L2 - Proximal basis of behaviour

Question 1

how is innate behaviour defined

Answer 1

inherited, stereotypic and inflexible (includes reflexes, orientation, courtship, mating, aggressiveness), fully developed

Question 2

how is learnt behaviour defined

Answer 2

not inherited, adaptable, may be progressive (includes non-associative learning, conditioning, observational learning)

Question 3

give an example that determined whether bird songs were an innate or learnt behaviour

Answer 3

regional dialects of bird songs, determined through cross fostering and showed that juveniles learn from others

Question 4

what is an example of a reflex

Answer 4

proboscis extension response (PER) eg in honey bees, occurs when gustatory receptors in antenna, mouthpart or feet encounter sucrose

Question 5

what are the 2 types of orientation mechanisms and what do they mean

Answer 5

kinases - associated with non directional stimuli (eg woodlice, which move faster in dry environments and slower in damp ones)
taxes - associated with directional and precise stimuli (chemotropotaxis in ants)

Question 6

what is an example of instictive fixed action pattern

Answer 6

triggered by releaser stimulus, eg pecking of young birds as a reaction of seeing a moving red spod on their parents beak

Question 7

define learning and what does it require

Answer 7

adaptive changing in an individuals behaviour resulting from an experience, requires a degree of memory (developed hippocampus)

Question 8

what is individual learning and how is it further separated

Answer 8

private information, can be either associative or non associative

Question 9

what is social learning

Answer 9

public information, can be acquired either by observing other individuals or interacting with them

Question 10

describe what habituation is

Answer 10

calibration of a behavioural response to a repeated stimulus (usually decrease of a response when it is shown to not be dangerous)

Question 11

what are the different types of non-associative learning

Answer 11

habituation, sensitisation, impriting

Question 12

what are the different types of associative learning

Answer 12

conditioning and trial and error learning

Question 13

describe what sensitization is

Answer 13

increase in an animal’s response to a stimulus after repeated exposure, opposite of habituation (example of sea slug, if gills touched wouldnt overreact, if given a light shock eventually even slight touch would result in a big quick withdrawal)

Question 14

describe what imprinting is

Answer 14

occurs during a sensitive ontogenic window, first moving stimulus after eg hatching in precocial birds

Question 15

describe what conditioning is

Answer 15

pairing of a reflex with neutral stimulus, neutral stimulus evokes a biologically significant reaction

Question 16

describe what trial and error learning is

Answer 16

learning the conyequence of a new behaviour, stimulus reinforces likelihood of response

Question 17

describe what animal insight is and give an examples of crows case study

Answer 17

animal insight involves problem solving rather than trial and error, it is the sudden production of a new adaptive response not arrived to by trial and error, eg crows learned that they could increase water level to reach food by dropping in stones (heavier and larger preferred)

Question 18

what are two types of factors that cause behaviours of resource and mate seeking

Answer 18

external factors (resource distibution and abundance) and internal factors (endogenous clocks, genotype, hormone levels, motivation, personality)

Question 19

how can spatial resource distribution affect behaviour

Answer 19

depends on whether organism choses to range (movement out of home range to seek new habitat, potentially leading to migration?)d

Question 20

how can circadian rhythm affect behaviour

Answer 20

influences timing of food seeking

Question 21

how can the genotype of an individual influence behaviour

Answer 21

changes the strategy of seeking food, example of drosophila which have rover and sitter larvae, foraging dominant fors gene)

Question 22

how do hormones affect mate seeking behaviour

Answer 22

eg in seasonally breeding birds, longer days lead to increase it testosterone which triggers mate seeking behaviour, testosterone levels not high all the time because they are costly and impair immune function

Question 23

how can motivation impact an individuals behaviour

Answer 23

mateseeking through hormonal control, eg frog example where tungara frog females more likely to respond to mating signals when hormone levels are high, mating reduces motivatikn in green tree frogs

Question 24

what is repeatability in a behaviour and how does it connect to personality

Answer 24

consistent behaviour, fraction of behavioural variation that is due to diferences between individuals, eg some Great tit males more exploratory than others, has a heritable basis

Question 25

how do hormones and personality connect

Answer 25

great tit example - exploratory males had lower stress induced corticosterone levels

Question 26

define what behavioural syndromes are

Answer 26

similar to personality traits in humans, consistent patterns across different contexts, eg bold individual in one situation may be more likely to be aggressive and bold in another

Question 27

what is fluctating selection and how does it relate to personality and behavioural syndromes

Answer 27

some tendencies favoured and therefore selected for in certain populations and contexts, but may be deselected for in another context, great tits example where fast explorers may be favoured in lower density populations, but slow may be selected for in higher density population