exam 4 (zoology)

Cognition

The process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, or senses

• only animals are capable of cognition

• Humans have the highest capacity for cognition

List the aspects of cognition

• teaching

• Short term memory

• Casual reasoning

• Planning

• Deception

• Transitive inference

• Theory of mind

• Language

Teaching

Steps :

1. Observation

• the teacher observes the students capabilities

2. Judgement

• the teacher judges the students’ actions or products

3. Modification

• the teacher modifies the students behaviors

*animals don’t actively teach (young learn by observing adults and adult animals do not recognize that new learners need help

Short term memory

The number of items held in the mind at the same time

• chimps and humans can hold 5-7 items at once

• Other animals can hold fewer

• Add another item, one of the existing ones is forgotten

Example: short term memory capacity

• ability to remember a “to do list” of 5 simple tasks

Causal Reasoning

Causality = relationship between cause and effect

Causal Reasoning

• the organism understands

• What actions (causes) lead to certain effects

• What effects results from specific causes

Example :

• rats can be taught to press a lever to receive food

• Babies learn that if they cry when they are hungry they will be fed

Error in Casual Reasoning

causal illusion

• post hoc ergo propter hoc

• After the fact therefore because of the fact

Mistaken interpretation of events

• event A happened followed by even B

• “Therefore” A causes B

• Sometimes true, sometimes false

Example :

You failed a test after eating a hamburger

• causal illusion : “eating hamburgers make you fail tests”

Animals must be capable of causal reasoning to suffer from casual illusions

• mammals, birds, and some reptiles

Planning

Planning = thinking about activities required to achieve a goal

*Very hard to demonstrate in animals

• most “planning” is probably instinctive

• Instincts cannot be altered if variables change

Example:

• birds gathering and storing seeds before winter

• Is the birth “planning” for winter or just following an instinct

What are the different types of planning

Simple : one individual plans for one thing

• you plan to study for tomorrow’s test

Complex : multiple individuals form a group plan

• the football team gathers to discuss tactics for tomorrows game

Deception

The act of providing false information

Types of deception

• False positives

• Indicates food or danger when there is none

• “The boy who cried wolf” - pretending there is a predator

False negatives

• indicates no food or danger when there is some

• A camouflaged predator hides to ambush- pretending there is no danger

• false negatives are far more common in the animal world

Transitive inference

Use logic to determine the relationship between objects

example:

• Aaron is taller than Bob

• Bob is taller than carl

• Who is taller Aaron or Carl

Animals capable of transitive inference

Theory of Mind

Ability to understand the reasoning and motivation of others

• key element of human social interaction (ability to look at thinks from another person’s point of view)

• Gives us the ability to empathize (understand and share the feelings of others)

• Infants have TOM

Language

• only humans have language

Chimpanzees and Gorilla

• can be taught human created language (maybe)

• But do not have their own language

• Cannot teach each other sign language

Learning

A long term or permanent change in the potential for behavior that results from experience

Imperfect

• relies on memory

Potential

• not everything we learn is used

Reinforcement

Anything that alters the probability of a behavior

Positive

• used to increase probability of future behavior

• Example : bonus points for attendance

Negative

• used to decrease probability of future behavior Example : penalty points for late submission

Fatigue adaptation

Loss of efficiency in a motor act when the act is repeated in rapid succession

Example: take notes in several classes in a row (your hand gets tired; you take fewer note

Sensory adaptation

Reduction of nerve impulses due to repetition of stimulus

Example: smell sensors adapting to odor

(Why you don’t smell yourself)

List the forms of learning

1. Habituation

2. Sensitization

3. Classical Conditioning

4. Operant Conditioning

Habituation

Responses wanes due to repetition without reinforcement

• individuals react to the stimulus first

• But there is no reward or danger following the stimulus

• The individual tunes it out as irrelevant

Example: background noise

Benefit: avoid wasting energy by reacting to irrelevant stimuli

Sensitization

Enhanced responsiveness to a noxious or intense stimulus

• reaction becomes more intense as the stimulus is repeated

• Perception is that stimulus is “getting worse”

