Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Biology > Animal Behavior > Flashcards

Animal Behavior Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What is behavior?

A

It is what an animal does and how it does it - usually in response to stimuli in its environment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is behavioral ecology?

A

It is the study of behavior in natural environments from an evolutionary perspective

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is direct fitness?

A

An individual’s reproductive success

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is innate behavior?

A

An instinct or behavior that is genetically programmed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is learned behavior?

A

Behavior that has been modified in response to environmental experience

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are proximate causes, and some examples?

A

They are immediate causes of behavior, such as genetic, developmental, and physiological processes that permit the animal to carry out a specific behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What type of questions do proximate causes answer?

A

HOW questions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are ultimate causes?

A

They are the evolutionary explanations for a certain behavior occurring.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What type of questions do ultimate causes answer?

A

WHY questions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is the cost-benefit analysis?

A

A determination of whether a behavior is adaptive. Basically if the benefits outweigh the costs, the behavior is adaptive.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

How does maturation deal with animal behavior?

A

An organism must be mature - physiologically ready to produce a given behavior - before it can perform that pattern of behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is a behavioral pattern?

A

It is an automatic behavior that, once activated by a sensory stimulus, continues to completion regardless of sensory feedback

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is learning?

A

It is a change of behavior that results from experience

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is habituation?

A

It is a type of learning in which an animal learns to ignore repeated, irrelevant stimulus so it can focus on finding food and carrying out other life activities

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is imprinting?

A

It establishes a parent-offspring bond during a critical period early in development

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What is classical conditioning?

A

It is an association formed between some normal body function and a new stimulus.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What does classical conditioning allow an animal to do?

A

It allows an animal to make an association between two stimuli

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A

It is when an animal learns a behavior in order to receive positive reinforcement or to avoid punishment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Why is operant conditioning important?

A

It is important in many situations because, for example, young herring gulls perfect their pecking behavior in order to obtain food

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is cognition?

A

It is the process of gaining knowledge, including thinking, process information, learning, reasoning, and awareness of thoughts, perceptions, and self

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is insight learning?

A

It is the ability to adapt past experiences to solve a new problem that may involve different stimuli

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What are some examples of biological rhythms?

A
  • circadian (daily)
  • diurnal (active during day)
  • nocturnal (active during night)
  • crepuscular (active during dawn or dusk)
  • lunar (active during phases of the moon)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What physiological mechanisms are the cause of biological rhythms?

A

Many biological clocks are regulated by internal timing mechanisms that serve as biological clocks

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What is migration?

A

It is periodic long-distance travel from one location to another

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What are the proximate causes of migration?

A

physiological responses that are triggered by environmental changes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

What are the ultimate causes of migration?

A

the benefit of moving away from an area that seasonally becomes too cold, dry, or depleted of food to a more hospitable area

27
Q

What are the costs of migration?

A

time, energy, and greater risk of predation

28
Q

What is directional orientation?

A

It is travel in a specific direction and requires a sense of direction

29
Q

What is optimal foraging?

A

It is the most efficient strategy for an animal to get food

30
Q

How is optimal foraging adaptive?

A

It can enhance the reproductive success

31
Q

What is social behavior?

A

It is the interaction of two or more animals, usually of the same species

32
Q

What is a society?

A

It is an actively cooperating group of individuals belonging to the same species and often closely related

33
Q

What are the benefits of social behavior?

A
  • cooperative foraging or hunting

- defense from predators

34
Q

What are the costs of social behavior?

A
  • increased competition for food and habitats
  • increased risks of attracting predators
  • transmitting diseases
35
Q

What are common modes of communication?

A

exchange of mutually recognizable signs

36
Q

What are pheromones?

A

They are chemical signals that convey information between members of a species

37
Q

What is a dominance hierarchy?

A

It is a ranking of status within a group in which more dominant members are accorded benefits by subordinates, often without overt aggressive behavior

38
Q

What is a home range?

A

It is a geographic area that they seldom leave but do not necessarily defend

39
Q

What is a territory?

A

A defended area within a home range

40
Q

What is territoriality?

A

defensive behavior

41
Q

What are the costs of territoriality?

A
  • time and energy expended in staking out and defending a territory
  • risks in fighting for it
42
Q

What are the benefits of territoriality?

A
  • rights to food in the territory

- reduction in conflict among members

43
Q

What is sexual selection?

A

It is a type of natural selection that occurs when individuals vary in their ability to compete for mates

44
Q

What is intersexual selection?

A

It is when animals of the same sex actively compete for mates

45
Q

Give an example of intersexual selection?

A

Females may choose their mates based on dominance, gifts, ornaments, or courtship displays. Males of some species gather in a lek.

46
Q

What is a lek?

A

It is a small display area where they compete for females

47
Q

What are courtship rituals?

A

Its rituals that ensure that the male is a member of the same species and permit the female to assess the quality of the male

48
Q

Sexual selection favors?

A

Polygyny

49
Q

What is polygyny?

A

It is a mating system in which a male mates with many females

50
Q

What are other types of mating systems?

A
  • polyandry

- monogamy

51
Q

What is polyandry?

A

It is when a female mates with many males

52
Q

What is monogamy?

A

It is the mating system of mating with a single partner during a breeding season

53
Q

What is mate guarding?

A

It is when males prevent other males from fertilizing a female’s eggs, especially when she’s most fertile

54
Q

What is a pair bond?

A

It is a stable relationship between a male and a female that may involve cooperative behavior in mating and in rearing the young

55
Q

What is parental investment?

A

In care of eggs and offspring, it increases the probability that offspring will survive

56
Q

What is altruism?

A

It is a type of cooperative behavior in which one individual appears to behave in a way that benefits others rather than itself

57
Q

What is inclusive fitness?

A

It is the sum of an individual’s direct fitness and indirect fitness (number of offspring of kin)

58
Q

What is kin selection?

A

It is a type of natural selection that increases inclusive fitness through successful reproduction of close relatives

59
Q

Relate the concepts of inclusive fitness to altruism.

A
  • inclusive fitness suggests that natural selection favors animals that help a relative because this is an indirect way to perpetuate some of the helper’s own alleles
  • hamilton’s rule: an altruistic act is adaptive if its indirect fitness benefits are high for the animals that are helped, if the recipients are close relatives of the altruist, an if the direct fitness cost to the altruist is low
60
Q

Relate kin selection to altruism

A
  • in kin selection, some types of cooperative behavior may increase the direct fitness of the helper
  • in reciprocal altruism, the helper does not immediately benefit but it is helped later by the animal it helped
61
Q

What is culture?

A

Learned behavior common to a population that is transmitted from one generation to the next

62
Q

What is sociobiology?

A

It focuses on the evolution of social behavior through natural selection

63
Q

Contrast vertebrae and social insects.

A
  • vertebrae societies are more flexible and the role of the individual is less narrowly defined than insect societies
  • birds and mammals develop culture which are important in human societies
64
Q

Example of transmission of culture?

A

Orcas have local dialects that are passed from parent to offspring

Biology (7 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions