Question

warm up
the image below depicts a mother graylag goose retrieving an egg. if an egg rolls from the nest she will reach toward the egg and perform a \chin - tuck\ movement to roll the egg back. experiments have shown that if anything is placed near the nest that looks like an egg (i.e., golf ball) the mother will go through each step over and over to retrieve the \egg.\

1. what is this type of behavior known as?
2. is this behavior innate or learned?
3. what served as the sign stimulus for this behavior?

Explanation:

1. Fixed - action pattern is an innate, stereotyped behavior sequence triggered by a specific sign stimulus. The goose's egg - retrieval behavior is a classic example.
2. Innate behaviors are genetically programmed and do not require learning. The goose's behavior is innate as it is performed without prior experience.
3. The sign stimulus is the object that triggers the fixed - action pattern. Here, the egg (or an object resembling an egg) is the sign stimulus.

Answer:

1. Fixed - action pattern
2. Innate
3. The egg (or an object that looks like an egg)