Animal Behavior Flashcards

Flashcards covering animal behavior, including definitions of key terms and concepts discussed in the lecture notes.

Behavior

An action carried out by muscles under control of the nervous system.

Behavioral Ecology

The study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior.

Fixed Action Pattern

A sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to a simple stimulus.

Sign Stimulus

The external cue that triggers a fixed action pattern.

Migration

A regular, long-distance change in location triggered by environmental cues.

Circadian Rhythm

A daily cycle of rest and activity.

Circannual Rhythm

Behaviors such as migration and reproduction that are linked to changing seasons.

Signal

A behavior that causes a change in another animal's behavior.

Communication

The transmission and reception of signals between animals.

Pheromones

Chemical signals used in animal communication, especially common among nocturnal animals.

Innate Behavior

Developmentally fixed behavior that does not vary among individuals.

Imprinting

The establishment of a long-lasting behavioral response to a particular individual or object, distinguished by a sensitive period.

Sensitive Period

A limited developmental phase when certain behaviors can be learned.

Cognitive Map

An internal representation of spatial relationships between objects in an animal's surroundings.

Associative Learning

Animals associate one feature of their environment with another.

Classical Conditioning

A type of associative learning in which an arbitrary stimulus is associated with a reward or punishment.

Operant Conditioning

A type of associative learning in which an animal learns to associate one of its behaviors with a reward or punishment (trial-and-error learning).

Cognition

A process of knowing that may include awareness, reasoning, recollection, and judgment.

Problem Solving

The process of devising a strategy to overcome an obstacle.

Social Learning

Learning through the observation of others.

Culture

A system of information transfer through observation or teaching that influences behavior of individuals in a population.

Foraging

Food-obtaining behavior which includes recognizing, searching for, capturing, and eating food items.

Optimal Foraging Model

Views foraging behavior as a compromise between benefits of nutrition and costs of obtaining food.

Sexual Dimorphism

Results from sexual selection, a form of natural selection.

Intersexual Selection

Members of one sex choose mates on the basis of certain traits.

Intrasexual Selection

Involves competition between members of the same sex for mates.

Game Theory

Evaluates alternative strategies where the outcome depends on each individual’s strategy and the strategy of other individuals.

Inclusive Fitness

The total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing offspring and helping close relatives produce offspring.

Hamilton's Rule

Natural selection favors altruism when rB > C.

Kin Selection

The natural selection that favors altruistic behavior by enhancing reproductive success of relatives.

Reciprocal Altruism

Altruistic behavior toward unrelated individuals can be adaptive if the aided individual returns the favor in the future.

Sociobiology

The study of how human culture is related to evolutionary theory; human behavior results from interaction between genes and environment.