Animal Behavior Exam 2

BIO 354

Behavioral development

encompasses what happens to an animal from embryonic development through their lifetime

ZENK gene

gene that is expresses in zebra finch brains when exposed to novel songs

Prarie vole paternal/maternal care

More parental care is associate with the offspring then being a more attentive parent

Rat maternal care

Offspring with higher maternal care resulted in less stress response and better maternal care (can last generations)

Epigenetics

environmentally induced, stable, long-tern change in phenotype that MAY be inherited across generations (impacts DNA expression)

social

The ____ environment can exert a very potent influence on how nervous system develops and impacts adult behavior

Learning

the relatively permanent ability to modify behavior based on past experiece

ability to learn

The _____ is genetically encoded and can be acted upon by natural selection (paper wasps recognizing faces)

Phenotypic plasticity

ability of an organism to produce different phenotypes depending on environmental conditions

Habituation

when an animal learns to be less sensitive to a stimulus over time

Sensitization

When an animal leans to become more sensitve over time to a stimulus

Pavlovian/Classical conditioning

when an animal learns to pair one stimulus with a second stimulus and respond appropriately (the two stimuli are artificially paired)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

a neutral stimulus that initially fails to elicit a response but comes to do so when it becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus (bell ringing)

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

a biologically relevant stimulus that elicits a vigorous response in the absence of training (presence of food)

Conditioned Response (CR)

a response produced by a learned associated between a conditioned and uncontitioned stimuli (salivating when bell rings)

Appetitive Stimulus

any stimulus that is considered positive or rewarding

Aversive stimulus

any stimulus that is unpleasant

Excitatory conditioning

When the first stimulus predicts the occurance of the second stimulus or event

Inhibitory conditioning

When the first stimulus predicts the absence of the second stimulusor event

Second Order conditioning

using two conditioned stimuli at once

Learnability

how well an animal learns in different conditions

Overshadowing

when the presence of another, more salient stimulus distracts the animal from strong learning of the main stimulus

Blocking

When learning one stimulus first prevents strong learning of a second stimulus later by making it seem irrelevant

Latent inhibition

when the presence of a stimulus over a long period of time retards theability of the animal to ever associate that stimulus with a new one

Operant conditioning

goal-directed learning where the animals response is reinforced or punished through positive and negative consequences

Behaviorism

studying the rules of behavior in a laboratory, based on psychological perspective

Ecological context for learning

there will be stronger selection for learning in different areas based on individual, population, and species differences

Abiotic and biotic factors

two forces that make up the environment’s effects on development

Sexual Selection

evolutionary process that favors the increase of traits/genes/behaviors that confer reproductive advantage

Intrasexual selection and intersexual selection

two types of sexual selection

Intrasexual selection

interactions between members of the same sex (males sparring, elephant seals, stag beetles)

Intersexual selection

interactions between members of different sexes (females choose, peacocks, Australian bowerbird)

Ansiogamy

differences in gamete sizes between sexes

Bateman’s principles

females invest more energy, fewer females gametes to be fertilized than male gametes, fewer females available to mate with, males compete for females

Characteristics of species with high intrasexual selection

Weapons (sexually dimorphic), physical vigor, sex differences in body size,

Reproductive skew

High variance in reproductive success

Four modes of female choice

Direct benefits, good genes, runaway selection, sensory bias

Direct benefits

Females choose mates with direct material benefits (territory, paternal care, nutrients) (scorpion flies)

Good genes

Females select for mates with traits (honest indicators) that confer advantages for survival/reproduction (indirect benefits), (stickleback fish)

Indicators of good genes

Large size, costly signals, bright colors, fighting ability, symmetry, conspicuous traits

Conspicuous sexual ornaments

genetic indicators of parasite and disesase resistance (costly traits are good indicators)

Runaway Selection

female preference for a slight variation in a male trait, offspring inherits trait/preference, creates evolutionary “snow ball” effect thus “runaway selection”

Sensory Bias

Idea that selection will favor male traits that tap into pre-existing sensory bias in females (co-opt pre-existing neurobiological circuitry to respond to a certain stimulus, ex: color)

Alternative strategies to sexual selection

Different male strategies (sneaky males copulating), females mating multiple times, males chooseing females (sperm depletion), male bimaturism (orangutans), role-reversal (larger, colorful females in pipefish)