Review Questions for Exam 1 Flashcards
What is ethology? Applied ethology?
Ethology - study of behavior, it’s cause, and biological function
Applied ethology - study of behavior of domestic animals, animals managed by humans
What was the main difference between 20th century US/behavioristic vs European/naturalistic researchers?
US researchers: behavioristic approach
- controlled experiments in laboratory setting
- B.F. Skinner –> Skinner Box: mechanism of learning an acquisition of behavior
European researchers: naturalistic approach
- observations of animals in the wild
- instinctive, innate, and adaptive behaviors
What are Tinbergen’s 4 questions? What does each mean?
- What is the cause of the behavior?
- How does the behavior function during ontogeny? (learned experiences)
- What is the function of the behavior?
- How does the behavior develop during phylogeny? (evolution)
What is the difference between comparative and social ethology?
Comparative ethology - looking at animals as individuals
Social ethology - social groups of animals, social structure
What are areas of concern related to applied ethology?
animal welfare, behavior controls, optimizing production, behavioral disorders
What is nature vs. nurture?
Nature: instincts, genetics
Nurture: environment raised in, learned behavior
How does genetics control behavior?
- Genes carry instructions for behavior
- Genes do not predetermine animal’s behavior
- Controlled by 1 to many different genes
- Gene expression is influenced by environmental factors
Why is there so much phenotypic and behavioral variation between dog breeds? How is
this different from other domesticated animals?
The phenotypic radiation of the dog has been the product of restricted gene flow and generations of intense artificial insemination.
Unique / different because they have been developed for highly specialized tasks such as herding, hunting, and retrieving.
Be able to use some of the dog examples from the article (livestock herding, livestock
guarding, etc.) to explain the genetic foundation of behavior as it relates to what we covered
in class.
Herding breeds strongly express predatory motor patterns such as stalking. Both types of herding have been developed to work with livestock; however they present in radically divergent behavior responses
What are some methods for phenotyping behaviors?
- Owner directed survey - owner reports behavior
- Test battery - dogs are exposed to novel stimuli, responses recorded
- Expert rating - vets/ professionals rate breeds based on experience
- Observation - observing dogs in natural states
What principles are required for behaviors to evolve?
Variation must exist in behavior
Some variation must be of genetic origin
Natural selection of behavior occurs
What is fitness? How is it related to the function of behaviors and the evolution of
behaviors?
Fitness - reproductive success
Function of behaviors - survival of the individual
How are optimal behaviors determined? Be able to work through the pros/cons of an
example.
Must weigh the costs and benefits of performing a task
–> optimal behavior maximizes the difference between benefit and cost
What are the common characteristics of animals chosen for domestication?
Herbivores and omnivores
Physical traits
- size
- meat
Behaviors
- social
- no strong mating bond
How did domestication and breeding programs change behaviors of the animals?
Behavior differences are subtle
No new behaviors creates
Modify stimulus thresh-hold
- Basenji
Few behaviors have completely dissappeared
What is the difference between the autonomic and somatic nervous systems?
Autonomic: controls homeostasis, mostly involuntary
Somatic: voluntary control of movement, reception of external stimuli
What does the sympathetic nervous system do?
Sympathetic: functions when quick actions are needed, “fight or flight”
- acetylcholine secretion, leads to the secretion of epinephrine & norepinephrine
- diverts blood flow from the GI tract
- accelerates heart rate
- widens bronchial tubes
- causes pupil dilation, goose bumps, and perspiration
What does the parasympathetic nervous system do?
Parasympathetic: “rest and digest,” slows heart rate
- increases intestinal activity
- stimulates salivary gland secretion
- constricts pupil and lens
How do emotions affect behaviors and motivation?
Emotions process within CNS that bias behavioral options
Information relayed to different areas of brain, including brain stem
Course of behaviors determined and carried out.
- Attack, flee, rest
What are the types of neurons? What signals do they send? What is the difference
between a monosynaptic signal and a polysynaptic signal?
Neuron- type of nervous system cell that processes/ translates messages through electrochemical signals
Monosynaptic- uses several neurons, more complex. Sensory neuron synapses with motor neuron. Motor neuron acts on effector.
