51 Flashcards

1
Q

behavioral ecology

A

studies how animal behavior is controlled and how it develops, evolves, and contributes to survival and reproductive success

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2
Q

the questions that can be posed about any behaivor can be divided generally into two classes: those that focus on __ and those that __

A

immediate stimulus and mechanism for the behavior;

explore how the behavior contributes to survival and reproduction

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3
Q

behavioral traits are part of an animal’s __

A

phenotype

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4
Q

most of what we call behavior is __

A

the visible result of an animal’s muscular activity

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5
Q

we can think of behavior as

A

everything an animal does and how it does it

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6
Q

when we observe a certain behavior, we may ask both __ and __ questions

A

proximate and ultimate

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7
Q

proximate questions focus on

A

the environmental stimuli, if any, that trigger a behavior, as well as the genetic, physiological, and anatomical mechanisms underlying a behavioral act

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8
Q

ultimate questions address

A

the evolutionary significance of a behavior

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9
Q

how are proximate and ultimate questions conneted

A

proximate mechanisms produce behaviors that have evolved b/c they reflect fitness in some partiulcar way

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10
Q

ethology

A

scientific study of how animals behave, particulary in their natural environments

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11
Q

tinbergen’s 4 questions

A
  1. what is the mechanistic basis of the behavior, including chemical, anatomical, and physiological mechanisms?
  2. how does development of the animal, from zygote to mature individual, influence the behavior?
  3. what’s the evolutionary history of the behavior?
  4. how does the behavior contribute to survival and reproduction (fitness)?
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12
Q

fixed action pattern (FAP)

A

a sequence of unlearned behavioral acts that’s essential unchangeable and, once initiated, is usually carried to completion

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13
Q

FAP is triggered by __ __ __ known as __ __

A

external sensory stimulus known as a sign stimulus

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14
Q

imprinting is a type of behavior that

A

includes both learning and innate components and is generally irreversible

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15
Q

imprinting is distinguished from other types of learning by having a

A

sensitive period, a limited phase in an animal’s development that is the only time when certain behaviors can be learned

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16
Q

the tendency to respond is __; __ provides the __

A

innate; outside world; imprinting stimulus

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17
Q

imprinting stimulus

A

something to which the response will be directed

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18
Q

innate behavior

A

developmentally fixed behavior – nearly all individuals in the population exhibit virtually the same behavior, despite internal and external environmental differences during development and throughout life

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19
Q

directed movements

A

we refer to them as such because of the clear role of genes in the control of these movements

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20
Q

kinesis

A

a simple change in an activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus

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21
Q

taxis

A

more or less automatic, oriented movement toward (positive taxis) or away from (negative taxis) some stimulus

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22
Q

kinesis vs taxis

A

kinesis: non-directional

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23
Q

much of the social interaction btwn animals involves

A

transmitting info thru specialized behaviors called signals (aka displays)

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24
Q

signal

A

behavior that causes a change in another animal’s behavior

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25
Q

__, __, __ constitute animal communication

A

the transmission of, reception of, and response to signals

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26
Q

many signals are very efficient in

A

energy costs

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27
Q

animals communicate using __, __, __, __, and __ signals

A
visual
auditory
chemical (olfactory)
tactile
electrical
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28
Q

pheromones

A

chemical substances emitted by many animals that communicate thru odors

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29
Q

in most cases, both the proudction of pheromones and animal responses to them are

A

controlled genetically

30
Q

pheromones are espeiclaly common among __ and __ and often relate to __

A

mammals and insects and often relate to reproductive behavior

31
Q

env. factors such as (3) can influence the development of behaviors in eevery group of animals

A

quality of the diet, nature of social interactions, opportunities for learning

32
Q

learning

A

the modification of behavior based on specific experiences

33
Q

habituation

A

loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no information

34
Q

in terms of ultimate causation, habituation may

A

increase fitness by allowing an animal’s nervous system to focus on stimuli that signal the presence of food, mates, or real danger instead of wasting time/energy on a vast number of other stimuli that are irrelelvant to the animal’s survival and reproduction

35
Q

spatial learning

A

modification of behavior based on experience w/ the spatial structure of the environment, including the locations of nest sites, hazards, food, and prospective mates

