chp 1: principle of animal behavior Flashcards
behavior
any observable activity that an animal performs or the way an animal acts in response to stimulation
what is the term animal behavior used to do
to collectively designate how an animal responds to its environment
environment includes
plants and other animals as well as such nonliving constituents as light and sound
behavioral traits are an important part of an animal’s
phenotype
what is phenotype
observable activity
ethology
the study of animal behavior in its natural habitat
natural ethologians
document behavior as part of the general biology of organisms
early 1900s
formal discipline of animal science behavior evolved
k. lorenz
studied WATERFOWL and other organisms’ mechanisms of IMPRINTING
N. tinbergen
studied gulls and other organisms for work on the organization and causes of social and individual patterns of behavior in animals
k. von frisch
studied communication in bees’ WAGGLE DANCE
behavioral ecology
studies how behavior develops, evolves, and contributes to survival and reproductive success
ethology
the study of the behavior of animals in their natural habitat, usually proposing evolutionary explanations
why do we study animal behavior
1) commonality
2) understanding common underlying principles (survival)
3) co-habitation (that leads to territory invasion)
4) protecting and managing animals (both domesticated + wild)
PROXIMATE questions (how or what)
1) mechanism (what sort of neurobiological changes occur in response to a stimuli)
2) development (how does behavior change with development)
ULTIMATE questions (evolutionary significance/ why)
1) survival value (how behavior effects survival + reproduction
2) evolutionary history (how behavior varies as a result of evolution)
3 PILLARS OF ETHOLOGY
1) NATURAL SELECTION
2) INDIVIDUAL LEARNING
3) CULTURAL TRANSMISSION
natural selection is best described as a process through which the frequency of
traits that confer reproductive and/or survival success and that are heritable increase over generations
for natural selection to occur
1) genes must be heritable
2) individual variation
3) unequal reproductive success (INESCAPABLE CONCLUSION)
4) over-reproduction
the product of natural selection is
ADAPTATION
natural selection is a ___ of evolution
MECHANISM
natural selection operates on
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
Marlene Zuk’s work on field crickets of the Hawaiian Islands has shed much light on how natural selection can operate in the wild over short periods of time. Which of the following phrases best describes Zuk’s primary findings?
parasitic flies exerted strong selection on wing morphology of the field crickets, rendering them incapable of producing songs
Xenophobia is defines as the
fear of unknown individuals from outsides one’s group
mesic habitat
type of habitat with a MODERATE OR WELL-BALANCED SUPPLY OF RESOURCES
arid habitat
type of habitat with a SEVERE LACK OF AVAILABLE RESOURCES
LEARNING
the modification of behavior based on specific/prior experiences
INNATE BEHAVIOR
automatic, fixed, “built-in”
LEARNED BEHAVIOR
modified by experience and triggered by a stimulus
what is the difference between learning and natural selection
LEARNING IS ACCOMPANY WITH PRIOR EXPERIENCE AND HAPPENS WITHINNNN A GENERATION, WHILE NATURAL SELECT IS CHANGING WITHIN THE COURSE OF AN INDIVIDUAL’S LIFETIMEEE
can learning and natural selection operate independently
NO
INDIVIDUAL LEARNING
personal experience
- INFO IS LOST WHEN ANIMAL DIES
CULTURAL TRANSMISSION
the transfer of information by teaching, coping or social learning
- OBSERVER + DEMONSTRATOR
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CULTURAL TRANSMISSION AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNING
individual learning does not permit the transmission of information across generations, while cultural transmission does
GROUP LEARNING
social learning/ transmission of information
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING (REWARD OR PUNISHMENT)
learning relating stimulus to another stimulus or to a behavioral response
types of associative learning
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING (reward or punishment linked to arbitrary stimulus) B.F. SKINNER
natural associations are made through
TRIAL-AND-ERROR LEARNING
THE BENEFIT OF LEARNING
1) quicker growth
2) more eggs laying
3) bigger egg size
HABITUATION
animal learns not to respond to an unimportant stimulus
- prevents animals from wasting energy (adaptive)
TEACHING
one INSTRUCTOR and at least one PUPIL
ETHOLOGICAL APPROACHES (observation in natural environment) TO STUDY ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
CONCEPTUAL (combination of ideas from different disciplines)
THEORETICAL
EMPERICAL
