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Behavior
the change in activity of an organism in response to a stimulus
Behavioral Biology
study of the biological and evolutionary bases for such changes
The most consequential sciences for the study of behavioral biology include
ethology and comparative psychology
innate behaviors
strong genetic component and are largely independent of environmental influences
learned behaviors
result from environmental conditioning
reflex action
involuntary and rapid response to stimulus
kinesis
undirected movement in response to a stimulus
taxis
directed movement towards or away from a stimulus
fixed action pattern
series of movements elicited by a stimulus such that even when the stimulus is removed, the pattern goes on to completion
migration
long-range seasonal movement of animals
only some species that migrate always migrate, which is known as
obligate migration
foraging
act of searching for and exploiting food resources
signals
way animals communicate with eachother; can be visual, chemical, aural, or tactile
pheromone
secreted chemical signal used to obtain a response from another individual of the same species
courtship displays
series of ritualized visual behaviors designed to attract and convince a member of the opposite sex to mate
aggressive displays
communicate not only the willingness of the animal to fight, but also its fighting ability
distraction displays
designed to attract a predator away from the nest
altruistic behaviors
behaviors that lower the fitness of the individual but increase the fitness of another individual
selfish gene
the sacrifice of an individual benefits related individuals that share genes that are identical by descent
kin selection
the lowering of individual fitness to enhance the reproductive fitness of a relative and thus one’s inclusive fitness
intersexual selection
individuals of one sex choose mates of the other sex
intrasexual selection
competition for mates between species members of the same sex
Intersexual selection is often complex because it may be based on a variety of
visual, aural, tactile, and chemical cues
monogamous system
one male and one female are paired for at least one breeding system
mate-guarding hypothesis
males stay with the female to prevent other males from mating with her
male-assistance hypothesis
males that help guard and rear their young will have more and healthier offspring
female-enforcement hypothesis
female ensures that the male does not have other offspring that might compete with her own
polygynous
one male mating with multiple females
polyandrous
one female mates with many males
simple learned behaviors include
habituation and imprinting
habituation
simple form of learning in which an animal stops responding to a stimulus after a period of repeated exposure
imprinting
type of learning that occurs at a particular age or a life stage that is rapid and independent of the species involved
conditioned behaviors
types of associative learning, where a stimulus becomes associated with a consequence
classical conditioning
a response called the conditioned response is associated with a stimulus that it had previously not been associated with, the conditioned stimulus
operant conditioning
conditioned behavior is gradually modified by its consequences as the animal responds to the stimulus
cognitive learning
the manipulation of information using the mind; the most prominent method of human learning
sociobiology
interdisciplinary science defined as the extension of population biology and evolutionary theory to social organization
The main thrust of sociobiology is that
animal and human behavior can be explained almost solely in terms of genetics and natural selection
sociobiology links genes with
behaviors