Animal Behavior

Question 1

Ethology:

Answer 1

the study of animal behaviors, which
are inherited (innate), or learned.

Question 2

Instincts:

Answer 2

innate behaviors that occur without thought. eg: birds undergoing migration in response to seasonal changes.

Question 3

Reflexes

Answer 3

are involuntary rapid responses to a
stimulus. Reflex arcs are controlled by a neural circuit. There are 2 types: simple reflexes and complex reflexes

Question 4

Simple reflexes

Answer 4

are most rapid. An
afferent sensory neuron travels from
stimulus to central nervous system and
synapses on efferent motor neurons, which travel from central nervous system to muscle.

Question 5

Complex reflexes

Answer 5

are slower because
peripheral nerves are separated by an
interneuron.

Question 6

Fixed Action Patterns

Answer 6

• are hardwired actions
  initiated by a specific stimulus (releaser or sign stimuli) and are considered the simplest form of
  an instinct.
• Once initiated, they will continue to completion even if the stimulus is removed during
  the behavior.
• Leads to predictable and appropriate behaviors that do not need to be learned.

Question 7

Imprinting:

Answer 7

an innate way that animals learn behaviors that will never be forgotten. Occurs during the critical period or critical imprinting
stage

Question 8

Learned behaviors

Answer 8

increase an animal’s fitness, allowing it to adapt to unexpected events.

Question 9

Classical conditioning:

Answer 9

pairing a neutral
stimulus (elicits no physiological response) to an
unconditioned stimulus (naturally elicits a physiological response - unconditioned
response). This conditions the unconditioned
response to be mentally paired with a neutral stimulus (becomes a conditioned stimulus) resulting in a conditioned response.

Question 10

Stimulus generalization:

Answer 10

a conditioned
animal responds to stimuli not identical to the original conditioned stimulus. The more a stimulus differs from the original conditioned
stimulus, the smaller the conditioned
response (stimulus generalization
gradient).

Question 11

Stimulus discrimination:

Answer 11

differentiation
between a conditioned stimulus and other similar, but different, non-conditioned stimuli.

Question 12

Operant conditioning:

Answer 12

learning to associate a behavior with a reward (increases behavior) or a
punishment (decreases behavior).

Question 13

positive punishment

Answer 13

add something bad to decrease behavior

Question 14

positive reinforcement

Answer 14

adds something good to increase the behavior

Question 15

negative punishment

Answer 15

take away something good decrease behavior

Question 16

negative reinforcement

Answer 16

takeaway something bad to increase a behavior

Question 17

Associative Learning:

Answer 17

learning that two things are connected to each other. Increases stimulus
response efficiency. Can be forgotten (extinction) or remembered via re-association (recovery)

Question 18

Spatial learning:

Answer 18

associating a response with a specific location.

Question 19

Spontaneous recovery

Answer 19

occurs when a
stimulus is absent for a period of time and
reintroduced, allowing the behavior to occur.

Question 20

Observational learning:

Answer 20

learning by watching another animal perform the same behavior.The animal learns without
reinforcement and increases efficiency.

Question 21

Insight:

Answer 21

learning in a new situation. No
reinforcement required.

Question 22

Non-associative Learning

Answer 22

occurs when you are
not associating a stimulus with a behavior. There
are two types: Sensitization and habituation

Question 23

sensitization

Answer 23

as stimulus occurs more often, behavioral response increases

Question 24

habituation

Answer 24

decreasing behavioral response to repetitive, meaningless stimulus

Question 25

Kinesis:

Answer 25

changing speed in random directions -
no target (Favorable environment reduce
speed; Unfavorable environment increase
speed). eg: flatworm escaping when exposed to light.

Question 26

Taxis:

Answer 26

movement with a specific direction,
towards (positive taxis) or away (negative taxis)
from a stimulus. Light stimulus = phototaxis;
chemical stimulus = chemotaxis.

Question 27

Migration:

Answer 27

long-distance movement from one
area to another due to instinct, often seasonal.

Question 28

communication

Answer 28

allows coordination of social behaviors with other animals (finding shelter, food mates, and avoiding predation)

Question 29

Visual:

Answer 29

associated with aggressive (eg: wolves baring teeth) and submissive behaviors (eg: wolves lowering tail). Another example is
courtship/mating rituals.

Question 30

Auditory:

Answer 30

communication via sounds. Beneficial at night and over long distances.

Question 31

Tactile:

Answer 31

communication via touch (eg: wolves
greeting by licking muzzles).

Question 32

Chemical:

Answer 32

communication via chemicals. Releaser pheromones (immediate, reversible behaviors) and primer pheromones (long term behaviors).

Question 33

Social Behavior

Answer 33

Allows interaction for companionship, finding food, protection, and mating.

Question 34

Cooperation:

Answer 34

grouping together to better achieve a goal (eg: coordinated hunting).

Question 35

Agonistic behaviors:

Answer 35

competing for food,
territory, or mates. Include: threats, aggression (often detrimental to both parties), and submission.

Question 36

Appeasement behavior

Answer 36

(a threat by one animal causes another animal’s
submission) avoids aggression (prevents injuries).

Question 37

Dominance Hierarchy

Answer 37

pecking order.

Question 38

Alpha male

Answer 38

top ranked male.

Question 39

Territoriality:

Answer 39

behaviors used to protect an animal’s territory or safe space (eg: employing
watchers and defenders and using pheromones
to scare off others).

Question 40

Search images:

Answer 40

abbreviating what food looks like to quickly locate abundant and safe food without
much thought.

Question 41

Altruistic behaviors:

Answer 41

sacrifices made for
relatives.

Question 42

Inclusive fitness

Answer 42

sum of animal’s direct
(genes animal passes on) and indirect (genes passed on by relatives) fitness. Increased by
indirect fitness (kin selection).

Question 43

Reciprocal altruism:

Answer 43

sacrifices made for
other organisms in anticipation of a future reward (‘I help your family, you later help
mine’).

Question 44

Sexual selection:

Answer 44

selection: how males and females differ
in mating behavior to maximize fitness.

Question 45

Females contribution

Answer 45

contribute a lot of energy in mating
(maximize fitness with focus on high quality mates and offspring), while males contribute
little energy (maximize fitness with focus on
quantity of offspring).

Question 46

Female choice

Answer 46

increases attractive traits in males.

Question 47

Male competition

Answer 47

rewards strongest males with more mating opportunities.

Question 48

Sexual dimorphism:

Answer 48

males and females of
same species look different (eg. males larger than females).

Question 49

Monogamy

Answer 49

one mating partner at once.

Question 50

Polygamy

Answer 50

multiple partners at once.

Question 51

Polygyny

Answer 51

one male multiple females.

Question 52

Polyandry

Answer 52

one female multiple males.

Question 53

Semelparity

Answer 53

mate once in lifetime (multiple
offspring, low survival, harsh conditions, no
parental care).

Question 54

Iteroparity

Answer 54

mate many times in lifetime
(one offspring, high survival, dependable
environment, parental care).