Learning behavior

Classificationofbehaviors

Beautifulbutterflieswilldancewhentheybreakoutoftheirpupae,ducklingswillgointothewatersoonaftertheyareborn,andmammalswillfindtheirmothers’warmembracewhentheyareborn.,Suckingmilk,spidersknowhowtoweavewebssincetheywereyoung.Thesebehaviorsofanimalsareinnateandareakindofinnategeneticbehavior,whichiscalledcongenitalbehavior.Andsomebehaviorsaredifferentfromcongenitalbehaviors,theyareacquiredempiricalbehaviors,calledlearningbehaviors.

Getusedtolearning

Whenthesamestimulusoccursrepeatedly,theanimal’sresponsewillgraduallyweakenandeventuallydisappearcompletely.Unlessotherdifferentstimuliaregiven,thebehavioralresponsecanhappenagain.chicken.Whenyoungturkeysandducklingsseeanobjectmovingontheirheadforthefirsttime,regardlessofwhethertheobjectisharmfultothem,suchasfallingaleaf,theywillshowapanicreactionandmakecrouchingorotherpanicbehaviors.Butwhentheyhaveexperiencedseveralsituationslikefallingleaves,theircrouchingresponsewillgraduallyweaken,andthefearofflyingbirdsorotherobjectsthatflybydailywillalsobelostdaybyday.Inotherwords,theirsensitivitytothisstimulushasbeenreduced.Ofcourse,ifthereisanunfamiliarflyingobject,suchasaneagle,theywillstillbehaveinhorror.

Thereisalsosuchaphenomenoninhumansociety.Peopleoftentakethingsthatarecommonplaceandgettiredofwhattheyeateveryday.Iftheyworkinanoisyenvironmenteveryday,ittakesalongtime.Ifyoudonotfeelthenoiseanymore.ThereisanoldsayinginChina,"Livingintheabaloneforalongtimebutnotknowingitssmell,butforalongtimeintheorchidroombutnotknowingitsfragrance",thisisalsotheeffectofhabituallearning.

Imitationlearning

Animalswillimitatethebehaviorofnursesorotheradultanimalswhentheyareyoungtolearnsomebasicskills.Youngchimpanzeeslearnhowolderpeopleeattermites,andsomesongbirdslearntosingbyimitating.Infact,manysongbirdsarenotborntosing.Theymusthearotherbirdssingingbeforetheycantrytheirowncry.Becauseofthis,ifanordinarygrayfinchgrowsupintheenvironmentofacanary,itcanalsosingasbeautifullyasacanary.Imitationbehaviornotonlyexistsinyounganimals,butalsoinadultanimals.Inthe1960s,whenzoologistSindwasstudyingthelearningbehavioroftitmousesinGreatBritain,hediscoveredaninterestingphenomenon:atitmouseaccidentallytoreopenthecapofamilkbottleinfrontofthesubscriber'sdoorandatemilkfromit.Soon,thisbehaviorspreadtoallthetitslivinginGreatBritain,sothatthemilkdeliveryworkershadtobuckleacuponeachbottle.

Imitationbehaviorisofgreatsignificanceintheadaptationofanimalstotheenvironment,becauseitenablesanimalstolearnknowledgefromtheexperienceofotherindividualsofthesamespecies,andcanalsodirectlyinheritbybypassingthecompletelyreliantgeneticmechanism.Theformationofgrouptraditionisbeneficial.

Itisworthnotingthatinsocialanimals,therearesometimessynchronousbehaviorsinwhichallormostmembersengageinthesameactivity,whichisoftenmistakenforimitationlearning.Infact,thisisjustakindof"emotionalinduction"."thebehaviorof.Whensomeanimalsinananimalgroup(especiallyindividualsintheleaderposition)makecertainactions,otherindividualsoftenmakethesameactionsbecauseof"emotionalinduction".Thiskindof"emotionalinduction"behavioralsoexistsinhuman'sdailylife.Some"emotionalinduction"behaviorsareextraordinarymethodsthatanimalsadopttocopewithsuddencatastrophesandtoensurethecontinuationofthepopulation.Thereisakindofmammalcalledlemming.Ifitencountersariverditchwhenmigratinginagroup,theleadinglemmingwillrushintothewaterwithouthesitation,andthelemmingsbehindwillalsorushtowardspeopleuntiltheditchisfilled.Inthisway,otherlemmingscancrosstheriveronthe"bridge"madeupoftheircompanions'corpses.SomeoneoncesawinthejunglesofSouthAmericathatwhenacolonyofantswassurroundedbyaforestfire,theywouldquicklyhugthequeenasthecenterandrollforwardinabigball.Theblazingflamescorchedtheouterants.Theantballbecamesmallerandsmallerasitrolled,butfinallypersistedinthefire-freezone,wherecountlessantsgavetheirlives.

Imprintlearning

AustriananimalbehavioristConradLorenzoncedidsuchanexperiment:heDividethegraygeese'seggsintotwogroupsforhatching,onegroupishatchedbythemothergoose,andtheothergroupishatchedbytheincubator.Asaresult,thegoosehatchedfromtheincubatorregardedLorenzasamother,andwhereverLorenzwent,thegoosefollowed.Iftwogroupsofgoslingsarebuckledunderabox,whentheboxislifted,thegoslingswillhavetwodirections,onegroupwillruntothegoose,andtheotherwillruntoLorenz.Theconsequenceofthiskindoflearningiscausedbydirectimpressions,soitiscalled"imprint"learning.Accordingtoexperiments,manyanimalsthatcanmovearoundatbirthcanproduceimprintingbehavior.Suchasmostbirds,guineapigs,sheep,deer,goatsandmanykindsoffish.Imprintsareanimportantformoflearningfornewbornanimals.Itcanmakesmallanimalsthatarenotcapableofself-defenseclingtotheirparents,therebymakingfoodsupplyandsheltermoresecure.

Researchershavereportedthattheimprintlearningbehaviorofcertainanimalswillhaveacertainimpactontheiradultlife,especiallyreproductivebehavior.Theseanimalsaremorewillingtointeractwiththeirparents(similarsidentifiedbyimprintlearningbehavior).,Evenhumans)gettogetherandevencourtshipthem.OnceLorenzwastreatedasacourtshipobjectbyhisstarling,whokeptfillinghismouthwithfood.Thismaybeoneofthereasonswhysomeanimalsthathavebeenraisedbybreederssincechildhoodaredifficulttoreproducesuccessfullyasadults.

Theimprintlearningbehaviorisahighlyspecializedbutlimitedlearningbehavior.Manyimprintscanonlybelearnedduringacertainperiodoftheanimal’slife.Forexample,theeasiesttimeformanybirdstomastertheirflyingskillscoincideswiththebeginningoftheirfeathers.Iftheyaredeprivedoftheiraircraftlearningsocietywithinafewmonthsaftertheirbirth,itwillbedifficultforthemtolearnhowtoflyinthefuture.Itmaybebecausethenervoussystemisinaspecialstateintheearlystagesoflife,andonlythisperiodcanreceivesuchstimuli,andthenthenervoussystemgraduallychanges,andimprintlearningcannolongerbecarriedout.Althoughthisbehavioroccursintheearlystage,ithasacertainimpactonthebehaviorinthelaterstage.

Associativelearning

Associativelearningisalearningmethodcalledconditioning.Attheendofthe19thcentury,RussianphysiologistPavlovconductedaseriesofconditionedreflexexperiments.Herevealedthenatureofsomelearningbehaviorsbystudyingthevariouswaysinwhichdogsproducesalivaonthebell,whichattractedtheattentionofbiologistsallovertheworld.

Conditioningisdividedintoclassicalconditioningandoperationconditioning.Americanpsycho-experimentalistSkinnerdidaseriesofexperimentsonoperatingconditioning,whichisakindoftrial-and-errortypeoflearning,thatis,animalsspontaneouslymakevariousreactions(innatereactions)atthebeginning,andlater,Oneofthereactionsisstrengthenedbytheresultofthereaction.Duetothesuccessofthisreaction,thefrequencyofoccurrencewasincreased,andthereactionwasfurtherstrengthened,whileotherreactionswereabandonedduetorepeatedfailures,resultingintheformationofthisspecialconditionedreflex.

Thefamous"SkinnerBox"experimentistoputamouseinthe"SkinnerBox".Theonlymovableobjectintheboxisabutton.Eachtimethemousepressesthebutton,Willgetagrainoffood.Inthisway,oncethemouselearnstopressthebutton,itwillcontinuetopressittogetmorefood.TheanimalsinSkinner'sexperimentcanlearntoassociatecertainmovementswithfood,butonlywhentheyarehungryandwhentheyhavefoodrewards,theywilldocontinuousmovements.

