A-LEVEL BIOLOGY: BEHAVIOUR BY KUGONZA H ARTHUR||MARCH 2024

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
Behavior refers to the response an individual animal makes towards a stimulus it
receives, or refers to the way how animals respond to their environment and other
members of the same species. I.e. What an animal does when it is interacting with its
natural environment. The scientific study of animal behavior is called Ethology

Development of behavior
i) Animal Genes:
Every animal has genetic information locked up in it for coding for certain behaviors.
Therefore, it is the potentiality of behavior that is inherited. These code anatomical
and biochemical characteristics of any animal. They also lead to the formation of
structures and organs involved in behaviour development
ii) Environment:
• A set of genes has to interact with a certain range of environments during the
development of an animal in order to produce the expected behavior
• The interaction with the environment provides the process of growth and
development
• Environmental selection favors individuals with certain genes but removes others.
• If surviving individuals in a population are adapted to the environment, their genes
will be retained. If not, the individuals die out and their genes are removed.
• Behavior has therefore evolved under influence of natural selection.
• Each species is adopted to meet different conditions
• Differences in behavior between closely related species must have a survival value
e.g. some animals are social others are not; some are monogamous others are not.
• The process by which animals alter their behavior through learning or hormonal
mediated changes in order to cope with inevitable changes in the environment is
referred to as adaptability of behavior.

Types of behaviors in animals

1. Innate behavior
2. Learned behavior.
INNATE BEHAVIORS
It is a behavior that appears to be performed in virtually the same way by all the
members of a species. It implies that the animal is genetically programmed with the
response which is automatically triggered off in certain environmental circumstances.
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This behavior is said to be stereotyped since when the same response is given to
the same stimulus on different occasions. Innate behaviors include;
➢ Instincts ➢ Courtship behavior
➢ Simple reflexes ➢ Aggression
➢ Biological rhythms ➢ Social organizations
➢ Territorial behavior ➢ Social hierarchies
➢ Matting behavior ➢ Altruis

1. Instincts:
This is a pattern of behavior that is found universally among the members of a species
and occurs without the need for prior learning and experience, and which is relatively
constant.
Instinctive behavior is a behavior that consists of rigid stereotyped patterns of
movement which are similar in all individuals of one species.
These are inherited behavioral patterns that occur in response to a particular stimulus
for the first time an individual is exposed to that stimulus.
A response is said to instinctive as long as there is no learning process identified with
its development but is coordinated by central nervous system.
The importance of instinctive behavior generally recedes with advancing age in higher
animals. This is because it is biologically important for the young to be protected by
instinctive behavior than older animals which will have had time to learn.
Instinctive behaviour is also of great advantage in animals with a short life span.
Higher animals however have got a large brain that allows for greater learning and
flexibility in behavior
The instinctive responses that appear readily in such animals Include copulation in
insects, nest building in birds, feeding of the young etc.

2. Simple reflexes (reflex actions)

A simple reflex is a quick automatic response to stimulus. A reflex action is behavior
in which a stimulus produces a specific short-lived response. Simple reflexes are the
simplest form of innate behavior (….read coordination in animals for more information)

3. Orientation
This is a type of behavior that involves the movement of motile organisms in response
to external stimuli. This behavior is critical in maintaining an organism in a favorable
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environment. E.g. when wood lice are exposed to light, they quickly scatter and
disappear under any available cover hence repositioning themselves in dark damp
favorable microhabitats.
Types of orientations
i) Kinesis is the random movement of an organism in which the rate of movement
is related to the intensity of stimulus, but not to its direction. There are two main
types of; orthokinesis, which involves changes in speed of movement; and
klinokinesis, which involves changes in the rate of turning. For example, woodlice
move faster in response to temperatures that are higher or lower than their
preferred range.
ii) Taxis is a movement of an organism in response to the direction of stimulus.
Movements towards a stimulus are positive; those away from a stimulus are
negative. E.g. when wood lice are exposed to light, they quickly scatter and
disappear under any available cover hence repositioning themselves in dark damp
favorable microhabitats.
Characteristics of orientation responses
• They are more complex
• They result in the animal positioning itself in relation to the stimulus.
• They involve movement of the whole organism.
4. Biological rhythms
These are cyclical activities that are a basic characteristic of animal life. i.e. regularly
repeated behavioral patterns. These are behaviors or developments that occur as part
of a life cycle. They can occur often, like sleeping every night, or can occur once, like
an insect developing from a larva.
Biological rhythms can be:
• Internal (endogenous) - controlled by the internal biological clock e.g. body
temperature cycle
• External (exogenous) - controlled by synchronizing internal cycles with
external stimuli e.g. Sleep/wakefulness and day/night. Many terrestrial insects
appear to be controlled by exogenous rhythms which are related to periods of
darkness and light. E.g. drosophila emerge from pupa at dawn whereas
cockroaches are most active at the onset of darkness and rest at dawn.
Forms of biological rhythms
Circadian rhythms: endogenously generated rhythms with a period close to 24
hours.
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Diurnal rhythms: a circadian rhythm that is synchronized with the day/night cycle.
Ultradian rhythms: biological rhythms (e.g. feeding cycles) with a period much
shorter (i.e. frequency much higher) than that of a circadian rhythm.
Infradian rhythms: biological rhythms with a cycle of more than 24 hours (e.g. the
human menstrual cycle).

