Behavioral Biology

Question 1

what is behavior?

Answer 1

change in activity in response to stimuli

Question 2

what is cognition?

Answer 2

ability of an organism’s nervous system to process and store information

Question 3

what are the different ways behavioral biology is studied?

Answer 3

ethology: studying the animal in its natural setting
cons: human presence may alter actual behavior
Experimenting: removing all variables and putting animal in controlled environment

Question 4

innate behavior

Answer 4

born knowing how to do it -> don’t have to deal the risk of failure (R-selected species)

Question 5

learned behavior

Answer 5

can learn how to adapt in various situations (K-selected species, lots of parental care)

Question 6

types of innate behavior

Answer 6

reflex, directed movements, fixed action pattern, instinct

Question 7

Directed movement

Answer 7

overall movement is stimulated by stimulus
ex: kinesis and taxis

Question 8

Kinesis

Answer 8

increase in activity in response to stimulus (mostly non-directional)

ex: Photokinesis: when light turns cockroach starts moving around

Question 9

Taxis

Answer 9

directional movement towards a stimulus (positive taxis) or away (negative stimulus

ex: Positive chemotaxis: move toward chemical cue (release of pheromones)
positive rheotaxis: move towards the water flow
negative geotaxis: move away from gravity (upward)

Question 10

Sign Stimulus

Answer 10

stimulus of one animal triggering behavior of another animal

Question 11

Fixed Action Pattern

Answer 11

a sign stimulus triggers a series of specific behaviors that once started it must be completed

Question 12

what are the downsides of FAP?

Answer 12

nest parasites can take advantage of the behavior

ex: if a chick does gape and fluff even if it not parent own child it will still feed it

Question 13

Instinct

Answer 13

not as hardwired as FAP but still a response to a sign stimulus

Question 14

example of complex instinct

Answer 14

courting behavior

Question 15

instinct inheritance

Answer 15

sometimes 2 instincts can be inherited as a result from hybrids and often clash with eachother

Question 16

biological rhythms and circadian cycles

Answer 16

entrained (innate) behaviors correspond to the cycle of the environment (ex: day and night)

Question 17

types of learned behavior

Answer 17

habituation, imprinting, association, imitation, problem solving

Question 18

habituation

Answer 18

loss of a response to a stimulus after repeated exposure

Question 19

imprinting

Answer 19

behavior is learned and hardwired at a critical period
ex: baby chicks establish the first thing they see as their mom

Question 20

conclusion from Crossfostering between deer mice

Answer 20

behavior can be learned socially and come can not

Question 21

association

Answer 21

learning that a particular stimulus or response is linked to a reward or punishment

Question 22

classical conditioning

Answer 22

natural response to a natural stimulus is associated to a new stimulus

ex: pavlov experiment the bell is the new stimulus stimulating digestive system

Question 23

Operant conditioning aka Trial and Error learning

Answer 23

association between have a behavior and a consequence (operant)

Question 24

negative reinforcement

Answer 24

response removes the punishment

Question 25

problem solving

Answer 25

applying old responses to new situation