Animal Behavior - Vocabulary Flashcards (BIO/EVS 371)

A set of vocabulary-style flashcards covering key concepts, terms, and frameworks from the Animal Behavior lecture notes.

Behavior

Non-developmental, observable responses of organisms to external or internal stimuli.

Stimulus

A factor (external or internal) that elicits a response.

Comparative Psychology

Laboratory study of learning and cognition in animals to infer broader processes.

Ethology

Study of natural, evolutionary, species-specific behaviors, often observational and field-based.

Morgan's Canon

Interpret behavior with the simplest possible mental processes; avoid attributing higher faculties when lower ones suffice.

Morgan’s Canon (synonym)

Principle guiding interpretation of animal behavior toward parsimonious explanations.

Methodological Behaviorism

Only observable behavior is scientifically studyable; mental states are not.

Puzzle Box

Thorndike’s apparatus used to study problem-solving and learning in animals.

Operant Conditioning

Learning where consequences shape future behavior; reinforcement strengthens actions.

Thorndike

Early psychologist who formulated operant conditioning and the Puzzle Box method.

Skinner Box

Automated apparatus for studying operant conditioning in animals.

Philosophical Behaviorism

Belief that mental states don’t exist in animals; behavior is all there is.

Imprinting

Rapid, early-life learning (often critical-period) forming lasting attachments (Lorenz).

Selfish Gene

Idea that genes propagate by influencing behavior to maximize their own transmission.

Gene Selectionism

Natural selection acts at the level of genes, not species or individuals.

Altruism (genetic view)

Behavior that benefits others at a cost to the actor, explained via kin selection.

Kin Selection

Natural selection favoring traits that help relatives share genes.

Levels of Selection

Units of selection: individual, group, or gene (inclusive) selection.

Convergent Evolution

Independent evolution of similar traits due to similar pressures in different lineages.

Divergent Evolution

Related lineages evolve differently under different selective pressures.

Cladistics

Phylogenetic method using shared derived traits to infer evolutionary relationships.

Tinbergen's Four Questions

Causation, Development, Evolution, and Function as frameworks for behavior.

Proximate Explanations

Explain mechanisms and development (how it happens).

Ultimate Explanations

Explain evolutionary history and adaptive value (why it happens).

Causation/Mechanism

Immediate stimuli and neural/hormonal processes underlying behavior.

Development (Ontogeny)

How a behavior develops within an individual's lifetime.

Evolution (Phylogeny)

Evolutionary history of a behavior across species.

Function (Adaptive Value)

Current adaptive value of a behavior in its ecological niche.

Hypothetico-Deductive Method

Form hypotheses, derive predictions, and test to falsify them.

Induction

Reasoning from observations to general laws; may lack explanatory theory.

Deduction

Deriving predictions from general principles to specific cases.

Experimental Method

Controlled manipulation of variables to test cause-effect relationships.

Structured Observation

Systematic, quantitative observations without experimental manipulation.

Comparative Method

Study across species to infer evolutionary patterns; uses homology, analogy, and phylogeny.

Models (in Behavioral Ecology)

Physical, mathematical, or simulation tools to predict and test behavioral hypotheses.

Optimality Model

Predicts behavior that maximizes fitness benefits minus costs.

Game Theory Model

Shows how multiple strategies can coexist depending on others’ choices.

Mobbing

Group defense behavior where individuals harass a predator; used as an example in ecology.

Altruism Example (Alarm Calling)

Ground squirrels' alarm calls explained by gene-level selfishness and kin selection.