Group Living and cognition

Question 1

benefits of group living

Answer 1

reduce predation risk
easier foraging
reproductive opportunities increase
hydrodynamic advantage (save energy by using vortices from others to move)
thermoregulation advantage (save energy by using heat of others)

Question 2

what does increased vigilance mean?

Answer 2

groups provide increased vigilance, while the individual is able to be less vigilant.

Multiple members of the group have their heads up while the others feed, then take turns. The turns are irregular to throw off predators, and as group size increases, vigilance increases while individual vigilance (measured in % of time with head raised) decreases.

Question 3

mobbing

Answer 3

group living helps to chase away predators by mobbing. This means overwhelming or startling the predator until they leave

Question 4

dilution effect

Answer 4

the chance that one individual will be killed in a successful predator attack on the group. Dilution effect increases the more individuals that join the group.

Question 5

the selfish herd

Answer 5

safety depends on position in the group. individuals approach others/ move to the middle to be safer.

tradeoff: exterior positions better for foraging, increased predation risk.

Question 6

costs of group living

Answer 6

conspicuous to predators
competition for food/resources
increased risk of disease
reproductive risks increase (cuck, cannibals)

Question 7

public information

Answer 7

information about patch quality gotten by observing foraging success of others. can reduce travel costs associated with solo foraging.

Question 8

feeding in groups benefits

Answer 8

more time to feed because there are more eyes scanning for predators (increased group vigilance)
facilitates information about locality and quality of food patches
increases success when catching difficult prey

Question 9

feeding interference

Answer 9

when the presence of another individual alerts sensitive prey of your presence and decreases your foraging success

Question 10

cost of group feeding

Answer 10

increased competition for food
increased interference influencing prey capture

Question 11

costs reproducing in a social group

Answer 11

cuckoldry increases
cannibalism
reproductive interference

Question 12

benefits of reproducing in a social group

Answer 12

can cuckold others

Question 13

what do subordinates do best in?

Answer 13

puzzle solving

Question 14

what do dominants do best in?

Answer 14

memory and spatial learning

Question 15

individual learning

Answer 15

personal experience, reliable but risky to get

Question 16

social learning

Answer 16

observational, unreliable but low risk

Question 17

3 steps in guest lecture individual learning set up

Answer 17

1: initial learning
2: associative learning
3: reversal learning

Question 18

which learned better in associative learning

Answer 18

dominants

Question 19

which did better in reversal learning

Answer 19

subordinates

Question 20

social learning set up (guest lecture)

Answer 20

demonstrator does the puzzle, then observer can try.
demonstrator x observer pairs were mixes and matches of dom/sub

Question 21

which did better in social learning

Answer 21

dominants