Innate and Learned

BehaviorLeena and Perle

WANT TO STUDY ANIMAL BEHAVIOR?

Become  an...

E"ologist:  A  person  who  studies  the  behavior  of  animals  in  their  natural  environment

Psychologist:  A  person  who  studies  behavior  in  an  ar"ficial  environment

Innate BehaviorDevelops  independent  of  environmental  context

No  learning/  no  trial  and  error

Gene"cally  programmed

Examples

Spiders  and  their  webs

Wasp  and  their  nests

Termites  and  their  mounds  

Babies  and  sucking

Innate  sequence

Measured  through  an  animal’s  response  to  environmental  s"muli

A B C

DE

FG

H

I J

A

B

C D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Learned Behavior Not  gene(cally  programmed

The  process  of  gaining  new  knowledge  or  skills  or  modifying  exis2ng  knowledge  or  skills

Examples

Riding  a  bike

Learning  to  swim

Reading  a  book

How to Measure Learned Behavior

Cannot  measure  it  directly

Measured  through  the  change  in  performance  -­‐stored  in  the  nervous  system  as  memory

Example:  The  rat  and  the  pedal

Disadvantage:  Output  is  not  easily  seen  

Quick ComparisonInnate  Behavior Learned  Behavior

develops  independently  of  the  environmental  context

dependent  on  the  environmental  context  of  the  animal  for  

development

controlled  by  genes not  controlled  by  genes

inherited  from  parents not  inherited  from  parents

developed  by  natural  selec"ondevelops  by  response  to  an  environmental  s"mulus

increases  chances  of  survival  and  reproduc"on

may  or  may  not  increase  chance  of  survival  and  reproduc"on

Innate  Behavior Learned  Behavior

Investigating Innate Behavior in Invertebrates

Reminder:  Innate  behavior  is  measured  by  an  organism’s  response  to  environmental  s(muli  

Response  can  be  executed  by  two  kinds  of  movement  

Taxis  

Kinesis

TaxisMovement  produced  by  a  direct  s(mulus

Measured  by  the  movement  towards  or  away  from  the  s(mulus

Animal  body  directed...

towards  the  s(muli:  Posi2ve  response!

away  from  the  s(muli:  Nega2ve  response!

Taxes  are  iden(fied  by  the  type  of  s(muli  to  which  it  is  responding  to

Phototaxis

PhototaxisThe  response  to  light  

Examples:

Fly  larvae

Planaria  

Euglena

Experiments  to  determine  the  phototaxis  of  animals:

Different  wavelengths  of  light  

Different  light  intensi(es  

Different  types  of  bulbs  

Chemotaxis

ChemotaxisThe  response  to  chemicals  in  the  environment  

Examples:

Bacterium  with  food  molecules  e.g.  glucose

Planarian  with  food  molecules  e.g.  raw  liver  

Bacterium  with  poisons  e.g.  phenol

cri"cal  role  in  reproduc"on  

Experiments  to  determine  the  chemotaxis  of  animals:

Different  pH  levels

Different  concentra"on  of  dissolved  drugs,  foods  or  pes"cides

Gravitaxis

GravitaxisThe  response  to  gravity

Experiments  u(lizing  containers  or  slow,  spinning  turn  tables

Rheotaxis

Rheotaxis

The  response  to  water  currents  

Experiments  used  to  test  whether  animals  move  towards  or  away  from  water  currents

Thigmotaxis

ThigmotaxisThe  response  to  touch  

Example

Rats  with  a  water  maze  

KinesisMovement  in  response  to  a  non-­‐direc"onal  s"mulus  

measurement  indicated  by  their  rate  of  movement  

Examples:

Isopods

Porcellio  scaber

Armadilidium  vulgare

Types  of  Kinesis

Orthokinesis:  when  an  organism  MOVES  slowly  or  rapidly  in  response  to  the  s"mulus  but  it  does  not  move  towards  the  s"mulus.  

Klinokinesis:  when  an  organism  TURNS  slowly  or  rapidly  in  response  to  the  s"mulus  but  it  does  not  move  towards  the  s"mulus.  

