9. Ethology

(April 19, 2010) Robert Sapolsky looks at the biology of behavior through the ethological lens: observing animals in various natural environments, in their own language. He explores behavioral variety, the importance of gene environment interactions, experimental testing of fixed action patterns, the releasing of informational stimuli, and neuroethology.
Stanford University
www.stanford.edu
Stanford Department of Biology
biology.stanford.edu/
Stanford University Channel on KZbin
/ stanford

[@epocaBB]

I love this man like he is my third cousin.

[@SCQT]

Thanks for that

[@lucasfc4587]

Wow man, that is great, cheers

[@Sqlut]

he must smells very good to you

[@ianaliciaperry5243]

Big mood 😂

[@Psychol-Snooper]

Emotionally, or physically?

[@mooselessness]

Stanford, could you guys please please please record Sapolsky doing this class again? It absolutely transformed the way I see the world and I would love to hear where these fields are at 8 years later.

[@bynia83]

N out this yi so pi wet t

[@mdmashiatmuhtasimkhan3898]

Read his book Behave

[@latinaalma1947]

TO make further fun of the 60s and 70s....the belief that environment was EVERYTHING gave us the political and philosophical madness we have today. The belief that I can turn any child into a genius if I enrich their environment enough through educational TV, early childhood books donated to poor families, Head Start programs, free early nutrition programs for poor students, free prenatal care...if I give them ALL that including free housing , free healthcare ...I can cure crime, I can cure mental illness, I can make students who demographically score low on IQ and school achievement into Rhodes scholars all...with enough money thrown at a child and its family and constant intervention I can cure all of society's problems. SO how has it worked out trillions of dollars in tax money LATER? Uh, no I cant! ANd yes IQ does matter....100 and up less of an issue....below that and no I cant turn you all into highly successful professionals with post grad educations no matter how much money I spend doing whatever enrichment I can come up with. But still the public does not believe that it cannot be done. Any psychologist by now knows it, but will not say it,out loud, and certainly NOT on any college CAMPUS! SuicidalT.here is an entire US political party that overwhelmingly DOES still believe that and is willing to happily destroy the academic career of anyone challenging their sacred belief that everyone CAN be Sapolsky or whoever your hero of the day may be.

[@ashutoshs1966]

We should sign a petition, maybe.

[@nelcalb]

there is a (paid) course by him on The Great Courses called "Stress and your body", is also extraordinary

[@higherpowerlifting5065]

He actually has this whole range of material committed to memory. He's not using a PowerPoint and only looks at notes every once in a while. It's incredible.

[@robinantonio8870]

When you have been doing it a long time you know it. I use psychology in animal behaviour modification which is my job, and after 6 years of doing it ,I give what is basically a 6 hr psychological lecture without a second 's hesitation or any notes. Like any job , you know it.

[@jhohaness]

I love how he always finds a way to sneak a little joke in every now and then...

[@thepts]

I think its more of a compulsion, I do the same thing. So I empathize with receiving fatigued snickers from the audience. In written form he is absolutely hilarious.

[@pawelpap9]

Any half-skilled presenter does it. I would say he is an excessive side of doing it.

[@davidvoron8115]

Onion

[@acraze2287]

you would love sam harris

[@DamienPalmer]

@@acraze2287 Ugh, please, this is polite company.

[@SmittenKitten.]

My father was a psychologist, and he was at a dinner one night with Skinner. After the dinner, they had a lengthy conversation, after which my father asked if Skinner would autograph his book. My father wanted him to sign it like this: BEHAVE!!!!! - BF Skinner. Skinner, being a good sport, agreed, and it's one of my most prized belongings.

[@Yor_gamma_ix_bae]

SmittenKitten burn it!

[@blaisegirl420]

Love this ❤️👌🏻 funny and great way to remember your dad 🙂

[@sandrajunghall9725]

I'm nearly 53 and can't believe we've reached such time and tech that commoners like me can access this caliber of content.

[@aloneboarder]

He makes me love science. That’s the kind of people we need in education.

[@lukasvandewiel860]

There are many great lecturers. I can recommend anything by Brian Cox, the astrophysicist.

[@deadman746]

I am displeased that Sapolsky is not as famous as Feynman.

[@nativeindian]

I am supposed to be learning music production during the lockdown but im hooked to this lecture series. Also, 9 episodes down, there is a girl in this class with some chronic coughing situation going on. She's been coughing her lungs out for last last three lectures.

