owls have large eyes in comparison with their
body size to compensate for the lower light levels at night.

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• Olfactory crypsis: Some animals, in both terrestrial and aquatic
environments, appear to camouflage their odour, which might
otherwise attract predators.

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• Caterpillars of the butterflies Biston robustum have been shown

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to chemically match their own scent to the vegetation they feed
and live on to avoid predatory ants.
• Auditory crypsis: Some insects, such as tiger moths defend
themselves against predation by echolocating bats, by absorbing
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sound with soft, fur-like body coverings.
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 UPSC PYQs (Ethology:section ‘b’)
1. Explain the role of pheromones in alarm spreading. (UPSC 2015)
2. Discuss social hierarchies in Primates. (UPSC 2015)
3. Explain the role of chemical signals in alarm spreading. (UPSC 2017)

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4. Mention the advantages of social living. Describe different types of
social hierarchies in primates. (UPSC 2017)
5. Pheromones in alarm spreading. (UPSC 2019)

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6. Describe different types of social hierarchies in primates. (UPSC 2019)
7. Describe the characteristics of social insects with examples. (UPSC
2020)

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8. What are pheromones ? Discuss their role in insects. (UPSC 2021)

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9. Describe various types of social groupings in primates. Write a note
on importance of social grouping. (UPSC 2022)

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