Ch 51 Animal Behavior Flashcards
To what three men is the modern study of animal behavior generally attributed?
1) Konrad Lorenz
2) Niko Tinbergen
3) Karl von Frisch
According to which behavioral ecologist could four questions about behavior?
Niko Tinbergen
First question about behavior (Niko Tinbergen)
What stimulus elicits the behavior, and what physiological mechanisms mediate the response?
Second question about behavior (Niko Tinbergen)
How does the animal’s experience during growth and development influence the response mechanism?
Third question about behavior (Niko Tinbergen)
How does he behavior aid survival and reproduction?
Fourth question about behavior (Niko Tinbergen)
What is the behavior’s evolutionary history?
The four questions that explain behavior according to Tinbergen, highlight what?
The complementary nature of proximate and ultimate perspectives
Proximate causation
“How” explanation
Proximate causation focuses on:
1) Environmental stimuli that trigger that behavior
2) Genetic, physiological, and anatomical mechanisms underlying a behavior
Ultimate causation
“Why” explanation
Ultimate causation focuses on:
Evolutionary significance of a behavior
Fixed action pattern
A sequence of unlearned, innate behaviors that is unchangeable
Once initiated, what usually occurs to a fixed action pattern?
The behavior is carried to completion
Sign stimulus
An external cue that triggers a fixed action pattern
Signal
A behavior that causes a change in another animal’s behavior
Communication
The transmission and reception of signals
Four modes by which animals communicate:
1) Visual signals
2) Chemical signals
3) Tactile signals
4) Auditory signals
What is the type of signal used by animal to communicate with closely related to?
Lifestyle and environment
What is expected of visual signals?
They contrast with habitat backgrounds
What do visual signals convey?
Information about the signaler
Benefit of visual signals
They can work over long distances
Downside of visual signals:
They are limited by line of site
Tactile communication
Functions over extremely short ranges
Tactile communication is often associated with what?
Copulation
Downside of acoustic communication:
It is energetically costly
Benefit of acoustic communication:
It can be effective over longs distances and in all directions
Acoustic communication is used in:
1) Territory maintenance
2) Mating
3) Warning signals
Cross-fostering studies help behavioral ecologists identify what?
The contribution of environments to an animal’s behavior
Cross-fostering studies
Studies that place the young from one species in the care of adults from another species
Learning
The modification of behavior based on specific experiences
Imprinting
A behavior that includes learning and innate components
Generally irreversible
A learned component can only occur during what?
A limited sensitive period early in life
Spatial learning
A complex modification of behavior based on experience with the structure of the environment
Cognitive maps
Internal representations of spatial relationships between objects
What are cognitive maps assembled from?
Learned landmarks and innate neural representations of space
Associative learning
Animals associate one feature of their environment with another
Two forms of associative learning
1) Classical conditioning
2) Operant conditioning
Classical conditioning
A type of associative learning in which a conditioned stimulus is linked to an unconditioned stimulus
Example of classical conditioning
Pavlov’s dog
Operant conditioning
A type of associative learning in which an animal learns to associate one of its behaviors with a reward or punishment
What is another name for operant conditioning?
Trial-and-error learning
Cognition
A process of knowing or learning that may include awareness, reasoning, recollection, and judgement
Problem solving
The process of devising a strategy to overcome an obstacle
Social learning
Learning through the observations of others and forms the roots of culture
Altruism
Selflessness
What explains altruism?
Inclusive fitness
Inclusive fitness
The total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing offspring and helping close relatives produce offspring
Hamilton’s Rule
A quantitative measure for predicting when natural selection would favor altruistic actions
rB > C
Three key variables in altruistic action:
1) Benefit to the recipient (B)
2) Cost to the altruist (C)
3) Coefficient of relatedness (r)
Coefficient of relatedness
The fraction of genes on average that are shared
When does natural selection favor altruism?
When rB > C
Kin selection
The natural selection that favors altruistic behavior towards close relatives by enhancing reproductive success of relatives
In what kind of groups is kin selection more widespread?
In groups that have a higher degree of relatedness
Reciprocal altruism
When an unrelated individual is aided and returns the favor in the future
When can altruistic behavior be adaptive?
When reciprocal altruism occurs
In game theory, a tit-for-tat strategy has the following rules:
1) Individuals always cooperate on first encounter
2) An individual treats another the same way it was treated the last time they met
Individuals who engage in (1)___-___-___ ___ have a higher fitness than individuals who are (2)___ ___
1) Tit-for-tat strategy
2) Always selfish