[@sisu4134]

Lol, I hadn't noticed her coughing until I read this comment. Now, I can't unhear it 😑🤣

[@SevasTra1900]

THANK YOU! She has been driving me nuts! Not just because we are now (2021) coming out of a pandemic, but for anyone who had to sit next to her that probably didn't hear most of the lecture.

[@priyanshutripathi2765]

@lucky jo absolute jibberish, if I honk beside your ears while you are studying, you can't ignore that. Optimism is great, but unrealistic optimism is BS.

[@billydiaz7280]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@dianagracevillorente7165]

hi ma’am thank goodness

[@nubonamission]

This lecture series is incredible, as is the fact it's available to the world - fantastic.

[@stvbrsn]

I can believe most (of not all) of his points, so actually I find it very credible. And it really is available on KZbin. It is not a fantasy. So I have to respectfully disagree. Cheers!

[@clairekennedy5366]

@@stvbrsn dude what

[@gay4pay882]

@@stvbrsn get a life

[@affanshaikh8492]

Can someone please share the link of this series playlist? I can't find it on the page

[@mikeypeinado383]

For free too! The way knowledge and wisdom should be given

[@rubaiyattasnim1297]

Ethology is about interviewing an animal in it's own language. Nicolaas Tinbergen, Conrad Lorenz, Karl von Frisch (1973 Nobel laurets in Physiology/Medicine) Contrasts with behaviorism - which is about extreme environmentalism - you can control everything about an animal's behaviour through positive and negative reinforcements. The questions that ethology asks - 1. What is the fixed action pattern? 2. How can it be improve upon? (ie what are the contexts in which the animal learns to do it better?) 3. What are the evolutionary advantages of having that fixed action pattern? 4. What stimuli from the outside environment triggers the pattern? 5. What happens inside the animal's nervous system between a stimulus triggering a behaviour and that behaviour actually occurring? 6. What does learning have to do with all this?

[@arvindsharmaanjum]

"you didn't need to learn by trial and error to know that when you're floating in the air, that tends not to last for long, and you get owies afterward" My god, I love this man.

[@onlyfanpalms9633]

I’m not even in school or pursuing anything related to his topics. I came across one of his lectures via KZbin auto-play and I’ve been binge watching this amazing human ever since. 😅

[@AcquiredCents]

What an honor to watch this man's lectures. Awesome! Thanks uploader!

[@douglassorge6235]

I feel fortunate to have stumbled upon this guy’s podcasts. So many things answered so lucently. It’s like I don’t have to wander in the dark overwhelmed with ignorance any longer.

[@alh2698]

I can’t believe how amazing this man is. I’m glued to anything this man says. I’m so fortunate to find this. Iv learned more in 4 days of watching this than i did in my entire college career.

[@bendoes1012]

It is not the man itself, it is the content/information that he gives

[@laurapirate]

I'm so happy dogs know the difference between kicking it intentionally and tripping over it!

[@antonkarlsson818]

Ha, i started searching for that paper.

[@simongiles9749]

I've seen an even more impressive demonstration of numeracy in chimps. Chimps can be trained to associate numeral figures with values in terms of a number of treats. They come to associate for example, the numeral "4" with four treats, and recognise that it's bigger than "3". Eventually you get to where you have two chimps that can see each other but not interact. One chimp has to choose from between two numerals, and the number of treats they choose is given to the *other* chimp. The choosing chimp soon learns to always pick the lower value numeral so that the other chimp gets fewer treats than it does. The fun part is, if you replace abstract numerals with actual piles of treats, the choosing chimp *always* selects the greater pile (which then goes to the other chimp). They can deal in abstract numbers but can't get over the instinct to grab the bigger pile of food. I've seen footage of this, and the chimps face-palm when they realise what they have done, so evidently they still know the rules, but can't stop themselves.

[@Genashi1991]

I really enjoy his sense of humor. Makes it a lot easier to stay engaged. Probably helps remembering things easier too.

