Comparative Flashcards
comparative psychology definition
a multidisciplinary enterprise committed to the stuayd of biological, behvaioural, psychological and socail aspects of adaptive behaviour from the standpoint of their evolution and their development
explain the levels of analysis in comparative behaviour
behaviour
cognition
physiology
level of behavioural analysis
ethology
behavioural ecology
animal behaviour
level of cognitive analysis
animal learning
cognitive ethology
animal cognition
level of physiological analysis
physiological psychology
neuroendocrinology
behaviourl neuroscience
who can you compare with? over time changes
non-human = animal psych
human-like = compared to humans
among non-humans = compared to other species
why should we compare species
for their own sake
as a contrasting device
to make inferences about evolution
three methods for making inferences about the evolution of behaviour and cognition
fossil remains (eg tool use)
genes (molecular clocks)
comparisons between extant species
3 views on how should we compare species (just name them)
same method / task
different method / task
functionally equivalent method / task
explain good and bad about using same method / task
suitable for closely related species
but
species-specific adaptation make applicability difficult
explain good and bad about using different method / task
greater phylogenetic aplicability
low coparability
explain good and bad about using functionally equivalent method / task
exploits species-specific adaptation
finding functionally equivalent tasks is difficult
when should we compare species (again just list dont explain)
same age
different ages
functionally equivalent ages
explain good and bad about comparing at the same age
should we use chronological or mental ages?
beware of confounding variables
explain good and bad about comparing at the different ages
can become an end to itself
cross-sectional vs longitudinal are quite different methods
explain good and bad about comparing at functionally equivalent ages
adapted to the species being compared
beware of the rules of thumb eg chimps = 3 yo children
name the terms and briefly explain tinbergen’s four questions
mechanism = proxiate causation (how does it work) function = ultimate causation (why does it exist phylogeny = evolution (how does the species evolve) ontogeny = development how does the individual develop
what are organisms trapped by which determine their survivial
to survive and reproduce (functional, genetic control)
but at the same time
to seek pleasure and avoid pain (mechanistic, endocrinological control)
theory of evolution by natural selection 1958, darwin and walace
variation (raw material for evolution)
leads to
adaptation (process)
leads to
change (those that remain are adapted for the conditions in their environment)
leads to
selection (limited resources so inevitable. process)
three types of selection and briefly explain
natural - related to survival, predator-prey interactions
artifical - related to domestication, pugs vs border collies
sexual - related to reproductive success, male-male competition/ female choice
milton 1981 - resource distribution
spider monkey is a frugivore (patchy distribution), large home range and large brain
vs
howler monkey is a folivore (abundant distribution), small home range and small brain
need to find the conclusion of this study..
explain the three types of ingestive behaviour
foraging = finding food hoarding = saving food feeding = consuming food
what are the two types of mazes
radial maze
water maze
how a radial maze works
reference and working memory
rats - random but accurate search
mice - sequential search
how a water maze works
landmark ‘independent’
extensively used with rats
hippocampus - dependent
explain how we know the morris water maze is hippocampus dependent
normal rat swims and finds hidden platform
neocortical control lesion does same behaviour
hippocampal lesion randomly zips all over the maze until finds the platform
convergent evidence on mating systems evidence
voles polyamorous vs monogamous the poly ones have.. larger home ranges better spatial abilities larger hippocampal volume
convergent evidence on food catching evidence
birds
compare food-storing birds with non-ood storing birds
pavids (tits and chickadees) vs corvids (these guys store food)
corvids = better spatial abilities, larger hippocampal volume
convergent evidence on brood parasitism
female vs male brown headed cowbird
the females have to keep track of multiple nest sites
they have better spatial abilities and larger hippocampal volume
how many stages to object permance, whose theory and who can and cant get the last stage
6 stages (4= recovery of hidden objects, 5 = visible displacements, 6 = invisible displacements) birds and orangatans successful, dogs unsuccessful
definition of socio-ecology and two types
discipline that studies the effect of ecological factors on the interactions between individuals and on the social organization of groups (=social structure)
cohesive vs fission-fusion (this one occurs when resources are scarce)
how to test social and inhibitory control (tasks)
a not b middle cup reaching swing door delay of gratification
