ZOO 4513 Animal Behavior Exam 2 - Development of Behavior

Development of Behavior

The study of how behavioral patterns emerge and change over an animal's lifespan.

Nurture versus Nature Debate

The historical dichotomy contrasting environmental learning with genetic programming in behavior.

Interactionist Position

The modern consensus that every behavior is the joint product of both genes and environment.

Epigenesis

The developmental process where structures and behaviors emerge through continuous gene-environment interactions.

Instinctive Behaviors

Behaviors that appear fully functional upon their first performance without prior practice.

Behavioral Genetics

The field investigating how specific genetic differences contribute to variations in behavior.

Single-Gene Effects on Behavior

Cases where variation in a single gene leads to distinct, observable differences in behavioral phenotype.

Polygenic Traits

Behaviors influenced by multiple genes, typically resulting in a continuous range of phenotypic variation.

Knockout Studies

Experiments where a specific gene is deactivated to observe resulting behavioral deficits.

FosB Gene in Mice

A gene regulating maternal care; knockout females fail to build proper nests and retrieve pups.

Per Gene in Drosophila

A gene controlling circadian rhythms, demonstrating direct genetic influence on behavioral timing.

Developmental Homeostasis

The capacity of developmental processes to produce normal phenotypes despite environmental and genetic variations.

Environmental Enrichment

Housing conditions that promote neural development, cognitive flexibility, and behavioral complexity.

Critical Period

A strictly bounded developmental window during which specific experiences must occur for normal behavioral development.

Sensitive Period

A flexible developmental window during which animals are most susceptible to specific environmental influences.

Imprinting

A rapid, highly specific form of learning occurring during a sensitive period early in life.

Filial Imprinting

The process whereby young animals learn to follow and become attached to their primary caregiver.

Konrad Lorenz

Pioneering ethologist famous for demonstrating filial imprinting in greylag geese.

Sexual Imprinting

The process by which an animal learns the characteristic traits of its future sexual partners.

Song Development in Birds

A classic model of behavioral development combining innate predispositions and acoustic tutoring.

Auditory Template Hypothesis

The theory that young songbirds possess an innate neural template guiding song acquisition.

Subsong

The early, unstructured practice vocalizations of young songbirds akin to human babbling.

Plastic Song

The transitional vocalization phase where young birds refine their song toward the adult model.

Crystallized Song

The final, fixed song pattern produced by adult birds after the learning phase closes.

Social Experience and Song

The requirement of live tutor interaction for normal song development in certain species.

Hormonal Influences on Development

The organizational and activational effects of hormones shaping neural circuits and behavior.

Organizational Effects of Hormones

Permanent, developmental alterations in neural structure caused by early hormonal exposure.

Activational Effects of Hormones

Transient physiological changes that trigger specific behaviors when hormone levels rise in adults.

Play Behavior

Motor activity performed out of context that appears pleasurable and aids juvenile development.

Practice Theory of Play

The hypothesis that juvenile play develops physical conditioning and motor skills for adult life.

Social Play

Play interactions with conspecifics that develop communication, dominance bonds, and fighting tactics.

Object Play

Manipulative interactions with inanimate items that foster foraging and problem-solving skills.

Locomotor Play

Energetic running, jumping, and tumbling that builds muscular strength and bone density.

Developmental Switch Points

Critical developmental junctures where alternative behavioral morphs are permanently triggered.

Maternal Effects

Influence of the mother's physiological state and behavior on the developmental trajectory of her offspring.

Epigenetic Modifications

Heritable changes in gene expression not involving alterations to the underlying DNA sequence.

Biological Clock

An internal timing mechanism that controls when various behaviors or physiological processes occur.

Circadian Rhythm

A biological rhythm with a period of approximately 24 hours.

Circannual Rhythm

A biological rhythm with a period of approximately one year, often linked to seasonal changes.

Infradian Rhythm

A biological rhythm that has a period longer than 24 hours, such as estrus cycles.

Ultradian Rhythm

A biological rhythm that has a period shorter than 24 hours, occurring multiple times per day.

Free-Running Rhythm

A rhythm that continues in the absence of external environmental cues, operating on its endogenous period.

Zeitgeber

An external environmental cue, such as light or temperature, that entrains biological clocks.

Entrainment

The synchronization of an organism's internal biological clock with an external environmental cycle.

Phase Shift

A shift in the timing of a biological rhythm relative to a reference point, often caused by a zeitgeber.

Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)

The primary master pacemaker of the mammalian circadian system located in the hypothalamus.

Pineal Gland

An endocrine gland that secretes melatonin and plays a major role in regulating vertebrate circadian and circannual rhythms.

Melatonin

A hormone secreted by the pineal gland during the dark phase, promoting sleep and mediating seasonal responses.

Per Gene

A classic clock gene (Period) involved in generating circadian oscillations in Drosophila and vertebrates.

