Chapter 51- Animal Behavior

Question 1

agon

Answer 1

a contest
(agonistic behavior: a type of behavior involving a contest of some king that determines which competitor gains access to some resource)
Example: food, mates

Question 2

andro

Answer 2

a man

polyandry: a polygamous mating system involving one female and many males

Question 3

ethos

Answer 3

custom, habit

ethology: the study of animal behavior in natural conditions

Question 4

gyno

Answer 4

a woman

polygyny: a polygamous mating system involving one male and may females

Question 5

kine

Answer 5

move

kinesis: a change in activity rate in response to a stimulus

Question 6

mono

Answer 6

one

Question 7

gamy

Answer 7

reproduction

monogamous: a type of relationship in which one male mates with just one female

Question 8

poly

Answer 8

many

polygamous: a type of relationship in which an individual of one sex mates with several of the other sex

Question 9

socio

Answer 9

a companion

sociobiology: the study of social behavior based on evolutionary theory

Question 10

altruism

Answer 10

selflessness; behavior that reduces an individual’s fitness while increasing the fitness of another individual

Question 11

associative learning

Answer 11

The acquired ability to associate one environmental feature (such as a color) with another (such as danger)

Question 12

behavior

Answer 12

Individually, an action carried out by muscles or glands under control of the nervous system in response to a stimulus; collectively, the sum of animal’s responses to external and internal stimuli

Question 13

behavioral ecology

Answer 13

The study of the evolution of and ecological basis for animal behavior

Question 14

coefficient of relatedness

Answer 14

The fraction of genes that, on average, are shared by two individuals

Question 15

cognition

Answer 15

The process of knowing that may include awareness, reasoning, recollection, and judgment

Question 16

cognitive map

Answer 16

A neural representation of the abstract spatial relationships between objects in an animal’s surroundings

Question 17

communication

Answer 17

In animal behavior, a process involving transmission of, reception of, and response to signals. The term is used in connection with other organisms, as well as individual cells of multi-cellular organisms

Question 18

cross-fostering study

Answer 18

A behavioral study in which the young of one species are place in the care of adults from another species

Question 19

culture

Answer 19

A system of information transfer through social learning or teaching that influences the behavior of individuals in a population

Question 20

fixed action pattern

Answer 20

In animal behavior, a sequence of unlearned acts that is essentially unchangeable and, once initiated, usually carried to competition

Question 21

foraging

Answer 21

The seeking and obtaining of food

Question 22

game theory

Answer 22

An approach to evaluating alternative strategies in situations where the outcome of a particular strategy depends on the strategies used by other individuals

Question 23

Hamilton’s Rule

Answer 23

The principle that for natural selection to favor an altruistic act, the benefit to the recipient, devalued by the coefficient of relatedness, must exceed the cost to the altruist

Question 24

imprinting

Answer 24

In animal behavior, the formation at a specific stage in life of a long-lasting behavioral response to a specific individual or object

see also genomic imprinting

Question 25

inclusive fitness

Answer 25

The total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing its own offspring and by providing aid that enables other close relatives to increase production of their offspring

Question 26

innate behavior

Answer 26

Animal behavior that is developmentally fixed and under strong genetic control. Innate behavior is exhibited in virtually the same form by all individuals in a population despite internal and external environmental differences during development and throughout their lifetimes

Question 27

kin selection

Answer 27

Natural selection that favors altruistic behavior by enhancing the reproductive success of relatives

Question 28

learning

Answer 28

The modification of behavior based on specific experiences

Question 29

mate-choice copying

Answer 29

Behavior in which individuals in a population copy the mate choice of others, apparently as a result of social learning

Question 30

migration

Answer 30

A regular, long-distance change in location

Question 31

monogamous

Answer 31

Referring to a type of relationship in which one male mates with just one female

Question 32

optimal foraging model

Answer 32

The basis for analyzing behavior as a compromise between feeding costs and feeding benefits

Question 33

pheromone

Answer 33

In animals and fungi, a small molecule released into the environment that functions in communication between members of the same species. In animals, it acts much like a hormone in influencing physiology and behavior

Question 34

reciprocal altruism

Answer 34

Altruistic behavior between unrelated individuals, whereby the altruistic individual benefits in the future when the beneficiary reciprocates

Question 35

sensitive period

Answer 35

A limited phase in an animal's development when learning of particular behaviors can take place; also called a critical period

Question 36

sign stimulus

Answer 36

An external sensory cue that triggers a fixed action pattern by an animal

Question 37

signal

Answer 37

In animal behavior, transmission of a stimulus from one animal to another. The term is also used in the context of communication in other kinds of organisms and in cell-to-cell communication in all multi-cellular organisms

Question 38

social learning

Answer 38

Modification of behavior though the observation of other individuals

Question 39

sociobiology

Answer 39

The study of social based on evolutionary theory

Question 40

spatial learning

Answer 40

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

Question 41

twin study

Answer 41

A behavioral study in which researchers compare the behavior of identical twins raised apart with that of identical twins raised in the same household