Non-genetic inheritance

Question 1

What is non-genetic inheritance?

Answer 1

Factors in one individual influence the behaviour or development of another individual (without passing on genes) who, in turn, may pass on these influences to another…

Question 2

what is vertical transmission

Answer 2

• between generations (parents to offspring)
o can skip generations (grandparents to grandoffspring)
• similar pattern to genetic inheritance
• in some cases may skip generations (unlike genetic inheritance)

Question 3

what is horizontal transmission

Answer 3

• within generations
o e.g. peer to peer
• not possible with genetic inheritance

Question 4

Example of pre-birth maternal effects

Answer 4

The ones that had a mother that ate juniper berries prefer the juniper foods. This is not genetic as the rabbits were randomly allocated.

The young were taken as soon as they were born and were cross-fostered to another mother. The offspring still preferred the juniper fruit. This preference must have happened before they were born.

Question 5

example of post-birth maternal effects

Answer 5

Maternal effects both inside and outside the womb

Kits’ preferences determined by mother’s diet via
• prenatal environment
• milk during nursing
• faecal pellets deposited in nest

Question 6

what is social learning

Answer 6

• learning that is facilitated by observation of, or interaction with, another individual or its products- Hoppitt & Laland (2013)
• ‘observer’ individual learns from ‘demonstrator’ individual
• differs from individual learning because it is heritable

Question 7

Why learn from others?

Answer 7

• may be less time-consuming than individual learning
• may allow exploitation of new resources, e.g. by overcoming neophobia
• may be less risky than individual trial-and-error learning

Question 8

why not always learn from others

Answer 8

• may sometimes be more time-consuming to wait for conspecifics than find out yourself
• actions of others may be outdated or not relevant to your needs
• individual learning can sometimes yield higher pay-offs

Question 9

What are the mechanisms of social learning

Answer 9

1. Local enhancement
2. Stimulus enhancement
3. Observational conditioning
4. Imitation
5. Goal emulation

Question 10

What is local enhancement

Answer 10

a. Presence/behaviour of demonstrator draws observer’s attention to specific location where behaviour is then acquired through individual learning
b. observer’s attention drawn to specific location

Question 11

What is a stimulus enhancement

Answer 11

a. Presence/behaviour of demonstrator draws observer’s attention to particular object or stimulus which is then generalised
b. observer’s attention drawn to type of object or stimulus

Question 12

what is Observational conditioning

Answer 12

a. observer learns association between stimulus and demonstrator’s behaviour

Question 13

what is imitation

Answer 13

a. observer copies topography of demonstrator’s behaviour

Question 14

what is goal emulation

Answer 14

a. observer attends to consequences of demonstrator’s action

and uses own method to achieve same goal

Question 15

what is cultural transmission

Answer 15

Where behavioural techniques are transmitted socially and persist over generations

Question 16

• Non-genetic transmission of behaviour can occur…

Answer 16

vertically (down generations) or horizontally (within generations)

Question 17

• Maternal effects involve …

Answer 17

vertical transmission only and are easily confused with genetic effects (cross-fostering experiments may help to disentangle)

Question 18

• Social learning can be…

Answer 18

horizontal or vertical; it can occur through a variety of mechanisms, including imitation, local enhancement and stimulus enhancement

Question 19

• Symbolic representation (e.g. language) can be….

Answer 19

horizontal or vertical, may skip generations and is probably rare beyond humans