Social Behavior I (social living) Flashcards

1
Q

define social behavior

A

interactions among members of the same species

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2
Q

pros of social living

A
  • division of labor
  • protection/self-defense
  • parental care
  • foraging
  • access to mates
  • information - learning things from each other
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3
Q

cons of social living

A
  • visibility to predators
  • sharing resources
  • spreading diseases
  • mate and food competition
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4
Q

when should an individual join a group

A
  • when benefits outweigh costs
  • its not a constant choice, its selection acting
  • needs VIST
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5
Q

4 kinds of social interactions

A
  • mutually beneficial
  • selfish
  • altruism
  • spite
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6
Q

4 kinds of social interactions - mutually beneficial

A

both actor and recipient benefits

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7
Q

4 kinds of social interactions: mutually beneficial- example

A
  • many birds exhibit cooperative (communal) breeding
  • group members are unrelated and all contribute to the eggs in the nest
  • they have hair fitness than pairs and all individuals gain equal reproductive success
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8
Q

4 kinds of social interactions - selfish

A
  • actor benefits
  • recipient is harmed
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9
Q

4 kinds of social interactions: selfish - example

A
  • cane toad tadpoles cannibalizing eggs
  • Tadpole get nutrients and increases fitness
  • Recipient (eggs) gets harmed
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10
Q

4 kinds of social interactions - altruism

A
  • actor is harmed and recipient benefits
  • Spending your own (energy, food, space, time, etc.) for the sake of somebody else’s fitness
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11
Q

4 kinds of social interactions: altruism - example

A
  • Ground squirrels give an alarm call when they see a predator.
  • It draws attention to them and allows the other squirrels in the colony to run and hide.
  • They may die.
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12
Q

4 kinds of social interactions: altruism - when does it evolve

A
  • evolves when there are benefits to both the donor and the recipient
  • but its not always so obvious how it benefits both
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13
Q

4 kinds of social behavior - spite

A

both parties are harmed

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14
Q

4 kinds of social behavior: spite - example

A
  • E. coli produce proteins that are lethal to other members of the same species
  • But it can harm them
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15
Q

Hypotheses to explain apparent altruism

A
  1. Delayed competition (selfish teamwork)
  2. Stolen aid
  3. Social contract models
  4. Kin selection
  5. Multilevel selection
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16
Q

altruism hypothesis - delayed competition (selfish competition)

A
  • Individuals work together
  • If they don’t, they will not be able to
  • Temporary – not true altruism
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17
Q

altruism hypothesis - stolen aid

A
  • It’s not the choice of the individual
  • Frequent in hierarchical societies
  • Dominant individual will use violence to force a subordinate individual to cooperate
18
Q

altruism hypothesis - Social Contract Models

A
  • Tit for Tat: I’ll help you now and you’ll help me next time
  • Theoretical model w very little evidence to support
  • Reciprocal altruism – if it happens over time
19
Q

altruism hypothesis: Social Contract Models - Generally, what was thought to be reciprocal altruism was…

A
  • Kin selection
  • Immediate reciprocation where no long term memory is involved
20
Q

altruism hypothesis - kin selection

A
  • Inclusive fitness: an animal’s reproductive output plus any reproduction added due to helping others
  • Inclusive fitness = Direct fitness + Indirect fitness
21
Q

altruism hypothesis: kin selection - relatedness

A
  • mother-offspring: 1/2 of your genes
  • sister-brother: 1/2 of your genes
  • uncle-nephew: 1/4 of genes
  • cousin-cousin: 1/8 of genes
22
Q

altruism hypothesis: kin selection - hamilton’s rule

A
  • We can predict when altruism should evolve by taking into account cost to donor (c), benefit to recipient (b), and relatedness (r) to recipient
  • b*r – c > 0
  • If r = 1/2, b needs to be more than half the cost (c)
23
Q

Studying Hamilton’s rule in nature - prairie dogs sentry behavior

A
  • found that both male and female are more likely to do call if they have relatives (genes) within the group
  • also found that this isn’t due to parental care: still had same results regardless of stage of life (parent or child)
24
Q