[@Dying.ironically]

I wish all university lecturers could communicate ideas in such an incredibly clear and engaging way. He’s a natural teacher and one gets the sense that he really wants his young students to be as fascinated by the complexity and awesomeness of the natural world as well as how weird we are as a species. He is even very clear about what is going to be important for their approach to studying for the exams, what is going to be most important, what chapters in the “textbooks” they need to read and whether to read them before or after listening to the lecture as well as providing copies of individual published studies that are relevant to the topic and suggesting which ones are worthy of reading in entirety and those where the abstract is sufficient as well as what level of detail they need to memorise for the purposes of the exams. It saves students so much time trying to figure out what’s important for the purposes of the examinations versus all the fascinating information he communicates in his books and lectures. He doesn’t stop talking, but he never gets boring and keeps the logical thread of the topic developing in the right order. He is such a wonderful teacher and communicator, it’s a joy to watch and I learn so much in such a short time.

[@user-ez8mn5ig8m]

my God, this guy's sense of humour is just top-notch! Love him!

[@IlaughedIcried]

The Charlotte's babies joke deserved a much bigger laugh! I think it went by too fast for the students to realize...

[@MasalaMan]

I've been going through all of Sapolsky's lectures this has been by far the one most fascinating to me. All the stuff about fixed action patterns, the experiments, examples. WOAH!

[@jenslyn87]

Sapolsky is a boss

[@jenslyn87]

Take your ugly, misinformed, and incoherent crusade somewhere else, pup. No one is interested. Ignored.

[@ZigSputnik]

jenslyn87: It might be a good idea for you to delete your second comment ("Take your ... ") as it looks like the person you were addressing has deleted theirs; and yours could now be misconstrued :)

[@jenslyn87]

Thanks, buddy. The troll is gone, so there is no reason for anything but positivity :]

[@willmpet]

People have tried to turn 'liberal' into a bad word. Well, liberals ended slavery in this country. A liberal Republican. What happened to them? They got run out of your party. What did liberals do that was so offensive? I'll tell you what they did. Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security, and lifted millions of elderly Americans out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Liberals created Medicare*, Liberals passed the Clean Air Act. The Clean Water Act. What did Republicans do? They opposed every one of those programs, every one. So, when you hurl that word Liberal" at my feet, as if it were something g dirty, something to run away from, something that I should be ashamed of, it won't work, because I will pick up that label me I will wear it as a badge of honor.

[@milicadancuk58]

@@willmpet check out the history of Liberia

[@julianbassk]

"duckies goose-stepping behind Konrad Lorenz"-- brilliant wordplay. Brilliant.

[@bartbengal]

That joke deserved a round of applause

[@julianbassk]

@@r.c.3614 Konrad Lorenz, great scientist, also nazi (who were known for their goose-stepping, a kind of military march)

[@r.c.3614]

@@julianbasskaAAaaa. I see. Thank you. :) I love these lectures. One of the best things I've learned is to never be afraid to ask a question / admit you don't knowsomething. Thanks for the explanation, Julian.

[@julianbassk]

@@r.c.3614 exactly its the best way to learn. And this lecture series is great

[@KlausJLinke]

Konrad Lorenz is well worth reading. Maybe he used to be a nazi. Most Germans used to be at some point. _edit: After a bit of research, it seems Lorenz' involvement with the Nazis was bigger than I was aware of, and he stuck with some of it after 1945. Maybe not giving him credit for the stuff he did add to the scientific project is valid._

[@timeless8]

Much better camera-work this time than the first... EIGHT... lectures, but agree with Daniel someone's really excited about their zoom buttons.

[@christinerobinson9372]

All of my cats learned to recognize themselves in a mirror. One of my cats learned that and also learned that he could spy on me by watching me in the mirror. When I looked at his image in the mirror, his eyes were watching me. This same cat tried very hard, multiple times, to get his finger beans to grab the doorknob of the front door. He wanted to go out. He had watched me open the door and understood how it was done. If he had had longer fingers he would have succeeded in opening the door for himself. He wanted to go out because his balls were out in the hallway and he wanted me to throw them down the stairs. (I lived on the third floor). He always brought the ball back up the stairs so I could throw it again. His sister stayed in my apartment while he went out to play on the stairs, then got behind the door to push it shut. She did it every time he went out.

[@MC-tl5bf]

cute!!

[@doobzb5482]

My cat opens the door with her claws because I don't fully shut it, she trots up and casually paws/digs her claws into the door and opens it, very similar to how we do it. She does lots of other smaller things, like after watching me clean her litter that she spills out, she's learned to stop it from spilling as much

[@omarra6781]

This guy is fantastic! I could listen to him all day.

