Behavior can be understood as the coordinated activity of a living organism, expressed in actions or responses that are observable in relation to internal states and environmental conditions.
What the literature says
In psychology, biology, and philosophy, the term “behavior” has been defined in a variety of ways. Each definition in the literature emphasizes a distinct aspect of the actions of living things. Uher (2016) defined behavior as exterior changes or actions of organisms functionally mediated by current environmental circumstances. Ossorio (1995) highlighted that behavior differs from the acts of machines or objects in that it represents the activity of living things
Levitis et al. (2009) noted that behavior includes internally coordinated reactions of whole organisms to internal or external stimuli except for solely developmental changes.
Tinbergen (1951) captured the simply defining behavior as “the total of movements made by the intact animal,” whereas later scholars broadened this to “anything an organism does” (Davis, 1966; Lehner, 1996). Others, such as Jessor (1958) and Maturana (1995), stressed the relational nature of behavior, viewing it as an ongoing interaction between the organism and its environment. Finally, Dretske (1988) emphasized the role of inner processes in producing external actions.
References
Davis, D. E. (1966). Integral animal behavior. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Dretske, F. (1988). Explaining behavior: Reasons in a world of causes. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Jessor, R. (1958). The problem of reductionism in psychology. Psychological Review, 65, 170-178.
Lehner, P. N. (1996). Handbook of ethological methods (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Levitis, D. A., Lidicker Jr, W. Z., & Freund, G. (2009). Behavioural biologists do not agree on what constitutes behaviour. Animal behaviour, 78(1), 103-110.
Maturana, H. R. (1995). Biology of self-consciousness. In G. Tratteur (Ed.). Consciousness: Distinction and reflection (pp. 145-175). Naples: Bibliopolis.
Ossorio, P. G. (1995). The Collected Works of Peter G. Ossorio. Descriptive Psychology Press.
Tinbergen, N. (1951). The study of instinct. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Uher, J. (2016). What is behaviour? And (when) is language behaviour? A metatheoretical definition. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 46(4), 475-501.