Behavioral responses to stimuli may be adaptive

Innate behaviors are triggered by specific internal and external stimuli.

• An instinct is a complex inborn behavior.
• Instinctive behaviors share several characteristics.
• innate, or performed correctly the first time
• relatively inflexible

• releaser is a simple signal: touch, sight, sound, scent
• herring gulls chicks and red dot releaser
• environmental factors can affect innate behaviors

• Many innate behaviors are triggered by a releaser.

Many behaviors have both innate and learned components.

• Learning takes many forms.
• Habituation occurs when an animal learns to ignore a repeated stimulus.
• Imprinting is a rapid and irreversible learning process.
• critical period
• Konrad Lorenz and graylag geese

• In imitation, animals learn by observing the behaviors of others.

• young male songbirds learn songs by listening to adult males
• snow monkeys and potato-washing behavior

Learning is adaptive.

• Animals that can learn can better adapt to new situations.
• In associative learning, a specific action is associated with its consequences.
• Conditioning is one type of associative learning.

• There are two types of conditioning.

• Classical conditioning: previously neutral stimulus associated with behavior triggered by different stimulus

• Ivan Pavlov and salivating dog

• There are two types of conditioning.

• Operant conditioning: behavior increased or decreased by positive or negative reinforcement

• B.F. Skinner and “Skinner boxes”

• KEY CONCEPT Every behavior has costs and benefits.

Even beneficial behaviors have associated costs.

• The benefits of a behavior are increased survivorship and reproduction rates.
• both increase an individual’s fitness
• both have costs

• Behavioral costs can be divided into three categories.

• energy costs
• opportunity costs
• risk costs