[@jinmacculloch2102]

Wow~ I'm totally addicted to this guy!!! I'm VERY greateful for such a fantastic luxury, listening to your lectures in my home here in New Zealand. Worth living well beyond 50s, I thought!!! Sapolsky, you're a star~♡♡♡

[@41357500]

calm down mary........

[@fabuloso3635]

Woah Karen. Relax

[@Tincuradan]

What do two behaviorists say after sex? "I know it was good for you, was it good for me?"

[@Ometecuhtli]

I don't know, I need to gather more data. *wink wink*

[@jackfitzpatrick8173]

Apart from high school biology I have no formal instruction in the biological sciences. However, I find this guy absolutely fascinating both for his obvious knowledge *and* his presentation. His academic appointment lends credence to the "Ivy League's" claim of uniqueness.

[@melissac6122]

I love the way he says "lets get going" at the beginning of most lectures. I know it's a random comment.

[@dougmorrison2708]

Must be a fixed action pattern..

[@melissac6122]

+Doug Morrison Haha!

[@digocr]

Me too! And I pay lots of attention and like to hear the details about the handout material, the finals, the students in the room... It’s cozy to watch these lectures.

[@savvyhyde8833]

he always uses "a whole world of" to mean "an entire category of" too

[@joseamorales84]

What's this all about

[@michaellewis7861]

The more different environments you study something in the lower your heritability will be. So you need to study in maximally natural and different environments. BF Skinner and Behaviorism. All tabulsa rasa and are environmentally and can be purely reinforcively conditioned. Ethology. The variation of behavior. Contradiction with behaviorists. Tinbergen, Lorenz, Frisch. Species have fixed action patterns which are normalized but can be improved upon. And they have adaptive value. Bees moving in an 8 figure. The fixed action patterns are the own language of the animal. Experiments are strictly natural. Modifying some stimuli what modifies the trajectory or some measured gradation of a property of a fixed action pattern. When females are ovulating their voices go higher, and males can detect this. Visual, and olfactory stimuli. Olfactory. Sweat difference depending on stress quantity. Their amygdala activates if their smelling it from the terrified individuals. Electricity. Vibration. Elephants. Tactile Stimulation. The child goes not the wire with milk, it goes to the cloth for warmth and bonds, Harry Harlow. More incubators the lower the life expectancy. Congruences in babies cross species. People react similarly to baby faces. ------------------ How does a bird learn its specie (rough) song Lordosis reflex in hamsters. What does learning have to do with fixed action patterns. Animals teach behavior (eg. to progeny.) Animals make tools. Use wood as weapons. Learning that violates reinforcement theory. Animals will imprint on something over a short period, (recognizing mom, there is a short period). No trial and error! Critical period is a relative term.* Prepared learning. Certain associations with something are more likely than others. He had prepared learning with food much more than external stimuli. Humans show prepared learning for being afraid of spiders and snakes. Change in a flash and we can pick up a snake or a spider. ( ) discovered echolocation. Published on the book animal awareness. Do animals have self awareness? Marmasets never look at themselves in the eye. Theory of Mind. When do you realize there are other individuals who are different? Chimps can only do theory of mind in highly competitive dynamical states. -These animals can detect intentional and unintentional gestures. -plan for the future. Flexible cognitive strategies/possibility/probability sense.

[@ehart34]

I'm enjoying these and am absorbing alot! More than I expected! He dosnt bore me to sleep either! Great teacher! Need more like him!

[@MsLegaC]

Bj jobs bjbonpkbkn. Jompkjknpo

[@kellyberry4173]

Want to read his book " BEHAVE"

[@pfistner9542]

@@MsLegaC uh

[@MOBetterGold]

Today, ethologists have discovered that dogs have self-awareness through smell (awareness of their own scent), hence being in the skin of the animal until its own language, to understand it better. 10 years ago and so many modesty and very solid theories still active

[@basilold9710]

God I love these lectures so much, you don't even know how fascinated I get every class.

[@kuriotsportokalis]

really appreciating everything about these recordings, you paid attention to sound quality, camera work. it's great. it's actually so refreshing that I am watching this after work

[@anthonyhenderson7643]

Tell me about it. Try watching Stanford's 'Intro to programming methodology', Its like watching minecraft!

