Chapters 1-4 Flashcards
Study for Exam
Ethology
Study of animal behavior.
Ecology
Study of an organism’s interactions with their physical and biological environment and how that shapes their distribution and abundance.
Konrad Lorenz
Instinctive behavior (imprinting)
Karl von Frisch
Sensory Perception of Honeybee
Nikolaas Tinbergan
Social Behavior
What is behavior?
The coordinated responses of a whole living organism to internal/external stimuli.
Proximate Questions center on…
- Causation/Mechanism - what immediate stimuli elicit behavior.
- Ontogeny - Development
Ultimate questions center on…
- Adaptation - survival function, how does behavior affect survival/reproduction
- Phylogeny/Evolutionary history
Individual Learning
Can alter the frequency of behaviors; experience.
Cultural Transmission
Learn from others via social learning.
Conceptual Approach
Integrating unconnected ideas. Example = kin selection.
Theoretical Approach
Entails the generation of some sort of mathematical model.
Empirical
Collect data via experimentation and observation.
Variation is caused by…
Mutation, genetic recombination, migration.
Parsimony
Occam’s Razor, simplest is true.
Proximate Factors of Behavior
Hormone - chemically produced by cells in body and circulate through bloodstream, fluid in tissues to produce one or more functions.
Endocrine system = communication network
Endocrine glands = hormone synthesis and secretion.
Hormone/Receptor
Lock/key - relationship is put into play when hormones reach target cells.
Neurohormones
Can be released into the blood via neurons.
Oxytocin
Increase in the blood of pregnant mammals before birth. Allows contractions of uterus and expels placenta, stimulates secretion of milk.
Vasopressin (Antidiuretic hormone/ADH)
Retain water in the body and constrict blood vessels, acts by increasing water absorption in the collecting ducts of the kidney nephron.
Cortisol
Steroid hormone - released in response to stress and a low level of blood glucocorticoids. Functions: increase blood sugar, suppress immune system, aid in fat, protein, and carb metabolism. Decreases blood formation, can treat disease.
Molecular Level
Once a hormone reaches a cell and bonds with receptors, a series of interactions occur that affect the expression of genes and the synthesis of proteins.
Environmental Stimuli
Three interactive systems
1. input system made up of sensory systems.
2. central processor made up of integrators that process sensory information.
3. Output systems-effectors like muscles that move when stimulated.
What hormones do is change the probability of what?
Change the probability that a specific sensory input leads to a specific output.
Hormonal Feedback
Hormonal changes might modify ongoing behavior or trigger onset of behavior. Might prime animals to be more/less likely to act in a specific environment.
Intrauterine Position
Positioning of mouse baby leads to more or less testosterone, leading sometimes to aggressive or more sterility.
Fight or Flight Response
Hypothalamus responds to predator -
1. Adrenal glands secrete epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine which lead to quick and large increase of blood sugar and oxygen to vital organs (brain skeletal heart).
2. Responsive Reaction Chain - Hypothalamus release CRH, GHRH, and TRH, which stimulate adrenal gland to secrete cortisol and flee.
Octopamine
Involved in foraging behavior in honeybees Modulate learning and memory, foraging bees have higher levels of this.
Endocrine Limitations
Takes from minutes to hours to respond, while nervous system takes seconds.
What occurs to cause a response (nervous system)?
The stimuli have to exceed the nerve cells threshold, which is a function of the amount of change in the voltage across a neuron’s membrane.
Worker Butting
When a queen dies in termites or wasps and causes increased aggression in workers.
Mendal’s Laws of Inheritance
Dominance - allele that is displayed when two are paired.
Segregation - two copies of a gene segregate from each other during the transmission from parent to offspring.
Independent Assortment - Alleles of dif. genes assort independently of each other during gamete formation if unlinked loci.
Locus
Site on a chromosome or the gene that occupies the site.
Haplotype
One of the sequences of a gene or DNA segment that can be distinguished from homologous sequences by molecular methods such as DNA sequencing.
Quantitative Trait Loci
Set of genes that contribute a small amount to the expression of the trait of interest.