what are circadian rhythms
endogenous timing mechanisms that predict changes in the enviornment and synchronise the physiology and behaviour accordingly with appropriate times of day or year
types of circadian rhythms
tidal
light-dark
season
circadian rhythms have effects on…
behaviour - feeding, reproduction
perception and cognition - learning in rodent
physiology - body temperature, heart rate
neural substrates involved in circadian rhythms
hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuceli - scn
hypothalaic-pituitary-adrenal axis
hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis
key feature of interval timing and types of interval training
short arbitrary durations (seconds to mins)
perform an action for a specific duration
anticipate an event once a particular interval has elapsed
judge which one of two intervals were shorter
determine which cue signals the shortest delay to reward
definition of cropping and experiment results
visiting food resources at or close to the moment of its replensishment
eg extracting nectar
birds will do what they are trained
definition of episodic like memory
encoding and retrieving information about what occured during an event, where it took place and when it happened in time
definition of navigation
an animals ability to make its way to a desired location
definition of homing
the specific use of navigation to return home
definition of migration
seasonal movements of animals from one region to another
definition of path integration
the ability to deirectly return to a starting point after visiting several locations in the environment without the aid of external cues
- calculations are based on distance and direction vestors
- it accumulates errors that are corrected using external cues
- it has been described in multiple vertebrate and invertebrate species
path integration in golden hamsters
circular arena with sawdust food in centre of arena travel to and from food rotate arena overcompensation
3 neural correlates in path integration
place cells - current location
head direction cells - travel direction
grid cells - marking distances, ruler like
path integration input signals in invertebrates ve vertebrates
invertebrates = number of steps, optic slow vertebrates = vestibular system, optic flow, proprioception, motor commands
definition of compasses
the ability to use planetary and or exo-planetary cues to efficiently move from one location to another
- it may provide heading information
- it may include time-compensation or duration information
- it has been described in multiple vertebrate and invertebrate species
3 examples of compasses and the animal that use them
solar - bees, pigeons, coral fish, bats
stars - pied flycatchers, blackcaps, seals
magnetic - pigeons, bats, lobsters and turtles
how bees and pigeons navigate
position of the sun and time of day
polarized light
difference in pigeons and garden warblers navigation
strapping a magnet on pigeons head
measures variations in navigation
garden warbles use magnetic inclination
definition of landmarks
an object (including a set of objects or an entire scene) or a gradient in the environment that aids an individual to navigate a particular location
3 types on landmarks explained
beacon - move directly to it
types - odour and social
landmark on route - use multiple landmarks along a route
types - seasonal beaconing, landmark bearings, following a landmark
position fixing - encode landmarks around the goal location
types - view matching, vectors, relative distance
landmark use - brief what are the two types
object cues
geometric cues
how mongolian gerbils use cues
circular arena with sawdust + cylindrical object
food near the object
search around despite changes in object size
= object cues
how rats use cues
rectangular sandbox with visual and odor cues
food in one corner
selected correct and diagonal opposite corner
evidence for a geometric model on navigation
18 month old to 6 yo children navigation = like rats
language as the key combinatorial tool
multiple species have subsequently solved task after training
spatial +featual information gets combined
a room size increase allowed toddlers and other species to solve the task too
executive function, hippocampal development and experience also helped
what is the cognitive map
representation of distances and diretion between all known locations so far experience often referred to as metric or eucledian map
explain the tolman hull controversy
tolmans view
rats solve mazes by … encoding the layout
psychological process involved… rational encoding
key concepts… goal, expectation
sensory input is worked over and elaborate into a tentative cognitive-like map of the environment
explain the tolman hulls view
rats solve mazes by … turnign left, turning right etc
psychological process involved… S-R associations
key concepts…
reinforcement, contiguity
4 alternatives to cognitive maps (just name)
bicoordinate map
mosaic map
network map
euclidean cognitive map
bi-coordinate map
direction of home from a
mosaic map
direction home from multiple points
network map
all known routes between locations
euclidean map
distance and direction from all known sites
planning and inference strategies and what species
