PSY 375 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Kakapo, Melanin, Ontogeny
Document Summary
In nature, this would be their mother, but with experiments, animals can imprint on people or inanimate objects, such as boots: but animals more readily imprint on things that look like their mother. Fixed action patterns: a fixed action pattern (fap) is an instinctive behavioral sequence that is indivisible and runs to completion, a well-known case is egg-rolling by the graylag goose. Like similar waterfowl, it will roll a displaced egg near its nest back to the others with its beak. What early experiences are necessary for the behavior to be shown: ultimate. Proximate: chick"s visual system detects moving objects; the first one to appear for an extended length of time is encoded; chick becomes motivated to keep that object close. Ultimate: allows bird to (almost always) follow mother who usually provides food and protection from predators: questions. Proximate: more daylight in spring leads to increased testosterone increasing activity in a part of the brain.
