Introduction To Behaviour. Behavior means the responses of organisms to the stimuli of the environment or to another organism.

The capacity of behavior is inherited but most of the inherited behavior can be modified by experiences.

In this chapter, we will consider the nature of behavior, innate behavior, learning, and social behavior.

Nature Of Behavior

The pattern of responses made by an organism to the stimuli of its environment is called behavior.

In other words, what an organism does after being stimulated is part of its behavior, but in order to cause that response, the stimulus must be processed, sensed, and interpreted.

Relationship Between Stimuli And Behavior

Reception Of Stimuli

Living organisms have senses to detect the energy from the surrounding and then respond according to that energy while interpreting it.

Interpretation And Response To The Stimuli

Signals may be processed inside or outside the brain.

For example- if we detect heat on our fingertips, our hand will automatically jerk away from the signal, for this response, stimuli do not need to reach the brain.

But if a treat is offered to a dog, the smell will reach the dog’s brain and it will interpret it as something good to eat, hence, the dog will respond by salivating and basically begging for the treat. 

Different Responses To The Stimulus

Introduction To Behaviour. The response to the stimulus can be positive, negative, or ignores.

A positive response is where one wants more or is attracted to the stimulus.

For example- a person responding to a joke by laughing.

A negative response is where one wants to avoid that stimulus.

For example- response to a bad odor.

An ignored stimulus is where one ignores the signal and interprets it as not important.

For example- cats living in the city ignore humans or vehicles because it interprets them as not harmful.