Chapter 51: Animal Behavior Flashcards
Behavior
- An action carried out by muscles under control of the nervous system
- Essential part in collecting nutrients and finding a mate
Behavioral Ecology
The study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior
Fixed Action Pattern
- Sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to a simple stimulus
- Once this action has begun, it will not stop until it has run its course
Sign Stimulus
External cue that triggers a behavior
Migration
Regular, long-distance change in location
Signal
A stimulus transmitted from one organism to another
Communicate
Transmission and reception of signals between animals
Pheromones
Chemical substances emitted to communicate through odors or tastes
Innate Behavior
- Behavior that is developmentally fixed
- Doesn’t vary with experience
Cross-Fostering Study
- The young of one species are placed in the care of adults from another species
- The extent of the offspring’s change in behavior provides a measure of how the social and physical environment influences the behavior
Twin Study
Researchers compare the behavior of identical twins raised apart with the behavior of those raised in the same household
Learning
Modification of behavior as a result of specific experiences
Imprinting
- The establishment of a long-lasting behavioral response to a particular individual or object
- Can take place during the sensitive period
Spatial Learning
Establishment of a memory that reflects the environment’s spatial structure
Cognitive Map
A representation in an animal’s nervous system of the spatial relationship between objects in its surroundings
Associative Learning
The ability to associate one environmental feature (such as color) with another (i.e. a foul taste)
Cognition
The process of knowing that involves awareness, reasoning, recollection, and judgement
Problem Solving
Cognitive activity of devising a method to proceed from one state to another in the face of real or apparent obstacles
Social Learning
Type of learning through observing others
Culture
System of information transfer through social learning or teaching that influences the behavior of individuals in a population
Foraging
The seeking and obtaining of food
Optimal Foraging Model
Natural selection favors a foraging behavior that minimizes the costs (mainly predation) of foraging and maximizes the benefits
Monogamous
One male mating with one female
Polygamous
- An individual of one sex mating with several of the other
- Polygyny = 1 male and several females
- Polyandry = 1 female and several males
Mate-Choice Copying
- Individuals in a population copy the mate choice of others
- Result of social learning
Game Theory
An approach to evaluating alternative strategies in situations where the outcome of a particular strategy depends on the strategies used by other individuals
Altruism
A behavior that reduces an animal’s individual fitness but increases the fitness of other individuals within the population
Inclusive Fitness
The total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing its own offspring and by providing aid that enables other close relatives to produce offspring
Coefficient of Relatedness
- r
- The fraction of genes that, on average, are shared
Hamilton’s Rule
- Natural selection favors altruism when the benefit to the recipient multiplied by the coefficient of relatedness exceeds the cost to the altruist
- rB >C
- B = benefit ; C = cost
Kin Selection
- Natural selection that favors altruism by enhancing the reproductive success of relatives
- Weakens with hereditary distance
Reciprocal Altruism
- Altruistic behavior between unrelated individuals, whereby the altruistic individual benefits in the future when the beneficiary reciprocates
- Mainly found with humans
Sociobiology
- The study of social behavior based on evolutionary theory
- Certain behavioral characteristics exist because they are expressions of genes that have been perpetuated by natural selection
Ethology
- Study of animal behavior
- Less ecological / evolutionary analysis than behavioral ecology
Classical Conditioning
- Behavioral procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus (i.e. food) is paired with a previously neutral stimulus (i.e. a bell)
- Ivan Pavlov used this procedure with dogs
Observational Learning
The ability of an organism to learn how to do something by watching another individual do it first, even if they have never attempted it before themselves
Operant Conditioning
Type of associative learning that is based on trial and error
Kinesis
- Seemingly random
- Change in the speed of a movement in response to a stimulus
Taxis
A reflex movement toward or away from a stimulus
Agonistic Behavior
- Behavior that results from conflicts over resources
- Often involves intimidation and submission