Experimental Design

1. Observa(on

2. Research    Formulate  a  research  ques(on

‘What  is  the  effect  of  humidity  on  the  distribu(on  of  the  isopod  Porcellio  Scaber?’

Experimental Design- continued

3.   Method  

•    Modify  Petri  dishes  so  that  they  work  as  choice  chambers

v Chamber  1  –  drying  agent  CCl2

v Chamber  2  –  wet  towels

•  Measure  the  humidity  using  a  Vernier  probe

•  Place  ten  individuals  in  each  chamber  through  the  rubber  stoppers

•  Count  the  number  of  individuals  in  each  chamber  every  5  minutes

•  Repeat  procedure  un"l  there  is  data  for  40  organisms

Light  condi(ons

Temperature  condi(ons

Equal  possibility  to  chambers

Size  of  chambers

Experimental Design- controls

Chi  test

Isopods  lack  waterproof  cu(cle  more  prone  to  desicca(on  dying  out

Kinesis  ensures  survival  and  enhances  the  ability  to  reproduce  

Natural  selec(on!

Conclusion toExperimental Design

Learned Behavior & Chance of Survival

Learning  occurs  most  easily  when  it  results  in  improving  the  animal’s  survival

Imprin"ng,  Food  Hoarding,  Birdsong

Other  examples:

Grizzly  bear

Chimpanzees  using  s"ck  to  get  termites

ImprintingImprin"ng

process  by  which  young  animals  become  aaached  to  their  parent  within  the  first  day  or  so  aber  hatching

   assures  that  the  young  stay  close  to  their  mother  for  protec"on  and  as  a  source  of  food

Food Hoarding

Food  hoarding

store  food  then  return  when  there  is  a  shortage

example:

squirrels  hoard  nuts,  

moles  store  worms

allows  animals  to  stay  nourished

young  male  sparrow

first  100  days  of  its  life

two  func(ons:

aXracts  mate  and  discourages  rival  males

Classical Conditioning

Classical  condi"oning  can  be  used  to  modify  a  reflex  response

Experiments

the  subject  responds  to  a  s"mulus  in  a  new  way

Ivan PavlovRussian  Physiologist

designed  experiments  to  illustrate  classical  condi"oning  using  dogs

Saliva"on  in  dogs  is  a  reflex  response  to  the  sight  or  smell  of  food

Uncondi2oned  s2muli  (UCS)  -­‐  type  of  s"muli  which  uncondi"onally  s"mulates  a  response  without  learning

Uncondi2oned  response  (UCR)  -­‐    result  of  uncondi"oned  s"muli

Natural  s2mulus  (NS)

Condi2oned  s2mulus  (CS)

Condi2oned  response  (CR)

Learning of Birdsong in Young Birds

Each  species  of  bird  has  an  inherited  species-­‐specific  song

In  each  species,  there  are  many  varia(ons  of  the  song

Birds  can  learn  to  improve  the  song  they  have  inherited

How Birds SingSyrinx  

vocal  organ

bony  structure  at  the  boXom  of  trachea  (windpipe)

Forces  air  past  a  membrane  in  the  syrinx  which  vibrates  and  produces  sound

Pitch  control  -­‐  altering  tension  in  the  membranes  of  the  syrinx

Volume  control  -­‐  altering  the  flow  of  air

Crude Template

Experimental  Data

Crude  song  is  species-­‐specific

Evidence  that  template  is  inherited

All  next  steps  are  learned

Memorization PhaseAber  hatching

Bird  is  silent,  listens  to  the  song  of  his  species  from  adults

Aaempts  to  match  his  template  to  the  full  adult  song  by  modifying  the  inherited  template

Over  at  about  100  days  aber  hatching

Sensi2ve  period  -­‐    first  100  days

Motor PhaseSecond  phase

young  bird  prac"ces  singing  the  song

hears  own  song

begins  to  match  his  own  song  to  the  one  he  has  heard  from  the  adult

must  hear  his  own  song  in  order  to  sing  accurate  adult  song