Behaviour 1 - Behaviours, Innate, Learned, and key experiments

Tell me
one cool

thing

about the
behaviour
of your pet

(or

favourite
animal)

Introduction to Animal
Learning Theory

The Four Fathers, their animals and why they are
important

Learners will be introduced to key behaviourists and ethologists in animal
behaviour studiesLearners will be able to define behaviour, stimulus and response,
understand the principles of classical and operant conditioning, and cause
and effectLearners will be able to distinguish between non-associative and
associative learningLearners will be able to connect animal behaviours with types of learning
theory.

What is behaviour?

How animals act and interact with stimuli (things or events) within their environment.

Stimulus

Something in the
environment

Response

A reaction to the stimulus

Cat sees a mouse

Pupils dilate, ears swivel, body tenses, crouches down, lunges
forward, grabs mouse in mouth

Dog hears a knock
at the door

Ears perk up, turns head towards door, tail starts to wag, barks
once or twice

Bird sees a
predator

Feathers fluff up, eyes widen, takes a few quick steps back, takes
flight

Baby chick sees
its mother

Follows mother closely, may chirp or make other noises to get
mother's attention

Dog has suffered
an injury to its leg

Limping and avoiding attention, may hide and become aggressive
to an owner, may begin panting.

Learners will be able to define behaviour, stimulus and
response, understand the principles of classical and
operant conditioning, and cause and effect

Open Ended

How might a cat respond to a mouse? (think about their eyes, body posture and movements)

Your turn

Think of these stimuli and the

responses to the stimuli

You can do it for humans and

non-human animals

Stimulus

Something in the
environment

Response

A reaction to the stimulus

Rat sees food

You see homework
being set

Police officer sees
crime happen

Crocodile sees water
buffalo

I see you all working
well

Learners will be able to define behaviour, stimulus and
response, understand the principles of classical and
operant conditioning, and cause and effect

Open Ended

What is animal behaviour?

Innate behaviours are behaviours that are genetically hardwired in an organism

They are performed in response to a stimulus without prior experience.

Reflex actions, such as the knee-jerk reflex tested by doctors and the sucking reflex of infant humans

Other innate behaviours

Breathing

Blinking

Can you name more?
Throw some at me!

Niko Tinbergen's Experiment

Niko Tinbergen helped us understand that some behaviours are innate

Innate behaviours are built
in to the animal from birth.

Genetics plays a role in the
development of behaviour.
Learners will be introduced to key behaviourists and ethologists in animal behaviour studies

Multiple Choice

What did the fish react to?

• The shape of the fish

• The colour of the fish

• The movement of the fish

• It didn't react

Open Ended

How did it react?

Multiple Choice

Why might it react aggressively?

• Red indicates danger

• Red is its rival football teams colours

• Red is present in other males

Open Ended

Define innate behaviours

Fixed Action Patterns consist of a series of actions triggered by a key

stimulus. The pattern will go to completion even if the stimulus is removed.

Scientists can test if a behaviour is innate by providing a stimulus to naive

(untrained) animals and to see if the behaviour is automatically triggered.

Learners will be introduced to key behaviourists and
ethologists in animal behaviour studies

Learned Behaviours

Learned behaviours are behaviours that are
acquired through the environment.

The learned behaviour can be taken from social interactions, or through experiences from trial and error.

They may arise based on the information built
from past experiences

Associative and Non-Associative Learning

Learners will be introduced to key behaviourists and
ethologists in animal behaviour studies

Associative and Non-Associative Learning

Associative learning occurs through the
association of two previously unrelated stimuli, and includes reinforcement or punishment. Like making a dog sit for a treat.

Non-associative learning occurs in response to a single stimulus, without reinforcement. Like a dog getting used to fireworks.

Learners will be introduced to key behaviourists and
ethologists in animal behaviour studies

Open Ended

Define Learned Behaviour

Habituation

A loss in response to a stimulus after
repeated exposure. The animal does not
associate anything with the stimulus and
reduces its response (becomes less
stressed).

Sensitisation

An increase in response to a stimulus after
repeated exposure. The animal does not
associate the stimulus with anything and
increases its response (becomes more
stressed).

