PSYC 3410 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Greylag Goose, Woodlouse
19 Dec 2017
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Elicited Behaviour
The Behaviours: Modal (typical) Action Patterns
-egg-retrieval by the greylag goose
•continues to completion (e.g. yawning)
•exhibited in members of the same species
•the trigger for the behaviour is the egg rolling out of the nest (stimuli), but if the egg gets
pulled away while the behavour has already started, the goose will continue the motion,
rather than reaching for the egg again (no feedback from the stimuli)
-sensitivity to feedback is important to learning because the animal won’t learn if it is not
receptive to their environmental stimuli
-Woodlouse needs to find humid conditions to avoid drying out
•if it gets dry/light in their environment, they will scurry around until they find a dark, humid
place, where they will slow down (called kinesis)
•Taxis- in other species, the movement is directional and not just random
-Stickleback (courtship behaviour)
•when the male sees the female (stimuli), he starts a zigzag movement (elicited behaviour)
to bring her to his nest so she can lay her eggs
•once the eggs are layed (stimuli), he chases her out so he can fertilize the eggs (elicited
behaviour)
The Stimuli that Elicit Behaviour
-Sign Stimulus- a specific feature of the total stimulus that is most important for releasing a
response
-ex: a male stickleback gets aggressive at other male sticklebacks, but it is not the entire male
that elicits the behaviour, it is the red belly of male sticklebacks that trigger the aggression
-an action pattern may be controlled by several stimulus features in an additive fashion
-failure to recognize the real stimuli in nature and having a preference for certain
characteristics
The Functions of Behaviour (Adaptive Significance)
and the Neural Underpinnings
-toads tend to follow long horizontal objects and small squares, and avoids tall and big objects
as a means to avoid predators
-their ganglion cells respond to specific size of objects
Building Bridge to Learning
-after squirrels are full, they take their nuts in their mouths, and take them to a landmark to
burry them (this is not a learned behaviour because even in isolation, the behaviour
continues)
-Jackdaws learn through trial and error which types of twigs to use to build their nest
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Sensitivity to feedback is important to learning because the animal won"t learn if it is not receptive to their environmental stimuli. Sign stimulus- a speci c feature of the total stimulus that is most important for releasing a response. Ex: a male stickleback gets aggressive at other male sticklebacks, but it is not the entire male that elicits the behaviour, it is the red belly of male sticklebacks that trigger the aggression. An action pattern may be controlled by several stimulus features in an additive fashion. Failure to recognize the real stimuli in nature and having a preference for certain characteristics. The functions of behaviour (adaptive signi cance) and the neural underpinnings. Toads tend to follow long horizontal objects and small squares, and avoids tall and big objects as a means to avoid predators. Their ganglion cells respond to speci c size of objects.
