ETHOLOGY Flashcards
1
Q
ETHOLOGY
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- study of animal behaviours, espeically innate beahviours that occur in natural habitat
2
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Charles Darwin
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- concept of evolution plasubiel by natural selection
- not first to think of it but is attributd to hm because his ideas are applied and tested in ethology
3
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Lorenz, Tinbergen and von Frisch
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- major figures of ethology who shared nobel prize in 1973
4
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Lorenz
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- founder of ethology as a distinct research area
- created terminology and theory in field
5
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Imprinting (Lorenz)
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- certain species, young attach to the first moving object they see after birth
- displayed by a “following response”
- subjective to a critical period
6
Q
Animal agression (Lorenz)
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- theory of instinct fueled fire of debate over innate beahviour
- argued types of aggression are necesary for survival and is instinctual rather than learned
- even in humans - explained by survival needs
7
Q
Releasing stimuli (Lorenz)
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- earliest work in AKA releasers/sign stimuli/releasing stimuli
- continued by Tinbergen
- elicits autnomatic, chain of behaviours from another individual in same speicies that is instinctual
8
Q
Chains of behaviours were called:
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Fixed action patterns
9
Q
Fixed action patterns (Lorenz) 4 defining chracteristis:
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- complex chain of behaviours triggered by releasing stimuli
1) uniform pattern
2) performed by most members of species
3) more complex than simple reflexes
4) cannot be interrupted or stopped in middle
10
Q
Tinbergen
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- one of the founders of modern ethology using models in naturalistic settings
- continue Lorenz’s work on realeasing stimuli
- most famous on stickleback fish and herring gull chicks
11
Q
Stickle back fish (Tinbergen)
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- in springs, male develop red coloration on belly and fight eachother
- red belly is releasing stimuli for attacks
- tested this when fish attacked the red belly models but not the very detailed non-red bellies
12
Q
Herring gull chicks
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- hungry chicks peck at their parent’s bill that have a red spot on tip and parent regurgitates food
- tested this when chick pecked more at red tip than on plain model
- greater contrast between bill and red spot = more vigorous pecking
13
Q
Supernormal sign stimulis
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- when contrast of releasing stimuli is so strong as to be unnatural
- exagerate natural stimuli and more effect than natural releaser
14
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Karl von Frisch
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- major figure in study of animal behavior
- famous for discovery of honeybees communicating through dance
15
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Walter Connon
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- coined fight or flight term referring to internal physiological chances in organism
- also proposed idea of homeotatis = internal regulation of body to maintain equilibrium
16
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Genetics
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- basic unit of heredity = gene
- DNA molecules organized in chromsomes
- human nucleas has 23 pairs of chromosomes
17
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Gamete
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- sperm or ovum is haploid so contains 23 single chromosomes
- 2 gametes = human cells; 2 separate set of 23 chromosomes come toether to form a zygote
18
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Haploid
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- 23 single chromosomes
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Diploid
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- all other human cells have 23 PAIRS of chromosomes
- zygote is diploid
20
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Genotype
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- total of all genetic material that offspring recieves from 46 chromosome (23 pairs)
- includes dominant and receissive genes
21
Q
Alleles
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- possible dominant and recessive gene variations for each characteristic
- 2 genes that make up the alleles are on the same place on the chromosome
- dominant-dominant; recessive-recessive; dominant-recessive
- determines what people look like
22
Q
Phenotype
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- external characteristics determined by hereditary or genotype
23
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Natural selection
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- Darwin proposed that selection proes determines whcih animals survive and reproduce because more animals are born than survive to maturity
- process by whch the fit survive; explains genetic development
24
Q
Genetic drift
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- particular genotypes are selected or eliminted from population over time
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Fitness
- slogan of survival of the fittest
- the ability to reproduce and pass on genes
- have traits that allow them to offset dangers of competition and predation
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Inclusive fitness
- natural selection favors this over individual fitness because we are invested in the survival of our genes
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Kin selection
- inclusive fitness that we are also invetesed in the genes of our kin
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Instinctual/innate behaviours are:
- present in all normal members of species
- stertypic in form throughout members even when performed for 1st time
- indepdnet of learning/experience
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Interaction between instinct and learning =
- rodent reared in isolation can still build a nest but are not as efficient
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Altruism
- solely benefits another
- truely altruistic = toward non-kin
- most likely behaviours are similar to a group mentality = help others if benefit outweights costs and expect to be repaid
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Biological clocks
- internal rythms that keep animal in sync with enviornment
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Circadian rhythms
- endogenous rhythms that revolved around 24 hour time period
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Courting
- behaviours that preced sexual acts that lead to reproduction
- purpose of attracting mate and isolating mate
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Displacement activities and AKA:
- AKA irrelevant beahviours
- serve no survival function