[@FourDogs1111]

9 lectures in, and most of the r/iamverysmart people have been eliminated from the population

[@magogo5905]

Yeh i am wondering about that right now...i even skipped the previous lecture.

[@danielsayre3385]

@@magogo5905 Go back, don't skip! Eat your behavioral lecture vegetables 👏👏🔥

[@kriptonita8030]

@@danielsayre3385 🤣👌🏿

[@jongrey8819]

anyone else binging this whole class? I'm a day in (at 1.5 speed at least) and going strong

[@mercurialcharm9188]

Exactly what I'm doing. Not going to front, had to rewind a couple times but not as much as I I thought I would. My guy is that good of a professor. For real

[@user-kr9kt6ul1g]

Normal speed here. Come on.

[@peanutnitti7073]

Bruh wut r u on?

[@xavierdelisle5813]

I hope you posted updates along the way. Imma search through the comments later on for you. Incredible feat, and if you’d binge anything I’d insist content like this.. but 7 to 12 hours of your day? Fascinating. You must be enjoying quarantine

[@clydewatkins9891]

I am going to have to change my name to bingebonkers. I played some 4-6 times/day.

[@CorinneElliott-nu7hc]

Dr. Sapolsky is so awesome, he has changed my life because he has changed my understanding and viewpoint of life. Thank you sir for sharing your brilliance!

[@BrandonHortman]

I've watched this series every year for years now

[@SedziaP]

A potential answer to the question from ~56min. The inside part of eggshell should be white to reflect heat emitted by a chicken - it makes inside of eggshell warmer.

[@pauladuncanadams1750]

I considered that also.

[@justinjozokos1699]

I've seen a squirrel try to bury an acorn when there was no dirt to bury it in. It was weird seeing it's little paws move imaginary dirt on top of the acorn

[@guynouri]

Reminding us about what it is to be (a) human

[@anuraagbhatt]

Fixed Action Pattern abbreviated is FAP !

[@AllisONE-nh4ol]

Good one!

[@astarothgr]

I watched up until the break; Boys and Girls, this is officially *a banger* of a lecture. Joyfully educated.

[@nikzanzev2402]

I never considered behaviourism this way... I love this course because Prof. Sapolsky connects my undergrad knowledge in a different way. A different way that makes a lot more sense!

[@nikolajvsevolodovic]

Sapolsky is a gazillion times better than any other living teacher in the world that i know of, and he's great at giving these super complex introductions to new buckets and explaining how Nepalese are better than Belgians or whatever a good teacher is teaching his students there. so, that's great.

[@ebfield123]

I wish they would post the TA catch-up lectures, but I'm not complaining I just crave more knowledge.

[@JaneDoe-ij4ls]

He's brilliant, and I love his sense of humor

[@yolobruh3669]

If this was my teacher when i was growing up id be a scientist for sure. This mans amazing

[@bernicegoldham1509]

It's like Stanford has a contract with KZbin that demands it's videos rank highly in the my 3:00 a.m. algorithms. And I am not mad about it.

[@crbielert]

I think this is one of my favorites in the series. Really fascinating stuff.

[@phenosgardenupdate512]

I have watched this series twice (... my profile pic and channel content maybe?) All joking aside, this is inarguably the best course lecture series I've ever seen. Had to watch again and when it's republished and the science is updated I will watch a 3rd and 4th time... and I am currently in computer software development / botany.

[@alishaingram4824]

I dont n3ed uou

[@kyoungd]

Thanks again, Doc. Love this class. It is amazing how much there is to learn. Go Stanford!

[@abcdeisthekeygaming277]

I love waking up to these lectures. This guy's is great

[@patrickzweigart5880]

im so glad i found someone i can understand ! and enjoy your lectures thank you. very good teacher .

