Psychology Chapter 56

Study Notes

Instinctive Behavior

Innate, unlearned behavior patterns exhibited by all members of a species.
Functional categories include feeding behaviors, defensive responses, mating behaviors, and parental care activities.

Learned Behavior

Behavior acquired through experience or observation.

Stereotyped Behaviors

Highly stereotyped instinctive behaviors; performed in a consistent manner when triggered by specific cues.
Fixed action patterns are examples of stereotyped behaviors.
Sign stimuli trigger these behaviors, such as a red spot on an adult gull's bill that prompts chicks to beg.

Critical Period and Imprinting

A time-limited phase where animals learn essential identity of caretakers or mates.
This learning process is known as imprinting and occurs during critical or sensitive periods of development.

Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)

Dogs salivate instinctively to food (unconditioned stimulus).
Pavlov's experiment paired a bell (conditioned stimulus) with food, leading dogs to salivate in response to the bell alone after repeated pairings.

Operant Conditioning

Involves learning voluntary behaviors through reinforcement (pleasant consequences) or punishment (unpleasant consequences).
Example: A rat learns to press a bar to receive food after random exploration leads to reinforcement.

Cognition

Refers to an animal's ability to solve problems using insight rather than trial-and-error.
Implies awareness of circumstances, goal definition, and reasoning to achieve goals.

Habituation

Process by which animals become less responsive to frequent stimuli that lack reinforcement.
Saves energy and time by ignoring unimportant stimuli.

Migration: Piloting

A wayfinding mechanism where animals use familiar landmarks to navigate their journey.

Migration: Compass Orientation

More complex than piloting; animals navigate using directional cues such as the Sun and an internal biological clock.

The most sophisticated wayfinding mechanism; combines compass orientation with a mental map for reaching specific destinations.

Benefits of Migration

Seasonal changes in food supply drive migratory behavior in species, allowing access to resources and potentially enhancing survival.

Description

Explore the differences between instinctive and learned behaviors with these flashcards. This quiz covers definitions and examples that highlight how these behavior patterns manifest in various species. Perfect for psychology students looking to deepen their understanding of behavioral psychology.