Chapter 51 Reading Quiz

1. What an animal does and how it does it is known as ____.

2. From what 2 main sources is behavior derived?

3. The full set of food-obtaining behaviors is known as _____.

4. The modification of behavior resulting from specific experiences is known as ____.

1. What is “behavioral biology”?

• Behavior what an animal does and how it does it

• Biology the study of life• Studying these two together gives

scientists ideas as to how behavior affects a species’ survival

2. What are the sources of behavior?

1. Genes (nature)

2. Environment (nurture)

3. What is innate behavior?

• Innate behavior behaviors that are present at birth

• These do not appear to be influenced by environmental differences

• Cause may be for increasing the fitness of the species

4. Define ethology and describe the terms associated with this.

• Ethology descriptive science based on studies of animals in the natural environment

• The “fixed-action pattern” which is a highly stereotyped, innate behavior

• It is triggered by an external “sign stimulus”• Ex: feeding behavior in birds

- FAP: begging behavior of chicks- sign stimulus: parent landing at nest to feed

5. Describe the examples of behavioral ecology (songbirds, foraging behavior).

• Behavioral ecology a field of study that assumes animals increase fitness through optimal behavior

• Optimal behavior a behavior that maximizes individual fitness (natural selection)

• Learning songs – as a bird matures, it learns more songs, and females prefer to mate with mature males with more songs

6. What is learning? How is this different from maturation? What is habituation?

• Learning the modification of behavior by experience

• Maturation development of neuromuscular systems that allows behavioral improvement

• Habituation learning to ignore irrelevant stimuli or stimuli that convey little or no informationex: the “cry-wolf” effect

7. Describe the process of imprinting.

• Imprinting a form of learning that is limited to a specific time period in an animal’s life and is generally irreversible

• Ex: geese • Imprinting stimulus: an object in the

environment to which the response is directed

• Critical period: a limited time during which imprinting can occur

8. Describe the variety of learning techniques: associative, conditioning, and

play.

• Associative the ability of many animals to associate one stimulus with another

• Conditioning - classical: type of associative learning; ex: Pavlov’s dog- operant: trial and error learning

• Play no apparent goal but uses movements closely associated with goal-directed behaviors- Ex: young lions

9. What is cognition? How does this have to do with migration?

• Cognition the ability of an animal’s nervous system to perceive, store, process, and use information gathered by sensory receptors

• Movement from place to place happens using “cognitive maps”

• Migration is the regular movement of animals over relatively long distances

10. What do we know of consciousness?

• Consciousness is known only to the individual that experiences it and it is not associated with any observable behavioral or physiological change

• It is difficult to determine the consciousness of nonhuman animals

11. Describe sociobiology and social behavior. Describe the three competitive

behaviors. • Sociobiology study of social behavior that

has evolutionary theory as its conceptual framework

• Social behavior any interaction between two or more animals, usually of the same species

1. Agonistic a contest of threatening and submissive behavior that determines which competitor gains access to a resource

2. Dominance hierarchies top-ranked animals are assured resources (wolf packs)

3. Territoriality defense of areas used for feeding, mating, or rearing young

12. Describe mating behavior.

1. Courtship complex rituals unique to each species - assures no threat, proper species, proper sex, and good physiological condition

2. Mating systems different for each species- monogamous one male, one female- polygamous one individual of one sex, many of the other sex- parental care

13. Describe the diverse modes of communication for the purpose of social

interaction.

• Communication the intentional transmission of information between individuals

• Animals use visual, auditory, chemical, tactile and electrical signals to communicate with others of their own species and other species

14. What is altruism? How is this beneficial to an individual?

• Altruism a behavior that reduces an individual’s fitness and increases the fitness of the recipient of the behavior

• Ex: when parents sacrifice their well-being to aid their offspring

• Ex: squirrels cry out when danger approaches

15. Describe how sociobiology connects to the human culture.

• Behavioral characteristics are expressions of genes favored by natural selection

• Connection between biological evolution and human culture

• Ex: cultural taboos on incest- inbreeding may increase genetic disorders- many species avoid incest- is there an innate aversion to incest or is this an acquired behavior? Nature vs nurture again