Polysynaptic- most common, at least one interneuron between sensory and motor neurons. More interneurons, increase behavioral flexibility
What does it mean relative to the complexity of the behavior if there are more synapses in
the signal? How do divergence and convergence affect the complexity of the behavior?
Parallel processing- signal goes along multiple pathways that perform different types of analysis simultaneously
- Divergence
Converge and act of effector
- Convergence`
What is motivation? What types of behaviors are their motivations for? Does it matter
how the behavior is carried out?
Motivation - internal process that causes and directs behavior. Interaction of internal and external variables.
- Hunger/ desire to eat.
The motivation of behavior is beyond needs for survival.
- include motivation to play explore, etc.
Mode of expressing behavior is important
- species-specific behavior
What are reflexes? Why are they the same across the species?
Reflexes - automatic response.
Similar in individuals in a given species, situation predictable.
- only one response needed
- stereotypic behavior
What are modal action patterns?
Fixed action patterns
Sequence of behaviors triggered initially by a particular stimuli
What affects motivation? Apply to an example, like eating or drinking
Varies over time. Highest motivation inhibits others.
Motivation to drink – depends on when they last had drink, are they dehydrated, do they have visualization of water?
How do these behavior types interact? How can they be complementary?
Motivation changes reactions. Emotional state changes intensity. Hormones change behaviors.
Complementary process
- caustic substance gets on paw, neuron sends 2 signals
How is motivation affected by the animal’s circadian rhythm?
Circadian rhythm - 24 hour cycle
Affects motivation systems. Motivation systems affect rhythm of the animal.
Explain the classical ethological approach and the biophysiological theories of behavior.
classical ethological approach: motivation increases with length of time since last completed. Specific energy underlying motivation accumulates until behavior is performed
biophysiological approach: behavior occurs due to observable physiological events in the body. Combination of internal and external stimuli control behavior.
What is the common principle when explaining animal cognition?
The simplest explanation is most likely
What is the function of learning?
Helps to predict and control future events
Explain habituation and sensitization.
habituation- decrease response to stimuli due to repeated presentation
sensitization- animal encounters emotionally charged stimuli, more likely to react to new stimuli
Describe classical conditioning. What is the CS, US, CR, UR? Describe the two ways
associations can be formed.
Classical conditioning- animal associates two events
CS: initial event
US: event associated with
UR: reaction to US
CR: reaction to CS
CS - US - R
Bell evokes idea of food which elicits salivation
CS - R
Bell takes on properties of food
What is instrumental conditioning?
Behavior of an animal is dependant on previous outcomes of said behavior
- operant conditioning
What is positive/negative reinforcement/punishment? Provide an example of each
Positive reinforcement: adding a stimulus that increases the likelihood of the behavior occurring in the future
- food, toy, verbal praise
Negative reinforcement: removing an aversive stimulus increases the likelihood of the behavior occurring in the future
- horse training, using pressure of legs to make them move
Negative punishment: remove a positive reinforcer
- ommission training
Positive punishment:
- Add an aversive stimulus
What is extinction? Explain how the partial reinforcement extinction effect works.
extinction: stimulus or behavior no longer followed by reinforcer
Reinforcement in a random matter harder to extinguish
- Partial reinforcement extinction effect –> if we reinforce in random matter, it will be harder to get rid of because animal doesn’t know when reinforcer is going to come
How do factors like timing, strength of the reinforcer, strength of the stimulus, and
species specific predispositions affect learning?
- ) timing
- reinforcer must occur shortly after event - ) Strength of reinforcer
- association more easily formed with stronger reinforcer - ) Strength of stimulus
- stronger stimulus, stronger response - ) Predispositions
- innate learning preferences of the animal `
What is mutualism? Provide an example.
Each individual achieves some benefit from interacting
- foraging birds
- pack hunting wolves
- meerkats communicating
What is altruism. Provide an example.
Individual pays a cost to help another
-worker bees–> queen bee is the only one that can reproduce
How does kin-selected altruism work?
Increases likelihood of genes passing on through relative
Likelihood predicted based on closeness of relationship
Cost less than the benefit divided by the coefficient of relatedness
Why do animals form groups?
- safety in numbers
- help in detecting danger
- increased chance of obtaining food
- capturing prey
What are some negatives of being in a group?
