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ANSC 3090 > Mod 1 (L1 + L2) > Flashcards

Mod 1 (L1 + L2) Flashcards

Lecture topics: 4 whys Behavior methods

1
Q

L1

Ethology

A

The scientific study of animal behavior (how animals interact with their world and each other

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2
Q

L1

APPLIED ethology

A

the science of managing the behavior of animals under our care (or that we come into conflict with)

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3
Q

L1

Who are the ‘recorded’ pioneers of ethology

A

Dead white men

  • Karl von Frisch
  • Konrad Lorenz (Nazi)
  • Niko Tinbergen
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4
Q

L1

What theory did the pioneers of ethology prove first?

A

Behavior is “adaptive”
What animals do is as much a product of evolution as what they look like

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5
Q

L1

What did Karl von Frisch study

A

Bees - waggle dance

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6
Q

L1

What did Niko Tinbergen study

A

Causes and functions of specific behaviors (eggshell removal by gulls)

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7
Q

L1

What did Konrad Lorenz discover?

A

Imprinting on baby birds

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8
Q

L1

Who is Charles Turner and what did he discover?

A

Zoologist from 1867-1923. Before the 3 “pioneers”
Discovered that bees can hear and see colour

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9
Q

L1

What are Tinbergen’s ‘4 whys’?

A

It is a framework for thinking about animal behavior with 4 categories:
Phylogenetic
Developmental
Causal
Functional

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10
Q

L1

What is a PHYLOGENETIC explanation?

A
  • refers to genetic inheritances from previous generations
  • eg. the influence of the taxonomic group
  • eg. the effects of natural or artificial selection
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11
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this question belong to:
How does and animal’s evolutionary past in the wild or its history of domestication, affect the behavior?

A

Phylogenetic question

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12
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this question belong to:
How do closely related species compare?

A

Phylogenetic question

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13
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this question belong to:
What are the effects of sub-species/strain/breed parentage or individual genes?

A

Phylogenetic question

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14
Q

L1

The duck is quacking because Anseriformes cannot sing; is what kind of example (4 whys)

A

Phylogenetic example

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15
Q

L1

the sheep is frightened of dogs because of her ancestors evolved surrounded by wolves; is what kind of example (4 whys)

A

Phylogenetic example

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16
Q

L1

The mouse has a tremor because its strain was created to model Parkinson’s disease; is what kind of example (4whys)

A

Phylogenetic example

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17
Q

L1

What is a DEVELOPMENTAL explanation?

A
  • accounts for an animal’s behavior in the terms od their previous experience
    AND/OR
  • their developmental stage
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18
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this question belong to:
How does early experience affect the form/timing of a particular behavior expressed later in life?

A

Developmental question

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19
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this question belong to:
How does and animal’s current stage of development affect the for/timing of a behavior?

A

Developmental question

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20
Q

L1

The piglets are fleeing because they were exposed to high corticosterone levels in utero; is what kind of example (4 whys)

A

Developmental example

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21
Q

L1

The cat friendly because s/he was well socialized; is what kind of example (4 whys)

A

Developmental example

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22
Q

L1

What does PHYLOGENETIC and DEVELOPMENTAL together account for?

A

Together these 2 account for the basic phenotype of an animal

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23
Q

L1

What is a CAUSAL explanation?

A
  • refers to the immediate, current factors and initiate, control, and terminate the behavior (eg. what triggers or terminates a bout of behavior)
  • also to underlying mechanism, the ‘how’
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24
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this question belong to:
How do internal and external factors initiate, maintain, and terminate a behavior?

A

Causal question

25
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this question belong to:
How does it work - what machinery is involved in the behavior?

A

Causal question

26
Q

L1

The lynx is eating quickly because she is highly motivated by hunger; is what kind of example (4 whys)

A

Causal example

27
Q

L1

The robin is singing because his testosterone levels are high, and because his syrinx vibrates in particular ways when air is expelled over it; is what kind of example (4 whys)

A

Causal example

28
Q

L1

The primate is rocking because of altered levels of neurotransmitters in parts of the forebrain; is what kind of example (4 whys)

A

Causal example

29
Q

L1

What is a FUNCTIONAL explanations

A
  • refers to the beneficial consequences of the behavior for the animal (and how they outweigh any costs)
30
Q

L1

What are the 2 functional levels?

A

proximate and ultimate

31
Q

L1

What is PROXIMATE function?

A

Benefits that are quite immediate (and perhaps learned)
short term results

32
Q

L1

What is ULTIMATE function?

