quiz 1 Flashcards
Define: Hypotheses
testable explanation for observations
Define: Predictions
possible outcomes of experimentation
Explain: Niko Tinbergen
- classical ethologist
- connected ‘nurture’ and ‘nature’ with four questions
List: Niko Tinbergen’s Questions
- why is mechanistic cause of behaviour?
- how did the behaviour develop?
- what are the effects of this behaviour of fitness?
- how did it evolve?
Explain: Konrad Lorenz
- classical ethologist
- grandfather of ethology
- worked with imprinting animals
Define: Comparative Psychology
- mostly american
- Skinner & Pavlov
- aimed at the ‘how’ side of explaining behaviour
- focus on mechanisms and development behind behaviour
- focus on learned behaviour
- mostly in control (lab) environments
- ‘nurture’
Define: Classical Ethology
- mostly european
- Tinbergen & Lorenz
- aimed at ‘why’ behaviours are
- focused on evolution and function of behaviours
- focus on inherited behaviours
- mostly natural enviro/natural actions in captivity
- ‘nature’
Define: Epigenetics
change in gene expression based on life experience
Define: Heritability
portion of phenotypic variance that is due to genetic factors
Explain: Cross-fostering experiments
- taking an offspring from one species/environment and putting it to grow up with a different species/in diff environment
- a way to test parental influences on behaviour
- is this behaviour learned or instinctual?
Explain: Gene-knockout experiments
- blocking/replacing genes to see if they will change the behaviour
- is this behaviour genetically based or learned?
Define: Comparative approach
- looking at adaptations of different species in the same environment
- looking at adaptations of same species in different environments (what is the same/different and why)
Define: Natural Selection
organisms with favourable characteristics survive better in an environment, passing those traits on
Define: Fitness
relative reproductive success to others in same population
List: Types of Learning
- associative -conditioning (operant & classical)
- habituation/sensitization
- social (local emphasis, goal-directed, observational conditioning, imitation)
- insight
Define: operant conditioning
association based on rewards to promote repetition of desired behaviour and deter undesirable behaviour
Define: classical conditioning
association of one stimulus to another
Define: social learning
- local emphasis: attrition to location/stimulus by others of same species
- goal-directed: deriving goal of others behaviour, but not copying exactly
- observational conditioning: classical conditioning in social contexts
- imitation: learning behaviours by copying others
Define: Insight Learning
- connecting complex actions, showing thought processes and planning ahead of time
- NOT trial and error
Define: preparedness
- genetically based predisposition to learn
- the ability to learn, not the subject is acted upon by natural selection
Define: imprinting
-associating first creature when born to be its mother (follow them and tries to mate with things like it once grown, ie same species)
Define: Neuroethology
-evol/comparative approach to study animal behavior and underlying mechanistic control of the nervous system
Explain: Neural influences on behaviour
- reactions to stimuli
- memory/learning is stored in brain
- increased ability to learn and remember means repeated/more focused behaviour
Explain: Hormonal influences on behaviour
- by altering:
- sensation/perception
- development/activity of CNS
- musc responsible for behav
- some hormones initiate changes in behavior
- some behaviours initiate changes in hormone levels
Explain: Organizational effects of hormones
exposed to hormones in utero affecting behaviour later in life
Explain: Activational effects of hormones
immediate response to surge of hormones
Explain: Methods for determining if a hormone influences behaviour
- removing gland producing a hormone
- replacing with a different hormone
- looking at changes in behaviour correlated with fluctuations in hormone levels
Explain: ‘Spandrels’
- little panels left between arches that have been painted
- they were not built to be painted, they are merely a byproduct of a bigger thing (arches)
- the use of available parts for a behaviour does not mean they were evolved for that purpose
List: Levels of Analysis
- proximate causes
- mechanistic
- ontogenetic/developmental
- ultimate causes
- functional
- phylogenetic
Define: proximate causes
how an individual’s structures function
- mechanistic
- ontogenetic/developmental
Define: mechanistic/causation level
what makes the behaviour/trait happen/how structures work
Define: ontogenetic/developmental level
how behaviour develops in an individual’s lifetime
Define: ultimate causes
why the species evolved a structure
- functional
- phylogenetic
Define: functional/adaptational level
trait solving a reproductive or survival problem in current environment
Define: phylogenetic/evolutionary level
how behaviour changes over time (as a result of evolution)
Define: Precocial
low to no dependency on parents (ie. able to walk within hours of birth)
Define: altricial
immediate and high dependency on parents (ie. born blind, hairless, ect)
Define: Developmental homeostasis
whether normal behaviour can develop despite challenges early in life
Define: Umwelt
preceptory world of an organism
Explain: Why Belding’s ground squirrels disperse
- to avoid inbreeding
- to avoid being attacked by rivals (mate competition)
