Behavior Exam 1 Study Guide

What are behavior phenotypes are the result of?

Interactions between genes and environment (P = G x E)

What does P = G x E stand for?

• Phenotype = Genotype x Environment

• “Nature multiplied by nurture” 

What are proximate causes?

• What mechanisms are responsible for a behavior

• The here and now

What are ultimate causes?

Why a particular behavior is favored evolutionarily

What are the “4 questions” of ethology? 

• Ontogeny

• Mechanism

• Phylogeny

• Adaptive significance

What of the “4 questions” are proximate causes? 

• Mechanism

• Ontogeny

What of the “4 questions” are ultimate causes? 

• Phylogeny

• Adaptive significance

What is the Ontogeny question? What are the key points?

• Refers to the development of an individual organism throughout its lifespan

  • Can be from fertilization to adulthood, including all stages of growth and change within that individuals life

• It focuses on an individual’s life cycle

What is the Mechanism question? What are the key points?

• Refers to the specific physiological or biochemical processes that underlie a trait or behavior 

• Essentially the “how” it works at a given movement

• Looks at the current functioning of a behavior or trait, not its evolutionary history or development

What is the Phylogeny question? What are the key points?

• Refers to the evolutionary history of a species or group of organisms

• Looks at the evolutionary relationships between different species over time

• Traces how different organisms are related to each other through their ancestors

What is the Adaptive significance question? What are the key points?

• Describes the evolutionary benefit or reason why that trait or behavior exists in terms of an organism’s survival and reproduction in its environment

• Asking how a specific characteristic contributes to an organism’s survival and reproduction within its environment

Match the example to the question: 

1. Female seals become better mothers with experience

2. Circulating oxytocin levels / Proximity to other seals, especially males /Maternal cody condition 

3. Maternal behavior is conserved across the carnivore evolutionary tree, seal ancestry behaved in this way

4. Survival to weaning is higher for pups with close mon-pup proximity 

1. Mechanism

2. Phylogeny

3. Adaptive significance

4. Ontogeny

1 - D
2 - A 
3 - B
4 - C

What is the study of the biological basis of behavior? 

Behavior of an organism is tied to its anatomy, physiology, development, environment, and evolutionary history

What is primary literature? 

• Written by experts for experts and can inspire new research

• Original publication of research findings

• Presents new data and results for the first time

• Considered the foundation for further research in a field

What is an ethogram? 

• The purpose of this is not to describe the purpose/function of a behavior, but rather only describe its physical “shape”

• Defines the units of measurement for behavioral research

• They pick out the individual action patterns that are going to be measured in any given research project

True or false: Behavior is a phenotype

True

What is behavior?

It is a shape of an organism moving in space and time

What is an animal's “shape”?

• Physical characteristics of a biological machine 

• Size, color, skeleton, brain/nervous system, all other organ systems, cells and cellular products (such as hormones)

What are the dimensions of behaviors?

• Quality

• Frequency

• Sequence

True or false. An animal’s shape sets limits on the behavior they can perform

True

True or false. There are codes for behavior.

False, there are no codes for behavior, there are codes for specific proteins that then act on behaviors

Intrinsic Behavior acknowledges the what?

• Importance on the expression of heritable behavior 

  • “Do it or die”

What is Umwelt? 

Unique, species-typical and different sensory and experiential worlds from those of other species

What is quality in terms of “dimension”? 

• Shape of movement 

  • Physical characteristics that define the animal’s shape as it occupies space at a particular moment of time 

  • Doesn’t attempt to describe why the behavior occurs or what animal is feeling about it, nor does it attempt to describe function 

What is frequency in terms of “dimension”? 

• Occurrence of a behavior over time 

• How often (or for how long), over time a quilty state is expressed 

  • Relative to how long you are observing the animal

What is sequence in terms of “dimension”? 