5. Displacement activity:
It is an irrelevant behavioral response an organism sometimes gives when
confronted with two alternative courses of action. Displacement activity is a form
of behavior in which an animal under stress performs an act which is out of context
of the situation in order to release the anxiety developed from the situation.
Examples
• If a bird is sitting on its eggs is suddenly confronted by a predator, it may be torn
between fleeing the nest and attacking the predator. So it does neither and
instead, it preens its feathers.
• Two birds fighting may suddenly peck at the ground or get into roosting position.
The two opposing alternatives that the birds have are to fight or escape.
• In sticklebacks, a male may suddenly adopt a vertical position with its head
downwards and start digging the sand in the course of a fight.
• In man stroking of the fore head, scratching behind the ear, biting of finger nails
etc.
6. Vacuum activity
This is a behavioural sometimes given out by a frustrated animal in absence of a
normal release. It is when motivation builds up, but no right stimulus is provided to
cause an appropriate behavior. In this case a normal response is produced but
directed towards an inappropriate object or situation.
Examples
A cock deprived of a mate displays a courtship dance to an innominate object such
as a bucket.
A bird may go through the motion of building a nest even if no nesting materials are
available.
7. Social behavior
It is a form of behavior that involves interactions between two or more animals of
the same species. It is most clearly seen in animals which organize themselves
into social groups called societies.
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Advantages of social behavior

• Better protection against predators, due to improved detection and escape
systems
• Better use and defence of limited resources
• Increased feeding efficiency
• Increased reproductive efficiency
• Increased survival of offspring through communal feeding and protection
• Saving of energy by endothermic animals as a result of being together
• Saving of energy by moving fish and birds which can take advantage of
vortices created by others in a group.
Disadvantages
• Increased competition for water, space, food mates and others resources
• Increased susceptibility to diseases and parasites
• Higher risks of being harvested by humans
• Higher risks of predation on young by cannibalistic neighbours.

Forms of social behaviors

1) Territorial behavior (Territoriality)
Territoriality is the defense of an area occupied by relatively exclusively by an animal
or a group of animals.
A territory is an area that an individual defends, usually to the exclusion of other
members of the same species.
Territories are typically used for feeding, mating, rearing young or a combination of
these activities.
It is fixed in location, its size varying with the species, the territory function and the
amount of resource available.
Advantages of territoriality
➢ Reduces competition for resources such as food, space, etc.
➢ Conserves energy during critical periods
➢ Prevents over-crowding and exhaustion of food supplies
➢ Enhance bond pair formation which facilitates reproduction in most animals
➢ Strengthens and maintain bond pairs by associating the animals within a territory
➢ Permits improved defense of nests, nestlings and adults
➢ Guarantees food supply to young ones by keeping off all other animals that would
feed on it.
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➢ Limits mating to fit individuals and hence increase the overall fitness of the
population.
➢ The mating pair of organisms of the same species and their offspring are well
spaced to receive the available resources, e.g. food, space, shelter, e.t.c.
➢ Actual fighting between organisms which would be detrimental to the species is
rare and replaced by mere threats.
➢ It minimizes spread of diseases and parasites.
➢ Genes from strong organisms or the “fittest” are passed on to the next generation.

