intro

Question 1

2 problems with amateur animal behaviourists

Answer 1

perceptual bias, anthromorphism

Question 2

humans often see what we expect to see

Answer 2

see pattern where no pattern exists

Question 3

humans anthropomorphise

Answer 3

ascribe human characteristics to things not human
attributes ute conscious thought to animals too quickly

Question 4

what makes a professional behavioural scientist

Answer 4

proper use of scientific method

Question 5

3 reasons to why study behaviour

Answer 5

understanding evolution of adaptions, knowledge for conservation and origin and functions of human behaviour

Question 6

hypothesis

Answer 6

priori statement of simple relations between cause and effect, consequences or outcomes which are measurable or can be manipulated
models with testable and quantitative parameters

Question 7

scientific method

Answer 7

observations, questions, hypotheses, tests (experiments), interpretation

Question 8

problem with professional behaviourists

Answer 8

perceptual bias still possible

Question 9

ethology

Answer 9

study of animal behaviour with emphasis on the behavioural patterns that occur in natural environments

Question 10

behavioural ecology

Answer 10

emphasises evolutionary hypotheses, based on the fact that animals will act in a way that will increase their darwinian fitness

Question 11

evolutionary fitness

Answer 11

measures how many viable, fertile offspring an individual leaves in the next and subsequent generations, relative to others in the population

Question 12

adaptive behaviour

Answer 12

increases individuals evolutionary fitness relative to other individuals in the population

Question 13

what is Tinbergen’s 4 whys

Answer 13

4 ways of answering a ‘why’ question about animal behaviour, all 4 must be answered to fully understand any behaviour

Question 14

Tinbergen’s 4 ways

Answer 14

proximate (mechanistic), developmental (ontogenetic), phylogenetic (historical), functional (ultimate)

Question 15

proximate - Tinbergen

Answer 15

what motivates an individual to act in a particular way at a particular time

Question 16

developmental - Tinbergen

Answer 16

why does an individual behaviour in a particular way

Question 17

phylogenetic - Tinbergen

Answer 17

why did the behaviour arise in the first place and follow that evolutionary path

Question 18

functional - Tinbergen

Answer 18

why does the behaviour increase the individuals ability to survive and reproduce

Question 19

innate knowledge

Answer 19

automatic, inherent, no learning trajectory
no variation in behaviour among individuals
present in all members of the species