Chapter 51 Key Terms Flashcards
agnostic behavior
A type of behavior involving a contest of some kind that determines which competitor gains access to some resource, such as food or mates.
altruism
Behavior that reduces an individual’s fitness while increasing the fitness of another individual.
associative learning
The acquired ability to associate one stimulus with another; also called classical conditioning
behavioral ecology
A heuristic approach based on the expectation that Darwinian fitness (reproductive success) is improved by optimal behavior
classical conditioning
A type of associative learning; the association of a normally irrelevant stimulus with a fixed behavioral response
coefficient of relatedness
The probability that a particular gene present in one individual will also be inherited from a common parent ot ancestor in a second individual
cognition
The ability of an animal’s nervous system to perceive, store, process, and use information obtained by its sensory receptors.
cognitive ethology
The scientific study of cognition; the study of the connection between data processing by nervous systems and animal behavior.
cognitive map
A representation within the nervous system of spatial relations between objects in an animal’s environment.
communication
Animal behavior involving transmission of, reception of, and response to signals.
culture
The ideas, customs, skills, rituals, and similar activities of a people or group that are passed along to succeeding generations.
ethology
The study of animal behavior in natural conditions.
fixed action pattern (FAP)
A sequence of behavioral acts that is essentially unchangeable and usually carried to completion once initiated.
foraging
Behavior necessary to recognize, search for, capture, and consume food.
game theory
An approach to evaluating alternative strategies in situations where the outcome depends not only on each individual’s strategy but also on the strategies of other individuals; a way of thinking about behavioral evolution in situations where the fitness of a particular behavioral phenotype is influenced by other behavioral phenotypes in the population.
habituation
A very simple type of learning that involves a loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no information.
Hamilton’s rule
The principle that for natural selection to favor an altruistic act, the benefit to the recipient, devalued by the coefficient of relatedness, must exceed the cost to the altruist.
imprinting
A type of learned behavior with a significant innate component, acquired during a limited critical period.
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 increase the production of their offspring.
innate behavior
Behavior that is developmentally fixed and under stroge genetic control. Innate behavior is exhibited in virtually the same form by all individuals in a population despite internal and external environmentl differences during development and throughout their lifetimes.
kin selection
A phenomenon of inclusive fitness, used to explain altruistic behavior between related individuals.
kinesis
A change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus.
landmarking
A point of reference for orientation during navigation.
learning
A behavioral change resulting from experience.
mate-choice copying
Behavior in which individuals in a population copy the mate choice of others, apparently as a result of social learning.
monogamous
A type of relationship in which one male mates with just one female.
operant conditioning
A type of associative learning in which an animal learns to associate one of its own behaviors with a reward or punishment and then tends to repeat or avoid that behavior; also called trial-and-error learning.
optimal foraging theory
The basis for analyzing behavior as a compromise of feeding costs versus feeding benefits.
pheromone
In animals and fungi, a small, volatile chemical that functions in communication and that in animals acts much like a hormone in influencing physiology and behavior.
polyandry
A polygamous mating system involving one female and many males.
polygamous
A type of relationship in which an individual of one sex mates with several of the other.
polygyny
A polygamous mating system involving one male and many females.
promiscuous
A type of relationship in which mating occurs with no strong pair-bonds or lasting relationships.
proximate question
In animal behavior, an inquiry that focuses on the environmental stimuli, if any, that trigger a particular behavioral act, as well as the genetic, physiological, and anatomical mechanisms underlying it.
reciprocal altruism
Altruistic behavior between unrelated individuals, whereby the current altruistic individual benefits in the future when the current beneficiary reciprocates.
sensitive period
A limited phase in an individual animal’s development when learning of particular behaviors can take place.
sign stimulus
An external sensory stimulus that triggers a fixed action pattern.
signal
A behavior that causes a change in behavior in another animal.
social learning
Modification of behavior through the observation of other individuals.
sociobiology
The study of social behavior based on evolutionary theory.
spatial learning
Modification of behavior based on experience of the spatial structure of the environment.
taxis
Movement toward or away from a stimulus.
ultimate question
In animal behavior, an inquiry that focuses on the evolutionary significance of a behavioral act.