36
Q

for spatial learning to be a reliable way to navigate thru the environment,

A

the landmarks used must be stable (within the time frame of a particular activitiy)

37
Q

cognitive map

A

internal representation, or code, of the spatial relationships btwn objects in an animal’s surroundings

38
Q

cognitive maps benefit the organism by

A

reducing the amount of detail that must be remembered to relate an object

39
Q

associative learning

A

the ability of many animals to associate one feature of the environment (a stimulus, such as color) with another (bad taste)

40
Q

classical conditioning

A

a type of associative learning, in which an arbitrary stimulus is associated with a reward or punishment

41
Q

operant conditioning

A

type of associative learning, also called trial-and-error learning. an animal learns to associate one of its own behaviors w/ a reward or punishment and then tends to repeat or avoid that behavior

42
Q

the study of cognition connects __ with __

A

behavior w/ nervous system function

43
Q

cognition

A

the ability of an animal’s nervous system to perceive, store, process, and use info gathered by sensory receptors

44
Q

cognitive ethology

A

study of animal recognition. examines connection btwn animal’s nervous system and its behavior

45
Q

one area of research in cognitive ethology investigates how __. researches have discovered that many animals are capable of categorizing objects according to concepts such as __ and __

A

an animal’s brain represents objects in the environment;

“same” and “different”

46
Q

b/c of the influence of genes on behavior, natural selection can result in __. one of the primary sources of evidence for this evolution is __

A

evolution of behavioral traits in populations.

behavioral variation btwn and within species

47
Q

when behavioral variation ___, it may be evidence of past evolution

A

within a species corresponds to variation in environmental conditions

48
Q

2 of the most direct ways a behavior can affect fitness are thru its influences on __ and__

A

foraging, mate choice behavior

49
Q

optimal foraging theory views foraging behavior as

A

a compromise btwn the benefits of nutrition and costs of obtaining food

50
Q

mating behavior includes (3)

A

seeking/attracting mates, choosing among potential mates, competing for mates

51
Q

mating behavior is product of

A

a form of natural selection called sexual behavior

52
Q

promiscuous mating

A

no storng pair-bonds or lasting relationships

53
Q

polygyny

A

one male, many females

54
Q

polyandry

A

single female mates w/ several males

55
Q

among monogamous species, M and F are often

A

so much alike morphologically that they may be difficult/impossible to distinguish based on external chracteristics

56
Q

polygynous and polyandrous species are

A

dimorphic

57
Q

degree of sexual dimorphism within a species results from

A

sexual selection, a form of natural selection in which differences in reproductive success among individuals are a consequence of differences in mating success

58
Q

intersexual selection

A

mmembers of 1 sex choose mates on the basis of particular characteristics of the other sex (ex: courtship songs)

59
Q

intrasexual selection

A

invovles competition among members of 1 sex for mates

60
Q

agnostic behavior

A

often ritualized contest that determines which competititor gains access to a resourcd

61
Q

game theory

A

evaluates alternative strategies in situations where the outcome depends not only on each individual’s strategy but also on the strategies of other individuals

62
Q

inclusive fitness

A

total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing its own offspring and by providing aid that enables other close relatives, who share many of those genes, to reproduce

63
Q

kin selection

A

natural selection that favors altruistic behavior by enhancing reproductive success of relatives

64
Q

reciprocal altruism

A

aided individual returns the favor in the future. this sort of exchange of aid is commonly invoked to explain altruism btwn unrelated humans

65
Q

reciprocal altruism is limited largely to species

A

with social groups stable enough that individulas have many chances to exchange aid

66
Q

reciprocal altruism is generally thought to be most likely where

A

individuals are likely to meet again and where there’d be negative consequences associated w/ not returning favors

67
Q

social learning

A

learning thru observing others

68
Q

culture

A

system of info transfer thru social learning or teaching that influences the behavior of individuals in a population

69
Q

cultural transfer of info has the potential to

A

alter behavioral phenotypes and, in turn, to influence the fitness of individuals

70
Q

culturally based changes in the phenotype occur on a ___ time scale than changes resulting from __

A

much shoter; natural selection

71
Q

mate choice copying

A

individuals in population copy the mate choice of others