Ethology Flashcards
What is Neoteny?
Neoteny is the scientific term for the retention of juvenile traits in adults (Neotenous)
Where do modern dogs come from?
It is thought that modern dogs descend from wolves, canis lupus.
What is the difference between taming and domestication?
One can tame a wild animal by decreasing flight distance and increasing tolerance to humans over the wild animal’s lifespan.
Domestication is the result of generations of selection for traits that make good companions to humans. ( Dogs are domesticated, wolves can be tamed)
What is Phylogenetic behavior?
Phylogenetic behaviors are behaviors common to the species in general. They typically have developed over generations and have evolutionary significance.
Define phylogeny
Phylogeny is the evolutionary history of an organism
List the nine steps of the food acquisition sequence
- Sense prey
- Orient, freeze
- Stalk
- Grab, hold, shake
- Restrain
- Kill
- Dismember
- Eat
- Guard
Define fixed action patterns
Fix action patterns are specific examples of innate or phylogenetic behavior. A specific trigger is needed to start the behavior and once it has begun it must be completed before the animal stops. (Can be modified with because modification techniques)
Define Ontogenetic behavior
An ontogenetic behavior is a response to environmental influences that has been learned over an individual’s lifetime. ( An individual is not born with this knowledge. Ontogenetic behavior can also be modified)
Instinctive drift- the breland effect
Wherever an animal has a strong instinctive behavior, the organism will drift towards the instinctive behavior to the detriment of a conditioned behavior, even to the delay or preclusion of the reinforcement. (Learned behavior drifts towards instinctive behavior)
When do critical periods take place in dogs?
Critical periods take place between 3 and 16 weeks of age. (Roughly. We never know exactly when the various windows of opportunity will open or shut)
What kind of hormone is testosterone?
It is an androgen
What is the principal Androgen?
Testosterone
Where is testosterone manufactured?
In the testes
Why might some class instructors recommend Castration?
As a means of reducing unwanted aggressive behavior. (If this behavior has a history of reinforcement, it now has a conditioned element and can be harder to get rid of..)
What are the principal female hormones?
Estrogen and progesterone
What is the female hormonal cycle called?
The estrus cycle
Neuralpsychology
The science of the relationship between the brain and behavior
What are engrams?
Hypothetical pathways through their brain that are made by repeating a series of motor actions. Sometimes referred to as motor or muscle memory.
What is the reticular activating system?
The RAS is the attention center of the brain. It is where the outside world is perceived, processed, and acted upon.
What part of the brain allows dogs to ignore unimportant stimuli?
The reticular activating system
What is the limbic system?
A network of cells in the brain that integrate instinct and learning. The limbic system is involved in feeling instinctive emotions like fear. (If activated, the cerebral cortex is inhibited)
What is the opposition reflex?
A tonic reflex involves the dog’s body trying to maintain equilibrium. This reaction is a form of thigmotaxis.
Is social hierarchy flexible?
Yes. It is affected by variables such as context and physical state of the subject and others around them.
Who is clever Hans?
A horse who was thought to have been taught to some of mathematical problems. That was actually just good at reading the face of his handler.
What is the vomeronasal organ?
A primitive scenting organ located in the roof of the mouth approximately where the teeth meet the soft palette.
What is a dog’s secondary sense of smell called?
Vomeronasal organ or Jacobson’s organ
Baseline posture
The middle of the road posture. Not too bold and not too worried. The baseline relaxed state.
What is piloerection?
Also commonly referred to as a dog’s hackles, this is when the fur along the spine raises.
Any type of arousal can produce piloerection.
Hackles
The fur along a dog’s spine sometimes reaching from the tail to the forehead.
What is a dog’s critical zone?
The dog’s personal space, also called critical distance or flight distance.
List examples of stress behavior
Panting, drooling, trembling, sweaty paws, tense, body, shedding and dandruff, changing eyes, etc
Define stress
Stress is an influence on the dog that deviates the dog from homeostasis, the normal baseline state of one particular dog. Stress can trigger a happy state or an unhappy state.
Reactive behavior
When an individual has an unreasonably strong reaction to an event or stimuli . This reaction can be positive or negative
Ambivalent Behavior
The dog is unsure, unclear, undecided. The body posture might show both offensive and defensive components at the same time. ( What behavior this turns into, what decision the dog comes to, is often dependent on the environment)
What is displacement behavior?
Displacement behavior is normal behaviors offered or displayed out of context.
What are calming signals?
Behavioral cues that produce pacifying effects on the animal exhibiting them. They can sometimes have mutually pacifying effects on others. Are often displayed to resolve a social conflict.
List some examples of calming behaviors
Yawning, stretching the tongue, scratching, licking, turning away, blinking or averting their eyes, splitting (when one dog walks between two others that are having a tense, social interaction ), etc
What is appeasement?
A form of social conflict resolution that attempts to turn off or inhibit perceived threats from others. Also known as calming signals
What might active submission look like?
Licking at the mouth of the superior dog, smiling without showing teeth, tail down and body lowered
What might passive submission look like?
Rolling onto their back, looking away, and tucking your tail over their stomach.
In dog breeding, if you select for a change in looks you also get…
A change in behavior.
Some people say canine behavior is divided into three categories: reproductive behaviors, hazard avoidance, and…
Food acquisition
A dog’s temperament is exactly half the result of genetics and half the environment. True or false?
False
A defensive dog is defensive because…
They are afraid of something.
Which sex (Male, female, castrated male, spayed female) will mark territory?
Any of the above
Assigning human traits and motivations to animals is called
Anthropomorphism
Early experience is vital because
It affects the brains development
The limbic system is involved with emotions such as fear, true or false
True