Cryptochrome (Cry)

A class of proteins involved in blue light photoreception and circadian clock feedback loops.

Transcription-Translation Feedback Loop (TTFL)

The core molecular mechanism underlying circadian rhythms, involving positive and negative elements.

Clock and Bmal1

Positive transcription factors that dimerize to drive the expression of period and cryptochrome genes.

Per and Cry Proteins

Negative feedback elements that accumulate and inhibit their own transcription by binding to Clock-Bmal1.

Circadian Phase Response Curve (PRC)

A graph showing how the magnitude and direction of phase shifts depend on when a stimulus occurs.

Masking

The direct effect of an environmental factor, like light or noise, that obscures the true underlying circadian rhythm.

Endogenous Pacemaker

An internal self-sustaining biological oscillator that generates rhythms without external timing cues.

Actogram

A standard graphical plot used in chronobiology to display circadian activity and rest patterns over time.

Diurnal

An activity pattern characterized by being active primarily during daylight hours.

Nocturnal

An activity pattern characterized by being active primarily during nighttime hours.

Crepuscular

An activity pattern characterized by being active primarily during twilight periods (dawn and dusk).

Photoperiod

The physiological reaction of organisms to the length of day or night, crucial for seasonal timing.

Critical Day Length

The threshold day length that triggers a seasonal physiological response, such as flowering or migration.

Short-Day Organism

An organism that responds or initiates reproduction when day length falls below a specific critical threshold.

Long-Day Organism

An organism that responds or initiates reproduction when day length exceeds a specific critical threshold.

Habenula

A brain region involved in regulating circadian rhythms and mood through connections with the pineal gland.

Temperature Compensation

The ability of biological clocks to maintain a relatively constant period across a range of ambient temperatures.

Jet Lag

A temporary disruption of circadian rhythms caused by rapid travel across multiple time zones.

Social Entrainment

Synchronization of internal circadian rhythms through social interactions with conspecifics rather than light.

Photic Zeitgeber

Light as an environmental cue capable of entraining circadian rhythms.

Non-Photic Zeitgeber

Environmental cues other than light, such as food availability or social interaction, that can entrain rhythms.

Circatidal Rhythm

A biological rhythm synchronized with the approximately 12.4-hour cycle of ocean tides.

Circalunar Rhythm

A biological rhythm synchronized with the approximately 29.5-day cycle of lunar phases.

Kinesis

An undirected movement in response to a stimulus where speed or turning rate changes.

Orthokinesis

Movement behavior where the speed of locomotion depends on the intensity of the environmental stimulus.

Klinokinesis

Movement behavior where the frequency or rate of turning depends on stimulus intensity.

Taxis

A directed movement either toward or away from a specific environmental stimulus.

Phototaxis

Directional movement orientation in direct response to light.

Chemotaxis

Directional movement orientation in response to chemical concentration gradients.

Geotaxis

Directional movement orientation in response to gravity.

Phonotaxis

Directional movement orientation in response to sound sources.

Rheotaxis

Directional movement orientation in response to water or air currents.

Positive Taxis

Movement directed directly toward the source of a stimulus.

Negative Taxis

Movement directed directly away from the source of a stimulus.

Klinotaxis

Orientation mechanism where an animal compares stimulus intensity sequentially by swinging its head side to side.

Tropotaxis

Orientation mechanism using simultaneous bilateral comparison of stimulus intensity to steer straight.

Telotaxis

Orientation mechanism where an animal fixates on a single stimulus target and moves directly toward it without bilateral comparison.

Menotaxis

Light-compass orientation where an animal maintains a fixed, constant angle relative to a directional light source.

Dorsal Light Reaction

An orientation response where aquatic animals align their dorsal surface perpendicular to a light source to maintain vertical posture.

Compass Orientation

The ability of an animal to move in a specific, constant direction using an external directional cue.

Navigation

The ability of an animal to determine its current position relative to a goal and chart a course to reach it.

Pilotage

Navigation using familiar landmarks to guide movement from one known point to another.

Path Integration

Dead reckoning mechanism where an animal tracks distance and direction traveled relative to home to return directly.

Compass Systems

External reference systems used by animals for directional movement, including sun, star, and magnetic compasses.

Sun Compass

Orientation system using the sun's position combined with an internal clock to maintain a heading.

Time Compensation

Adjustment of sun compass orientation based on the internal circadian clock to account for the sun's apparent movement.

Star Compass

Orientation mechanism used by nocturnal animals relying on patterns of constellations for directional guidance.

Magnetic Compass

Orientation ability utilizing the Earth's magnetic field lines to determine directional headings.

Incline Compass

Use of the inclination angle of Earth's magnetic field relative to the surface to determine poleward versus equatorward directions.

Polarized Light Patterns

Skylight polarization patterns created by sunlight scattering in the atmosphere, used by insects for navigation.

Olfactory Navigation

Navigation utilizing airborne or aquatic chemical odor gradients to map locations or track migratory routes.