Match

Match the following

• When a response to a stimulus increases after repeated exposure

• When a response to a stimulus decreases after repeated exposure

• Learning based off of a single stimulus

• Learning by pairing stimuli together

Sensitisation

Habituation

Non-associative learning

Associative learning

• Sensitisation

• Habituation

• Non-associative learning

• Associative learning

Konrad Lorenz showed us how there are critical stages in the learning process of animals using greylag geese.

This critical stage of learning, known as imprinting, affects their behaviour into adulthood.

This is a major breakthrough for human psychology and trauma therapy

Learners will be introduced to key behaviourists and ethologists in animal behaviour studies

Konrad Lorenz separated goose eggs from its mother, and incubated them under his
supervision.

When they hatched the goslings immediately saw Lorenz and ‘imprinted’ on to him.

The goslings saw Lorenz as their primary caregiver or ‘Mum’.

This caused them to follow him around for the rest of their lives. This contributed to the social
behaviour theories in humans such as attachment theory and trauma.

Mummy!

Learners will be introduced to
key behaviourists and
ethologists in animal
behaviour studies

Imprintingis a simple and highly specific type of learning that occurs at a particular age or life stage during the development of certain animals, such as ducks and geese.

When ducklings hatch, they imprint on the first adult animal they see, typically their mother.

Once a duckling has imprinted on its
mother, the sight of the mother acts as a
cue to trigger a suite of survival-promoting
behaviours, such as following the mother
around and imitating her.

Why is this relevant to a
nervous dog?

Learners will be introduced to key behaviourists and ethologists in animal behaviour studies

Ivan Pavlov's Classical

Conditioning

Ivan Pavlov showed us how

animals connect a conditional
stimulus with an unconditional

response

Learners will be introduced to key behaviourists and
ethologists in animal behaviour studies

A conditional stimulus is a thing or event that can cause a response
Such as a phone ring - pick up

An unconditional stimulus will always cause a response
Such as food - saliva

Learners will be introduced to key behaviourists and
ethologists in animal behaviour studies

Multiple Choice

Pavlov used which animal for his experiment?

• Dog

• Wolf

• Cat

• Human

Multiple Choice

What was the unconditional stimulus?

• Metronome

• Scientist

• Food

Multiple Choice

What was the unconditional response to the food?

• Barking

• Whining

• Salivating

• Eating

Reinforcement vs Punishment

Back to the 1940s -
the golden age
of animal behaviour

Put the rat in the box

Punishment

Reinforcement

Negative

1

2

Positive

3

4

Learners will be able to define behaviour, stimulus and
response, understand the principles of classical and
operant conditioning, and cause and effect

Stimulus

Something in the environment

Response

A reaction to the stimulus

1.Dog hears fireworks

Dog is initially startled and barks but
after time it stops.

2.Human tells dog to sit

Dog sits and receives a treat.

3.Shock collar on dog
(don’t use shock
collars, they’re illegal)

Dog stops jumping up at owner

4.Baby chick sees its
mother

Follows mother closely, may chirp or
make other noises to get mother's
attention

5.Dog has suffered an
injury to its leg

Limping and avoiding attention, may
hide and become aggressive to an
owner, may begin panting.

Learning type

Which type of learning occurred in this situation?

Non-associative learning. Dog has habituated to the sound
of fireworks.

Associative learning. The dog has associated a sitting
behaviour with the reward. This is positive reinforcement
(added a stimulus to increase behaviour)

Associative learning. The dog has associated a behaviour
with positive punishment (added shock stimulus to reduce
jumping up).

Choose Ivan Pavlov, Konrad Lorenz or Niko Tinbergen.

Make a short story board of their experiment.
Explain what they discovered.

Task (pairs - 20 mins)

Share it with another pair

Do they explain what the scientist did?

Do they use key terminology?
Do they tell it correctly?

​​Then (pairs - 5 mins)

Multiple Select

Which experiment describes innate behaviour? (Select all that apply)

• Stickleback fish attacking red

• Greylag geese chicks following mother

• Dogs salivating at a metronome

• Dog whimpering at fireworks

Match

Match the following

• Habituation

• Sensitisation

• Imprinting

• Classical Conditioning

• Fixed Action Patterns

Non-associative Learning

Non-associative Learning

Innate behaviour

Associative Learning

Innate behaviour

• Non-associative Learning

• Non-associative Learning

• Innate behaviour

• Associative Learning

• Innate behaviour