Behavioral Ecology Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key concepts from the lecture on Behavioral Ecology, including types of causation, learning, mating systems, and evolutionary strategies for altruism and survival.

Behavior

everything an animal does and how it does it

Imprinting

A type of learning characterized by a long-lasting behavioral response to a specific object or individual, formed during a limited developmental phase.

Kinesis

A simple change in the rate of movement or activity in response to an environmental stimulus.

Taxis

An automatic, directed movement toward or away from a stimulus.

Communication

The process involving the transmission, reception, and response to specific signals between animals.

Learning

The process of modifying behavior based on specific experiences.

Habituation

A reduction in response to a repeated stimulus that is perceived as unimportant or provides no meaningful feedback.

Associative Learning

The ability of an animal to connect one environmental feature or stimulus with another.

Operant Conditioning

Also known as trial-and-error learning, it involves an animal associating its own voluntary behavior with a reward or punishment.

Agonistic Behavior

Ritualized contests or behaviors that determine access to resources such as food or mates.

Altruism

Behavior that may decrease an individual's own fitness while increasing the fitness of others in the population.