least distance strategies - vervet monkies, to travel efficiently between location
detours and shortcuts - chimps and rats, to travel effectively to new locations
extractive foraging
multiple tool use
why primates are smart because they engage in extractive foraging
but birds engage in flexible tool use
what is tool use
the external employment of unattched or maniuplated attached environmental objects to alter more efficiently the form, position or condition of another object, another organism or the uset itself, when the user holds and directly manipulates the tool during or prior to use and is responsible for the proper and effective orientation of the tool
is a spider web a tool
no
give two examples of tool use
throwing stones
swinging off tree branches
two features of cladistics and two routes to similarity
completeness and extensiveness
homology - common descent or homoplasy - convergent evolution
definition of adaptive specialisation
traits that are tailored to the current ecological niche occupired by a species
- local adpatiation not a perfect fit
- best fit , not perfect fit
- ecological niche refers to the role that the species play in the food chain
sharks vs dolphin fin evolution
homoplay
dolphiins are mamals, sharks are fish
but both developed similar fins, body shapes etc
what is problem solving
overcoming come obstacle to achieve a goal when the entire solution is neither in the species typical repetoire nor socially learned
thorndike and kohler problem solving
trial and error vs insight
gradual vs sudden change
traingin/ learning vs problem solving
arbitrary associations vs causal explanatinos
define trial and error
the gradual aquisition of a new response following a series of unsystematic and varied attempts. responses that are successful increase over time and responses that are unsuccessful become extinct
define insight
the sudden production of a new adaptive response not arrived at by tiral behaviour or the solution of a problem by the sudden adaptive reorganization of experinece
define reasoning
combining perceived with imagined events or associating spatio-teporally separate events. in contrast trial and error learning is based on associating spatio-temporally contingent, perceivable events
what is planning
the cognitive process implicated in the formulation evaluation and selection of a sequence of throught and or actions to achieve a desired goal
- one of several executive functions
associated with pfc activity
injury of the cortico-striatal pathway disrupts planning abilities
one of the cortical areas that matures later
what is tulvings challenge
can animals perform an action with no immediate consequences in the absence of current needs to meet future ones?
4 examples of future planning
tool use - need to collect tools
object exchange
spatial navigation
food caching
what is innovation
the invention of a new behaviour pattern or the modification of a previously learned one in a novel context
what is functional fixedness
blockage that occurs in a problem solving situation dues to existing function of some of the elements of the task
using a drinking straw as a stick exp results
pretest, prior experience group - use straw to dink. no experience group - explore the straw
test was to poke out food reward with objects straw, stick and string available
no experience group did better than prior experience group
brain size and innovation exp
brain measure (executive brain ratio) - neocortex size + striatum size three variables -innovation -social learning -tool-use innovation and social learning increased with executive brain ratio
what is the evolutionary arms race
the life dinner principle
generalists vs specialists
what is the hares dilema
which offspring are better off?
less stressed, less vigilant and less active and larger ones
or
more stressed, more vigilant, more active smaller ones
the classical model of predator prey interactions type of theory
unit of analysis - individual
times scale - short term
main focus - survival
prey selection explained
development / learning
genetic preference / disposition - preference to a particular type of prey
individual learning - sampling new items
social learning - learning to eat what others eat
prey detection explained
perception / cognition / neuroanatomy
snakes use ir
bees use uv
electromagnetic specturm
sound reception explained
low hz = infrasound acoustic ultrasound high hz pigeons and elephants low bats and dolhins high
what is the principle of proper mass and who came up with it
larger cortical sensory regions are associated with enhanced discriminative abilities umwelt
3 prey-capture tactics
anatomical
tool associated
cooperative
anti-predatory tactics explained
primary defences (prior to attack / detection) immobilization camouflage alarm calling mimicry secondary defenses immobilization (feign death) flight chemical defense - toxin sequestering attack - mobbing
taste aversion
a form of classical or pavlovian conditioning in which a particular taste is associated with nausea, sickness and or vomiting
- john garcia
- only requires a single pairing to fomr
- can tolerate a long interval between food intake and illness onset
- specific to taste - illness modality