Disadvantages of territoriality
➢ Limits the population density that can be attained by an area
➢ Denies weak individuals chances to mate.
➢ Encourages inbreeding which may reduce the overall gene strength of genes in the
population.
➢ Cost of defending territory including risk of physical contact, and displays of
strength.
➢ Need to be vigilant for intruders.
➢ Defending territory is time that could be spent on feeding or mating.
➢ Vocal or visual communication of territory ownership makes the individual
vulnerable to predation.
➢ Difficult for smaller animals to hold territory; i.e. More likely to be attacked than
larger animals
➢ Difficult to move if resources exhausted.
➢ Importance of territory size. If too large, then hard to maintain control. If too small,
not enough resources for effort of defending.
➢ Higher risk of predation if territory within predator’s territory.
➢ Easy for predators to find.
➢ Ever present threat of take-over as surplus of animals without territory.
➢ Extra vigilance required at certain times of the year (e.g. Breeding season).
Examples of territoriality
• In antelopes the most basic form of territoriality is that shown by forest antelopes
in which a pair forms a territory to breed. These forest species do not use vocal
and visual displays but rather live in a world of scent, marking their territories by
means of their prominent scent glands and dung piles.

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• The Agamid lizards have a dominant male with several females and subdominant
males. The dominant male of Agama is very conspicuous with a bright orange head
and a blue tail in contrast to the subdominant ones. Subdominant males resemble
the brown females. It is only this dominant male that defends the territory by
displaying its bright colours.
• The Uganda Kob has a territory system in which a buck occupies an area which
supplies almost all its needs except water. Breeding takes place throughout the
year on permanent mating grounds called Leks. Such grounds are stamping
grounds on which the male defecates, urinates, rolls, guzzles the grounds and rubs
his face marking it with its facial gland. The male normally makes its presence
known by a powerful/whistle which usually results in an answerable chorus from
the females. Each ground has its owner and as a doe passes through these ground
patches, the hopeful owner prances towards her but loses interest as soon as she
crosses his limits to the next territory. If she stays, mating takes place; each
consummation being announced by a boastful whistle to his neighbors. After this,
the male may lie down or quit the female instantly, to try and impress another.
• Many species of weaver birds rest in colonies and the nests are built by the males
which display noisily to the females by hanging beneath their nests and flapping
their wings vigorously. Each male builds several nests and if he succeeds in
attracting more than one female, each female uses a separate nest. The male
defends a small volume of air around his nests including nearby twigs and chases
away any other male who attempts to intrude. However all birds form a colony and
mix freely while feeding.

2) Courtship and Mating behavior

Courtship is the heterosexual reproductive communication system which leads to the
consumatory sexual act of mating. It usually occurs into two phases of pair formation
and corpulatory behavior.
Attracting a mate is often a big problem for animals because they have to respond to
hormonal changes within their bodies and changes in the environment.
Many auditory and visual displays have only evolved in order to solve the problem of
finding a mate. This is why animals sing, dance, exude scents, change colour etc.

Functions of Courtship

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• Courtship reduces male aggressiveness, suppresses the attack and flight and
increases the sexual tendencies
• Courtship causes synchronization or coordination of the time pattern of mating that
ensures fertilization of eggs.
Importance of courtship behavior.
• It stimulates organisms to sexual activity.
• It tightens pair bonding between the mating pair.
• It leads to rise in levels of reproductive hormones.
• It synchronizes gonad development, enabling gametes to mature at the same
time to ensure that fertilization occurs when mating takes place.
• It synchronizes time to produce offspring in right seasons.
• It induces mating of individuals who accept each other.
All the above advantages of courtship behavior contribute to increased chances
of reproduction and hence to their evolutionary success.
Reproductive isolation:
This is the avoidance of mating with members of different species (hybridization).
Interspecific mating would lead to the disturbance of delicately balanced growth
patterns. Intraspecific mating is ensured by each species developing different courting
methods.
• It ensures defence to the mates during the mating seasons. (Read about courtship
in sticklebacks).
• It synchronizes breeding with environmental conditions that can favour proper
growth of offspring. For instance, in most species of herbivores reproduction takes
place at the onset of wet seasons to ensure constant supply of food to the young
ones.
3) Aggression/Agonistic behavior.
This is a group of behavioral activities including rituals, physical attacks on the
organism but not associated with predation. It is behaviour which is associated with
conflict or fighting or contests involving two individuals.
It involves both threatening and submissive behaviors which determine which
competitor gains access to some resource such as food, nesting sites and mates.
Fights rarely end in death but may result in serious injury. They are highly ritualized
and resemble tournaments. This is because killing or seriously injuring the loser would
be disadvantageous because the loser may not necessarily be less healthy or weaker
but may not be mature.
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Serious fights occur in animals which have weapons that can inflict motor injury but
most of the time the loser is capable of quick flight. Fighting immediately stops when
the loser turns away or surrenders thus assuming a submissive posture.
Examples
• In wolves, the throat which is the most vulnerable part is exposed to the opponent.
This inhibits further attack.
• In birds, some species turn the back of the head to the opponent and the rival stops
fighting.
• In cichlid fish, the fish lie side by side and beat each other by tails. It they cannot
decide who has won, they face each other pull and push by the jaws until the loser
folds the dorsal fin.
• Deers match side by side eye each other on the corner of the head, face each
other and clash the antlers (horns). If one exposes the posterior view, the rival waits
until they face each other again and fight.
Aggression/Fighting serves an important function:
• Spacing out individuals and promoting distribution of a species. Spacing out is
achieved by natural hostility
• In ground breeders e.g. gulls, spacing out is a means of defense against predators
because a great concentration of prey in case eggs or chicks would attract the
predators. Hence territorial fighting keeps individual groups far apart.
• Competition for mates by fighting selects fitter individuals for propagation of the
species.
The evolutionally process whereby the displays become modified to form social
signals is called ritualization.
Ritualization is the use of displays/symbolic activities so that no serious harm is done
to either combatant.

