Behavioral Ecology subset

Adaptive behaviors

Behaviors that arise when benefits outweigh costs, enhancing individual fitness and survival.

Learned behaviors

Behaviors that are passed down generation to generation, leading to population evolution.

Costs & Benefits

Concepts used to explain the evolution of behaviors by assessing the trade-offs between energy expenditure and rewards.

Evolutionary Stable Strategy (ESS)

A strategy that depends on the actions of others; individuals may conform or differ based on population dynamics

Associative learning

The process of establishing a positive or negative association between a stimulus and a response.

Classical conditioning

A learning process where an involuntary response becomes associated with a stimulus that did not originally elicit the response.

Operant conditioning

A learning process where an animal's behavior is reinforced or diminished by consequences.

Behavior Function Experiment Design

An experiment designed to determine the function of a behavior by manipulating variables and observing changes.