Term
| According to biologists, what is behaviour? |
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Definition
| Behaviour is an action done in response to stimulus. |
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Term
| What speeds can peregrine falcons reach when diving after prey? |
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Definition
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Term
| What types of organisms are the most frequent subjects of behavioural research? |
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Definition
| Vertebrates, arthropods and molluscs |
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Term
| Why are vertebrates, arthropods and molluscs the most popular subjects or behavioural research? |
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Definition
| Vertebrates, arthropods and molluscs are the most popular subjects or behavioural research because their sophisticated nervous systems, and skeletal-muscular systems allow them to sense, process, and respond rapidly to a wide array of environmental stimuli. |
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Term
| What is a proximate cause of behaviour? |
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Definition
| A proximate cause is the explanation for how certain actions occur in terms of the neurological, hormonal and skeletal-muscular mechanisms involved |
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Term
| What is an ultimate cause of behaviour? |
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Definition
| An ultimate cause is the explanation for why actions occur, based on their evolutionary consequences and history. |
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Term
| Why are the questions asked by behavioural biologists almost always ecological in nature? |
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Definition
| Because the questions about behaviour are almost always aimed at understanding how individuals cope with changing physical conditions or how they interact with individuals of their own or other species |
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Term
| What is the formal definition of learning? |
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Definition
| Learning is defined as a change in behaviour that results from a specific experience in the life of an individual |
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Term
| What type of responses were first studied when researchers first began to study animal behaviour experimentally? |
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Definition
| They began by studying the simpest responses, ones that are highly stereotyped and largely unlearned |
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Term
| What are fixed action patterns? |
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Definition
| Fixed action patterns are highly inflexible behaviour patterns. They are stereotyped and usually triggered by simple stimuli. They are an example of innate behaviour. |
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Term
| What is innate behaviour? |
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Definition
| Innate behaviour are behaviours that are inherited and show very little variation based on learning of the individuals condition. |
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Term
| What are two situations that commonly illicit innate responses? |
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Definition
1) situations that have a high impact on fitness and demand a reflex-like, unlearned response
2) situations where learning is not possible |
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Term
| What type of behaviour is more common, learned or innate? |
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Definition
| Learned behaviours are more common. |
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Term
| What is measured when animals form responses to stimuli? |
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Definition
| The weight of cost and benefits of the action in terms of the individuals fitness |
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Term
| What is the name for the idea that animals maximize their feeding efficiency, while weighing the costs of finding and ingesting their food? |
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Definition
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Term
| What animal was used to test for the existence of optimal foraging? |
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Definition
| A bird called the white fronted bee eater |
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Term
| How did the study on the white fronted bee eaters prove the existence of optimal foraging? |
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Definition
| The white fronted bee eaters who had a feeding territory far away brought back larger masses of food to maximize the energy to cost ratio |
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Term
| Which gender is more picky when it comes to mate choice? What do they base their choices on? |
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Definition
| Females in a species are usually pickier in mate choice and they base their choices on good alleles and/or good resources. |
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Term
| What would cause a female blue headed wrasse to undergo a sex change? |
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Definition
| A female blue headed wrasse would undergo a sex change if she was the largest in a colony in which the protecting male has died. |
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Term
| Why would it be advantageous for a female blue headed wrasse to undergo a sex change? |
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Definition
| As a male the once female wrasse can now bear more children because she can fertilize more eggs that she would've laid herself |
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Term
| To what kind of species is learning particularly important? |
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Definition
| Species with large brains and complex social interactions. |
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Term
| What types of behaviors are rare in animals with large brains? |
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Definition
| inflexible stereotyped behaviors |
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Term
| What is classical conditioning? |
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Definition
| Classical conditioning trains individuals, by experience, to give the same response to more than one stimulus |
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Term
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Definition
| The adoption of the first thing seen after birth, as a mother figure |
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Term
| What is imprinting occur? |
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Definition
| The leading hypothesis is that offspring must quickly learn to recognize and respond to their mother in order to survive |
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Term
| What is the critical period or sensitive period? |
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Definition