- great adaptivevalue for avoiding poisonous foods in the future
revised models for predator prey interactions type of theories
unit of analysis - population
time scale - long term
main focus - BCN
effects of predator fear
increased vigilance levels reduced foraging alters ranging patterns increases anxiety levels increases glucocorticoid production alters dendritic morphology triggers neuronal gene expression
stress and the HPA axis
acute = beneficial -energy mobilization -fight or flight response vs chronic = deleterious (not good) -reproductive suppression -depressed immune system -arrested growth -eventual premature death
devlopmental effects after exposure to predator cues
invertebrates, fish and amphibians - changes in body shape and size -body armature -chemical defenses -timing of life history traits snowshoe hare leveretes to stressed mothers during gestation = more stressed, smaller size, more vigilant, epigenetic programming of HPA axis heritable changes in gene function that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence
broad headline point of adaptation
evolution of a species
development of an individual
social relationships
the sum of socail interactions over a period of time
social relationships can have a positive or a negative valence and they are typically stable over time but not immutable
kinship
friendship
dominance
alturism
a behaviour that reduces the actors fitness while increasing another individuals fitness
what are the strategies that foster altrusim towards others
kin selection
reciprocal alturism
separating interventions
kin selection
the evolutionary strategy that favours the reproductive success of an organisms relatives even at the cost to the organisms own survival and reproduction
-hamiltons rule rB>C
darwinian fitness
the genetic contribution of an individual to the next generations gene pool relative to the average for the population, usually measured by the number of offspring that survive to reproduction
inclusive fitness
the survival and reproductive seuccess of kin, each relative being valued accordingly to the probability of shared genetic information with oneself, an offspring or sibling having a value of 50% and a cousin 25%
eusocial species
cooperative brrod care
multiple generations of adults
division of loabour into reproductive and non reproductive castses
species with parental care
mainly the mother or mated pairs take care of the offspring
no division of reproductive labor but helpers at the nest occure
species without parental care
investment on eggs and sperm
some reptiles, fish and invertebrates though so show parental care
harem structure of the hamadryas baboons vs gelada babaoons
hamadryas high male intervention immigrant females low female kinship vs gelada baboons low male intervention natural females high female kinship
what is reciprocal alturism
an evolutionary strategy that favours the reproductive success of an organism by receiving payback for the services offered at an earlier time
direct reciprocal alturism
an act that temporally reduces an individuals fitness while increasing someone else with the expectation that the latter will act alturistically at a later time
indirect reciprocal alturism
expectation that a witness will act in a similar manner at a later time
generalized reciprocal alturism
recipients of alturism are more likely to act to benefit other in turn independently of their identitiy
two ways explained that alturistic payback can be computed
calculated reciprocity -based on the tally of exchanges -high cognitive burden -considers multiple exchanges attitudinal recipriocity -based on relationship quality -low cognitive burden -considers the last exchange
transitive interference
is a form of deductive reasoning that allows one to derive a relation between items that have not been explicitly compared before. In a general form, TI is the ability to deduce that if Item B is related to Item C and Item C is related to Item D, then Item B must be related to Item D.
brain areas involved in transitive interference
hippocampal and parahippocampal gyrus
prefrontal cortex
intraparietl sulcus
define social interaction
a behavioural exchange between two or more individuals. it may involve a single or multiple exchanges
define social relationship
the sum of social interactions over a period of time. socail relationships can have a positive or a negative valence and they are typically stable over time but not immutable
social structure
the network of existing relationships in a social group
social structure can involve various levels of complexity encompassing multiple social relations
benefits of sociality
food competition (inter-group) predator defence access to reproduction protection against infanticide all-mothering
costs of sociality
food competition (intra-group) disease transmission
how did sociality develop?
social brain hypothesis - keeping track of social relations = correlation between group size and % neocortex, coalitions
or machiavellian intelligence
-oucompetiting conspecifics
-tactical deception
transitive interference and sociality
pinyon jays = social groups of 50-500 individuals, they have much better transitive interference and are more social?
