From Last Class

Evolutionary adaptation

• Survive to reproduce

Levels of adaptation

• Evolutionary, individual, cultural

Ultimate and proximal causes of behaviour

Genetic drift

Evolution is blind

Ethology

Animal behaviour in natural environment

Behaviours in an evolutionary context

Species-Specific Behaviour

• Fixed action pattern
• Sign stimulus
• Not necessarily rigid

Examples

• Feeding gull chicks

Environmental/biological interaction

Environmental Role

Deprivation experiments

• Social interactions in primates
  
• Fighting rats

Some behaviours do/do not require environmental component

• Genetic
• Gene/environment

Homologies and Analogies

All about similarities

Homologies

• Common ancestry
  • Shared genes
• Similarity in detail and underlying mechanisms

Forelimbs

Analogies

• Convergent evolution
  • Shared environment
• Similarity in function

Wings

Mouths

Evolution of Species-Specific Behaviours

Behaviours do not fossilize

Darwin's bees

• Build hexagonal honeycomb
  • Space efficient
• Bumblebee ancestor
  • Crude, round cells
• Melipona domestica
  • Cells packed together; some flat walls
• Honeybees
  • Precise hexagonal cells

Behaviour change across related species

• Evolution of behaviour

Vestigial behaviours

• Grasping by infants

Non-Verbal Expressions

Natural selection, learning, cultural

Ritualization

• Non-communicative function becomes communicative
• Gorilla example
  • Eye contact aggressive

Antithesis

• An behaviour opposite to another that has meaning
• Gorilla example
  • No eye contact submissive

Autonomic Responses

• Glands and non-skeletal muscles
• e.g., trembling, blushing

Gorillas and self-awareness

• An example of a scientific oversight

Emotional Expression

Basic facial expressions

• Surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness, sadness
• Blends

Universiality of expression

• Genetic component
• Human/human
• Human/non-human

Two smiles

• Happy
  • Mouth and eyes
• Non-happy
  • Mouth only

Chimpanzees

• Silent, bared teeth display
  • Subserviant: please don't attac
  • Dominant: I won't attack
• Relaxed, open mouthed display
  • Signals aggressive behaviour is play

Mental Calisthenics

Do human infants show fixed action patterns while nursing? What might be a sign stimulus?

"One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just is not the same. One of these things is not like the other. Guess which one and win our game!"

• 747 jet
• World War I bi-plane
• Helicopter
• Hang glider

For non-Sesame Street people, which three of the four flying crafts listed above are homologous in the way they fly? Why?

From what you now know about non-verbal communication and emotional expression, why is Darth Vader so scary in his helmet?