Ecology, Different types of Behavior

1. The Fixed Action Pattern (FAP) is a behavior that cannot be learned, it is inherited. It follows a regular pattern. For example: A bird notices ond of her eggs outside the nest. She will roll the egg back in her nest in a specific pattern and if the egg falls, she will still move the "invisible" egg. The reason she doesn't stop after the egg falls is because this behavior requires an action that is carried out to completion (regardless if there is an egg there or not). A specific stimulus initiates the action.

2. Imprinting behavior can be both inherited and learned. However it's usually irreversible. It is acquired during a "sensitive/critical" period. There is a limited time in which a behavior can be learned. This is why they say that learning things or multiple languages as an adult than learning it as a child.

3. Classical Conditioning is a type of associative learning (seeing a connection btwn 2+ events). It occurs when an animal performs a specific behavior in response to a substituted Stimulus.

ex. Pavlov's dog

you ring the bell, dog doesn't respond

you ring bell, give dog food, dog eats food (unconditioned response)

you ring bell, not give dog food, dog responds (conditioned response)

4. Operant Conditioning (Trial and Error) is a type of associative learning as well. The behavior is linked to environmental response. If the response is desirable/positive, the behavior is repeated, if it isnt (negative) the behavior is avoided

ex. Birds that avoid eating a butterfly with a specific pattern because they tasted it, did not like it, and decided to not eat it again.

Lynn attempting to relate this to herself : It's like me with Gatorade, except the trial and error is repetitive because i WANT to like it so bad! but I never do :P Humans just never learn

5. Spatial Learning is another type of associative learning. When an animal associates attributes of a location such as landmarks hoping to be able to return home. The reward for this behavior is GETTING HOME and feeling successful.

ex. When you drive back from a place you've never been to, you try looking for familiar things you had seen on the way to this mysterious place.

6. Habituation is a learning behavior which allows animals to turn off background noises to disregard meaningless stimuli. It could also be getting used to something new after a while.

ex. when humans observe other animals (such as monkeys), in order for them to really catch the monkey's true behavior, they need to have the monkeys get used to their (human) presence through habituation, otherwise the reason for the monkey's actions could be either natural or only because of the new humans in their home.

7. Observational Learning is when animals copy behavior of other animals without having experienced any positive reinforcement.

ex. a child copying a parent's actions of aggression regardless of reward or consequence. It was studied that if a child observes violence and aggression, he/she will emulate those actions. The actions are STILL done if there are no consequences. If there is a reward, the child is more aggressive than the one that had no consequences. And if there is a consequence, the child is less aggressive. HOWEVER, they were all aggressive anyway!

8. Insight (luck) occurs when an animal is exposed to a new situation without prior experience. It has a desirable outcome.

Yes this was a lot longer than recommended, but it's helping me review for the ap exam too! I love blogging :)

Ovulation!

Let's begin with the basics. The gonads (organs that make gametes) for females are the ovaries. Each ovary is protected by a protective capsule and consists of follicles. Each follicle consists of one egg surrounded by follicle cells that help nourish and protect the egg. One follicle matures and releases its egg during the menstrual cycle. Once the cell is released, it travels through the oviduct (fallopian tube). The oviduct contains cilia to move the egg through the fallopian tube. A sperm cell has the opportunity to fertilize this egg as it travels through the oviduct, if it doesn't, the egg will travel through the uterus, break the uterine wall that was built to support a child, and exit through the cervix through the vagina and out (as blood).

When the egg is released from the follicle, the follicular tissue that remains forms a solid mass called the corpus luteum which helps secrete estrogen and progesterone (hormone that helps maintain the uterin lining)

Reproduction is so awesome!!!!!

A sperm's journey

Sperm is formed and created in the seminiferous tubules in the testes. It then travels to the epididymis where the sperm becomes motile and fertilize an egg. When it's time for ejaculation, the sperm is propelled through the muscular vas deferns, behind the bladder and makes three pitstops where extra fluid is secreted. It first stops at the seminal vesicles where a yellowish fluid is secreted. Then it stops at the prostate gland where a thin milky prostatic fluid is secreted. The bulbourethral gland then secrets another fluid that neutralizes acidic urine that stayed in the urethra. I'd like to point out that the sperm doesnt actually "STOP" at the three glands, it keeps moving. The alkalinity of the semen then helps neutralize the acidic environment of the vagina. THAT'S THE SPERM'S VOYAGE! wooo! I love talking about this stuff :)
Here's a picture to help :)

http://www.pitt.edu/~anat/GU/Male/Image.jpg

Behavior in Bees

Worker bees must communicate with one another about the location of food sources, which may change as a flowers blooms or dies. One way bees do this is by performing a dance. When a worker returns to the hive, it is suddenly surrounded by other worker bees, which sense its movements. There is a round dance that seems to communicate simply that there is food nearby. If the food is farther from the hive, a worker will appear to communicate both the direction and distance of the food through a waggle type dance. Because it is often dark inside the hive, other bees follow the dancing bee's movements mainly through sound, taste, and touch.