vs western scrub jays who are mated pairs of 2 adults and their young
social challenges
animate and reactive beings multiple partners double challenge -cooperation -competition repeated interactions over time
social organisations basics to consider
ecology
survival
reproduction
high fission fusion dynamics…
enhancement of certain cognitive abilities including inhibitory control
outsmarting dominant individuals
hare et al animal behaviour
subdominant will take food hidden from dominant
seen in chimps ravens reces maques and dogs
demonstrates these species can maintain 2 representation (their own and what the other knows)
classical debate on social interaction behaviour
exemplar vs category
percept vs concept
particular vs general
from action to communication
problem
the action -instrumental
or intentional gesture
intentional communication
gesture vs action
- motor ineffectiveness
- response waiting
- gaze alteration
- repetition and elaboration
two pathways on the origin of communication (just headline labels)
ontogenetic ritualization
phylogenetic ritualisations
ontogenetic ritualisations
repeated interactions transform action into gesture
individual (or pair) specific
displays considerable flexibility
phylogenetic ritualisation
actions or cues are co-opted / modified into signals
species-specific
displays considerable stability
vocalizations vs facial expression vs gestures
vocal -emtional and reference -inflexible production facial -emotionally-bound -inflexible production gestures -context-dependent -flexible production
sign language in apes
repetoire size - 200-500 nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and pronouns many signs are arbitrary displaced reference -imperative format
tokens and lexigrams in apes
repetoire size 20-200 nouns, verbs, adverbs, pronouns and adjectives -all lexigram/ tokens are arbitrary displaced reference -imperative format
natural repetoire of social interaction in non humans
restricted to here and now
only artifical goes beyond the here and now
3 ways language might upgrade the ape mind
analogical reasoning
reversed-reward contingency
understanding intentions
analogical reasonging
language training of apes = enhancement effect, individual differences, new paradigms
reversed-reward contingency
numerical training of apes
enhancement effect
individual differences
understanding intentions
enculturation
enhancement effect
new paradigms
artifical language in apes…
provides apes with a vehicle to express thei own internal states but they do not seek to create them in the irst place
a psychological perspective on communication (tow views
proto-imperative = child to adult to object proto-declarative = child to object to adult
an evolutionary biological perspective on communication (again two views)
manipulation - instead of pushing others around, make their own muscles do the work
information - honest signals favoured when they are less costly than lies
define agression
a suite of behaviours allowing an individual to convey strength to to physically defeat a conspecific
goals of aggression
maximise resources
minimize energy expenditure
dominance hierarchies what is the point
repeated interactions foster dominance relations
outcome of signal exchange or fight
signals in agression.. what the point
advertising intentions / motivations
used with familiat or unfamiliar individuals
dominance hierarchy defintion
a type of social relationship that ranks individuals in term of their access to resources with dominant animals having greater access than subordinate ones
- reduces cost of aggression for contests whose outcome is predictable
-regulated by actions (approach-avoidance) or communicative signals
can be linear (transitive) or non-linear (intransitive)
two forms of rank aquisition
by interaction -contests fought and won -fighting ability, coalitionary support by observation -outcome of third party contests -useful for unfamiliar opponents
signals and displays
a form of communicaation aimed at advertising fighting ability (intrasexual competition) and mate reproductive quality (mate attraction)
-orten represent cases of phylogenetic ritualizaion
-signals that are selected are hard to faek (honest signalling)
often with a dual function (repulse rivals and attract males)
-subjected to individual selection, not group selection
4 examples of signals and displays
body checking
ornaments
weaponry
vocalizations
throat patches on birds
the larger the throat patch... the higher the dominance rank the larger the territory the higher the testosterone level an experimental decrease in testosterone level causes a reduction in patch size
hormonal regulation
setroids
nonapeptides
serotonin
testosterone
male agression and territorality
progesterone
female agression in california mice
oxytocin
regulates prosocial behaviour and social bonds
serotonin
modulates aggression
differential taxonomic effect
vertebrates - deceases aggression
invertebrates - increases aggression
when can aggression get out of hand
contestants are evenly matched
there is a large benefit - reproduction
the cost is small
conflict resolution
the outcome of actions that eliminate the incompatibility of goals, interests and attitudes of the conflicting individuals
pre-conflict mechanisms of conflict resolution
dispersion
signals - apeasement
post-conflict mechanisms of conflict resolution
reconciliation
triadic resolution
reconciliation
exchange of affiliative behaviour between two former opponents
- tolerant style
- low degree of dominance asymmetry
- strength of the social bond (relationship quality)
what does triadic reconciliation and aggression demonstrate
complexity of social relations
