Innate behaviour

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  • INNATE BEHAVIOUR
    • REFLEXES
      • Many invertebrates (worms etc) have an escape reflex, the function of which is to avoid predators
        • Earthworms withdraw underground in response to vibrations
        • Escape reflexes are also seen in humans, they are involuntary responses that follow a specific pattern in response to a given stimulus
    • KINESES
      • A kinesis is an orientation behaviour where the rate of movement increases when the organism is in unfavourable conditions
        • If woodlice are placed in dry or bright conditions they will move quickly and in random directions
    • TAXES
      • A taxis is a directional orientation response
        • Positive   phototaxis is towards and negative phototaxis is away from the light stimulation
        • Positive chemotaxis is towards and negative chemotaxis is away from the chemical and you get the point
        • The nematode worm exhibits this behaviour, it has chemoreceptors in its lips and it moves its head from side to side to compare signal strengths before moving towards or away from the stimulus
    • Genetically determined and so the environment has no impact on behavioural response
    • Innate behaviours are rigid and inflexible
    • Patterns of behaviour are the same in all members of species
    • Innate behaviours are unintelligent in the sense that the organism probably has no sense or purpose of the behaviour
    • A series of innate behaviours may be linked together to give some complex behaviour patterns in invertebrates
      • This can be seen through the worker bee and the 'waggle dance'
    • A stimulus is required to initiate an instinctive behavioural response
      • Stimuli lead to releaser   mechanisms within the brain, which in turn produce the response - this is known as a fixed action pattern (FAP)

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