Ch 1 - The Science of Animal Behavior

Famous Classical Ethologists

- Karl von Frisch (Honeybee sensory perception & communication) - Konrad Lorenz (Instinctive behavior in birds, imprinting) - Niko Tinbergen (study of instinct)

Digger Wasp Experiment: Key Stimulus & Fixed-Action Pattern

- Key stimulus = Sudden change to brighter environment outside of nest (burrow) - Fixed-action pattern = Orientation Flight (remember visual scene, memory of location of nest)

Why does cuckoo parasitism persist? (Potential explanations)

1. Low frequency of cuckoos 2. Making a mistake in discriminating cuckoo eggs is risky (cuckoo resembles healthy, large chick, may accidentally kick out own healthy chick) 3. Evolutionary Lag Hypothesis (evolution hasn't yet occurred to select against this behavior) 4. Bill Size Hypothesis (Cuckoos only parasitize on warblers with smaller bills that can't kick out cuckoo eggs) 5. Mafia Hypothesis (cuckoo punishes warbler if egg kicked out)

What are Tinbergen's 4 Questions?

1. Mechanisms: What is the mechanism that causes the behavior? (Current status) 2. Development: How does the behavior develop? (History) 3. Function/Utility: How does the behavior affect survival & reproduction? (Current status) 4. Evolution: How did the behavior evolve? (History)

What is the sequence of events in the scientific Method?

1. Observation 2. Research Question 3. Hypothesis 4. Prediction 5. Methodology (Test of prediction) 6. Analysis of data (Results) 7. Data match (hyp supported) OR Data do NOT match (hyp NOT supported)

Behaviorism

A field of comparative psychology that studies behavior independent of animal's mental states or consciousness (avoid internal processing). Focus on what they observe, including specific stimuli that provoke a response

What is the Scientific Method?

A formalized way of knowing about the natural world Involves observing events, organizing knowledge, providing testable explanations for observations through the formulation of testable hypotheses

Negative Results

Alternative hypothesis not supported; Fail to reject the H0, indicate Ha does not explain behavior examined, need to develop new Ha to explain observation (doesn't mean the Ha research hypothesis is wrong, just not supported in this experiment)

What is Animal Behavior?

Any internally coordinated (internal processing of information), externally visible (observable & measurable) pattern of activity that responds to changing external or internal conditions

Associative Learning

Associate particular behavior with reward or punishment (operant conditioning)

Anthropomorphism

Attributing human motivations, characteristics, or emotions to animals

What is a Research Question?

Brief statement of something we want to understand

The verb "affect"

Can be ambiguous and can imply both correlation & causality, so it is important to distinguish between the 2 conclusions

How do causal relationships differ from correlational relationships?

Causal relationships are a subset of Correlational relationships; More valuable, give more powerful insight into mechanisms of system (can be manipulated through experiments)

Correlation does not imply ___ because

Causality; There may be other reasons/mechanisms for observed correlation, not just a single variable. Try to rule out plausible alternative explanations to determine underlying mechanism explaining correlation

Egg Rolling in Graylag Geese: Conclusion

Continuous presence of key stimulus (egg) unnecessary for execution of fixed action pattern (egg rolling behavior), so behavior is not a product of the stimulus, but instead of an internal behavioral program/mechanism - The behavioral program mechanisms are triggered by the initial presence of the stimulus, or something resembling the stimulus (leading to the FAP)

Correlation

Covariance; 2 variables vary together predictably

Cuckoo Reproductive Behavior

Cuckoos parasitize off of reed warbler mothers, kicking out the warbler's offspring & being fed by the warbler mother. Cuckoo parents benefit from lack of parental care (costly)

What is a limitation of the guilty dog experiment?

Does not rule out possibility that dogs could experience guilt; It is possible that animals experience emotions

Guilty Dog Experiment: Conclusions

Dog's obedience had no effect on its display of guilty look behaviors, but owner behavior did affect dog behavior, because guilty look behaviors most common after owners scolded their dogs, least common when owners friendly (significant difference in guilty behaviors observed between scold & greet treatments) Dogs did not display more behaviors assoc with the guilty look after disobeying a command, guilty look likely represents submissive behavior in response to owner scolding

Why was a knowledge of animal behavior important to early humans?

Essential for survival (which to eat, avoid; their behaviors, timing, habitats)

Digger Wasp Experiment (Tinbergen)

Experiment: Manipulate location of pinecones in nest after orientation flight by digger wasp female Results: Digger wasp female lured into wrong location by manipulated location of pinecones, uses landmarks to remember nest in orientation flight

Proximate Explanations

Focus on understanding the immediate causes/mechanisms and development of behavior (how individuals' internal structures function for behavior)

Ultimate Explanations

Focus on understanding the ultimate (evolutionary) causes of behavior, how it contributes to survival/reproductive success (fitness) in ecological setting & in evolutionary history

Behavioral ecology

Focuses on the ecology and evolution of behavior and its fitness consequences (Tinbergen's ultimate reasons); Study the functions of its behavior to understand its adaptive value

Horse tapping behavior

Horse can answer math problems by responding to unconscious visual cue (subtle change in expression of trainer) & tapping hoof

