Psychology of Animal Behavior Exam II

Define cognition

mental processes for what animals think and how they think it

Define anthropomorphism

crediting animals with human characteristics

Define anthropocentrism

having recognized that animals are not people, still seeing them from our human perspective

Explain Morgan Canon

don’t assume complex mental abilities if simpler explanations suffice, ended up being a overcorrection

What is the modern approach to animal cognition

animals have unique capabilities adapted for their lifestyle. Cognition has been theorized in mammals, birds, and octopi

What are the 4 cognitive domains?

self and metacognition, prospection/future thinking, executive function, and social cognition

What is another way to measure cognition outside of behavior? Give an example

Brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging, has shown numerical reasoning in corvids involves a similar brain region as humans

What are the 3 attributes of language

1. Assign meanings to sounds, gestures, or symbols not directly related to the object or action

2. Create novel combinations of symbols for communication

3. Grammatical rules

Explain how Campbell’s monkey and Vervet monkey communication is different

Campbells monkeys use six call types with no symbolic association while vervet monkeys use different symbolic calls for different predators

What are the 2 caveats when animals use human language?

They don’t use those symbols with other animals and it may rely on a special relationship with the handler

Describe Chomsky’s concept of universal grammar

The idea that the grammatical structure of human language is based on something inherent in the human brain that drives similarity across languages

Define concept of self

recognition of self as separate from others and the environment including the ability to judge one’s actions

Explain the mirror test and what it’s trying to prove

Change the appearance of an animal to see if they react in a mirror to assess the ability to separate self from others

What is gaze following and which animals display it?

The ability to follow where another animal is looking, primates and dogs

Explain prospection and future planning

Involves mental time travel, anticipating outcomes and planning actions based on experience

Which 2 types of thinking are not involved in cognition? Which one is?

semantic and procedural memory, episodic memory

Explain semantic memory

Concepts and facts including language and words. Not associated with cognition as no mental time travel occurs

Explain procedural memory

how to do something, a series of steps in a task. Not involved in cognition

Explain episodic memory

recalling specific events from the past, including what, when, and where, allows reflection and forecasting, the basis of cognition and mental time travel

What are three ways to test episodic memory?

time-place learning, caching and pilfering, and cognitive maps

Explain time-place learning

Ability to remember location and timing of a resource, integrating internal clock and spatial memory

How do Western Scrub Jays react differently in caching based on their experience? What cognitive domains does this show?

Jays that have pilfered show greater alertness and recaching. Concept of self, future planning, and social cognition

Define cognitive maps

mental representation of spatial relationships in the environment, ability to calculate optimal routes between locations

How does the veined octopus show future planning?

Uses coconut shells for defense and egg laying and carries them for future use

reasons octopi are cognitive

they are active predators, move quickly, have big brains, and may engage in planning

Ultimate causes of animal cognition

Living in dynamic social groups, foraging challenges and food unpredictability, and predatory lifestyle

Explain executive function

higher-order cognitive processes such as self-control, problem solving, and planning

What part of the brain is associated with executive function?

The prefrontal cortex

Define self-control and give 2 examples of ways to test for it

Ability to control impulses, delayed gratification and inhibitory control tasks

Define problem solving

Bringing together different pieces of information from experience to anticipate a solution to a problem

Explain the 2 levels of problem solving

Basic level is trial and error learning and simple tool use. The higher levels include insight, innovation, complex tool use, and multi-step reasoning

Explain the Aesop’s fable paradigm

Rooks using stones to raise the water level in a tube and reach a caterpillar

Define insight

The sudden realization of a solution marked by a noticeable shift in neural activity

Define innovation

the process that generates novel behavior or uses preexisting behavior in a new situation

How are orangutans distinct from other highly cognitive animals?

They aren’t predators. They developed cognition due to unpredictable food availability and travel routes through trees

Define intelligence

wide-ranging problem solving abilities

Social insects have problem-solving abilities. Why aren’t they considered cognizant?

Their problem-solving and social dynamics are shaped by evolution rather than culture

Define counting

Determining whether one quantity is more or less than another

What is the natural state of counting in humans?

logarithmic

How might fish use counting?

Mosquitofish join the larger school for protection

Define Categorization

the mental process of grouping objects based on shared features

Define probabilistic decision making

Using probability to make decisions. Related to numerical abilities.

Define social cognition

adaptations to deal with the behavioral and psychological traits of others including theory of mind and empathy

Ultimate cause of social cognition

hypothesized that the adaptive challenges of social life

are so complex that they were a driving force in evolution of sophisticated intelligence

Define theory of mind

ability to form hypotheses about thoughts of surrounding animals

Define empathy and what animals it is diplayed in

responding to another’s distress or sorrow commonly with facial mimicry, primates, elephants, dolphins, dogs, and rodents

Define vengeance and what animals it is displayed in

retaliating against individuals that have caused harm. Chimps, macaques, corvids, and elephants

Define communication

transmission of information from one animal to another, requiring coevolution between the sending animal and the receiving animal

What are 3 uses for communication?

finding a mate, signaling parents or offspring, and signaling group members

When would you expect honest communication?

