Learning involves the acquisition or modification of behavior, which results from experience. Learned behaviors typically involve some type of choice and a cost-benefit analysis associated with that choice. Now, spatial learning is a special type of learning that establishes a spatial memory of the organism's environment, sometimes referred to as a cognitive map—a mental representation of spatial information that usually involves the relative space between objects. An excellent example of spatial learning can be seen in a water maze. Here, you place a mouse in the maze, give it a landmark, and include a hidden platform in the water. Initially, the mouse swims around until it locates the platform. However, once it learns the platform's location relative to the visual landmark, it will swim directly to the platform the next time, thanks to its spatial memory or its cognitive map.
Another special type of learning is imprinting, a time in an animal's life when it learns the characteristics of a stimulus. Often, this is seen as a child imprinting on its parent, learning the stimuli—appearance, smell, sound—associated with that parent. This usually only occurs during what is known as a sensitive period, typically at a very young age for the organism. The result is that the child recognizes its parent by certain stimuli. For example, ducklings will follow the mother duck because they have imprinted on her. However, imprinting sometimes occurs in unexpected ways, such as ducklings imprinting on humans or even inanimate objects, which demonstrates this system's potential to malfunction.
Communication involves the transmission and reception of signals between animals and can involve various kinds of signals, not limited to chemical ones. Examples include visual, auditory, and olfactory signals like smells. One fascinating aspect of animal communication is the stimulus-response chain, evident in fruit fly courtship behavior. Each signal sent by an organism serves as the stimulus for the next response by the other organism, culminating in behaviors such as mating.
It's important to note that not all communication is direct or honest. Some communications are intentionally deceitful, aimed at misleading another organism. An example is possums playing dead—a deceitful form of communication. However, deceitful communication tends to be most effective within a species rather than between different species. This phenomenon can be seen in various humorous aspects of animal behavior, notably in certain mating behaviors. For instance, some males may appear tough and dominant to ward off competition, while others may adopt deceptive strategies, such as mimicking female traits to approach a potential mate without being noticed by the dominant male.
All right. With that, let's go ahead and flip the page.