UCONN Final Flashcards
What is a critical period
When an animal is super sensitive to different things; therefore, whatever happens during that time period will affect them for the rest of their life.
What are the 2 functions of sleep
- To reduce energy requirements during the hot part of the day when the animal should be less active
- To reduce exposure to a predator as sleeping attracts less attention
Explain the Mirror Test and Mark Test.
The mirror test was when chimps were individually housed for 10 days with a full-length mirror outside of their cage. Initially, they reacted by thinking it was another chimp and displayed social reactions. Soon, the social reactions decreased and began responding to the mirror as a mirror. The mark test was when each chimp was anesthetized and a red mark was put on the brow of one eye and the top half of the opposite ear. The animals were observed after they woke to ensure they had no knowledge of the mark. Then they conducted the mirror test again and the chimps recognize themselves with strange marks and began poking and touching the red dots.
What does polygynous mean
One guy and a bunch of girls or visa versa. Lots of partners.
What are the “4 P’s” of Training Animals?
Practice, Persistence, Patience, and Praise
What is the freemartin effect?
If there’s a male and a female in the uterus of a cow than the female would be sterile because she will be sterile because there will be too much testosterone around her in utero.
Please define “ethology”
The study of behavior
Who were “The Greats” of Animal Behaviorology
Lorenz, Von Frisch, and Tingenberg
How does clicker training work
Charge the clicker up-this allows the animal to register that the click comes with a reward. Decide on the behavior. Break down the behavior to small steps. Reward every positive act that goes toward the overall goal.
How does social rank influence allogrooming
The higher the rank the more grooming they receive while the lower the rank the more they groom others.
Define and describe natural selection
The differential reproduction and survivorship among individuals in a population and results in adaptive evolution
What are the ABC’s within the 7 steps of training a behavior
Establish a relationship built on trust and cooperation
Decide on the behavior the animal will learn-make sure it is possible and not harmful
Plan an approximate schedule but allow for change
Begin training the animal by using the ABC’s
A:Antecedent
B:Behavior
C:Consequence
Keep sessions short and fun, Be positive!
End on a high note everytime.
Communicate progress…keep notes
How does kin selection intertwine with altruism
Kin selection is known to be a form of natural selection. Individuals can increase their fitness by helping close relative, because close relative share the helper’s genes. This is used to explain altruism. Altruism is a type of adaptation that benefits the whole, not the individual.
What effect does castration have on males
Reduces aggression and levels of testosterone in males
Define classical conditioning
Strengthening of an association between a conditioned stimulus and a response through repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus in a relationship with an unconditioned stimulus that originally created the response.
What is a quasisocial behavior
Insects that exhibit cooperative care of their young
Define habituation
Simplest type of learning. Animal learns to not respond to repeated stimuli that have no significance in the life of the animal
What are the 3 basic functions of the nervous system? Explain/describe them
- Sensation: monitors changes/events occuring in and outside the body.
- Integration: the parallel processing and interpretation of sensory information to determine the appropriate response
- Reaction: motor output
Define epigenesis
the theory that an embryo develops progressively from an undifferentiated egg cell
What is filial imprinting
A young animal acquires several of its behavioural characteristics from its parent
Define the marginal value theorem
The quality and quantity of the food availability in a location will determine how long the animal stays in the area
Define a “cycle”
Simple harmonic motion
List and define the 5 characteristics of cycles
Frequency: how often does the event occur in set time
Period: length of time to complete an entire cycle
Amplitude: the magnitude of change inactivity rate during a cycle
Phase: recognizable part of a cycle
Duration: how long the cycle occurs for
Define Aschoff’s Rule.
The direction and rate of the drift away from the 24-hour norm in animals are a function of light intensity and whether the animal is normally diurnal or nocturnal. It means if an animal is kept in constant darkness their activities or rhythms continue within a period of 24 hours but drifts slightly becoming shorter or longer.