4) Dominance Hierarchies/Peck Order

A dominance hierarchy is a social ranking of each member in a social group. It
refers to social rankings of each member within a social group according to
status.
It can also be defined as a form of animal social structure in which a linear or nearly
linear ranking exists, with each animal dominant over those below it and submissive
to those above it in the hierarchy. Such a hierarchy is common amongst species of
fish, birds like hens and mammals like baboons, wolves, etc.
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If several hens unfamiliar to one another are put together, they respond by pecking
each other. Eventually the group establishes a clear peck order hence a linear
dominance hierarchy. In such a group, one individual is the tyrant and dominates and
controls behaviour of all others by threats.
The next is subordinate only to the tyrant but subdues the rest. The third is subordinate
only to the above two and dominates the rest and so on, down the line to the lowest.
In such cases, learning often reduces the amount of fighting because each individual
learns which of its companions is stronger and thus must be avoided or which
members are weaker and can therefore be intimidated.
Such a continuous order of hierarchy is referred to as peck order or dominant
hierarchy and it reduces the amount of actual fighting. Male individuals who do not
learn their place and avoid their superiors are always at disadvantage because they
receive more fights.
E.g. Wolves live in packs and within the pack a dominance hierarchy exists among
females. The top female controls mating of others. When food is abundant, the top
female mates and allows other females to do so. When food is scarce, she allows less
mating hence making more food available for her own young.

Establishment of Dominance Hierarchies

Dominance hierarchies are often established through ritualized displays or mild
fighting, rather than all-out battle. The loser in a battle for dominance typically moves
away from a choice habitat or a disputed mate. Among primates, dominance conflicts
frequently involve no more than the display of enlarged canines, sometimes through
yawning. Bears, also, will roar or wave their open mouths at social inferiors. Behaviors
like these do not require fighting, but do result in the prominent exhibition of potentially
formidable fighting weapons. In other cases, as in elephant seals, there actually can
be prolonged, often bloody fighting. However, once the hierarchy is established,
subsequent fighting is less frequent. In many cases, there is a strong correlation
between dominance and large size.
Dominance hierarchies have to be reestablished when certain individuals feel
prepared to move up within the hierarchy, or when new individuals are introduced into
an area. During such time a series of challenges may occur. This can be a stressful
period for all individuals involved.
Advantages of social hierarchies.
• Facilitate the sharing of resources to occur such that fit ones survive
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• Increase genetic vigor in the group by ensuring the strongest and genetically fit
individuals have higher reproductive advantage
• Decrease the amount of individual aggression associated with feeding, mate
selection and breeding site selection
• Avoids injuries to stronger animal that may occur if fighting would be necessary to
establish a hierarchy.
Disadvantages of social hierarchies
• Encourage inbreeding which may lead to expression of undesirable characteristics.
• Increase chances of starvation of weaker individuals since the strong feed first
leaving the weaker ones to feed on left overs.
• Increased reproductive disadvantage in subordinates since mating is restricted to
tyrants
• higher levels of stress hormones in high-ranking individuals lead to high metabolic
rates that demand large amounts of food that may result to quick starvation of the
whole group in case of food shortage.
5) Altruism:
This is a form of social behavior whereby on organism puts itself at a risk or personal
disadvantage for the benefit of the other members of a species. The animal acts in
the interest of others at a cost of one’s self in terms of chances of survival and
reproduction.
Examples
(i) Some animals give alarm calls which warn others of the approach of a predator
e.g. ground squirrels. The alarm caller is most likely attacked because when it
calls, the others run into the burrows with it going down last.
(ii) A female baboon protects and cares for its offspring for almost six years
(iii) Female birds protect their nestlings from unfavorable weather conditions such as
rain
(iv) Female monkeys care for young ones of others.

