Chapter 52: Behavioral Biology

Behavioral biology flashcards

51 cards   |   Total Attempts: 188
  

Cards In This Set

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