what is territoriality
the defence or maintenance of an area to the exclusion of others specifically the same sex conspecifics
3 forms of territoriality
patrolling
advertising
fighting
to defend or not? costs and benefits
costs injury energy expenditure reduced foraging predation reduced parental care benefits food abundance and familiarity mate attraction and maintanence offspring protection
infanticide
the killing of young offspring by a mature animal of the same species
- prime example of sexual conflict
- used to be considered a consequence of abnormal behaviour due to stress
- different from filial or sibling infanticide
- subjected to individual selection, not group selection
3 aimals infanticide occurs in
hanuman langurs
gorillas
lions
when does the golden-winged sunbird defend
nectar feeding bird
high nectar in the morning - no territories
low nectar in the mid-afternoon - territories
sociobiology
the extension of population biology and evolutionary theory to social organization
wilson 1978
quantitive cognition
horse could do maths
-was actually just responding to the audience
two mechanistic ideas on how we estimate, compare and operate on quantities and explain
subitizing -perceptual estimation mechanism -limit is 7 items object file system -precise representations of discrete item
relative numerousnous
decide between 2 quantities
count?
no we use ratios
can differentiate between much higher numbers
webers law
the change in a stimulus that will be just noticeable is a constant ration of the original stimulu
- relative change is the key aspect in discriminative ability
- applied to any kind of magnitude via any sensory modality
3 analogue magnitude systems
relative numerousness
contrasting probabliities
populations to samples
analog magnitude system
cognitive mechanism used to estime whether two quantities difer in magnitude
- estimation comparison and operation
- large quantities but only approximate calculation
- based on webers law
- applied to both quantities and numbers
- present in vertebrate and invertebrate species
two brain areas associated with quantitive cognition
prefrontal cortex
intraparietal sulcus
key neural correlate findings in quantitive cognition
distinct IPS neural populations respond to presentation types
single pfc neurons tuned to specific numerosities
lateral intreparietal encodes accumulated magnitudes
define parental behaviour
activities on the part of the parents that influence the development of their offspring from conception to completed independence
- it has evolved multiple times independelty
- parental protection not always paired with selective attraction by offspring
- present in invertebraes and vertebrates, particuarly in birds and mamals
- multiple functions
name 5 functions of parental behaviour
shelter construction grooming thermoregulation nourishment protection
define maternal care
behaviour that contrivutes to the growth, development, survival, and subsequent fitness of offspring
maternal expenditure
the mothers effort (quantified as energy or time) required for infant care within a specific reproductive event
maternal investment
behaviour in the form of care or effort that is invested in the current ofspring which reduces the capacity of the mother to invest in future offspring
define life history strategies
the various investments in growth, reporduction and survivorship displayed by various species
maternal decisions in life history strategies
rate of nutrient delivery
response to infant signals
parental conflict: infant need vs mother give
4 types of maternal style
protective - mother responsible for approach, contact and nursing
restrictive - mother controls proximity and contact
relaxed - mother and infant responsible for approaches
rejecting - mother prevents nursing and limits contact
factors affecting nursing style
social status
parity
social structure
social context
hormonal regulation by steroids
prolactin - milk production, incubation, intensity of feeding
oxytocin - bond formation including allo-parents
testosteron - redction in makes (challenge hypothesis)
glucocorticoids, ACTH - brief separation from mother
what is the epigenetic effect
amount of maternal licking and grooming affects how rat pups respond to stress later in life
modification of the glucocorticoid receptor gene in the hippocampus
define imprinting
any kind of phase-sensitive learning (learning occuring at a particular age or particular life stage) that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of behaviour
- filial imprinting and sexual imprinting
- critical period
- not all targets show the same power
response to separation under different conditions
brief -approach, follow -produce signals -HPA activation -increased heart rate prolonged -reduced cardiovascular response -reduced growth hormone secretion
filial attachment
a strong emotional bond that an infant forms with a caregiver (such as a mother) especially when viewed as a basis for normal emotional and social development
a few definitions of culture
the way we do things
a set of beliefs, customs, arts, norms and artifacts of a particular society at a given point in time
culture is what makes us smart
behaviour that is socially learned and transmitted across generations
cultural learning
social learning and cooperation
social traditions
cultures in chimps, whiten 1999
combined observations of as many field studies as possible in africa
39 behaviours found
customary
habituary
grooming-hand-clasp culture differences - in some sanctuaries (no genetic / environmental differences)
there were behaviours unique to certain geographical areas = culture and communities?