[@jannisalexakis6436]

The “beedance” First of all I have to say that my previous note that bees do not dance on the floor of the hive, on the horizontal flat floor of the hive, but on the vertical honeycombs does not add to or remove anything from the excellent presentation and analysis made by Professor Sapolsky . It is just a detail that strengthens what the professor presents in his analysis and to which he is probably aware of. He is probably aware that dancing is taking place on the vertical honeycombs rather than on the horizontal floor but he wanted to present the subject in a simpler way. The fact that the floor is a space that the 40 to 60 thousand bees of the hive use only to climb on the honeycombs they crowd, is known by all beekeepers. But the fact that dancing takes place on the vertical honeycombs also introduces the gravitational field of the earth, making the problem a little more complex. I want to say that the bees dancing on the vertical honeycombs inside the dark hive transmit a gravitational signal, a gravitational information, if you want a touch-type information, which when the bees who get it come out at the entrance of the hive in the daylight, convert into visual information. We do not know by what mechanisms within the bee's body a gravitational touch information is transformed into visual information, we only know that by dancing the 8 formed dance, bees who follow the dancing of the collector fieldbee suffer the same relative inclinations of their body parts (head, chest and abdomen) depending on the slope of the symmetry axis which is perpendicular to the lobes of the 8. This axis is correlated with the gravitational line, an angle is formed between them with one leg the line of gravity and the other leg the symmetry axis of the 8. When the bees come out to daylight follow a course determined by an angle that is the same as the angle that was written in the dark hive on the vertical combs, now one leg is the straight line joining the hive with the projection of the Sun on the horizon on a horizontal plane and the other leg is the one with the hive as angletop passes from the point where the flowering is located. We see, therefore, that a gravitational information has been transformed into visual, electromagnetic information. Researchers were able to interrupt the flow of information either by sealing the eyes of the bees who could no longer see where the sun was relative to the flower, or by cutting some of the small bristles between the three parts of the insect body (head, chest, and abdomen) and which transmit the sensation of tilt to the nervous system and the brain of the bee. As I said above, nothing removes or adds something to what the professor teaches. It is just a detail which shows that besides the information governed by the electromagnetic light field, we have an information phase within the gravitational field, making the image more complex (and more amazing). Yannis Alexakis.

[@doobzb5482]

What should we make of this information?

[@jannisalexakis6436]

It is just a detailed description.

[@doobzb5482]

@@jannisalexakis6436 yeah but what conclusions can you draw from this?

[@jannisalexakis6436]

@@doobzb5482 this species, the honeybee, in its sensory and neurvesystem uses both the gravitational and the electromagnetic field copled together. This is not the case with us humans, we have the sense of balance, the feeling of up und down, which refers to the gravitational field, und the sense of seeing which refers to the elektomagnetic field, but the two fields are not copled together in our sensory system. All I am saying are details irrelevant to to the goals of the lecture.

[@SineN0mine3]

@@jannisalexakis6436 KZbin comments are a great way to share tangential and interesting facts and stories. I certainly found your comment interesting. Even if it doesn't speak to specific topic of this lecture, its food for thought, which is why people tend to come to the comments unless they're stuck and need to ask questions. Everybody collects a little bit of very specific information in their lives that sticks with them, and you never know when an andecdote or a brief explanation will be useful or meaningful to someone out there. I find it irritating when people attack comments for being irrelevant or "pointless". The coversations had online could exist for hundreds of years and who knows, maybe your words are going to be read and pondered on by someone who isn't even born yet. Pretty much everything written on the internet comes with the caveat that it will mostly be ignored, but a comment like yours has a much better chance of being useful than another one of the hundreds saying "Thanks for the lecture, you're a great teacher!" -polite, sure but only applicable to the prof himself and useless to everyone else. Edit: PS, I don't see anybody complaining about your comment either, but I sense that there were a couple of lines written in defence of potential ones. You should never apologise for starting a conversation or trying to share knowledge!

[@carolchen2320]

I always pack for trips while listening to this series! Haha great series!!!

[@earlybird3668]

Stanford KZbin lectures, eleven years have passed. Can we upgrade the video to HD, as I can not read the board on my 4k tv, and a more current lecture series. (Over ten years one would think science knows more as time progresses.) Thank-you. I love this series of lectures.

[@mirageowl]

I payed more attention to these lectures than some of the actual classes I took this semester

[@alanswaralothman]

1:26:04 here he says that all spieces on Earth have self-awareness (except a kind of monkeys), but I remember an experiment in a previous lecture when they put a mirror infront of a fish when it start attacking itself, then they put the mirror beside it (here it thought that it's image is helping it), and finally when putting the mirror beside it with an angle (here it first thought that it's image is helping it; but then cheating on it).....I mean (my whole point is) how this fish can't recognize itself?

[@ANGEL-eh6pd]

I got dizzy watching you pace back and forth. Just learning for fun. Thank you.

[@anthonymorales842]

This particular lecture for me was the most enjoyable.

