My AP Biology ThoughtsUnit 8 Episode #20

Welcome to My AP Biology Thoughts podcast, my name is Nidhi and I am your host for episode 20 called Unit 8 Ecology: Animal Behaviors Part 2: Instincts, Fixed-Action Patterns, Imprinting, and Associative Learning.  Today we will be discussing some of the different animal behaviors, what causes these behaviors, and how this connects to ecology.

Segment #1: Introduction to Instincts, Fixed-Action Patterns, Imprinting, and Associative Learning

• Animal behavior includes all the ways animals interact with other members of their species, with organisms of other species, and with their environment. These behaviors are prompted by both internal and external stimuli. Animal behaviours can be both innate and learned. Innate behaviors are genetically hardwired and learned behaviours are learnt through the individual animals experience. All animals are said to have innate behavior apart from humans. Humans have instincts, like the instinct to eat, but this can be influenced by human consciousness and the environment. An instinct is the ability of an animal to perform a behavior the first time it is exposed to the proper stimulus. This is an animal's first reaction and since it doesn't have to be learned, it is an innate behavior.

Segment #2: Examples of Instincts, Fixed-Action Patterns, Imprinting, and Associative Learning

• naturalist, found that when young birds came out of their eggs they would become attached to the first moving object they encountered. In most cases in the wild, that would be their mother. But Lorenz replaced himself as the object of their affection. They would also attach to inanimate objects like a white ball and an electric train – if it was presented at the right time. Associative learning is where animals learn something based on a stimulus. A new response becomes associated with a particular stimulus and this applies to almost all learning done by animals with the exception of habituation. This type of behavior is learned over time. An example of this is Pavlov’s dogs. Pavlov started his experiment from the idea that dogs don’t learn to salivate whenever they see food. This reflex is an instinct .In his experiment, Pavlov used a metronome as his neutral stimulus. By itself the metronome did not elicit a response from the dog's. Next, Pavlov began clicking the metronome before he gave food to his dogs. After a number of trials of this, he presented the metronome on its own. The sound of the clicking metronome on its own now caused an increase in salivation. So the dog had learned an association between the metronome and the food. 

Segment #3: Digging Deeper

• These behaviors can be connected to the greater topic of ecology. Ecology looks at the responses of organisms to their environments and animal behaviors are animals behaviors to stimuli often caused by their environment. These behaviors can also be connected to the idea of taxis behaviors since many of the behaviors follow a pattern and can be predicted. Certain behaviors can also help an organism survive to reproduce, making them more fit. An example of this is the instinctive behavior of baby birds to open their mouth for food. The birds that are genetically hardwired with the behavior to open their...