Behavioral Adaptations

Behavior – the way an organism responds to its environment

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Behavioral adaptation – a characteristic that controls how an organism responds to its environment

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​Behavioral Adaptations

uTaxis in unicellular organisms and very simple animals is an example of a behavioral adaptation

uPhototaxis – when an organism moves in response to a light stimulus

oPositive phototaxis – moving toward the light

oNegative phototaxis – moving away from the light

uChemotaxis – movement in response to a chemical stimulus

oPositive chemotaxis – moving toward the chemical

oNegative chemotaxis – moving away from the chemical

uTropism – when plants grow in a certain direct in response to a

  which triggers the release of hormones in specific areas

oStimuli could be light (phototropism), gravity (gravitropism), water

  (hydrotropism), or touch (thigmotropism)

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It's not only in animals...

uBehavior that an animal is born with and does not need to learn through experience; innate or inborn

uEx: suckling in mammals

uMigration – instinctive movement from one region to another

  triggered by hormones produced in response to changing conditions, such

  as the amount of daylight or water

uEx: the blackpoll warbler migrates from Alaska to South America each autumn, then when more food is available in the north during spring, it migrates back

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​Instincts

Multiple Choice

In early December, the right whale travels from the North Atlantic to the ocean near Georgia in order to give birth in the warm and relatively calm waters off the coast. Which term describes this behavioral adaptation?

• hibernation

• classical conditioning

• estivation

• migration

Hibernation – when animals spend winter in a completely inactive or dormant state to conserve energy; metabolic rates and body temperature lowered, breathe more slowly

Ex: bats, hedgehogs, chipmunks, rattlesnakes, most marsupials

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Estivation – when animals reduce their metabolic rate in response to extreme heat in order to conserve energy; can also be triggered by long   droughts and lack of food

Multiple Choice

Which of the following happens when an animal hibernates?

• the animal travels a great distance to search for food

• The animal's metabolic processes slow down

• the animal eats more food for energy

• the animal learns to ignore harmless stimuli

Develops during an animal’s lifetime as a result of experience

Includes useful skills and responses to changing environment

Ex: wolves hunting in packs; chimpanzees using sticks to gather termites

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Habituation – Animal learns to ignore repeated stimulus that does not harm the animal

Ex: Deer may be wary of humans at first, but in areas where humans do not attack them, they have learned to be less skittish and enter yards to eat grass

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​Learned Behavior

uResponse of an animal to a stimulus they are exposed to shortly after birth

uEx: baby ducks follow their mothers to a pond immediately after they hatch… actually, they just follow the first thing they see

uEx: Salmon imprint on the place where they were born and migrate long distances,

across the ocean, to the stream where they were born, to spawn

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​Imprinting

uTrial and error – Animals learn to repeat behaviors that result in reward and avoid behaviors that result in punishment

uEx: training your dog or cat

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uClassical conditioning – Animal makes a connection between a stimulus and some reward or punishment

uEx: Dog connects the sound of its food bag rattling with being fed

uPavlov’s dogs

Multiple Choice

By which process does an animal learn when it relates a particular stimulus to a good or bad response?

• instinct

• insight

• conditioning

• habituation

​Sometimes there are combinations of instinctual and learned behavior

uEx: Flying is instinctive behavior in insects, but they have control over when and where they do it

uEx: Tadpoles freeze instinctively to hide from predators, but they are not born knowing which organisms are dangerous. They must learn to recognize their scent.

Multiple Choice

Which of these behaviors represents an instinct?

• a cat learns to ignore a statue of an owl

• a students gets out of bed when the alarm goes off

• a bird moves to its perch when the cage is opened

• a salamander raised away from the water can swim