• Stimulus remains the same, but sensitivity to it increases

Example: sharp pain your shoulder

• each time you move and feel pain, you are more reluctant to move that way

• Pain may feel worse each time

Opposite of habituation

Classical Conditioning

Animals learn to respond to a new stimulus using an existing behavior

• behavior in response to a natural stimulus

• Dog salivates in response to food

• No natural responses to the new stimulus

• Repeatedly associate the two stimuli

• Animal associates the two stimuli

• It now responds to the new stimulus with the original behavior

Operant Conditioning

Animals learns to associate a behavior with a consequence

Positive reinforcement :

• animal is rewarded for a certain behavior

Example: give the dog a treat when it shakes paws with you

Negative reinforcement :

• animal is punished for a certain behavior

Example: spray the cat with water when it jumps on the counter

Observational Learning

An indirect form of operant conditioning

• animal watches another animal

• The other animal gets a reward/punishment for a behavior

• The observer animal learns what to do

Example:

• two groups of ducks

• Group 1 fed from dishes - one with a shock grid, one without

• Group 2 observed

• When released, group 2 avoided the dish with the shock grid

Constraints on Learning

Constraints that limit learning

• preparedness

• Genetic predisposition to learning

Methods

• constraints imposed by the investigator

Preparedness Constraints

Genetic/hereditary predisposition affects learning

Prepared

• the animals nervous system is suited to the task

• Leads to rapid learning

• Example: cats chasing the red dot

Unprepared

• the nervous system is not suited to the task

• Takes a long time to

• Example: chimps learning sign language

Contraprepared

• the nervous system would naturally act opposite to the task

• Animal may not be able to learn the task at all

Methods Constraints

Experimental factors may affect results

• learning apparatus

• Environment

• Investigator bias (Clever Hans)

Tasks should be part of an animal’s potential repertoire

Dominance

Animal #1 controls behavior of animal #2

Requirements

• learning

• Memory

• Individual recognition

Intensity of encounters drops as the dominance hierarchy develops

Agonistic interactions

Aggressive or defensive social encounters among animals

Hierarchy

System of things ranked above and below each other

Despotic Hierarchy

• A controls group

• B , C , D are all subordinates, all equal

Example:

• mice : dominant mouse is despot

• Class: teacher is despot, all students are equal

Line Hierarchy

A controls B, B controls C, C controls D

• common in chicken, primates

• Also called “pecking order”

• Military ranks work this way (General > Major > Captain > Corporal

Triangular Hierarchy

A control B, B controls C, but C controls A

• very rare

• Not stable : doesn’t really usually last long

Alliance Hierarchy

• A is strong and would be a despot

• B and C team up - stronger than A alone

• B + C then dominate A

Examples : humans often do this (“neighborhood watch” > crook)

• monkeys and dolphins

Dominance intensity

“Peck Right”

• complete

• All agonistic interactions won by the dominant individual

• One way transmission of aggression

“Peck dominance”

• incomplete

• Dominant wins most, but not all, agonistic interactions

• Transmission is not all one way, but mostly one way

Conditions for Dominance

Dominance hierarchies form when animals:

• are social

• Live close together

• Are mobile

• Compete for the same limited resources

Stability

Stable dominance hierarchies

• everyone knows his place

• Fewer fights

• If there is a fight, it involves the dominant (his chance of injury is therefore higher)

Subordinates who keep their place never fight

• their chance of injury is therefore lower

Overall, in stable hierarchies members experience:

• less stress

• Less aggression

Instability

Unstable hierarchies - opposite of stable

• lots of fights among all members

• High stress for all

• High chance of injury for all

Reconciliation

After agonistic display/ fight

• need to “make up” or society will break down

• Winner usually makes up with loser

• Happens quickly

• Animals rarely “hold a grudge”

• Prevent aggression costs from persisting long term

Methods of de-escalation

Need to defuse situation - avoid injury, societal breakdown

Methods

• separation (physically stay away from aggression)

• Calming behavior (start grooming)

• Use submissive displays

• Behave predictably (erratic behavior provokes aggression)

• Direct attention to someone else (He did it!)

