Animal Behavior Flashcards
Kinesis
Seemingly random change in speed of a movement on response to a stimulus
An organism slows down in an environment it enjoys and speeds up in an environment it dislikes
Inclusive Fitness
Overall ability of individuals to pass their genes on to the next generation
Optimal Foraging
Natural selection favors animals that choose foraging strategies that take into account costs and benefits
Territoriality
Defense of territory to keep others out
Foraging
Feeding behavior of an individual
Animals have a search image that directs them to food
Coefficient of Relatedness
Statistic that represents the average proportion of genes that two indiduals have in common
Siblings have a coefficient of 0,5 since they share 50% of their genes
Dominance Hierarchy
Ranking of power among the members of a group
Reciprocal Altruism
Animals behave altruistically toward others that are not relatives, hoping that the favor will be returned sometime in the near future
Altruistic Behavior
Behavior by which an organism does something to help another, even if it comes at its own expense
Agnonistic Behavior
Behavior that results from conflicts over resources
Often involves intimidation and submission
Frequently involves food, mats and territory
Rarely results in injury because most agonistic interactions are just displays.
Associative Learning
Process by which animals take one stimulus and associate it with another
Fixed Action Pattern
Innate, preprogrammed response to a stimulus
Once this action has begun, it will not stop until it has run its course
Example: Male Stickleback fish are programmed to attack any red-bellied fish they see.
Habituation
Loss of responsiveness to unimportant stimuli through repeated exposure
Imprinting
Innate behavior that is learned during a critical period early in life
Insight Learning
Ability to do something right the first time with no prior experience
