Chapter 2 - History

Question 1

who provided the framework for the development of the field of animal behavior.

Answer 1

Charles Darwin

Question 2

Basic concepts of Darwin’s theory of evolution

Answer 2

1. There is variation in traits amongst individuals.
2. Some variation is inherited
3. Some individuals survive longer and therefore produce more offspring due to their particular inherited characteristics.

Question 3

Natural selection

Answer 3

the differential survival
and reproduction of individuals due to
variation in genetically-based traits
(morphology, physiology, behavior, etc.).

Question 4

how does evolutionary change occur

Answer 4

occurs as some traits
increase in the population while other traits
decrease in the population based on
natural selection.

Question 5

two approaches to studying animal behavior

Answer 5

Ethology, Comparative psychology

Question 6

Ethology

Answer 6

study animals in their natural environment

Question 7

Classic Ethological Concepts

Answer 7

1. Fixed Action Pattern
2. Sign Stimuli
3. Chain Of Reactions

Question 8

Characteristics of Fixed Action Patterns

Answer 8

1. The sequence of events in an FAP is
   unalterable.
2. FAP’s are not learned.
3. FAP’s may be triggered under inappropriate
   circumstances.
4. FAP’s are performed by all appropriate
   members of a species.

Question 9

Sign Stimuli

Answer 9

A Sign Stimulus (a.k.a.
Releaser) is a critical
environmental
stimulus that triggers
a behavior (such as a
Fixed Action Pattern).

Question 11

Supernormal Stimuli

Answer 11

Young Herring Gulls
peck at a red spot on
the tip of their parents’
bills to induce the
parents to regurgitate
food.
* Chicks will peck most
vigorously at a red
pencil with some yellow
coloration at the tip.

Question 12

Chain Of Reactions

Answer 12

Complexity can be
added to behaviors by building sequences of FAP’s. Such a sequence is called a Chain of Reactions

Question 13

Comparative Psychology

Answer 13

Mostly in the United States.
Focused on the physiological mechanisms that control
behavior, the development of behavior, and learning.
* Most studies involved learned behaviors in a laboratory
setting.
* Instead of focusing on the differences between species,
focused on studies of observable, quantifiable patterns
of behavior, with the goal of establishing general “laws”
of behavior

Question 14

Morgan’s Cannon

Answer 14

Behaviors must be
explained in the simplest way consistent
with evidence and without assumptions
about emotions or mental abilities

Question 15

Learning and Reinforcement

Answer 15

The study
of learning was a major focus.
* Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning

Question 16

Classical Conditioning

Answer 16

Pavlov’s Dog

Question 17

Operant Conditioning

Answer 17

Specific consequences are associated with a voluntary behavior EX. the problem box
E.L. Thorndike –
Law of Effect:
Responses that are
rewarded will tend
to be repeated.

Question 18

Operant Conditioning Example

Answer 18

The Skinner Box - B.F. Skinner

Question 19

Behaviorism

Answer 19

A school of psychology
that restricts the study of behavior to
events that can be seen (the stimulus and
the response it elicits), while ignoring the
cognitive abilities of the animal.

Question 20

Cognition

Answer 20

the mental action or process of
acquiring knowledge and understanding through
thought, experience, and the senses.

Question 21

Cognitivism

Answer 21

focuses on the internal
processing associated with behavior
(memory, attention, pattern recognition,
perception, problem solving, and
intelligence in general).

Question 22

Sociobiology

Answer 22

The application of evolutionary
theory to social behavior

Question 23

Behavioral Ecology

Answer 23

Examines the ways that
animals interact with their environment to learn how
behaviors, through analysis of costs and benefits,
contribute to survival and reproductive success