midterm 1 Flashcards
what is behavior
- the way in which one acts or conducts oneself
- the way in which an animal or person acts in response to a stimulus (external stimuli & internal stimuli)
- the total movements made by an intact animal
- behavior can be innate or learned
- crucial to the survival of the individual
what are examples of innate behaviors
- avoid predators
- find food
-mate
-raise young
what is innate behavior
- performed perfectly without previous training, exposure
- uniform, stereotyped
- triggered by a simple sign/stimulus
- strongly heritable preprogrammed neurological circuitries)
how does the environment affect an animals behavior
- behavior of an animal evolves through interaction with its environment
- animals adapt to environmental conditions they encounter in their surroundings
what is natural selection (darwinian theory)
- acts on behavioral traits
- favors animals who present with beneficial bahavior
- disadvantageous for animals who present with unhelpful behavior
based on what assumptions will evolutionary change occur
- variation in specific traits exists in a given population
- some of these behaviors are heritable
- certain behaviors make an animal more adapted to their environment
- individuals with these behaviors survive longer and therefore have more offspring; fitness
what are adaptations
traits associated with successful survival and reproduction
what is fitness
- the ability to survive and reproduce
- reflects an individulas ability to pass on its heritable traits to the next generation
what is infanticide
killing of infants (young) by dominant male in the troop; the infants being killed are typically not fathered by the domiant (killer)
ethogram
a record or catalog of animal behavior
ethology
study of animal behavior
state
a type of behavior that an animal exhibits continuously throughout the day
event
a type pf behavior that an animal exhibits for short periods of time
scan sampling
observing behaviors at brief pre-set intervals of time
continuous sampling
an approach to observing behavior that can accurately detect short-lived behaviors
convergent evolution
animals that are phylogenetically different share a common behavior
fitness
an animals ability to survive and reproduce
proximate causes
explain how a behavior occurs mechanistically or developmentally in a specific animal
divergent evolution
animals that are phylogenetically related exhibit different behaviors
write 3 environmental factors that can change an animal’s behavior
- changes in weather/climate change
- animals/people around them
- sunlight exposure (day length)
- availability of resources
- sudden destruction of habitat (access to nests, food, familiar environment)
what can we conclude from the example of the honey bee about genetics and the environment where: 1. if you add young bees to the colony, the residents start foraging sooner 2. if you add older bees to the colony, the resident bees remain nurses
behavior is controlled by genes that exist in the honey bee, changing the bees environment (including whether they are surrounded by older or younger bees) changes the expression of genes that control both nursing and foraging behaviors
how can we explain migratory behavior in these birds (common and black redstarts)
genetics, developmental, no epigenetic effects?
how strong are genetic effects(common and black redstarts)
stronger genetic control of migration, some/limited effect if the environment…
genotype
sets of alleles in an individual
phenotype
traits that we can see
what is the mechanistic approach
internally coordinated responses (actions or interactions) of whole living organisms (individual or group) to internal and/or external stimuli, excluding responses more easily understood as
developmental changes
what is the adaptive/evolutionary approach
behavior describes the way an individual acts or interacts with others or the environment
proximate causes (mechanistic)
factors which act within the life span of an individual (immediate)
ultimate causes (evolutionary)
adaptive value of a behavioral trait; evolutionary history of a behavioral trait
levels of analysis in the study of animal behavior
proximate level
development: how genetic-developmental mechanisms influence the assembly of an animal and its internal components
mechanism: how neuronal-hormonal mechanisms that develop in an animal during its lifetime control what an animal can do behaviorally
ultimate level
evolutionary history: the evolutionary history of a behavioral trait as affected by descent with modification from ancestral species
adaptive function: the adaptive value of a behavioral trait as affected by the process of evolution by natural selection
observational approach
observe behavioral trait and draw a conclusion
experimental approach
controlled experiments to test the relationships between different behavioral traits
comparative approach
examines behavior across more than one species; examines evolutionary history of a trait by 1. identifying extinct ancestral species and their behaviors 2. current behavior traits seen
how do genes work
turned on or off by environmental signals; internal/cellular, chemical, external
what is the interactive theory of development
traits are influenced by both genetic programming and environmental influences; production of behavior, evolution of behavior
what is the role of vasopressin in prairie voles
- vp is produced by the brain cells when an animal copulates
vp is carried to the ventral palladium and provides rewarding sensations