- share food that they discover
- less access to food
- more competition for reproduction
When do animals compete? How do they avoid competition in their groups normally?
Some animals compete for resources while others do not depend on them. Depends on the scarcity of resource, type of animal, hormones involved. The benefit needs to be more than the cost.
Avoid constant competition by:
- Social hierarchy
- “Boss”
- some can delineate through group
- other groups less clear
When would an animal use acoustic communication, physical traits, or scent
communication?
acoustic signals: vary in duration, pitch, amplitude
- dog barking
- cat hissing
scent signals: last longer after signaler has left area
- dog urine marking
- cat scent gland
physical traits:
- physiological: feather colors, antlers
- body movements: tail placement
What is the vomeronasal organ? What does it detect?
It is located between the nose and mouth. Is used to detect chemical signals.
What are epimeletic behaviors?
care giving behaviors
How does parenting ensure the fitness of the animal?
will increase chance that offspring survive
Provide examples of parenting behaviors.
nursing, raising in pack, protection
What are the benefits of play? How do they prepare they young for adulthood?
improve social skills; especially courtship, appeasement, competitive behaviors
Prepare for coping with unusual circumstances
- slippery surfaces
- require animals to have balance
What factors go into choosing a mate?
time, energy, resources
Describe monogamy, polygyny, polyandry, and promiscuity as mating systems.
monogamy- one male, one female
polygyny- male has several mates
polyandry- female has multiple male mates
promiscuity- males and females have multiple partners
When is it beneficial for animals to be monogamous?
- resources available
- geographic distribution of mates
- incidence of STD’s
- amount of parental care given
- male guarding behavior
What are some of the roles of a polygynous male?
- control resources, specially when important for female reproduction
- resource defence
- protect females from predation
- keep group together and safe
When does polyandry occur? Why would an animal utilize this system?
- more likely to ensure reproduction
- sperm competition post-copulation
- prevents males from destroying offspring as they don’t know if they are theirs
- females receive offerings from males
How does melatonin affect reproductive cycles?
Secreted in response to decreasing day length.
Decreases reproductive activity
Seasonal breeders
What effects do vasopressin and oxytocin have in prairie voles vs. montane voles?
vasopressin: “monogamy hormone”
- Prairie voles (monogamous) have higher concentrations than montane voles
- Prairie voles spend almost all their time with their mates
- High vasopressin results in sexually possessiveness
- Prairie voles- mate guard
- More territorial
Oxytocin: maternal hormone, social memory
-montane voles low levels–>dont’t pair-bond–> leave young early
How does sterilization affect reproductive behaviors and problem behaviors we see in
companion animals?
Decrease of sexually dimorphic behaviors
females: removes estrus behaviors
males: decreases roaming behaviors, mounting, scent marking, aggression
How do animals avoid aggression? Why is this an important trait for survival?
By being submissive, helps them survive because they won’t get into fights
When do animals display aggression?
When they are chasing prey or threatened
What is predatory vs. effective aggression
predatory- prey drive, is hardwired in their neural circuits
effective- all other types of aggression
Do animals use aggression as a first line of defense or do they use other methods first?
May be submissive, depends on the animal
What is the killing bite?
The actual moment of the kill–> is a hardwired behavioral sequence that never changes
What is bite inhibition and why is it important? How is it taught?
Dogs have an inborn guard against excessive killing/biting.
A typical dog learns bite inhibition during puppy play
What are the types of effective aggression?
- ) Assertive aggression- includes dominant and territorial aggression. Social dominance/ alpha ranking
- ) Fear-driven aggression- fear can cause a terrified animal to attack, has fear for its life, and feels there is no other choice than to attack
- ) Pain-based aggression
- ) Intermale aggression- linked to testosterone levels
- ) irritable or stress-induced aggression- highly stressful conditions are more prone to aggression
- ) Mixed aggression- experiences more than one motivator for aggression
- ) Pathological aggression- medical conditions like epilepsy or head injury can produce aggression
How do people intentionally or inadvertently increase aggression in their companion
animals?
Not properly socializing, not establishing owner as the dominant one
What are things we can do to decrease the risk of aggression in our companion animals?
Best to avoid it in the first place. Establish owner as boss, good training, and obedience
