Final Flashcards
An understanding of animal behavior is necessary to better
- care for animals in captivity
- understand human behavior
- manage animals in the wild
- train animals
In the case of the peppered moth, changes in the moth population have occurred in response to the action of predators as the environment has changed due to
pollution
reflex
relationship between specific event and simple response to that event
Modal action patterns resemble reflexes in that they
often are reliably elicited by a particular kind of event
Not responding to a stimulus because the stimulus is not perceived by the sense organs is called
peripheral filtering
central filtering change because
animal can learn whether or not a stimulus has significance
response thresholds
degree of stimulation necessary to elicit response
existence of song dialects allows birds to
choose mate adapted to its region
Harlow’s studies found that, for a growing monkey,
play with peers could compensate for lack of maternal contact.
Evidence that species affinities in sheep and goats are learned early in life include sheep and goats raised together in isolated pairs
prefer company of species they were raised with instead of their own species.
Evidence that species imprinting is not irreversible includes the fact that male sheep and goats that had been reared w/ opposite species came to prefer members of their own species if
housed exclusively with them for about 60–90 days.
intensity of behavior
How much effort animal exerts to perform behavior
A shallow slope on the cumulative record indicates
- low rate of responding
- difficult task to learn
habituation
- loss or reduction of old responses
- has been observed even in single-celled organisms
Pavlov found that conditioning was not achieved as fast with animals that had
lots of anxiety or no anxiety
In Pavlovian conditioning, the stimuli and the animal’s behavior are
independent of each other
The logic statement event X occurs if and only if event Y occurs defines what is meant by
contingency
Accidentally reinforcing behavior can lead to
superstitious behavior
Shaping by successive approximations
involves selectively reinforcing performances closer to the final, desired behavior.
A chain of behaviors holds together because the
animal is going from a new behavior to an old, familiar behavior.
primary reinforcers
- strengthen the behavior they follow
- are innately effective
generalized reinforcers
- can be used in wide variety of situations
- include, for example, money
Premack principle
observation that high-probability behavior reinforces low-probability behavior
The fact that stimuli habituated in one context may not be habituated in a different situation tells us that habituation
is context specific
Taste aversion conditioning used to deter coyotes from attacking sheep involves
placing an illness-inducing substance in sheep carcasses.
fixed ratio schedule
reinforcement is given after completion of specific number of responses
ex: Having an animal turn three circles in a row before getting reinforced
variable interval schedule
Time between reinforcement varies from one reinforcement to the next
Ex: Having an animal hold in a specific position until it hears the bridge
fixed interval schedule
Reinforcement is given after first response after specific period of time
variable ratio schedule
Number of responses required varies from one reinforcement to the next
When teaching an animal a signal which means it has done a behavior incorrectly, it is important to
shape the response that is desired
Reinforcing for attitude might more accurately be called reinforcing for
starting behavior w/ a lot of speed or power
The Breland’s experiences with instinctive drift reinforces the concept that
behavior is the result of an interaction between genes and the environment
The experiment wherein the chimpanzees solved the problem of reaching the bananas by stacking boxes and fitting sticks together illustrates
- latent learning
- insight learning
In spotted hyenas, high levels of male hormones
- are seen in females.
- result in females having masculinized genitalia.
- result in increased aggressiveness
Evidence supporting the idea that annual rhythms are controlled by endogenous mechanisms include the fact that animals kept in the laboratory under constant environmental conditions
continue to show annual rhythms
The example of different species of cricket frogs showing differences in their mating calls in areas where multiple species occur illustrates the evolutionary process of
character displacement
The fact that animals frequently communicate the same message using multiple sensory modalities is referred to as
redundancy
The fact that canaries learn new song elements each season suggests that
the original description of imprinting may be incorrect
The sound spectrograph work of Eugene Morton at the National Zoo has demonstrated
that the sound structure of vocalizations conveys much of the message.
A communication signal that conveys information about the communication itself is called
meta-communication
The basic method of behavioral ecology is to
compare similar species in different habitats.
Crook’s study of weaver birds led him to hypothesize that savanna-living species evolved the foraging and nesting behaviors they have because
seeds are patchy in distribution and locally superabundant.
Chimpanzees live in male-dominated societies while bonobos do not because
chimps have to compete w/ gorillas for food
problems of group living that animals must overcome include
- competition
- interference
- conspicuousness
Animals in groups can spend more time feeding than an individual alone becuse
they can more easily detect a predator
When a monkey interacts with other monkeys, its mother
backs it up
a calm and secure mother monkey
- instills these qualities in her offspring
- has offspring that easily explore their worlds
Within a troop of macaques
the matrilines have a dominance rank in relation to each other
young male rhesus play in order to
- form friendships
- learn individual personalities
In rhesus macaques, males get to become alpha male by
joining group and working up to top of hierarchy after years in group
Poor little rich boys typically leave their natal group
at 10 years old
Shark Bay is a good place to study dolphins because
the clear quiet water makes it easy to observe them
Mental powers exhibited by bottlenose dolphins include
- quick learning
- excellent memories
- can use knowledge to solve new problems
Female dolphins start having calves
in their early teens
What percentage of baby dolphins don’t survive their first year?
20%
the main source of mortality of baby dolphins is
shark predation
Young dolphins leave their mothers to
swim w/ other adolescents
In general, within the community, individuals form
small, constantly changing groups
Big brains have evolved in social mammals
to allow skills for manipulating social environment
Triangular relationships
indicate animals have multifaceted personalities
Compared to the dominance of territoriality, the dominance of a dominance hierarchy is
independent of where in space the interaction takes place
Compared to the dominance of territoriality, the dominance of a dominance hierarchy is
independent of where in space the interaction takes place
Stable hierarchies and territories are advantageous in that they
- reduce the incidence of harmful aggression.
- reduce the time devoted to potentially stressful social interactions.
- free up time and energy for behaviors important to survival and reproduction.
Stable hierarchies and territories are advantageous in that they
- reduce the incidence of harmful aggression.
- reduce the time devoted to potentially stressful social interactions.
- free up time and energy for behaviors important to survival and reproduction.
Because aggression and related behaviors are too risky to the well-being of individuals to engage in spontaneously in contexts which typically offer little or no benefit, natural selection doesn’t favor animals that
continually initiate aggressive encounters w/ conspecifics just for its own sake.