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Behavior
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The way an animal responds to stimuli in its environment
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Sign stimulus aka key stimulus
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A signal in the environment that triggers a behavior
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Innate releasing mechanism
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The sensory mechanism that detects the signal
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Fixed action pattern
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The stereotyped act
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Supernormal stimuli
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Given a choice between two sign stimuli, one larger and one of normal size, many animals will respond to the larger one
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Learning
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The altering of behavior as a result of previous experiences
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Nonassociative learning
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The simplest type of learning; does not require an animal to form an association between two stimuli or between a stimulus and a response
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Habituation
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A decrease in response to a repeated stimulus that has no positive or negative consequences
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Associative learning
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A change in behavior that involves an association between two stimuli or between a stimulus and a response
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Conditioning
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Modifying behavior through association
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Classical conditioning aka Pavlovian conditioning
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Forming an association between two stimuli
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Operant conditioning
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Forming an association between a response and a reward or punishment
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Imprinting
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Forming social attachments to other individuals or developing preferences that will influence behavior later in life
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Sensitive phase aka critical period
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The period of time when success of imprinting is highest (usually a certain amount of time after being born/hatching)
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Sexual imprinting
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A process in which an individual learns to directs its sexual behavior at members of its own species
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