Animal Behavior

Question 1

Reflexes

Answer 1

automatic responses to simple stimuli and are recognized as reliable behavioral responses following a given environmental stimulus

Question 2

Simple Reflex

Answer 2

• controlled at the spinal cord, connecting a two-neuron pathway from the receptor (afferent neuron) to the motor neuron
• sensory neuron > interneuron > motor neuron

Question 3

Efferent Nerve

Answer 3

innervates the effector

Question 4

startle response

Answer 4

• alerts an animal to a significant stimulus
• can occur in response to potential danger or to hearing one’s name called
• involves the integration of many neurons in a system termed the reticular activating system

Question 5

reticular activating system

Answer 5

responsible for sleep-wake transitions and behavioral motivation

Question 6

releaser

Answer 6

the stimulus that elicits the behavior

Question 7

Circadian rhythms

Answer 7

• daily cycles of behavior

- can lose their exact 24hr periodicity if they are isolated from the natural phases of light and dark

Question 8

habituation

Answer 8

repeated stimulation results in decreased responsiveness to that stimulus

Question 9

Spontaneous Recovery

Answer 9

if the stimulus is no longer regularly applied, the response tends to recover over time

Question 10

Classical/Pavlovian Conditioning

Answer 10

involves the association of a normally autonomic or visceral response with an environmental stimulus

Question 11

Neutral Stimulus

Answer 11

a stimulus that will not by itself elicit the response

Question 12

Conditioned Stimulus

Answer 12

when the neutral stimulus is able to elicit the response in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus

Question 13

Conditioned Reflex

Answer 13

the product of the conditioning experience

Question 14

Conditioning

Answer 14

the establishment of a new reflex by the addition of a new , previously neutral stimulus to the set of stimuli that are already capable of triggering the response

Question 15

Pseudoconditioning

Answer 15

a phenomenon that can be confused with true classical conditioning

Question 16

Operant/Instrumental Conditioning

Answer 16

involves conditioning responses to stimuli with the use of reward or reinforcement

Question 17

Positive Reinforcement/Reward

Answer 17

includes providing, food, light, or electrical stimulation of the animal’s brain “pleasure centers”

Question 18

Negative Reinforcement

Answer 18

involves stimulating the brain’s pleasure centers

Question 19

Punishment

Answer 19

involves conditioning an organism so that it will stop exhibiting a given behavior pattern

Question 20

Habit Family Hierarchy

Answer 20

a stimulus is usually associated with several possible responses, each response having a different probability of occurrence

Question 21

Extinction

Answer 21

the gradual elimination of conditioned responses in the absence of reinforcement

Question 22

Instrumental/Operant Conditioning [extinction]

Answer 22

the response is diminished and finally eliminated in the absence of reinforcement

Question 23

Classical Conditioning [extinction]

Answer 23

extinction occurs when the unconditioned stimulus is removed or was never sufficiently paired with the conditioned stimulus

Question 24

Spontaneous Recovery [extinction]

Answer 24

the recovery of the conditioned response after extinction

Question 25

Stimulus Generalization

Answer 25

the ability of a conditioned organism to respond to stimuli that are similar, but not identical, to the original conditioned stimulus

Question 26

Stimulus Discrimination

Answer 26

involves the ability of the learning organism to respond differentially to slightly different stimuli

Question 27

Stimulus Generalization Gradient

Answer 27

established after the organism has been conditioned, whereby stimuli further and further away from the original conditioned stimulus elicit responses with decreasing magnitude

Question 28

Imprinting

Answer 28

a process in which environmental patterns or objects presented to a developing organism during a brief critical period in early life become accepted permanently as an element of its behavioral environment

Question 29

Critical Period

Answer 29

specific time periods during an animal’s early development when it is physiologically able to develop specific behavioral patterns

Question 30

Reproductive displays

Answer 30

specific behavior found in all animals, including humans

Question 31

Agonistic Displays

Answer 31

such things as a dog’s display of appeasement when it wags its tail or the dog’s antagonistic behavior when it directs its face straight and raises its body

Question 32

Pecking Order

Answer 32

the social hierarchy - minimizes violent intraspecific aggressions by defining stable relationships among members of the group

Question 33

Territoriality

Answer 33

serves the adaptive functions of distributing members of the species, so the environmental resources are not depleted in a small region, and reducing intraspecifc competition

Question 34

Releaser Pheromones

Answer 34

trigger a reversible behavioral change in the recipient

Question 35

Primer Pheromones

Answer 35

produce long-term behavioral and physiological alterations in receiving animals