Define signal

The physical form in which a message is coded for transmission through the environment

Define discrete signal

All or nothing (on or off) aka digital

Define graded signal

Signal with degrees or levels to it (aka analog)

Define composite signal

A combination of two or more signals

Define syntax

Signal meaning depends on sequence or order (a means one thing before B, something else after B) x

Define context

Signal meaning depends on surrounding conditions

Define metacommunication

Communication about communication

Functions of communication : coordination

Use signals to organize groups to maintain proper spacing

Example: monkey contact calls 3 types

• distance increasing calls - used to maintain territory spacing

• Distance maintaining calls - prevents getting lost

• Distance reducing calls - upon getting lost, call for help

Functions of communication : recognition

Convey information about who’s who

• recognize species, caste, kin, neighbors

Functions of communication : recognition

Signal fitness

• displays are expensive

• Only healthy individuals and pull them off

• Allows potential mates to determine readiness

• Physiological - body is in ready condition

• Psychological - animal is in the right mood

Functions of communication: social status

• communicate aggression

• Convey dominance information

• Avoid costly fights by posturing/submitting

Functions of communication : alarm calls

• Alert other animals to danger

• Can be very specific

Functions of communication : food finding signals

• information center (passive - learn from watching)

• Active calling when food is found

Functions of communication : soliciting play

• play can teach skills like hunting needed in the future

• Play helps form social bonds

Functions of communication : hatch synchronization

• chicks are vulnerable to predators

• Parents can protect more easily if they all hatch at once

• Calls within the egg help synchronize hatching

Summary: list the functions of communication

1. Coordination

2. Recognition

3. Reproduction

4. Social status

5. Alarm

6. Food finding

7. Care giving

8. Soliciting play

9. Hatch synchronization

Define the waggle dance of the honeybee

Conveys precise information about food

• direction to the food source

• Angle of the dance relative to the sun = angle to food

• Distance to the food source

Modes of communication

Define isogamy

Male and female gametes are the same size

• occurs in bacteria, fungi, algae

Define Anisogamy

Male and female gametes are unequal sizes

• eggs is large, stationary

• Sperm is small mobile

• Occurs in animals and higher plants

Leads to unequal investment because it costs females more to produce eggs and females stand to lose more from unsuccessful mating

Mating systems and the environment

Mating systems depend on the environment and relative costs

1. Open plains :

• food spread out

• Predation present

• Mammal grazers live in herds

• Mating with multiple partners is common

2. Dense forest

• long distance communication impossible

• Food is clumped

• Groups are usually small family units

• Mate with one partner for a year, for life

Define monogamy

Neither sex can monopolize more than one member of the opposite sex

• one male , one female, exclusive

• Occurs when nesting sites are scarce

• Occurs when both parents are required to raise young

Define polygamy

Any form of multiple mating systems

Polygyny

• one male , two or more females (very common)

Polyandry

• one female, two more more males (rare doesn’t happen in many species)

Forms of polygyny : resource defense

• male controls feeding or nesting area

• Female must enter males territory to breed

• Males with best territories get several female

• Males do not usually care for the young

Forms of polygyny : female defense

• females live in groups for some environmental reason (lack of space)

• Male controls entire feeding

• One males group of females: harem

Forms of polygyny

Male dominance Lekking

• occurs when male has no way to control resources

• Males concentrate in one place

• Males all advertise at once try to out display each other

Examples :

• sage grouse

• Prairie chicken

• Fallow deer

Forms of polygyny : scramble

Males rush about attempting to mate with any ready female

• occurs when females are not choosy about mates

• Example: horseshoe crabs

Define polyandry

Female controls access to more than one male

• very rare because females invest so much in the egg

Define satellite males

Male lurks on edge of dominant male’s territory

• darts in to get some action when the dominant male’s is not looking

Marine isopods

• live in sponges

Reproductive effort.

Combination of energy and risk undertaken for breeding

Energy:

• female puts lots of protein into egg, yolk

• Male spends energy defending territory

Risk:

• Male may be more vulnerable to predators during showy days

• Female may risk malnourishment while sitting on nest, carrying young in womb

Any energy or risk now, reduces chance of successful breeding later

Define semelparous

Reproduce once in a lifetime

• adults usually die after breeding

Define iteroparous

Reproduce multiple times in a lifetime

• adults live after breeding, can breed again