| The short period In the early life of an animal in which imprinting occurs |
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Term
| True or False: imprinting lasts for life |
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Definition
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Term
| What are the atypical, key characteristics of imprinting? |
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Definition
1) fast
2) irreversible
3) occurs during a critical period |
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Term
| What does imprinting have in common with language learning in humans? |
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Definition
| There is thought to be a critical period in which language is learned |
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Term
| Is birdsong in white crowned sparrows innate or learned? |
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Definition
| It is heavily influenced by learning but is constrained to certain periods of life and only occurs in response to certain stimuli |
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Term
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Definition
| Cognition is the recognition and manipulation of facts about the world, combined with the ability to form concepts and gain insights |
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Term
| What must be included in experiments to detect cognitive ability? |
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Definition
| Researchers must design experimental situations that require and manipulate facts or information and demonstrate an ability to form novel associations or insights |
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Term
| What sort of environment do researchers hypothesize would favour adaptation towards learning? |
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Definition
| The ability to learn varies among species because some species live in environments that are much more unpredictable than others |
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Term
| What evidence supports the hypothesis that unpredictable environments favour learning as an adaptational innovation? |
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Definition
| The type of learning that occurs in a given species is correlated with the type of environmental unpredictability encounters |
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Term
| What is communication defined as in biology? |
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Definition
| In biology, communication is defined as any process in which a signal from one individual modifies the behavior of a recipient individual |
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Term
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Definition
| A signal is any information containing behavior |
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Term
| What are two requirements of communication? |
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Definition
- the signal must be intended as communication
- the signal must be received and acted on |
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Term
| How does environment influence the type of communication that is favored? |
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Definition
| If a type of communication is more likely to be successful than others it will be favored in an environment |
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Term
| What are two drawbacks of acoustic communication? |
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Definition
- the sound is temporary and does not last very long
- sound tends to attract predators |
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Term
| How do bees communicate the position of food resources? |
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Definition
| By performing a specialized tactile dance. The dance also makes use of sounds and scents to indicate the nature of the food source |
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Term
| What is most remarkable about the honeybee dance? |
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Definition
| Honey bees do not have large brains, yet they are capable of symbolic language |
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Term
| Give three examples of species which utilize deceit as a protection mechanism |
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Definition
- the anglerfish
- Photuris fireflies
- certain butterflies with markings similar to poisonous ones |
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Term
| What is the advantage of being deceitful? |
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Definition
| Individuals increase their fitness by providing inaccurate or misleading information to members of a different species |
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Term
| True or False: deceitful communication is also known as plants, where it functions and pollination |
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Definition
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Term
| What deceitful behavior do mantis shrimp engage in? |
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Definition
| If approached by another mantis shrimp during their vulnerable, molting stage a mantis shrimp will bluff and lunge at the approaching shrimp to protect its territory |
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Term
| What deceitful behavior do male bluegill fish engage in? |
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Definition
| Certain males of the species look exactly like the females, but have fully functioning reproductive systems. They will use this likeness to avoid competition from larger male bluegill fish and fertilize the eggs of the females before the larger male fish have a chance |
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Term
| What is one requirement of deceitful behavior? |
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Definition
| Lying only works when it's relatively rare. If it becomes common, then natural selection will strongly favor individuals that can detect and avoid or punish liars. |
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Term
| What feature do female barn swallows prefer in mates? And why? |
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Definition
| Female barn swallows were found to prefer longtailed mates. Longtailed mates are more efficient in flight and more successful at finding food, and thus have higher fitness. |
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Term
| Which sex of barn swallows builds the nest and feeds the young? |
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Definition
| Both male and female barn swallows help build the nest and feed the young |
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Term
| What is typical of altruistic behavior? |
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Definition
| When individuals behave altruistically they're usually helping close relatives or individuals that help them in return |
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Term
| What types of communication are there? |
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Definition
| Communication can be acoustic, visual, olfactory or tactile |
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