Exam 2 Flashcards
Voluntary intrinsically motivated activities associated with recreational pleasure and enjoyment.
Play
Play which establishes connection? EX: mother and offspring.
Attunement Play.
Play in which an animal explores how its body works and interacts with the world.
EX: Dog chasing its tail.
Body Play.
Play which involves handling objects in ways which use the animals curiosity.
EX: Horse playing with yoga ball.
Object Play.
Play which involves playing with others in activities.
EX: Wrestling, or racing.
Social Play.
What are the three benefits of play?
Cognitive: Skill/ Perception Learning.
Physical: Strength/ coordination/ reaction time.
Social: Sexual behaviors/ grooming/ food acquisition/ communication/ social bonds.
Extended period of time during development when an animal is more receptive to environmental stimuli/ usually in sync with nervous system development sensitivity?
O.G. Name?
Sensitive period
originally known as critical period by Konrad Lorenz.
(lil diff: Brief, well defined & behavior transformation.)
What are the four basic concepts of the sensitive period?
- Fairly Extended.
- Gradual onset and termination.
- Differ in duration among species/ individuals/ functional systems.
- Depends on the nature and intensity of stimuli.
What is a major difference between critical period and sensitive period in regards to learning new behavior?
Critical period behaviors are only learned during that time, afterwards the brain is rewired.
In sensitive periods the behavior is learned at an accelerated pace, Vs after- still possible but slower. Think language learning as toddler Vs adult.
Sensitive period behaviors can also be modified after learning them unlike critical period. These sensitive behaviors are more resilient when decreased.
What are two factors regarding when a sensitive period will be induced?
When the internal and external factors align. EX: Olfactory neuron set-up (internal) and (external) scent in the environment- that scent will likely be remembered and set a behavior. Salmon will imprint the scent of their natal stream to return to for mating.
What are two ways of determining the end of a sensitive period?
- The learned behavior changes neuro and is self-terminating.
- Maturation leads to the body being less receptive to what triggered the sensitive period.
In animals with more complex behaviors with multiple steps how is this learned?
This is learned by way of multiple sensitive periods for each step.
What are the three type of sensitive periods we learned?
- Imprinting
- Brood Care
- Maternal Attachment.
What are the two types of imprinting?
Filial: acquires behavior from parent.
Sexual: Learns characteristics of good mate from conspecific surroundings.
What is a conspecific?
Member of the same species.
What are the two parts of maternal attachment?
Maternal responsiveness: Display of maternal behavior in presence of young. (Narrow sensitive window.)
Maternal selectivity: Directing maternal behavior towards only its offspring.
(Narrow Sensitive window and requires external factor used to identify its offspring such as scent/ or auditory etc.)
What animals are not applicable to brood care?
Mammals and aves. This is because they do not have large numbers of offspring ie. Broods like fish might.
What are the four categories of brood care?
Substrate/ open brooders: Eggs laid on substrate, watchful territory, water fanning, imprint- visual cue of egg hatching, extra territoriality where if offspring go too far they are no longer recognized and are rejected.
Secretive Cave: ^ this but in cave not open substrate.
Ovophile Mouth Brooders: Egg mouth.
Larvophile Mouth brooders: Larva mouth.
characteristic of all eukaryotic organisms that allows the organism to “keep time” and synchronize itself to cyclical environmental variable.
Biological Clock.
Biological clocks should be endogenous, what does this mean?
This refers to biological components taking place regardless of environmental stimuli, even though this may be severely altered by lack of environmental stimuli.
Duration of biological clock in absence of environmental factors is said to be….?
Free Running. Biological clocks are still considered endogenous.
What occurs when rhythmic/ physiological/ behavior events match their phases to an oscillating environmental factor?
Entrainment. This helps avoid the effects of “free running” biological clocks.
Factor which is from an external stimulus Vs internal Stimulus?
External: Exogenic.
Internal: Endogenic.
How does entrainment of a biological clock become beneficial?
This is beneficial because when the exogenic factors of entrainment change the endogenic ones adapt to it. EX: During the winter the days are shorter, are bodies adjust to feel tired at a different time as we conduct activities at different times.
Measure of biological clock compensation for temperature?
Q10 Temperature coefficient.
What does Q10 Temperature coefficient =1 mean?
As temperature increases the rhythm is considered temperature compensated.
What is the most important biological cycle for most animals?
Circadian rhythm.
What specific rhythm shows all three criteria of biological clocks?
Circadian Rhythm.
What are the three types of circadian rhythm?
Diurnal: Light Wakeness
Nocturnal: Dark Wakeness
Crepuscular: Dawn and dusk Wakeness.
What are two other factors besides wakeness a circadian rhythm affects?
- Gene Expression.
- Body temp regulation.
Rhythms shorter than 24 hours?
Ultradian Rhythms.
EX: Eye blinking, heart rate, respiration rate.
Endogenous and entrainable.
Rhythm longer than 24 hours?
Infradian Rhythm.
Endogenous and entrainable.
EX: Menses, breeding seasons, shedding etc.)
Type of infradian rhythm dependent on the lunar cycle?
Circalunal Rhythm.
EX: Fire worms breed just before 4th quarter of moon phase.
Type of infradian Rhythm dependent on the tide?
Circatidal Rhythm.
Ex: Affects nearly all Littoral (Shore) animals. Infradian because the tides are affected by the moon even though they are on a 12.5 hour rhythm.
Type of infradian Rhythm dependent on the time of year/ seasonal?
Circannual Rhythms.
EX: Shedding season, antlers, gonad size, molting, breeding etc.
Honey bees feed at a variety of flowers, some have very particular blooming times, yet the bees are seen adapting and changing to be active at this time, what is this an example of happening?
Biological clock becoming advantageous for the bees to feed.
Birds migrate yearly frequently for food more abundant in other places. They bird arguably don’t know the time of year or the “why” they do this. Why does this occur?
This occurs due to an infradian circannual biological clock that has evolved due to the advantage of flying south for the winter ensure a better chance of survival Vs. staying.
What region of the brain is the “Master-Clock” in rats?
Hypothalamus.
What cell bodies are within the hypothalamus?
Suprachiasmatic Nuclei.
When grown in a petridish these cells exhibited their own rhythmic electrical activity even without any exogenic stimuli.
These cells can exhibit control over other body clocks through the release of hormones such as cortisol.
(Assumed to be true of all mammals/ amniotes. Worth noting head does not play this role in drosophila clocks.)
What hormone is believed to play a role in entrainment of biological clocks?
Cortisol.
Exogenic stimuli affects entrainment, what is this pathway for something such as light dark cycle in vertebrates?
In Vertebrates our retinas contain specialized photoreceptors within the related ganglion that send a direct signal to the suprachiasmatic neurons in the hypothalamus and lead to a change in the production of the hormone melatonin- this is the process of entrainment. The more light exposure, the more melatonin produced.
Ability to same way using landmarks
Piloting
Ability to same way without using landmarks.
Compass orientation.
Type of compass orientation which includes the animal understanding how long to go in which direction.
Vector navigation
Process of the animal integrating the information of the direction and duration of travel outward to find its way home inward?
Path integration.
Animal which can navigate to its destination regardless of “road blocks” and where it currently located.
True navigation/ Homing.
Use of various landmarks and celestial input?
Visual Cues.
Easily recognizable cue which can be stored quickly in an animals memory guide for later navigation use.
Landmark.
Navigation using the sun?
Sun Compass.