Bio 1108 - Chapter 43: Animal Behavior and Behavioral Ecology Study Materials

Tinbergen's four questions

causation, development, function, evolution

what are the causes of behavior?

-internal or external stimuli that inititate it

-e.g. hormones or environmental triggers

-proximate (short-term)

how does behavior develop over time?

-looks at how it changes over an individual's lifetime, considering whether it's innate or learned

-proximate (short-term)

what is function of behavior?

-explain its adaptive advantage, contributing to survival or reproduction

-ultimate (long-term)

how did behavior evolve?

-examines evolutionary history and how it has changed across species over time

-ultimate (long-term)

behavioral ecology

-study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior

innate

-behaviors that are instinctive and carried out regardless of earlier experience

learned

-behaviors that depend on an individual's experience

nervous system's role in behavior

-fast responses

-uses electrical signals

-controls immediate actions e.g. reflexes

endocrine system's role in behavior

-slow, long-term effects

-hormones influence mood, growth, reproduction

interaction between nervous and endocrine systems

-nervous systems signals hormone release

-hormones affect brain and behavior

display

-species-specific patterns of behavior

-tend to follow same sequence of actions whenever performed; similar from one individual to next

-"stereotyped"

fixed action pattern (FAP)

-sequence of behaviors, once triggered, is followed through to completion

key stimulus

-stimulus that initiates a fixed action pattern

supernormal stimulus

-exaggerated stimulus that elicits a response more strongly than normal stimulus

feature detector

-specialized sensory receptor/s

-repond to important signals in environment

learning

-process in which experience leads to changes in behavior

nonassociative learning

-occurs in absence of any particular outcome

-e.g. reward or punishment

habituation

-decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it

sensitization

-an increase in behavioral response after exposure to a stimulus

associative learning (conditioning)

-animal learns to link two events

classical conditioning

-two simuli are paired

operant conditioning

-type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reward (positive reinforce) or diminished if followed by a punisher (negative reinforce)

imitation

-observe and copy behavior of another

filial imprinting

-imprinting in which newborn offspring treat any animal they see shortly after birth as their mother

kinesis (plural, kinseses)

-random, undirected movement in response to stimulus

taxis (plural, taxes)

-movement in specific direction in response to stimulus

map information

-knowledge of where an individual is with respect to its goal

circadian clock

-internal mechanism that maintains a 24-hour activity rhythm or cycle

-e.g. feeding, sleeping, hormone prodcution, core body temp

lunar clock

-moon-based clock that times activities in some species

-especially in habitats where tides are important

annual clock

-biological clock that corresponds closely to a solar year

photoperiod

-effect of day lenth on physiological/developmental processes

signal

-message sent from one animal to another

-e.g. sound, scent, visual cue

communication

-transfer of information between two individuals

-sender and receiver

sender

-animal produces and sends signal

receiver

-animal detects and interprets signal

medium

-environment through which signal travels

-e.g. air, water, ground

response

-behavior triggered by signal in the receiver

ritualization

1. increasing conspicuousness of behavior

2. reducing amount of variation in behavior so immediately recognized

3. increasing separation of behavior from original function

advertisement display

-behavior by which individuals draw attention to themselves or their status

altruistic

-self-sacrificial behavior that helps another

-decrease fitness

group selection

-selection caused by differential success of groups rather than individuals

evolutionarily stable strategy

-the strategy that once adopted by most of the population cannot be invaded by an alternative strategy

reciprocal altruism

-exchange of favors between individuals

kin selection

-natural selection that favors spread of alleles that promote behaviors that can help close relatives (kin)

eusocial

-organism population in which the role of each organism is specialized and not all of the organisms will reproduce