A

Benefit the evolutionary fitness of the animal
long term results

33
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this question belong to:
What are the consequences of a behavior: the net benefits?

A

Functional question

34
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this question belong to:
Does the behavior pattern even have a current function (is it instead manipulative or malfunctional?)

A

Functional question

35
Q

L1

What is another term for function?

36
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this explanation belong to:
The animal is grooming to induce opioid release (which we believe ‘feels good’)

A

Functional - Proximate

37
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this explanation belong to:
The birds preen to keep their plumage parasite free

A

Functional - Proximate

38
Q

L1

What category of the ‘4 whys’ does this explanation belong to:
Parasite-free plumage helps a male attract mates, and so increases his chance of passing on his genes

A

Functional - Ultimate

39
Q

L1

What are 3 reasons the ‘4 whys’ framework is useful?

A
  1. It simplifies:
    - behavior is the most complex - and most plastic - aspect of n animal’s phenotype
  2. I’s a recipe for thoroughness:
    - especially for applied problems
  3. A way of appreciating that different levels of explanation are complementary, not alternatives
40
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What is a hypothesis?

A
  • A proposed explanation ofa pattern or phenomenon that may or may not be true
  • We test the hypothesis using specific observations or experiments, to provide evidence for or against it
    • There can be more that one hypothesis under test at once (‘competing’ hypotheses)
41
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What makes a good hypothesis?

A
  • Very clear and specific: no waffle!
  • Must be empirically testable
  • How? Makes specific predictions that can be tested with data, and that distinguish it from other copmeting hypotheses
    • e.g. Tinbergen’s hypothesis of eggshell removal in gulls is due to predation
42
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What are the three main ways to test behavioral hypotheses?

A
  1. Experimental: manipulative variables to asses their consequences
  2. Observational: watch/record animals, and collect data specific to your hypothesis
  3. Comparative: look for patterbs if relationships across species
43
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What is an ethogram?

A

A list of precisely described behaviors that are recorded in a study

44
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What is INTRA-oberver reliability?

A

Intra: within

  • means each individual observer is consistent with themseves, i.e has stable criteria and sticks to them
    • achieved through practice
45
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What is INTER - observer reliability?

A

Inter: between

  • Means different observers are consistent with each other, e.g. get the same results from the same video
  • Achieved through practice
46
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What is habituation?

A

Pre- exposure that permits unlearned responses to wane

47
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What are 3 different ways to collect behavior data?

A
  1. Time sampling: recording a regular, pre-set intervals
  2. Event recording: scoring all instances, whenever they happen
  3. Continuous recording: recording a focal animal (for s set time period)
48
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What is an EVENT?

A

Breif behaviour pattern which are best counted rather than measured in terms of duration (e.g. alarm calls)

49
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What is a BOUT?

A

Natural chunks or sequences of behavior performed without breaks

(Have a duration that is easily measured)

50
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What is LATENCY?

A

Time between the presentation of a stimulus/opportunity, and the initiation of a behavior

51
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What is a TIME BUDGET?

A

Percent (%) of the day (or observation period) spent doing X, Y, or Z behaviors

52
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

In a time budget what is the RATE?

A

Number of behaviours per unit of time

53
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

In a time budget, what is PREVALENCE?

A

Percent (%) of the subject doing X, Y, or Z

54
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What is NON-SYSTEMIC ERROR?

A
  • Factors that affect our results, but don’t bias them in any particular direction
  • Sometimes leads to erroneous conclusions, but typically just risks obscuring real results
55
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What are some ways to avoid the inaccuracies caused by non-systemic error?

A
  • All humans are well trained and have good IORs
  • The study long, so the odd ****-up doesn’t matter
  • The animals are habituated
  • The sample size is large so that individual idiosyncrasies don’t have too much effect on the data
56
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What is SYSTEMIC ERROR?

A

Factors that bias the our findings consistently in one direction… so as to give us ‘fake results’

57
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What are CONFOUNDS?

A

When experimental treatment groups differ in more than jsut experimental treatment… so then when you get an effect you don’t know why

58
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What are BIASES?

A

Where the experimenter influences the results (accidently or on purpose)

59
Q

L2 (Behavior methods)

What are qualities of a good behavior paper?

A
  • have clearly stated hypothesis
  • explain why they collected the data they did, and why they used the methods they did
  • if reliant on humans for scoring, will have a good ethogram, blinding, and good intra-/inter-observer reliability
    • use good sample sizes, and avoid confounds

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