Week 1 - Questions about Animal Behaviour Flashcards
What makes up the term ‘Animal Behaviour’?
(1) Anatomy, Physiology, Endocrinology and Neurobiology
(2) Education, Development, and Genetics (evolutionary and developmental relationships)
(3) Psychology, learning, cognition, social theory
What is the Definition of Behaviour
(1) All observable processes
(2) By which an animal responds to perceivedA changes
(3) In the internal state of its body and in the external world
Niko Tinbergen - Outline each of the Four Questions (1963)
(1) Control - how is it controlled within the population, when is the behaviour performed (eg. seasonally, temporally (nocturnal))
(2) Development - refinement of the behaviour in accordance with conditions (eg. temperature, wind, flooding)
(3) Function - what is the ultimate reason that a behaviour is performed
(4) Evolution - how does that behaviour evolve over generations
Give an example of using the Four Questions to Explain Behaviour
Example: Flamingos Building Nests for their Eggs
(1) Control - nest building instincts are activated by synchronised courtship displays
(2) Development - the nest height is refined in accordance with environmental variables (temperature, wind, and flooding)
(3) Function - to protect the eggs and the chicks once hatched
(4) Evolution - nests of an incorrect size cause high chick mortality - over time, the nest height has evolved for optimum chick survival
What are the ‘proximate’ questions?
Proximate - what is the reason for the behaviour (why is it important to the individual) - INITIAL HAPPENINGS
(1) Causation - how is the behaviour controlled/performed (what activates performance of the behaviour)
(2) Development - how is behaviour refined according to the conditions (eg. environmental)
What are the ‘ultimate’ questions?
Ultimate Question - what is the end result of the behaviour (related to the species moving forward - how does it make them fitter?)
(3) Function - what is the ultimate function/reason the behaviour is performed
(4) Evolution - how does that behaviour evolve over multiple generations
How do we observe animal behaviour (what are the steps include - definition of an ethogram)
(1) Hypotheses
(2) Predictions
(3) Ethics
(4) Variables and Control)
(5) Recording Methods
Ethogram - a definite list of species-specific behaviour used to help catalogue and describe all observed actions
(6) Data Collection
(7) Analysis
(8) Repeats and Confirmatory Analysis
How would you plan an investigation into animal behaviour?
TIME: what time scale - eg. some species are particularly active at different times of the day
IDENTIFICATION - eg. markings/scratches
EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES - unplanned events (eg. animals dying)
ACCURATELY
OBJECTIVELY
REPEATABLY
What are the 5 levels of behavioural study?
(1) Cellular - endocrine, nervous, physiological responses
(2) Act - performing particular behaviours at different times of the year (why and how they occur)
(3) Individuals - looking at Individual Differences between species within the wider population
(4) Species
(5) Population