e. g. scractching head
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Estrus
- period which female of species is seuxally receptive
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Inbreeding
- breeding within the same family
| - evoluntionary control prevents this via markings on family
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Mimicry
- evolved form of deceloption
| e. g. non poisionous snakes with posionious markings
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Phreomones
- checmials detected by vomeronasal organ that act as messengers between animals
- most primitve form of communication and transmits states e.g. fear and sexual receptivness
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Reproductive isolating mechanisms (4 forms)
- prevent inbreeding between 2 different but closely related species thorugh 4 forms of isolating machines
1) Behavioural isolation
2) Geographic isolation
3) Mechanical isolation
4) Isolation by season
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Behavioural isolation
- courship display allows indiviudaal to identify a mate within it own specieis
- only members of same species will respond to display
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Geographic isolation
- breed in different areas to prevent confusion or genetic mixing
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Mechanical isolation
- incompatible gential structures
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Isolation by season
- mate during different seasons
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Sensitve or critical periods in learning
- times when a developing animal is particulary vulnerable to the effects of learning
- critical period for imprinting as well --> will follow and attempt to mate with animal no matter what later experience is
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Sexual dimorphism
- structural differences between sexes
| - arise through natural and sexual selections
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Sexual selection
- Darwin - another form of natural selection
- those with greatest chance of being chosen as mate via best fighters, best courters, most attractive instead of most fittest
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Comparative psychology
- related to ethology
- diffferent species compared to learn similarities and differences
- draws from animal signists into human functioning
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Karl von Frish
- disocvered dance of honeybees
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Communication (Honeybees)
- communicate by dancing and scouting bee has located promising food source and return to hive
- round dance = food nearby
- waggle dance = food far away
- longer = farther
- vigorious = better food
- dance on vertical line to show angle between sun and food source
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Navigation (Honeybees)
- scouting bees look for food and nesting sites
| - use landmarks e.g. location cues, sun, polarized light, magnetic field
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Hierarchy (Honeybees)
- only one queen emerges and produces chemical to suppre ovaries in all other females bees
- queen is fed and attended to and once new eggs emerge scouters find a new location for old queen to depart
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Mating (Honeybees)
- very few male bees (drones) are produced and serve only purpose to mate with queen
- same mating areas year after year
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Flower selection (Honeybees)
- see ultraviolet light
| - can see markings on flowers (honeyguides) that people can not
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Navigtion
- broad topic
- some use map and compass navigation with map being landmarks and compass being elemetns like sun and starts
- others have true navigation e.g. birds who are captured but still find same location (correct their "compass")
- Birds and bees are often cited as expert celestial navigators
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Atmospheric pressure
- pressure changes in altitude cuase navigation
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Infrasound
- hear low frequency sounds that travel great disatnaces as a navigational cue
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Magnetic sense
- use earth's magnetic forces as cues
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Sun compass
- use sun as compass and to compensate for its daily movements
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Star compasd
- use start patterns and movment for navigation
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Polarized light
- when sun is blocked bees can see polarized light to infer positioning of sun
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Echolocation
- most sophiticated navigation that replaces sight
| - emit high frquency burst of sound that can locate nearby objects
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Owls (navigation)
- use hearing and can hear by comparing different intensisites
- ears are asymmetrical so sound from above or below will reach different ears at different times with different intensisties
63
Wolfgang Kohler
- experiementing with chimpanzee and insight into problem solving
- Gestalt psychologist that by perceiving the whole situation chimps are able to create novel solutions to problems v. trail and error
- chimps used tools to recieve rewards through insight
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A-ha experience
- moment of insight
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Harry Harlow
- social isolation and maternal stimulation from monkies
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Social isolation (Harlow)
- lack of interaction and socialization with normal young monkys hamper social development
- don't display normal sex functioing and females lack maternal beahviours
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Contact conform (Harlow)
- infant spent most of time with teryycloth mothers and ran to surrogate when afraid
- only approached wire mother when time to feed
- infants attach to their mothers through comforting experinces vs. feeding
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Learning to learn (Harlow)
- became better at learning task as they acquire different learning experiences
- evnetually can learn after 1 trail
69
R.C Tyron
- bred maze bright and dull rats to demonstrat heritability of beaviour
70
R.M. Cooper and John Zubek
- interaction between heridity and environment
- bright rats performan better than dull ONLY when both rats were raised in normal conditions
- enriched environments = both rats perform well
- impoverished enviornments = both rats perform poorly
71
Thorndike
- instrumental learning; law of effect through train, error, and accidental succes
- animal acts on previous success which are more likely to be repeated
- demonstrated via. cat in puzzle boxes
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Cross fostering experiements
- attempt to separate effect of heredity and enironment via. sibling mice who are separated at birth and place in differnet parents or situations
- diferences in aggresision = attributed to experince rather than genes
73
Eric Kandel
- studied Aplysia becuse of few nerve cells
| - learning memory are evidence by changes in synpases and neural pathways