Behavior

Most of the time behavior is thought to be the visible result of an animal’s muscular activity, like when a predator chases its prey. However only some behaviors have muscular activity involved but it is less obvious. As when a toad uses muscles to force air from its lungs and shape the sounds in its throat, producing a noise. Nonmuscular activities are also considered behaviors. Another example occurs when an animal secretes a hormone that attracts a mate of the opposite sex. Learning can be considered a behavioral process. A popular example is scientist Pavlov found that if he rang a bell every time he put the meat powder in the dog's mouth, the dog eventually salivated upon hearing the bell alone. Behavior is simply everything an animal does and how it does it.

Spinal Nerves (sensory and motor )

There are 31 pairs of spinal nerves and each has a dorsal root and a ventral root. The dorsal root is sensory (all neurons conduct impulses into the spinal cord) while the ventral root is motor ( all neurons conduct impulses out of the spinal cord). The dorsal root has a ganglion that contains the cell bodies of the sensory neurons that pass through the dorsal root. Each spinal nerve includes numerous sensory, or afferent, and motor, or efferent, neurons. Some of these neurons are classified as somatic, and this conduct impulses to or form the "somatic" structures ( skin, skeletal muscles, tendons, and joints). Other neurons are "visceral", and these conduct impulses to or from the visceral structures (smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands). Therefore, all neurons in spinal nerves and the peripheral nervous system are placed in one of the four categories somatic afferent, somatic efferent, visceral afferent, visceral efferent. Somatic affernt neurons are sensory neurons that conduct impules initiated in receptors in the skin, skeletal muscles, tendons, and joints. Receptors in the skin are responsible for sensing things such as touch, temperature, pressure and pain called exteroceptors. Receptors in skeletal muscles, tendons, and joints, provide info about body position and movement and are called propioceptors.They are unipolar. Somatic efferent neurons are motor neurons that conduct impulses from the spinal cord to skeletal muscles. These neurons are multipolar. Visceral afferent are sensory neurons that conduct impulses initiated in the receptors in the smooth and cardiac muscle. They are reffered to as enteroceptors or visceroceptors. They are unipolar. Visceral efferent are motor neurons that conduct impulses to smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands. They make up the autonomic nervous system. Some begin in the brain and some in the spinal cord. It always takes two visceral efferent neurons to conduct an impulse from the spinal cord or brian in some cases to a muscle or gland.

Stress Depletes Neurotransmitters

When dealing with daily stress the brain uses feel good transmitters called endorphins. When large amounts of endorphins are needed to handle stress, the ratio of many of the other transmitters, one to another, becomes upset causing a chemical imbalance. When we start to feel stress like a sense of urgency and anxiety more stress is caused as a result. Harmful chemicals are released in our bodies that do damage, causing even more stress. This is called the "stress cycle". Emotional fatigue can be a result, and be experienced and felt as depression. The body responds to emotional stess exactly as it responds to physical danger. We are usually unaware of this not felling at all as our bodies are constantly reacting to different emotions. Responding to this mental and emotional struggles with a "fight or flight" response. Which is designed to prepare our bodies for immediate danger. We really don't fight or flee, instead the high energy chemicals produced in many everyday situations boil inside of us, potentially taking years off our lives. Almost all body functions and organs react to stress. The body responds to stress with a series of physiological changes that include increased secretion of adrenaline, elevation of blood pressyrem accerleration of the heartbeat, and greater tension in the muscles, etc. Stress creates an excellent breeding ground for illness. Increased adrenaline production causes the body to step up its metabolism of proteins, fats, and carbs to quickly produce energy for the body to use. the pituitary gland stimulates the release of hormones cortisone and cortisol. These two hormones have the effect of inhibiting the functioning of disease fighting white blood cells and suppressing the immune response. This complex of physical changes known as the "fight or flight" response is also the reason that stress can lead to nutrional deficiencies. Researchers estimate that stress contributes to as many as 8O % og all major illnesses that include cardiovascular disease, cancer, endocrine and metabolic diseases, skin disorders, and all kinds of infections. Studies by the American Medical Association have shown stress to be a factor in over 75% of all illnesses today. Research linking stress to a variety of diseases and illnesses had been the subject of more than 20,000 scientific studies...interesting huh? So let's all try to cool down and not get so stress about Ap bio anymore... we don't want to get sick lol =]