Significance of altruism
• Ensures survival and protection of weak and young ones.
• There is increased chance of survival of young ones.
• It increases allele frequency of a particular organism.
6) Social Organization

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Ants, bees and termites are social insects living in colonies and have an organization
based on a caste system. Individuals often assume specialized roles which increases
the overall efficiency of the group. The roles include; food finding, reproduction,
offspring rearing and defence.
Cooperation between members of the society, sharing and division of labour depend
on a stereotyped pattern of behavior and effective means of communication. In insect
societies, differences in body structure and reproductive potentials affect their roles
within the society a feature called polymorphism.
Polymorphism is the existence of organisms of different species in different forms
e.g. termites include the queen, king and workers. In bees, there are; queens, workers
and drones. These forms are known as polymorphs or castes

Animal communication
Communication is the transfer of information from one animal to another.
Communication in animals occurs when one individual uses intentional, specially
designed signals or displays to modify the behaviour of others.
Communication can occur within species (intraspecific) or between species
(interspecific). The former are mostly important in reproductive success while the latter
mostly includes warning signals. Therefore, communication involves passage of
information whose effect may be to:
❖ encourage approach
❖ performance of a corporate act
❖ Prevent attack or induce withdrawal in animals.
There are four different communicative channels:
• Visual
• Auditory/Acoustic
• Olfactory/chemical
• Tactile
Olfactory communication.
This is the use of odors/scents, which are diffused and persistent in space and time.
Unicellular organisms with chemoreceptors can recognize members of their own
species using olfactory means.
Chemical signals are well developed in insects, fishes, salamanders, and mammals.
They often reveal the animals underlying physiological and sexual states.

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Chemicals that are synthesized by one organism and that affect the behaviour of
another member of the same species are called pheromones.
Pheromones are secreted by a number of species: Ants during their trailing behaviour,
Silk moth, Female cockroaches, Species that perform territorial marks by urine &
dung. In honey bees, the Queen secretes substances that are quite outstanding in
complexity and playing role in the social organization of the colony. There is an acid
called Ketodecenoic acid from the queen’s mandibular glands and It is spread
throughout the colony by the workers by leaking the Queen’s body and regurgitating
the materials back and forth to one another in a colony. It evokes three separate
effects:
• It stops workers from rearing larvae into new queens
• It stops the development of the ovaries of the workers
• It acts as a sex attractant.
Differences in the chemical structure of pheromones may be directly related to their
function. Pheromones used for marking territories and attracting mates usually last
longer because of their higher molecular weight. Airborne signals have lower
molecular weights and disperse easily.

Visual Communication
This is a directional kind of communication based on sight. It is always associated with
displays which involve facial and ear expressions, hair erections, tail post position and
general body posture. Almost all-animal coloration is protective either by being
concealing or by warning.
For example; most predators watch movements of the prey and the prey that keeps
still until the last moment undoubtedly rely on its color to protect it from being seen.
Visual communication is important to many animals because a large amount of
information can be conveyed in a short time but may have some disadvantages:
• Various objects in the environment may block the line of sight
• Signals may be difficult to see over a long distance
• Signals not effective at night
• Signals may lead to detection by predators

Vocal/Acoustic/Auditory Communication
Sound allows much information to be communicated in a short time. Acoustic
communication is also exceedingly abundant in nature, likely because sound can be
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adapted to a wide variety of environmental conditions and behavioral situations.

Sounds can vary substantially in amplitude, duration, and frequency structure.
There are two categories of sound in animals:
i) Call notes: that are species specific and inherited. (A call notes is a brief sound
whose function is to give warning about the presence of an enemy).
ii) True songs: that are partly inherited and partly learned. (True songs are usually
for attraction and serve an important function in mate selection and bonding
between parents and juveniles).

