Adaptation

Question 1

define species

Answer 1

population of individuals that interbreed successfully

respond to gradually changing environmental conditions over long periods of time to ensure species survival

Question 2

describe the natural selection of moths

Answer 2

19th century
increased industrialisation - trees darken in colour
moths that were darker were better camouflaged and less likely to be identified by predators
survive and reproduce

Question 3

what are fixed action patterns?

Answer 3

invariant actions
elicited by specific stimulus or condition
will not vary between occurances

Question 4

describe eibl-eibesfeldt 1970 spiders

Answer 4

hunting spiders
cocoon building behaviours
6400 specific movements to build a cocoon
continue even when half destroyed or silk glands are damaged
sequence coded in genes

Question 5

describe nico tinbergen 1950s

Answer 5

black headed seagulls remove broken shell from nest to avoid attracting predators
egg shells indicate prey

Question 6

describe ester cullen 1957

Answer 6

kittiwake live away from predators in cliffs and dont have egg shell removing behaviour shown by gulls in nico tinbergen

Question 7

describe eibl eibsfeldt universal human expressions

Answer 7

smiling universal expression of happiness
eyebrow flash stereotypical in greetings
independent from differences in cultures or experienecs

presents friendliness, socialness

Question 8

modulation of behaviours

Answer 8

all vertibrates and invertibrates do this

habituate to repeated stimuli - weaken responses or cause no resoponse

Question 9

describe marlin and miller 1981

Answer 9

habituation/modulation of behaviours:
exposed rats to sudden bursts of noise producing an innate startled response
repeting attenuates the response

Question 10

define habituation

Answer 10

developing a weakened response to frequent stimuli

Question 11

define sensitisation

Answer 11

developing a stronger response to frequent stimuli - may be aversive or novel

Question 12

define dishabituation

Answer 12

if stimulus stops occuring/is replaced by a different stimulus - stimulus becomes unfamiliar again

Question 13

what does dishabituation tell us about stimuli

Answer 13

we can learn about and discriminate between different stimuli

Question 14

what are the advantages of habituation

Answer 14

prevent wasting energy and time on stimuli which are of no threat

Question 15

what are the advantages of dishabituation?

Answer 15

innate behaviours have a strong evolutionary footprint
help avoid predators
flexibly reinstate response to stimulus when necessary

Question 16

what is the advantage of being able to flexibly move between habituation and dishabituation of a stimulus

Answer 16

allows animals to cope with a constantly changing environment

Question 17

what are the limitations to adaptation

Answer 17

it is not beneficial in terms of abrupt changes
is a long process
only evolution