Chapter 51

Question 1

Ethology

Answer 1

The scientific study of how animals behave, esp. in their natural environments.

Question 2

Proximate Causation

Answer 2

“How” a behavior occurs or is modified

Question 3

Ultimate Causation

Answer 3

“Why” a behavior occurs in the context of natural selection

Question 4

Fixed Action Pattern

Answer 4

A sequence of unlearned acts that is essentially unchangeable and, once initiated, usually carried out to completion. Directly linked to simple stimuli.

Question 5

Sign Stimulus

Answer 5

The external clue that triggers a fixed action pattern

Question 6

Kinesis

Answer 6

A change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus

Question 7

Taxis

Answer 7

An oriented movement toward (positive) or away from (negative) some stimulus.

Question 8

Phremones

Answer 8

Chemical substances used by animals to communicate. Most often utilized by mammals and insects and usually used for reproduction.

Question 9

Innate Behavior

Answer 9

Behavior consistently observed in a species that is developmentally fixed (instinct)

Question 10

Learned Behavior

Answer 10

Through learning, an organism changes its behavior based on experiences and its environment

Question 11

Habituation

Answer 11

A loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no new information

Question 12

Imprinting

Answer 12

The formation at a specific stage in life of a long-lasting behavioral response to a particular individual or object.

Question 13

Sensitive (Critical) Period

Answer 13

A limited developmental phase during which certain behaviors can be learned

Question 14

Spatial Learning

Answer 14

The establishment of a memory that reflects the environment’s spatial structure

Question 15

Classical Conditioning

Answer 15

Associative learning in which an arbitrary stimulus becomes related to a particular outcome (dog salivating when bell is rung)

Question 16

Operant Conditioning

Answer 16

“Trial-and-error” learning, in which an animal learns to associate a behavior with a reward or punishment

Question 17

Cognition

Answer 17

The process of knowing represented by awareness, reasoning, recollection, and judgement.

Question 18

Foraging

Answer 18

Food obtaining behavior

Question 19

Optimal Foraging theory

Answer 19

Explains the proximate and ultimate causations of foraging behavior with cost/benefit analysis.

Question 20

Promiscious Mating

Answer 20

Mated individuals form no long-lasting relationships or strong pair-bonds.

Question 21

Monogamous Mating

Answer 21

Mated individuals remain together for a longer time, forming stronger pair-bonds

Question 22

Polygamous Mating

Answer 22

An individual from one sex mates with several of the other

Question 23

Polygyny

Answer 23

One male mating with many females, most common form of polygamous mating

Question 24

Polyandry

Answer 24

Opposite of polygyny, one female mates with many males

Question 25

Agonistic Behavior

Answer 25

A contest that determines which competitor gains access to a certain resource, often food or a mate

Question 26

Altruism

Answer 26

Ways in which an animal behaves that decreases individual fitness but increases the fitness of the population.

Question 27

Kin Selection

Answer 27

The natural selection that favors altruistic behavior by enhancing the reproductive success of relatives.

Question 28

Reciprocal Altruism

Answer 28

An animal aiding a member of the same species who is not closely related so that he will do the same one day