Thesuccessofoperationalconditioningisalsobasedonanimportantcondition,thatis,animalshaveexploratorybehavior.Manyanimalsarecuriousandliketowalkaround,justlikeadomestickittenwillalwaysshowakeeninterestinthenewobjectsinthehouse,sothatitwillaccidentallybreakthenewlyboughtvase.Thiswayoflearningiscalled"potentiallearning".Itispreciselybecauseofthepotentiallearningbehaviorsofanimalsthatthemiceinthe"SkinnerBox"willpressthebuttonandtheexperimentmaybesuccessful.

Classicconditioningiscompletelycontrolledbyhumansandhasnoadaptivemeaninginnature.Operatingconditioningisindeedatypeoflearningclosertonature.Mostanimals’foragingandavoidingbehaviorsareakindofOperationalconditioning.

Inferencelearning

Inferencelearningisthemostadvancedformofanimallearning,alsoknownascomprehensionlearning,thatis,theprocessbywhichanimalsmakeintuitivejudgmentsaboutthecausalityofnewthings.Higheranimalshavesomereasoningbehaviors,suchasdetourstotakefood.Putthefoodbehindtheglassplate,andtheanimalmustfirstbypasstheglassplatetogetthefood.Tosolvethebypassproblemistheanimal'sepiphany,thatis,itsuddenlyunderstandstheexistenceofthebarrierandthesolution.Inferioranimalswouldjustcrawlaroundexcitedlyorbumpintotheglassplateinawildexcitement.However,higher-levelmammals,suchasFufu,macaques,orangutans,canquicklysolvethisproblem.

GermanscientistWolfgangKohlerconductedaseriesofexperimentsonthelearningbehaviorofchimpanzeestoprovethatchimpanzeesdohavetheabilitytoreason.Hehungbananasontheceiling.Therewerethreewoodenboxesinthehouse.Chimpanzeescanonlyeatbananasbystackingthethreewoodenboxes.Atthebeginning,thechimpanzeeranaround,andafterawhileitcalmeddown,asifthinkingaboutaproblem,andfinallystackedthreeboxestogethertogetfood.

Innature,higheranimalsalsousetools.Inagangfight,theleaderwouldusehardrockstohithisopponent,thechimpanzeewouldalsouseacanetobeatotherorangutans,andwouldusethebranchestoreachintothetermiteholestodigouttermitestoeat.

Correlation

Instinctualbehaviorandlearningbehaviorarenotunrelated.Manyanimalbehaviorsaretheresultofinnateinstinctualbehaviorplusacquiredlearningbehavior.

Instinctualbehaviorisfixedbyheredity.Islearningbehaviorrelatedtoheredity?Zoologistsdidagroupofexperimentswithratswalkingthroughthemaze.Theydividedtheratsintotwogroupsaccordingtothetimeittooktogetoutofthemaze.Thegroupthatwalkedoutquicklywascalledthe"smart"group,andthegroupthatwalkedslowlywascalledthe"sluggish"group.Then,thetwogroupsofratswereallowedtobreedinthisgroup.TheprogenyofreproductionalsofollowtheexperimentalmethodofXiangyinsi,andonlyselecttheratsthatarethefastestandtheslowesttogetoutofthemazeasthebreedingratsforfurtherreproduction.Accordingtothisprocedure,the"smart"miceandthe"slow"miceobtainedafterseveralgenerationsshowobviousdifferences.Sincebeingabletogetoutofthemazeisnottheinstinctivebehaviorofthewhiterat,the"smart"whiterathastolearntofindawayoutofthemaze.Ifthetwogroupsofratswereallowedtowalkthroughanothermazewithdifferenttwistsandturns,thetwogroupsofratsdidnotshowobviousdifferences.Thisphenomenoncanbeusedinartificialselectionmethodstoimprovetheabilityofanimalsinacertainaspectandgeneticallyfixthem.Forexample,dogshavetwoinnateneurologicalphenotypes:excitatoryandinhibitory.Theformerissuitablefortrainingasatrackingpolicedog.Thepersonissuitablefortrainingasaguard-typesecuritydog.

Animalsoriginallyhavemanyneuralpathways,orpathwaystochangeconnections,learninghistorycaneasilymakechoicesorchanges,sothattheycanrespondtoenvironmentswithdifferentbiologicalsignificance.Learningbehaviorisobviouslytheresultofnaturalselection.Intheprocessofevolution,whentheenvironmentbecomesmorecomplex,therearemoreopportunitiesforanimalswithhigherlearningabilitiestoberetained.Theabilityofanimalstolearnbehaviorinnaturalcompetitionhasbeenselected,andhasbeencontinuouslydevelopedandevolved.