Behavioural Plasticity & Learning

Question 1

When can selection can act on behaviour?

Answer 1

1. There is inter-individual variation
2. Individual differences are heritable
3. Some behavioural differences increase reproductive success

Question 2

What are Tinbergen’s four questions?

Answer 2

1. What are the mechanisms that cause it?
2. How does it develop?
3. What is its adaptive value?
4. What is its evolutionary history?

Question 3

What are “Darwinian demons”?

Answer 3

Organisms that can do everything in every environment

Question 4

Why do Darwinian demons not exist?

Answer 4

Trade offs - no animal can do everything all of the time (mating and foraging)
Optimality - the “best” level given the limitations, costs and benefits

Question 5

What is behavioural plasticity?

Answer 5

Change in organisms behaviour as a result of exposure to stimuli

Question 6

Give an example of fixed alternative phenotypes

Answer 6

Male Atlantic salmon have two reproductive morphs: a big one and a sneaky one for mating

Question 7

Give an example of sequential (developmental) plasticity

Answer 7

Honeybee worker roles change with age: young look after larvae and old forage

Question 8

Give an example of behavioural flexibility

Answer 8

Male fruit flies alter mating duration depending on the presence of other males

Question 9

Define “learning”

Answer 9

A change in cognitive state due to experience

Question 10

What is cognition?

Answer 10

The mechanisms by which animals acquire, process, store and act upon information in the environment

Question 11

Why does cognition not apply to plants?

Answer 11

It requires the central nervous system

Question 12

What are the conditions for learning?

Answer 12

Age, sex, past experience and type of experience (reliable patterns of events and important events)

Question 13

Give an example of hormone-dependent performance

Answer 13

White-crowned sparrows learn song from adult but need hormone change to sing

Question 14

Give an example of state-dependent performance

Answer 14

Marsh tits store food and learn the location - if they are hungry they recover the food, if given more food store in a different location

Question 15

What is sensitisation?

Answer 15

When a link between a single stimulus and a response increases

Question 16

What is habituation?

Answer 16

When a link between a single stimulus and response decreases

Question 17

Give an example of a single stimulus experiment

Answer 17

Snail experiment - lightly touch head, snail retreats into shell; continual touch on head if nothing bad happens habituate and don’t retreat; touch and then predator, keep retreating - sensitisation.

Question 18

What are the two types of conditioning that involve paired stimuli?

Answer 18

Pavlovian conditioning (classical) and operant conditioning

Question 19

What is Pavlovian conditioning?

Answer 19

Dog salivates when sees/smells food (innate reflex). Dog does not salivate when hears a sound it does not associate with food. Pavlov rang the bell every time he fed the dog. Eventually the dog salivated when the bell was rang - associative learning.

Question 20

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 20

The animals makes an action or response that is linked to an outcome

Question 21

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 21

Animal receives a treat (food or attention)

Question 22

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 22

Animal loses a treat (no food or attention)

Question 23

What is positive punishment?

Answer 23

Animal experiences something nasty (whip)

Question 24

What is negative punishment?

Answer 24

Animal avoids something nasty (waste)

Question 25

List three characteristics of classical conditioning

Answer 25

1. Based on involuntary reflex behaviour 2. Learner is the object of the experience (passive learning) 3. Effectiveness of conditioning assessed by size of the response

Question 26

List three characteristics of operant conditioning

Answer 26

1. Based on voluntary behaviour 2. Learner is the subject of the experience (active learning) 3. Effectiveness of conditioning assessed by frequency of response

Question 27

What are the tradeoffs for individual vs social learning?

Answer 27

Individual learning can be time consuming and dangerous, social learning is cheaper but less accurate

Question 28

Give an example of the tradeoffs between individual and social learning?

Answer 28

Under attack heavily armoured three spine sticklebacks use their own information and find the best food patch; less armoured nine spine sticklebacks hide and observe

Question 29

What are the five forms of social learning?

Answer 29

1. Local enhancement 2. Social facilitation 3. Observational learning 4. Imitation 5. Teaching

Question 30

What is local enhancement?

Answer 30

Locate foraging sites by attending to others

Question 31

What is social facilitation?

Answer 31

Animals feed faster in a groups

Question 32

What is observational learning?

Answer 32

observer modifies behaviour after demonstrator

Question 33

What is imitation?

Answer 33

Observed matches behavioural action and goal

Question 34

What is teaching?

Answer 34

Demonstrator only performs behaviour to naive observer

Question 35

Give an example of flexible social learning with individual innovation

Answer 35

Bees learn a novel task more quickly from a demonstrator but they can innovate and take short cuts - always go to the ball that is closer even when associate the other ball with treat

Question 36

Give an example of when information spreads quickly through social networks

Answer 36

Cream stealing by blue tits; more common milk delivery means more common stealing

Question 37

Give an example of cultures being socially transmitted

Answer 37

Drosophila females choose same males that other females choose even though there is nothing wrong with the other males

Question 38

How are cultures socially transmitted?

Answer 38

1. Copied from observation 2. Copying occurs across age classes 3. Durable in individuals 4. Trait-based regardless of other 5. Conformist

Question 39

What are some of the issues with social learning?

Answer 39

Whose information should be trusted - example is risky road crossing