Scientific Theories

Hypotheses that make many predictions, have been tested repeatedly & have not been rejected (fail to reject research/alternative hypothesis repeatedly); Provide conceptual framework that explains many phenomena, are well-supported by observations & expt tests (well-substantiated explanations) More confidence in explanation, but not proven to be correct

Egg Rolling in Graylag Geese Experiment

If egg happens to roll out of nest when goose incubating eggs, she will put beak in front of egg to place it back in the nest Experiment: If egg is removed at the stage where the goose leans down to roll the egg, the bird continues the behavior, will keep moving beak back slowly to nest although egg absent If an object other than the egg is used in place of the egg (Russian nesting doll), goose still exhibits FAP

Earthworm & Robin Density: Determining causality vs. correlation

If you want to determine whether a correlational relationship is due to correlation alone or causality, can manipulate the conditions. Ex: If shrubs are the causal variable (cause both earthworms & robins to be present in yards), then the removal of earthworms will not result in a reduction in robins, since the shrubs are causing the high density of robins, not the earthworms (absence of earthworms has no effect on robin density).

Herring Gull Pecking: Key Stimulus & Fixed-Action Pattern

Key Stimulus = High contrast spot on elongated object (beak) (Gull will not peck the shape with the non-contrasting spot) Fixed-Action Pattern: Pecking at spot on beak

Stickleback Fish Experiment

Key Stimulus = Red color Fixed-Action Pattern = Attack The stickleback males attacked the red-bellied models rather than the detailed but non-red models Conclusion: Red color as key stimulus necessary to initiate FAP

How does a Fixed Action Pattern differ from a Reflex?

Key stimulus is need to initiate a fixed action pattern behavior, but it is not needed to complete behavior

What is the next step if negative results are obtained?

Modify hypothesis or alter conditions, conduct additional experiment (hypothesis not proven wrong with negative results, needs further analysis)

Famous Behaviorists

Pavlov (Classical conditioning; When novel stimulus paired with existing stimulus) Skinner (Skinner boxes to study behavioral conditioning; Associative learning; Ignorance of biology & species differences)

Herring Gull Pecking Experiment

Pecking behavior in gulls is evoked by a particular stimulus, which requires a high contrast spot (on any elongated shape); A beak shape lacking the spot will not act as the stimulus, and pecking behavior will be preferentially evoked only towards the beak shape with the contrasting spot Experiment: Cardboard cutout painted in different colors (including a high contrast spot) used in place of beak

What is the Null Hypothesis?

Predicts that the proposed explanation does not have a significant effect

What is the Alternative Hypothesis?

Predicts that the proposed explanation for the observation does have a significant effect (assumes only 1 factor explains the behavior)

What are the implications of Tinbergen's work on the scientific community?

Proximate & ultimate explanations as complementary rather than alternative, together provide fuller insight into observed behavior

Why can a hypothesis never be proven?

Random chance or untested variable could also have led to observed phenomenon; Can only test repeatedly, may always fail to reject

Cognitive ethology

Seeks to understand how natural selection acts on mental processes and cognition

Evolutionary psychology

Seeks to understand human thinking and behavior and assumes that natural selection has shaped brain architecture and thought processes in an adaptive manner

Key Stimulus

Species specific and context specific stimuli that evoke fixed action pattern

What types of behaviors are focused on in Classical Ethology?

Species specific behaviors (Each species exhibits unique set of characteristics, which differ from those of other species, so if an animal belongs to that 1 species, it should exhibit the same characteristics as all other members of that species)

Fixed Action Patterns

Species-specific behaviors that are invariant (within a species) and need not to be learned, evoked by key stimulus (releaser). Once initiated, they are brought to completion

Comparative Psychology

Study animal behavior to understand human behavior; Animals displays a "mind" or conscious action, rather than mere reflex reaction, when it uses previous experiences to learn & modify its behavior in an adaptive manner

Classical Ethology

Study behavior of wild animals in nature by observation and experimentation; Animals' characteristics strongly influenced by their natural environments

How can researchers try to establish causality? What can they still not prove?

Test hypotheses using controlled experiments; Cannot prove a hypothesis is correct

What is the relationship between the Alternative & Null Hypotheses?

They are mutually exclusive, so either the H0 or the Ha is supported (not other options)

Statistics

Uses probability theory to produce best conclusions from available data; Use to plan research protocol, summarize & interpret data, predict future events

Guilty Dog Experiment

Want to test whether dogs have internal feeling of guilt in response to wrongdoing Owners showed dog treat, gave command not to eat it, then left Treatments: Dog eats treat Treat removed Owners told either: Dog ate treat Treat removed, dog didn't eat it Quantified guilty look behaviors Built-in control: Whether the owner was told that the dog ate it or not was independent of the truth (if dog scolded when didn't eat treat, control, since not the result of guilty feeling if it did nothing wrong)

How long have humans been interested in animal behavior?

~200kya (hunter-gatherer society); Prior to: - Cognitive Revolution (Behavioral modernity, increase in intelligence/communicative ability, ~70kya) - Agricultural Revolution (Animal Domestication, ~12kya) - Scientific Revolution (~500 years ago) - Darwinism (~160 years ago)