[@bryannekoehn4443]

The word you're looking for, for male deer, is Buck :) - A Canadian

[@phenosgardenupdate512]

Lol. I live like a stones throw from Canada... If I eat my Wheaties. What a great reply!

[@tonyclark7882]

Stag

[@sallyreno6296]

Hart

[@Ken19700]

For a male elk, it's bull. - A Pennsylvanian

[@user-gt3qc2oy1h]

Okay bucko

[@Sunglassfairy]

In the Netflix documentary Babies they show this study by an American psychologist who showed that babies ages 18 months or older can actually distingish between themselves and other people in that they understand that different people might prefer different kinds of food. the "broccoli and crackers experiment"

[@robertolara3820]

soy guionista, de otro campo diferente. este hombre realmente me inspira. love you man,

[@Brian.76]

A small correction and obviously 12 years late, but negative reinforcement is NOT punishment. Negative reinforcement is the removal of an aversive condition to serve as reward, such that it increases (or REINFORCES) the behavior. Punishment, be it positive (i.e. introducing an aversive condition) or negative (i.e. removing a desirable condition), seeks to decrease the frequency of behavior.

[@randomplebian461]

From pop culture, I always got the impression that scientists were these highly educated, serious, lab-coat clad, eccentric people. After this lecture, I picture a group of highly educated, serious, lab-coat clad people tickling mice, patting the rear end of hamsters and using styrofoam females to mess with horny male turkey...

[@theintellectualrabbit6828]

"Elephants communicate through vibrations in their feet." Mind blown.

[@arjitjere7951]

And crickets communicate with their wings

[@dionysianapollomarx]

Elephants are basically gigantic four-legged Earthbending Toph Beifongs with viable eyes and trunks.

[@ashrichardze9505]

When you see those travelogues about Thailand you’ll probably see performing elephants and if they’re on a city street with a lot of traffic you’ll see them dancing from foot to foot because the vibrations of the traffic are so painful.

[@paulleal6865]

Awesome Professor, I look forward to learning more.

[@MichaelJonesC-4-7]

Follow your *_curiosity._* It always leads to knowledge. 🤓

[@4philipp]

Good lecture. I’m pleased that these methods match my ideas of approach. We’ll see how the rest goes

[@idaearl6715]

Thank you for sharing this lecture. It has changed how I operate in my life.

[@Fuzorz]

This is fantastic information, as always with this guy

[@SilverstoneTrace]

Omg that BRAIN... 😍

[@fionafiona1146]

The hair is fine too.

[@pamlemm903]

There's a certain type of fish that uses coal to break open clams(?) Or something like that. It's that an example of tool use? It's a coral, whose use of bodily structure of coral (none?) is modified by this fish to be used as a breaking rock to increase access to its food.

[@roobookaroo]

THE INCREDIBLY LEARNED PROFESSOR SAPOLSKY No doubt, our good professor's favorite adjective is INCREDIBLE, closely followed by EXTREME, and distant others, such as COMPLEX, DIFFICULT, etc. INCREDIBLY COMPLEX is a wonderful description of behavior biology. Our own description is... INCREDIBLY FASCINATING!

[@MassimilianoKraus]

Why they didn't suppress the coughing person from day 1? It's such a cruel thing to let an animal struggle and suffer for so long...

[@danielsayre3385]

wish I could get some basic cerification for completing this series. Like a set of quizzes & resources for $200, with a little mailed "6/mo Certification: Behavioral Bio - Stanford"

[@kareemullah5187]

Notes of this series was shared by someone in comment section which I lost, kindly post the link again to download it

[@3dgar7eandro]

This guy would never be bold despite being smart 🤩👏👌 Biology is so awesome

[@LimeyLassen]

This is why I have a bone to pick with the "Mouse Utopia" experiment. It's more ideology than science.

[@SpikeArach]

Great lecture! Really helpful, he's an example for instructors.

[@thomasmaddox5638]

Brilliant, enjoy it so much! What an amazing profession!

[@dietlindvonhohenwald448]

I love this guy and these lectures

[@donthasslethahoff]

Recognising ones reflection in the mirror does not demonstrate self awareness. Rather, it demonstrates an understanding of reflection and an awareness that the image is NOT yourself but a representation of yourself. All animals have self awareness but not all have an understanding of higher order representation.

