Comparative Psychology - Module 15: Learning and Culture

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts from the comparative psychology module on learning and culture, focusing on cognitive processes, cultural influences, and ecological adaptations.

Cognitive abilities

The mental capabilities that allow individuals to process information, reason, remember, and relate experiences.

Aphantasia

The inability to visualize images in one’s mind, a normal variation in human cognition.

Umwelt

The specific sensory world in which a species lives, unique to that species.

Intelligence

The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills, often evaluated in a species-specific context.

Gene-environment interaction

The phenomenon where genes and environmental factors influence an individual's behavior and development.

Natural selection

The process through which traits that enhance survival and reproduction are passed on to subsequent generations.

Cognitive flexibility

The mental ability to switch between thinking about two different concepts or to think about multiple concepts simultaneously.

Prewired

Innately structured or developed traits that facilitate survival needs.

Altricial animals

Species that are born helpless and require significant care from adults.

Imprinting

A rapid learning process during a critical period, where young animals form a bond with the first moving stimulus they encounter.

Precocial animals

Species that are born relatively mature and mobile, needing less parental care.

Tandem runs

A teaching behavior observed in ants where one ant leads another to a food source.

Executive brain ratio

The comparison of the size of the executive functions in the brain relative to overall brain size, linked to cognitive capabilities.

Spatial memory

The ability to remember locations and navigate environments based on spatial information.

Operant conditioning

A learning process through which the strength of a behavior is modified by reinforcement or punishment.

Cognitive innovation

The creation of new solutions to problems or the development of new behaviors.

Social learning

The process of learning behaviors through observation and imitation of others.

Cultural transmission

The way that information, behaviors, or skills are passed through a society or a species beyond genetic inheritance.

Behavioral traditions

Established practices or customs within a species that are transmitted through social learning.

Cooperative fishing

A learned behavior where dolphins work together with local fishers to enhance foraging efficiency.

Matrilineally taught

Knowledge or skills passed down from mother to offspring.

Direct fitness

The reproductive success of an individual based on the transmission of genes to the next generation.

Cultural divergence

The process by which groups of organisms become more different over time due to varying cultural influences.

Cognitive evolution

The development of cognitive abilities over evolutionary timescales as a response to ecological challenges.

Lactase persistence

The continued production of lactase, the enzyme that digests lactose, into adulthood, influenced by cultural practices.

Bajau people

An ethnic group from Southeast Asia known for their extraordinary diving capabilities and adaptations.

Elders in conservation

Older individuals in a species whose cultural knowledge is critical for the survival and teaching of younger members.

Gene-culture coevolution

The interdependent evolution of human genes and cultural practices, influencing each other over time.

Human spatial skills

The cognitive abilities that allow humans to navigate environments based on spatial processing.

Comparative psychology

The scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals compared to human behavior.

Cultural evolution

The process through which cultural practices change and develop in a society over time.

Social networks in animals

The social structures formed by individuals within a community that influence learning and behavior diffusion.

Cooking hypothesis

The idea that cooking food contributed to human brain growth by making it easier to digest.

Imitation

The act of copying behaviors or actions of another individual, foundational for social learning.

Archaeological culture

Artifacts and evidence reflecting the cultural practices of a group, such as tool use and technology.

Tradition diffusion

The spread of practices, skills, or knowledge from one group to another, particularly in social contexts.

Tool use in animals

The manipulation of objects to achieve a goal, demonstrating cognitive complexity and learning.

Direct impact of culture

The immediate influence that cultural practices have on individual behaviors and community norms.

Indirect impact of culture

The longer-term effects of cultural norms on societal structures and individual outcomes.

Victorian beauty standards

Cultural ideals of beauty in the Victorian era that influenced societal perceptions of health and illness.

Cultural inheritance system

The way in which knowledge and behaviors are passed down culturally, influencing evolution and adaptation.

Brain development and affection

The impact of emotional bonding and caregiving on the healthy growth of cognitive functions in children.

Behavioral ecology

The study of the interaction between behavior and the ecological context in which an organism lives.

Sustained learning

The ability to maintain and build upon knowledge or skills over time, especially across generations.

Cognition in social structures

The adaptation of cognitive processes within the context of social hierarchies and group dynamics.

Harlow’s studies

Research examining the effects of maternal deprivation on behavioral development and emotional well-being.

Species-specific adaptations

Unique traits or behaviors developed within a species in response to ecological pressures.

Phenotypic plasticity

The ability of an organism to change its phenotype in response to environmental changes.

Tool culture in Capuchins

The practices and techniques used by Capuchin monkeys for using and modifying tools for foraging.

Chimpanzee culture

The array of learned behaviors and traditions that differ among chimpanzee communities.

Cognitive mapping

The mental representation of physical locations and spatial relationships in an environment.

Social cognition

The processes through which individuals perceive and understand the behavior of others in a social context.

Female choice in mate selection

The preference shown by females for certain traits in potential mates, affecting reproductive success.

Cognitive bias

The tendency for a person's cognition to deviate from rationality or logical reasoning.

Nonhuman cultural transmission

The progression of learned behaviors and practices among nonhuman species that parallels human culture.