Tactile Communication
This refers to communication between animals in physical contact with each other.
The antennae of many invertebrates and the touch receptors in the skin of vertebrates
function in tactile communication. Some examples of tactile communication include:
• Birds preening the feathers of other birds and
• Grooming in primates.
• Fighting (the last resort of tactile Communication).

Significance of communication signals

Communication signals also play an important role in:
➢ Conflict resolution, including territory defense. When males are competing for
access to females, the costs of engaging in physical combat can be very high;
hence natural selection has favored the evolution of communication systems that
allow males to honestly assess the fighting ability of their opponents without
engaging in combat.
➢ Communication signals are often critical for allowing animals to accurately identify
their own young.
➢ Warning systems. Communication signals are warning systems that convey
information about the environment are often critical for allowing animals to relocate
and avoid danger (predation, climatic catastrophes, anthropogenic)
➢ Maintaining group cohesion. In group-living species that form dominance
hierarchies, communication is critical for maintaining ameliorative relationships
between dominants and subordinates.
➢ Communication systems also are important for coordinating group movements.
➢ Reproductive success. Some of the most extravagant communication signals play
important roles in sexual advertisement and mate attraction. Successful
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reproduction requires identifying a mate of the appropriate species and sex, as

well as assessing indicators of mate quality.

LEARNED BEHAVIORS
Learning: is the capacity to record specific experiences and modify behavior in the
light of those experiences thus learning is an adaptive change in behavior resulting
from past experience. Learned behavior is therefore acquired during the life time of
an individual as a result of constant experience.
Learning is characterized by flexibility and the resultant behavior can be modified if
the environment changes.
Learning depends on the genetic constitution of an animal. Each stage of
development depends on the proceeding stages and the interaction between animals
with their environment to show the ability of animals to learn. The differences in
behaviour, may reflect differences in sensory and mortal functioning in animals.
Learning allows an animal to respond quickly to changes in the environment. Once an
animal learns something, its behavioral choices increase. Learning in animals is
diverse and ranges from habituation (the simplest form of learning) to insight learning
(the most complex form) that involves cognitive processes.

Types (classes) of learning

(i) Habituation
(ii) Imprinting
(iii) Associative learning
(iv) Imitation
(v) Latent learning

1. Habituation: Is the loss of response to a constant stimulus after repeated

exposure. Thus habituation is a form of learning in which repeated exposure to a
stimulus results in decreased responsiveness.
Examples;
• A sudden loud noise causes a horse to bolt on initial exposure, but if it is subjected
to repeated noise, the responsiveness decreases.
• A snail scrolling across the board can be made to withdraw into its shell by hitting
the board firmly, repetition of this action result in a snail ignoring this stimulus.

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• Hydra contacts when disturbed by a slight touch; it stops responding however, if

disturbed repeatedly by such a stimulus
• A scarecrow stimulus will usually make birds avoid a tree with ripe fruits for a few
days but they later become habituated to it and they may even land on it on their
way to the fruit tree.
• In species that rely on alarm calls to convey information about predators, in this
case animals stop giving alarm calls when they become familiar with other species
in their environment that turn out not to be predators.
Once habituated to a stimulus, an animal still senses the stimulus, but the animal
learns not to respond to it. It is believed that habituation is occurs as a result of
synaptic blocks somewhere in the reflex arc. In some circumstances, loss of
responsiveness to a stimulus may result from fatigue or sensory adaptation rather
than habituation.
Significance of habituation to animals
• It enables animals to avoid wasting time and energy responding harmless stimuli
that do not threaten their survival or and reproduction.
• It allows an animal’s nervous system to focus on stimuli that signal food, mates,
or real danger that may be beneficial to its survival.

2. Imprinting: This is learning that is limited to a specific time period in an animal’s

life and that is generally irreversible or is a form of learning that occurs during a
brief, genetically determined critical period in the lives of animals, usually shortly
after birth. A particular stimulus becomes permanently associated with a particular
response. One result of imprinting is the formation of a strong bond between two
animals, often between a new offspring and its parent. The limited phase in an
animal’s development when the learning of certain behavior can occur is called
sensitive period.
Examples of imprinting.
• Shortly after giving birth, a mother goat is sensitive to the smell of her kid for about
an hour. During this critical period, a few minutes contact with any kind, is sufficient
to accept it as her own.
• Nestling respond to their parents’ calls a few minutes after hatching
• Mother birds and mammals are able to recognize their young ones shortly after
birth.