• Order of movements 

• Temporal order in which successive states may occur

• Allows you to determine how behaviors relate and to describe the context, and thus function of a behavior 

What are the types of study methods? 

• Observational

• Experimental 

• Quasi-experimental 

What factors result in working dogs of different breeds showing different predatory behaviors? 

• Selective breeding (overall breed type)

  • Certain breeds have been intentionally developed over generations to posses specific predatory traits based on their intended working roles, like herding, hunting, or guarding

  • Can lead to variations in the intensity and components of their predatory  sequence, such as stalking, chasing, or grabbing-biting

How do you explain animals with nearly identical genes that behave so differently? 

Environmental effects

What role does an animal’s “shape” play in determining behavior? 

• Variation in Shapes = Variation in Behavior 

  • No two animals are identically shaped, so no two animals behave identically

  • The more similar they are in shape, the more similarly they behave

Are behavioral traits and physical traits equivalent?

Yes! You wouldn’t say humans have an “instinct” for 5 fingers.

What does intrinsic describe? 

• Heritable behavior 

  • Interplay between genes and environment (including development) that lead to the expression of behavior 

What are motor patterns?

• Systemic responses to specific internal motivations and external stimuli and signals. 

  • Under condition x, or if y occurs, do z 

What is evolutionary fitness? 

• An organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in its environment, contributing to the next generation

• A feature that an organism that determines the spread of that organism’s genes in a population through time

  • More closely linked to reproductive success than survival

Behavioral variation allows animals to ____?  

Adapt to new environments and face new ecological challenges (adaptive significance), while providing the raw material for selection

Behavior that is adaptively significant in one set of conditions may not be (or may be less so) in another set of conditions. What is the evolutionary consequence of this? 

• Variation itself is preserved! 

• At the species level if their environment changes, the animals that thrive in that environment will keep their species alive 

• Species persistence as they can adapt and live in different environments 

What if there was no behavioral variation? 

• Limited ability to adapt to a changing environment that changes the “rules” 

• An absence of variation can stem from low levels of genetic diversity…

  • Small populations

  • Tightly managed production animal breeds (dairy cows) 

• But can also be the result of strong selection on a particular behavior

What is artificial selection? 

• People (instead of nature) select which organisms get to reproduce, either intentionally or unintentionally 

  • Ex: galapagos finches or Darwin’s finches

What is anthropomorphism? 

• Assigning human attributes to animals

  • Implies humans and non-human animals perceive the world in the same ways

• Can be misleading in behavioral research because it rules out other possible motivations or functions of behavior

Under strong artificial selection, is there room for natural selection to occur at all? 

• Yes, there are still factors that are affecting these animals we need to be aware of

  • Factors we are selecting for 

  • Unintentional factors 

  • Factors out of our control 

    • Diseases, mutations, climate changes

Why is it lazy to equate wolves and dogs? 

• Different genetics

• Different environment 

• Clearly, artificial selection in dogs has resulted in dramatic changes in behavior from their ancestors

  • You wouldn’t want a wolf around your kids

  • But would let a herding dog

    • Also probably doesn’t even realize livestock is food where wolf would instantly eat it

What is domestication?

• Intensified human selection for preferred traits

• Relaxation of natural selection (predation and starvation)

What are the behavioral classification ‘category’ states? 

Longer duration behaviors that can be timed easily (sleeping, sitting, swimming, etc.)

What are the behavioral classification ‘category’ events? 

Short duration behaviors that are usually counted (climbing onto bed, sitting on a chair,

What does “critical period” mean? 

• Specific window of time during an organism’s development where they are particularly sensitive to environmental stimuli

• Experience during this period can have a significant and lasting impact on their behavior and brain development

  • Makes it crucial for acquiring certain skills or abilities that may be difficult to learn later in life if missed during this window

What is an observational study method? 

No variables are manipulated

What is a quasi-experimental study method? 

Variables manipulated, but not completely controlled

What is an experimental study method? 

Variables manipulated and controlled