Instinctual Behaviors and Conditioned Responses

Instinctual Behaviors

• Innate behaviors that are present in an animal from birth, without the need for learning or experience
• Examples:
  • Migration patterns in birds
  • Web-spinning in spiders
  • Hibernation in bears
• Characteristics:
  • Fixed and unchangeable
  • Present in all members of a species
  • Not influenced by environment or experience

Conditioned Responses

• Learned behaviors that occur in response to a specific stimulus
• Types:
  • Classical conditioning (associative learning)
    • Ivan Pavlov's dogs: salivating at the sound of a bell
    • Association between neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus
  • Operant conditioning (instrumental learning)
    • B.F. Skinner's box: behavior is modified by consequences
    • Association between behavior and consequence
• Key concepts:
  • Unconditioned stimulus (US): naturally eliciting a response
  • Unconditioned response (UR): natural response to US
  • Conditioned stimulus (CS): neutral stimulus that becomes associated with US
  • Conditioned response (CR): response to CS

Learning and Adaptation

• Ability of animals to modify their behavior in response to experience or environment
• Types of learning:
  • Habituation: decrease in response to a repeated stimulus
  • Sensitization: increase in response to a repeated stimulus
  • Latent learning: learning without immediate reinforcement
• Adaptation:
  • Short-term: changes in behavior in response to immediate environment
  • Long-term: evolutionary changes in response to selective pressures
• Importance of learning and adaptation:
  • Survival and fitness in changing environments
  • Ability to adapt to new situations and predators
  • Complexity of behavior and cognitive abilities

Instinctual Behaviors

• Innate behaviors present from birth, without need for learning or experience
• Examples: migration patterns in birds, web-spinning in spiders, hibernation in bears
• Characteristics: fixed and unchangeable, present in all members of a species, not influenced by environment or experience

Conditioned Responses

• Learned behaviors that occur in response to a specific stimulus
• Classical conditioning (associative learning): Ivan Pavlov's dogs - salivating at the sound of a bell
• Operant conditioning (instrumental learning): B.F.Skinner's box - behavior is modified by consequences
• Key concepts:
  • Unconditioned stimulus (US): naturally eliciting a response
  • Unconditioned response (UR): natural response to US
  • Conditioned stimulus (CS): neutral stimulus that becomes associated with US
  • Conditioned response (CR): response to CS

Learning and Adaptation

• Ability of animals to modify their behavior in response to experience or environment
• Types of learning:
  • Habituation: decrease in response to a repeated stimulus
  • Sensitization: increase in response to a repeated stimulus
  • Latent learning: learning without immediate reinforcement
• Adaptation:
  • Short-term: changes in behavior in response to immediate environment
  • Long-term: evolutionary changes in response to selective pressures
• Importance of learning and adaptation:
  • Survival and fitness in changing environments
  • Ability to adapt to new situations and predators
  • Complexity of behavior and cognitive abilities

Inherited Traits

• Inherited traits are characteristics passed down from parents to offspring through genes, including physical and non-physical characteristics.
• They are determined by the interaction of multiple genes and environmental factors.

Genes and Traits

• Dominant genes always express themselves when paired with a recessive gene and are represented by a capital letter.
• Recessive genes only express themselves if paired with another recessive gene and are represented by a lowercase letter.

Genotype and Phenotype

• Genotype refers to an individual's genetic makeup (e.g., BB, Bb, bb).
• Phenotype refers to the physical characteristic expressed (e.g., brown eyes, blue eyes).

Punnett Square

• A Punnett Square is a diagram used to predict the probability of different genotypes and phenotypes in offspring.
• It helps to visualize the possible genotypes and phenotypes resulting from a cross between two parents.