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Significance of imprinting
• Allows an animal to learn the characteristics of its parent so that it can recognize
its parents and other members of its species.
• Enables adult animals to recognize their own offspring.
• Allows effective communication between parents and offspring to take place.
• Enables the migratory salmon fish to trace their way back to fresh water streams
to spawn.
• It plays an important role in song development in birds.
(Read about Lorenz Konrad’s study about imprinting in birds.)

3. Imitation: this is learning by observing and mimicking the behaviour of others. It

involves copying the behaviour of another individual, usually a member of the same
species.
Examples;
• Nestling learn to fly by mimicking the flight of their parents
• Young predator acquire hunting skills from their parents by imitation.

4. Associative learning/conditioning/association
This is a type of learned behavior whereby an animal learns to associate a
particular response with a reward or punishment. I.e.an animal learns that a
particular stimulus or response is linked to a reward or punishment.

Forms of associative learning/ condition

(a) Classical conditioning: This a form of learning in which a behaviour that is
normally triggered by a certain stimulus comes to be triggered by a substitute
stimulus which previously had no effect on the behaviour. Therefore, it involves
association between meaningless stimulus (bell) and meaningful stimulus(food)
(Read about Pavlov’s experiment on dogs)
Features of classical conditioning
• Involves association of two stimulus presented simultaneously
• Reinforced by repetition i.e. it is temporary
• Removal of the cerebral cortex from the animal, causes total loss of response.
For example, Birds learn to avoid certain brightly colored caterpillars that have a
noxious taste. Because birds associate the color pattern with the bad taste, they may
also avoid animals with a similar color pattern.
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(b)Trial and error learning (Instrumental/Maze learning) or operant conditioning.

This is a form of associative learning in which an animal learns to associate one of
its own behavioural acts with a positive or negative effect.
An animal’s spontaneous movement may by chance produce a reward and the
animal learns by trial and error to repeat the same behavioral patterns. The reward
may often be pleasure of performing an action more accurately than before. This
is probably the most appropriate category for the learning of new mortar skills e.g.
• Predators quickly learn to avoid certain species of prey with painful experiences
like porcupines
• Young mammals and birds perfect their prey catching skills,
• Humans learn to play the piano by a trial-and-error form of practice.
(Read about B.F Skeena’s experiment)
Characteristics of operant conditioning
• It is improved by repetition
• The associative stimulus follows the action
• It is temporary in nature
• Removal of the cerebral cortex does not result in loss of response.

(c) Latent learning/exploratory learning.

This is a behavioral pattern that arises when an animal stores information while
exploring its environment. It involves making associations without immediate
reward. It allows the animal to learn about its surrounding as it explores and this
information remains latent or hidden until an obvious reinforcement is provided.
Knowledge about an animal’s home area may be important for its survival, perhaps
enabling it to escape from a predator or capture prey.
Example: A bee visiting on particular flower repeatedly, learns to associate the
colour and scent of the flower with its nectar, it also learns the flower’s relative
position to the hive and at what time of day the flower is producing most nectar.
Ecological significance of associative learning.
• Enhances acquisition hunting skills in a variety of predators.
• Enhances mimicry in a variety of animals to avoid predators.
• Allows animals to easily find and select food basing on associations they make in
their environment.
• Increase chances of an animal’s survival by avoiding undesirable stimuli.

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5. Insight learning
In insight learning, the animal uses cognitive or mental processes to associate
experiences and solve problems. This has also been observed in chimpanzees in the
wild where they use tools to accomplish certain tasks e.g. they used crumpled leaves
as a sponge for drinking water, they also use long stick to fish ants out of their nests
and use stones to crack hard nuts.

6. Fixed action patterns

These are behavioral patterns that are resistant to change and may not even be
altered by the learning process. They are controlled by very few neurons in the central
nervous system and are performed perfectly in an identical fashion.
For example, yawning in primates and the two nesting habits in the parrot family
Agapormis i.e. tucking of building material under the wing and carrying it in the bill.
When few of such species were interbred the high-breeds failed to build nests. Those
which succeeded did it after a very long time and carried the “nesting material in the
beak.

“If you want to change the fruits, you will first have to change the roots. If you
want to change the visible, you must first change the invisible.” (Harv Eker. T.
2005)

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