[@awhodothey]

There are different degrees of self-awareness. The mirror test is a basic delineation of the degree of abstract self representation of which an organism is capable of. There is an assumption that basic abstraction is necessary for self identity. I wonder if their is a similar test for sound? Can the same animals recognize an echo? Or the ability to recognize a smell left behind?

[@LimeyLassen]

There's also a possibility that they can recognize their reflection but simply don't care.

[@rhetoricmonkey]

I may be mistaken, but I think that Skinner's science is still going strong. He and the behavioral science from his approach are being as misrepresented as ever, but it's a science and as such it can only be improved or replaced by something more accurate. Skinner showed us how behavior is selected, conditioned, and or otherwise controlled by environment. Advertising, autism, and videogames all employ tools that are a result of what Skinner discovered. Thinking based on illusion is thinking.

[@arjitjere7951]

Yes but it doesn't underpin all of behavior ,is what sapolsky rightly says. Don't understand the low blows on Lorenz tho

[@paullasky6865]

The Sally-Anne experiment blew my brain

[@Dondlo46]

This is the most interesting lecture i've watched so far

[@brianmaislin3939]

Sapolsky!!!!!!!

[@SilverstoneTrace]

Brian Maislin 🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@NoWay1969]

This makes me wonder if consciousness itself is an illusion. If animals do all these things instinctively doesn't it make it possible that we are just doing everything by instinct and only imagine that there is more to it?

[@NoWay1969]

The video doesn't explicitly make the point. Just my own mental wanderings. This is part of 25 hours of Stanford lectures by this guy. It makes for interesting background noise while doing something else. Sapolsky is worth checking out though. Fascinating stuff.

[@KetsaKunta]

Instincts are unlearned and fixed behaviors across an entire species, keep in mind I haven't fully watched these lectures yet but I'm willing to talk about why I think it's not an illusion. For starters humans create amazing feats of engineering and technology and we are able to comprehend and create abstract ideas from representational images like on smartphones. You could say that we have an instinct to think in a low resolution capacity thus making it easier to comprehend machines like computers but I seriously doubt that it can be claimed that it is instinct to build a shelter rather than to just hide in a naturally formed shelter. From what I've gathered, the only real instinct humans have is right after birth, when the baby cries and reaches for the mother's breast. Let me know what you think.

[@KetsaKunta]

Just realized im four years late

[@LimeyLassen]

I'd bring up the point from earlier lectures - the relationship between the more advanced and primitive parts of the brain is a two-way conversation. Consciousness doesn't have total control, but instincts and conditioning don't either.

[@musical_lolu4811]

What about causality? Is it an illusion, contra The Matrix movie?

[@smokinblu81]

JFI Sauce Bernaise, is one of the 4 claissic butter based sauces which are derived from Olandese saucewhich requires, a white whine, vinegar, black pepper, shallot reduction, which is wisked with egg yol and then emulsion with clarified butter. its usually seasoned with a bit of lemon juice, worchester sauce, and salt. that is the Olandeise, Bernaise is olandaise with chopped pickled tarragon, Foyot is olandaise with meat glaze and Chorono is Olandaise with tomato sauce

[@gg4y]

i d love to have him as a mentor to discuss a gazillion of questions. wow

[@grunder20]

Very intellectual man.

[@Coeurebene1]

sauce béarnaise is really good ;)

[@donnierobinson1273]

Love this Professor!

[@nicholeflaherty6402]

I love him, he has a great vibe

[@JurijFedorov]

Will Stanford give him an electricity shock if he stops talking?

[@garret1930]

@@BurningAt420 yours aren't?

[@BurningAt420]

@@garret1930 not where sapulski's mic is. Are yours?

[@garret1930]

@@BurningAt420 aren't they supposed to be on top of your clavicle?

[@dank6617]

@@BurningAt420 he was conditioned to have it that high!

[@kul000]

the slots didnt freak out when they were on top of glass because sloths are so lazy they dont care to freak out

[@rawbebaba]

This guy looks and sounds almost identical to my uncle Paul, who was a very smart and cool guy. Weird. One smart guy got a job at Stanford, the other traveled around the globe taking fishing boats to go backpack across the country then work at a deli just because he liked it lol

[@chrischristophe8081]

His teachings are enjoyable.

[@alexedgar6539]

Animal self awareness. Somewhere on KZbin there is a cat discovering her ears in a mirror.