Chapter 51: Animal Behavior – Flashcards

A cage containing male mosquitoes has a small earphone placed on top, through which the sound of a female mosquito is played. All the males immediately fly to the earphone and go through all of the steps of copulation. What is the best explanation for this behavior? - Through classical conditioning, the male mosquitoes have associated the inappropriate stimulus from the earphone with the normal response of copulation. - The reproductive drive is so strong that when males are deprived of females, they will attempt to mate with anything that has even the slightest female characteristic. - The sound from the earphone irritates the male mosquitoes, causing them to attempt to sting it. - Copulation is a fixed action pattern, and the female flight sound is a sign stimulus that initiates it.

A stickleback fish will attack a fish model as long as the model has red coloring. What animal behavior idea is manifested by this observation? - classical conditioning - sign stimulus - imprinting - cognition

Which of the following experiments best addresses the hypothesis that moths stop flying in response to high-intensity bat sounds? - Isolate and characterize the neurons that control flight muscle. - Put bats and moths in an enclosure and make detailed observations of predator-prey interactions. - Play prerecorded high-intensity bat sounds to flying moths. - Observe responses of moths to bats in nature.

A lizard's bobbing dewlap (a colorful flap of skin hanging from an Anolis lizard's throat) is an example of a(n) _____. - reflex - signal - stimulus - innate releasing mechanism

Scientists believe that the direction birds go when migrating is guided in part by _____. I) the stars in the night sky II) the Sun during the day III) the magnetic field of the Earth - only I - only II - only III - I, II, and III

The proximate causes of behavior are interactions with the environment, but behavior is ultimately shaped by _____. - evolution - hormones - the nervous system - pheromones

During a field trip, an instructor touched a moth resting on a tree trunk. The moth raised its forewings to reveal large eyespots on its hind wings. The instructor asked why the moth lifted its wings. One student answered that sensory receptors had fired and triggered a neuronal reflex culminating in the contraction of certain muscles. A second student responded that the behavior might frighten predators. Which statement best describes these explanations? - The first explanation is correct, but the second is incorrect. - The first explanation is testable as a scientific hypothesis, whereas the second is not. - The first explanation refers to proximate causation, whereas the second refers to ultimate causation. - Both explanations are reasonable and simply represent a difference of opinion.

A. operant conditioning B. agonistic behavior C. innate behavior D. imprinting E. altruistic behavior 8) Through trial and error, a rat learns to run a maze without mistakes to receive a food reward. - A - B - C - D

Every morning at the same time, John went into the den to feed his new tropical fish. After a few weeks, he noticed that the fish swam to the top of the tank when he entered the room. This is an example of _____. - imprinting - operant conditioning - classical conditioning - cognition

Some dogs love attention, and Frodo the beagle learns that if he barks, he gets attention. Which of the following might you use to describe this behavior? - The dog is trying to protect its territory. - The dog has been classically conditioned. - The dog's behavior is a result of operant conditioning. - The dog is displaying an instinctive fixed action pattern.

One way to understand how early environment influences behaviors in similar species is through the "cross-fostering" experimental technique. Suppose that the curly-whiskered mud rat differs from the bald mud rat in several ways, including being much more aggressive. How would you set up a cross-fostering experiment to determine if environment plays a role in the curly-whiskered mud rat's aggression? - You would remove the offspring of curly-whiskered mud rats and bald mud rats from their parents, raise them in the same environment but without parents, and then compare the outcomes. - You would cross curly-whiskered mud rats and bald mud rats and hand-rear the offspring to see if any grew up to be aggressive. - You would replace normal newborn mud rats with deformed newborn mud rats to see if it triggered an altruistic response. - You would place newborn curly-whiskered mud rats with bald mud rat parents and place newborn bald mud rats with curly-whiskered mud rat parents. Finally, let some mud rats of both species be raised by their own species. Then you would compare the outcomes.

Which of the following is true of innate behaviors? Innate behaviors _____. - occur in invertebrates and some vertebrates but not mammals - are expressed in most individuals in a population - are limited to invertebrate animals - are only weakly influenced by genes

You observe a species of bird that, upon hatching, has contact with its parents only while being fed. You also never hear the parents sing during the feeding process. What would you propose about song learning in this species of bird? - The period of imprinting is likely later in the bird's life. - Song learning in this species is most likely innate. - Song learning in this species is most likely learned. - The males will learn song when they congregate with other males of their species during the winter.

Learning has the most influence on behavior when _____. - making mistakes result in death - animals have enormous cognitive ability - animals reproduce asexually - making mistakes does not result in death

You discover a rare new bird species, but you are unable to observe its mating behavior. You see that the male is large and ornamental compared with the female. On this basis, you can probably conclude that the species is _____. - agonistic - monogamous - polygamous - polyandrous

Which of the following might affect the foraging behavior of an animal in the context of optimal foraging? I) risk of predation II) prey size III) prey defenses IV) prey density - I, II, III, and IV - only II and IV - only I, II, and III - only I and III

In the figure above, which of the following conclusions is most logical based on the data? - All non-isolated females do just as well as isolated females. - Females produce more eggs more quickly when exposed to breeding males. - Females produce eggs more quickly when exposed to many males than females paired with a male. - After four weeks together, females with males produce mature follicles to the same extent as females without males.

A. operant conditioning B. agonistic behavior C. innate behavior D. imprinting E. altruistic behavior Upon observing a golden eagle flying overhead, a sentry prairie dog gives a warning call to other foraging members of the prairie dog community. - B - C - D - E

Which of the following statements about evolution of behavior is correct? - If a behavior is less than optimal, it will eventually become optimal through natural selection. - Natural selection will favor behavior that enhances survival and reproduction. - Innate behaviors cannot be altered by natural selection. - An animal may show behavior that minimizes reproductive fitness.

The presence of altruistic behavior is most likely due to kin selection, a theory maintaining that _____. - natural selection has generally favored the evolution of exaggerated aggressive and submissive behaviors to resolve conflict without grave harm to participants - critical thinking abilities are normal traits for animals and they have arisen, like other traits, through natural selection - genes enhance survival of copies of themselves by directing organisms to assist others who share those genes - companionship is advantageous to animals because in the future they can help each other