LEARNED &

INNATE
BEHAVIORS
 BEHAVIOR
• STIMULUS-
Something in
the
environment to
which an
organism will
respond.
BEHAVIOR

• BEHAVIOR-
the way an
organism
responds to its
environment.
 BEHAVIOR

 This is one aspect of

adaptation that improves
an organism’s chances to
survive and reproduce.
 2 TYPES OF
BEHAVIOR

• LEARNED BEHAVIOR
• INNATE BEHAVIOR
 INNATE BEHAVIOR
o Behavior that is o behaviors
present and present at birth.
complete o the instinctive,
without the need fixed,
for experience. unchanging
behavior that is
inherited.
 INNATE BEHAVIORS
• Reflex- a simple, immediate, involuntary
response by a part of the body to a
particular stimulus.
 INNATE BEHAVIORS
• Fight-or Flight- mobilizes your body for
greater activity. Heart rate increase,
blood supply to muscle. Controlled by
internal chemical mechanisms.
 INNATE BEHAVIORS
• Instinct- A complex behavior.
Takes more time than a reflex.

• Courtship Behavior
• Territorial
• Aggressive Behavior
• Dominance Hierarchy
• Migration, Hibernation, Estivation
• Circadian rhythm
 Courtship Behaviors
• A specific behavior •
or series of
behaviors that take
place prior to
mating.
• Could involve
sound, smell, visual
display…
 Territorial Behavior
• A territory is a physical space an animal defends
against other members of its species.
• May contain breeding area, feeding area, and
potential mates, or all three
• Although it may not appear so, setting up
territories actually reduces conflicts, controls
population growth, and provides for efficient use
of animal resources.
 Aggressive Behavior

• Aggressive behavior is used to intimidate

another animal of the same species.
• Animals fight or threaten one another in order
to defend their young, their territory, or a
resource such as food.
• Includes behaviors such as bird calling, teeth
baring, or growling.
• Using symbolic and not fighting till death
 Dominance Hierarchy
• Dominance Hierarchy is a from of social
ranking within a group in which some
individuals are more subordinate than
others. ….The ability to form a dominance
hierarchy is innate, but the position each
animals assumes may be learned.
• Pecking order
• Alpha Male
 Circadian Rhythm
• Circadian Rhythm. Is an instinctive
behavior that is exhibited in animals in
response to internal, biological rhythms.
• Can be based on 24 hours or seasonal
 Migration, Hibernation, and
Estivation
• We all know what migration and
hibernation is…
 Migration, Hibernation, and
Estivation
• What is estivation?
• Estivation is an innate instinctive behavior
that some animals that live in extreme heat
have developed.
 Estivation

• Estivation is another form of torpor,

dormancy, or "sleep". Animals that estivate
are trying to escape things happening in their
environment.
• This happens in hot, desert climates where
heat and water are so important to the
animals that live there.
• Estivation protects these animals from high
temperatures and drought.
 Estivation
• Breathing and heartbeat get very slow.
• The animal doesn't need as much food
and water to live since food is fuel for
energy and they aren't using much.
• Reptiles use 90-95% less energy when
they are estivating.
• Animals don't move, grow or eat during
this time.
 LEARNED BEHAVIOR

-not –take place

inherited, through
but flexible experience
and can be or practice.
changed.
 EXAMPLES OF LEARNED
BEHAVIORS
• Mimicry
• Habituation
• Imprinting
• Trial & Error
• Classical Conditioning
• Operant Conditioning
• Insight Learning
 EXAMPLES OF LEARNED
BEHAVIORS

• MIMICRY – when one

organism makes a
resemblance to another
species.
MIMICRY
– Hawk Moth
Mimicry

• This moth caterpillar

defends itself by
mimicking a snake.
MIMICRY
• This butterfly has
adapted to mimic a
dead leaf, a shape so
inedible and common
a predator would not
notice it.
MIMICRY
• This Katydid has
adapted to mimic a
leaf in both color and
shape.
MIMICRY
• Many prey animals have
found ways to startle a
predator and reduce their
chances of being eaten.
Some butterflies and
moths flash eye spots on
their wings, false eyes
which suggest a much
larger animal. Some
caterpillars play the same
trick.
MIMICRY
MIMICRY
 MIMICRY
• From left to right are the Common Wasp,
Vespula vulgaris, and some of its mimics -
the Hornet Moth, Sesia apiformis, the Wasp
Beetle, Clytus arietis, and the Hoverfly,
Syrphus ribesii.
 IMPRINTING
• The quick early learning of a
behavior that becomes a
permanent response to a
particular stimulus.
• A significant innate component
during a limited critical period
Who’s your
momma?
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• A pioneer in the
study of Learned
Behavior
• Ivan Pavlov
• Classical
Conditioning
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

• An animals reflexes are trained to

respond to a new stimulus.
• Learning by association
• Experiment- Dog and Bell.
OPERANT CONDITIONING

• BF Skinner
• Did his work
in the
1940-1950’s
 OPERANT CONDITIONING
• Takes place when an animals learns to
behave in a certain way through repeated
practice, in order to receive a reward or
avoid punishment.
• Trial and Error
• “Skinner Box”
 Trial and Error
• A type of
learning in which
an animal
receives a reward
for making a
particular
response
 HABITUATION
• Loss of responsiveness due to an
unimportant stimulus.
• OR to stimuli that do not provide
appropriate feedback.
 HABITUATION

• Horse to sounds
• Snail to touch
• Gray squirrels
to respond to
“attack”
 Insight
• The most complicated • You working a “new”
form of learning is math problem you
insight learning. have never
• When an animal worked…but apply
applies something it principles you have
has already learned to already learned in
a new situation with a class to solve it
period of trial and correctly.
error. • Common among
humans and other
primates.
 BEHAVIORS
• Keep in mind that there is NOT always a
clear cut line between behaviors that are
learned v/s those that are innate.
• Many behaviors involve a little of both.
• Nature v/s Nurture Theory.
• Social, Sexual, parental skills, etc
 COMMUNICATION
• Many behaviors that animals do involve
interactions with other animals---
Communication
• Humans-Language
• Sound
• Body Language
• Smell…Pheromones
 PHEROMONES
• Chemicals released
by many different
animals as a form
of communication
• Mating
• Warning
• Protection