Studying Hamilton’s rule in nature: prairie dogs sentry behavior - male alarm call based on life stages

A
  • alarm call is based on how close they are to relatives
  • when living with a new group – no alarm call
  • but once they start breeding – calling starts again
25
Q

Studying Hamilton’s rule in nature - squirrel adopting behavior

A
  • If no relatives are in the area, orphans were not adopted
  • They only adopt related orphans
26
Q

Studying Hamilton’s rule in nature: squirrel adopting behavior - when did they adopt (costs/benefits view)

A

Costs were less than indirect benefits (based on relatedness of babies they could adopt) – female did adopt

Costs were more than benefits – female did not adopt

27
Q

altruism hypothesis: kin selection - Do individuals need to be able to recognize kin for kin selection to occur?

A

yes, need kin recognition mechanisms

28
Q

altruism hypothesis: kin selection - what is kin recognition

A
  • Generally based on “phenotype matching” (Smells like me, Makes a call like me)
  • Or… Smells like my family and Makes a call like my family
29
Q

altruism hypothesis: kin selection - what is the difference between kin recognition and individual recognition

A
  • kin recognition involves recognizing genetic relatedness
  • individual recognition is a general term for recognizing individuals or categories of conspecifics
30
Q

what is the concept behind Greenbeard

A
  • Null model where there is no kin selection
  • gene that codes for a trait that is coupled with the ability to recognize that trait and individuals with those traits have to be altruistic
31
Q

altruism hypothesis: kin selection - when is the cost of working to gain indirect fitness low?

A
  • If you do not have much direct fitness potential
  • but if you can’t make babies, your fitness cost for helping your family make babies is zero.
  • You cannot reduce your direct fitness by spending energy on relatives if your direct fitness is zero anyway
32
Q

altruism hypothesis: kin selection - when does it count as indirect fitness

A
  • your aid must allow for the survival and reproduction of related young that would not have happened without your help.
  • have to contribute to the relatives survival
33
Q

how can kin selection explain spite?

A
  • The enemy of my enemy is my friend
  • Harm non-relatives to help relatives
34
Q

If kin selection explains spiteful behavior, what would you expect about the relatedness between actors and recipients?

A
  • actors should harm non-relatives
  • actors may have low direct fitness
35
Q

altruism hypothesis - multilevel selection

A
  • Group selection
  • Explains altruism as an unequal mutual benefit, e.g. morality
  • Selection on group may outweigh selection on individual
36
Q

altruism hypothesis: multilevel selection - Simpson’s Paradox

A
  • Selfish individuals have higher fitness
  • but groups with fewer selfish individuals and more cooperators will also have higher fitness
37
Q

altruism hypothesis: multilevel selection - selection can be between…

A
  1. genes within an individual
  2. individuals within a group
  3. groups within populations
38
Q

altruism hypothesis: multilevel selection - Bacteria (Pseudomonas fluorescens) example

A
  • they consume oxygen in medium so only thin layer at the top is habitable
  • A mutation causes cells to secrete a polymer that forms a mat and helps them stay at the water surface
  • but the polymer is metabolically expensive (has a cost)
39
Q

multilevel selection: Bacteria (Pseudomonas fluorescens) example - what individuals have the highest fitness?

A
  • Cheaters
  • they get the benefit of the mat without contributing to its upkeep
  • BUT if the proportion of cheaters grows too high, the mat disintegrates, and the entire group sinks
40
Q

altruism hypothesis: multilevel selection - Bacteria that produces toxic chemicals example

A
  • Only get evolution of altruism when there is a lot of variation in selfish vs cooperative individuals (small population sizes)
  • Groups w most cooperators outcompete group with fewer cooperators
41
Q

altruism hypothesis: multilevel selection - Plant example example

A
  • researchers are trying to understand how selection on groups and individuals work together
  • they selected for groups (of all plants) and for individual (at the same time)
  • selection on group – works, group gets bigger leaf area
  • but when there is no individual selection – reduces effect of group selection