When the sender and receiver have shared interests

Define signal

animal product evolved to carry specific meaning to others including color, action, chemical compounds, or electrical discharge

What is the main communication difference between a structural and behavioral signal?

Structural signals communicate continuously while behavioral signals are produced at certain times

What elements are required of the sender and receiver, respectively, for communication to work?

The sender needs a structure that is or makes the signal and the receiver needs a receptor to transduce the signal

Define autocommunication and give an example

communication with self, bats echolocating

Define co-option in communication

evolutionary adoption of something for new communication

Define ritualization in communication

evolutionary refinement of signal to be more efficient and accurate

Define stereotypy in communication

evolutionary reduction in variation of the signal to minimize uncertainty of meaning

Define redundancy in communication

use of multiple signals with same meaning

What are the main features of audible signaling?

Works in the dark, unimpeded by obstacles, doesn’t linger in environment, energy intensive production

Why is producing louder sounds so costly?

Every 10 decibels is a 10 fold increase in energy but only perceived as twice the loudness

Define dissipation in communication

the loss of intensity as sound travels

If an animal wished to communicate a long-distance audible signal, what type of sound would they use?

infrasound

tymbals are used by insects in sound production. Explain what a tymbal is

A vibrating drum-like membrane moved by muscles

stridulatory organs are used by insects in sound production. Explain how it works

They drag a scraper along a file

What are the 4 sound production mechanisms?

tymbal, stridulatory organ, larynx/syrinx, and hitting substrate

Explain resonant structures in communication

internal or external hollow structures meant to amplify sound

Give an example of an internal resonance structure in an animal

hyoid bone in howler monkeys 

Aside from resonant structures, frogs and howler monkeys also have vocal sacs. What is the purpose of vocal sacs?

Holds air to allow for longer duration sound

What is the main difference, aside from function, between alarm calls and mating calls?

Alarm calls are stereotyped with little variability while mating calls change and spread via cultural transmission

What are the features of infrasound

Travels well through the ground and water, receivers need to be large

What are the features of ultrasound

low energy cost, dissipates rapidly, reflects, needs small receivers with thin membranes

What are the two uses for ultrasound and which animals utilize them?

bats, rate, and moths use it to find mates, bats use it to hunt

Why might frogs sing in chorus?

Females prefer the male that sings first, but there needs to be a distinct break between calls

Why might crickets sing in chorus?

Males save energy by hanging around other males who are already trilling

How do animals cope with noise?

Limiting the frequency range they can hear, signaling at certain times of day, and neural processes that filter signals

What are the features of chemoreception?

Work in the dark, unimpeded by obstacles, and can linger or travel long distances

Define pheromone

a chemical signal within species shaped by evolution

In pheromones, what are the chemical properties of airborne signals?

small less polar molecules

In pheromones, what are the chemical and physical properties of persistent signals?

large polar molecules that persist and stick to surfaces

In pheromone signaling, why are mating signals a mixture of pheremones?

To avoid interference from similar species

How do dogs and cats scent-marking strategies differ?

dogs distribute their scent around their territory while cats concentrate their scent at the center of their territory

What are the features of tactile signals?

efficient when animals are close, do not require air currents or light

Snakes lack ears. How do they sense vibrations?

directly through their skull

Spiders lack ears, but still use web vibration to communicate. What do they communicate via vibration?

To find a potential mate and alert them to prey

Features of visual signals

Work well in absence of objects, require light, fast, inexpensive, don’t linger

What are the issues with visual signals in water

Absorption of light, less red/orange/yellow wavelengths, and refraction

What are the three main types of visual signals

patterns/colors, movement, and light production

Define pigment coloration, what colors can it produce?

Chemical compounds that absorb and reflect light, regardless of angle. White, yellow, red, orange, brown, and black

Define structural coloration, what colors can it produce?

Physical microstructures that scatter light, often depends on angle. Blue, green, metallics, and iridescence

Is fluorescence a pigment or a structural color?

both

What are the two strategies to deal with visual noise?

Signal divergence helps to stand out from background and camouflage uses visual noise to blend in

Features of electrical signal communication

Work well in murky water, used for communication, detecting prey, and navigation

There are two forms of electric use in fish, strongly electric and weakly electric fish. They use their electricity differently, explain how.

Strongly electric fish use electricity mostly for predation and defense while weakly electric fish use mostly for communication and electrolocation

Explain runaway sexual selection

If one sex prefers mates to have a strong signal, selection will favor making that signal bigger beyond what is actually necessary

Explain supernormal stimulus

Animals are attracted to stimulus that are greater in magnitude than normal stimulus

What are the two main instances of dishonest signals within a species

young exaggerate their actual needs and in mating sneaking males lurk near signaling males to get mates without producing costly signals

Explain the handicap principle

A signal is honest if it is costly to produce

Explain two examples of deceitful signals between species

mimicry and falsely signaling injury or alarm

How does communication evolve in the sender

to give messages that benefit the sender but minimize cost or effort for communication

How does communication evolve in the receiver

to enhance the information obtained from a signal and discriminate honest from deceitful signals