ecological determinants in stone hammers
ecological determinants - used very differently by different cultures
used by many species
potato washing
how was this behaviour transmitted
-provisioned population of japanese macaques in kpshima island
technique discovered by a young female
slowly transmitted to other group members of the same age
it may have been facilitated by humans
social learning mechanisms:
individual vs social learning
-explain response facilitation
priming an action already in the individuals repetoire
social learning mechanisms:
emulation learning
copying the outcome of the actions of a model. there are different forms of emulation depending on whether actual results or attempted results are copied
social learning mechanisms:
imiative learning
copying the actions displayed by a model. historically it represented a serious challenge to associative learning because acquisition occurred before reinforcement had a chance to act. in this sense it is similar to reasoning
observational fear conditioning
aquisition of a fear response towards a particular stimulus by observing a conspecific in an aversive circumstance rather than through direct experience with the source of aversive stimulation
- quick aquisition
- better learning for some biologically relevant stimuli
- behaviour and attention channelled by genetic predispositions
- fear to snakes or spiders
alarm calling by belding’s ground squirrels
alarm calling upon spotting predator
whistles and trills for areial and terrestiral predators (in that order)
more likely to produce when kin are nearby
more
social learning strategies - from whom do we learn from
majority-driven
prestige-driven
rank-driven
cumulative culture
improving on improvements
a single individual is unlikely to discover it
are there any cases of cumulative culture in animals
does it apply t both tech and social norms?
problem of peacock’s tails to darwin
evolution of disadvantageous traits
detrimental to theory of natural selection
=== IS FOR SEXUAL SELECTION
sexual selection
what components is it made up off
intra-sexual components -within sex -mate competition inter-sexual competition -between sec -mate choice, courtship
intrasexual selection, why
drives away rivals
size dimorphism
weapons
intersexual selection, wgy
courtship and partner choice
ornaments
why are females choosy
egg = few, large, expensive, limited
sperm - many, small, cheap, less limited
explain bateman’s principle
reproductive success of females related to access to resources
males reporductive success relies on access to females
as gamete size increases…
reproductive opportunities decreases and parental investment increases
why is there a greater parental investment for females
nutrients in gamtes gestation lactation direct provisioning defence against predators inheritance of territory
benefirits from mate choice for females
avoidance of infected partners good resources (nesting and food) provisioning / defence of offspring also results in good genes for offspring
what is the handicap principle
only successful individuals can afford costly traits
aspects informaing mate choice
locating mate species recognition assessment of mate -simple decision rules -novel traits -copy the choice of others comparisons -elaborated traits -multiple cues
some ways to locate mates
visuals
acoustic
olfactory
weakly electric fish
how we develop mate preferences
no experience - genetically fixed
experience - sexual imprinting and learning
developing a mate preference time scale
learning -slow and impermanent -repetition and reinforcement -may be unspecific imprinting -sudden and permanent -sensitive period -specific
brain role in mate choice
aquisition, processing, retention and use of information
brain = central organ, cognitive abilities and the brain result in complex behaviours
studied within and between species
are clever mates chose
yes performance on cognitive tests chosen more often
however brain size measurements vary and is correlation not causation
what are hormones
signalling molecules produced by glands to regulate behaviour
male and female sex steroids
oestrogen, progesterone (sex, interest in sex, attractiveness)
testosterone (spematogenesis, sex, interest, courtship)
hormones and sexual behaviours
hormones influence behaviour and behaviour influences hormones
activation
as testosterone levels increase, mating attempts in the japanese quail increases
synchronisation of reporductive physiology
plasma testosterone levels in red-winged blackbirds rise as male meets female then decreases as female bears young
as testosterone increasing what can this accidentally cause
increase in aggression
