Chapter 53 Practice exam questions – Flashcards

1) 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? A) The males learn to associate the sound with females. B) Copulation is a fixed action pattern, and the female flight sound is a sign stimulus that initiates it. C) The sound from the earphone irritates the male mosquitoes, causing them to attempt to sting it. D) 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. E) Through classical conditioning, the male mosquitoes have associated the inappropriate stimulus from the earphone with the normal response of copulation.

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

3) A female cat in heat urinates more often and in many places. Male cats are attracted to the urine deposits. Which of the following is a proximate cause of this increased urination? A) It announces to the males that she is in heat. B) Female cats that did this in the past attracted more males. C) It is a result of hormonal changes associated with her reproductive cycle. D) The female cat learned the behavior from observing other cats.

4) Which of the following examples describes a behavioral pattern that results from a proximate cause? A) A cat kills a mouse to obtain nutrition. B) A male sheep fights with another male because it helps to improve its social position. C) A female bird lays its eggs because the amount of daylight is decreasing slightly each day. D) A goose squats and freezes motionless to escape a predator. E) A cockroach runs into a crack in the wall to avoid being stepped on.

5) The proximate causes of behavior are interactions with the environment, but behavior is ultimately shaped by _____ A) hormones B) evolution C) sexuality D) pheromones E) the nervous system

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

7) 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? A) The first explanation is correct, but the second is incorrect. B) The first explanation refers to proximate causation, whereas the second refers to ultimate causation. C) The first explanation is biological, whereas the second is philosophical. D) The first explanation is testable as a scientific hypothesis, whereas the second is not. E) Both explanations are reasonable and simply represent a difference of opinion.

8) Which of the following is required for a behavioral trait to evolve by natural selection? A) The behavior is determined entirely by genes. B) The behavior is the same in all individuals in the population. C) An individual's reproductive success depends in part on how the behavior is performed. D) The behavior is not genetically inherited. E) An individual's phenotype is not influenced by its genotype.

9) If you ask a question about behavior that concerns how it works, or what its mechanism is, you are asking a question that involves _____. A) ultimate causation B) proximate causation C) adaptive significance D) survival value E) only the neurological level of analysis

10) In testing a hypothesis that "territorial defense in European robins is a fixed action pattern that is released by the sight of orange feathers," researchers found that robins defended their territory by attacking anything that was of similar size and had an orange patch. What experiment would you perform next to determine that the color initiated the defense response? A) Repeat the experiment using a blue patch instead of an orange patch. B) Repeat the experiment by removing the patch completely. C) Repeat the experiment by using a model of a robin that was twice the size of a normal robin but with a small orange patch. D) Repeat the experiment by using a model of a robin that had an orange patch that was twice the size of a normal patch.

11) Learning has the most influence on behavior when _____. A) making mistakes does not result in death B) animals reproduce asexually C) animals have enormous cognitive ability D) making mistakes result in death

12) Feeding behavior with a high energy intake-to-expenditure ratio is called _____. A) herbivory B) autotrophy C) heterotrophy D) search scavenging E) optimal foraging

13) 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 A) only I and III B) only II and IV C) only II, III, and IV D) only I, II, and III E) I, II, III, and IV

14) Based on your knowledge of cost-benefit analysis, why would you expect some white-fronted bee-eaters to fly very far away from their nests to forage when there are food sources nearby? A) There might be some plentiful food sources further away. B) Competition for food is too intense near the nest. C) Food near the nest is usually of lower quality. D) Predation is highest closest to the nest.

17) In house sparrows (Passer domesticus) it is generally found that both males and females care for the eggs and young. However, some male house sparrows do not provide parental care. In addition, it is known that young that receive parental care from both the male and female are more likely to survive to fledging (leaving the nest). Which of the following activities by males that do not provide parental care would represent the most beneficial trade-off for the reduced survival of their offspring? A) attacking the nests of neighboring males B) mating with additional females and fathering more eggs C) eating to build up energy stores for migration D) grooming to eliminate parasites from their feathers

18) A lizard's bobbing dewlap (a colorful flap of skin hanging from an Anolis lizard's throat) is an example of a(n) _____. A) stimulus B) reflex C) signal D) innate releasing mechanism E) structure necessary for respiration

19) Which of the following is most likely associated with the evolution of mating systems? A) population density B) territoriality C) certainty of paternity D) sexual dimorphism

A

21) 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 A) only I B) only II C) only III D) only II and III E) I, II, and III

22) Homing pigeons' ability to always return to their home, no matter where they are released, is an excellent example of _____. A) piloting B) compass orientation C) an innate behavior D) true navigation

23) Animal communication involves what type of sensory information? I) visual II) auditory III) olfactory IV) tactile A) only I and III B) only II and IV C) only II, III, and IV D) only I, II, and III E) I, II, III, and IV

24) Upon returning to its hive, a European honeybee communicates to other worker bees the presence of a nearby food source it has discovered by _____. A) vibrating its wings at varying frequencies B) performing a round dance C) performing a waggle dance D) visual cues E) All of the listed responses are correct.

25) Karl von Frisch demonstrated that European honeybees communicate the location of a distant food source by _____. A) performing a short, straight run during a waggle dance B) performing a long, straight run during a waggle dance C) performing a round dance with fast rotations D) emanating minute amounts of stimulus pheromone E) varying wing vibration frequency

26) Recent research has shown that von Frisch was not completely correct about the difference between the round dance and waggle dance. The new information suggests that in honeybees, the _____. A) waggle dance communicates information about the quality of the food B) round dance communicates direction as well as distance C) waggle dance communicates the type of food D) round dance communicates the time of day the food will be available E) waggle dance communicates the favored food of the hive

27) Any process in which a signal from one individual modifies the behavior of a recipient individual is termed _____. A) cognition B) communication C) reflex D) perception E) conditioning

D

30) How do altruistic behaviors arise through natural selection? A) By his/her actions, the altruist increases the likelihood that some of its genes will be passed on to the next generation. B) The altruist is appreciated by other members of the population because its survivability has been enhanced by virtue of its risky behavior. C) Animals that perform altruistic acts are allowed by their population to breed more, thereby passing on their behavior genes to future generations. D) Altruistic behaviors lower stress in populations, which increases the survivability of all the members of the population.

31) Which of the following has a coefficient of relatedness of 0.25? A) a father to his daughter B) a mother to her son C) an uncle to his nephew D) a brother to his brother E) a sister to her brother

32) Animals that help other animals of the same species _____. A) have excess energy reserves B) are bigger and stronger than the other animals C) are usually related to the other animals helped D) are always male E) have defective genes controlling their behavior

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

34) In Belding's ground squirrels, it is mostly the females that behave altruistically by sounding alarm calls. What is the likely reason for this distinction? A) Males have smaller vocal cords and are less likely to make sounds. B) Females invest more in foraging and food stores, so they are more defensive. C) Females settle in the area in which they were born, so the alarm is more likely to warn kin. D) The sex ratio is biased. E) Males forage in areas separate from females; therefore, alarm calls are useless.

35) A pied kingfisher in its first year of life helps in the feeding of three full siblings who would not have survived without the helper's efforts. What is its indirect fitness in its first year? A) 0.25 B) 0.50 C) 0.75 D) 1.00 E) 1.50

36) In the second year of its life a pied kingfisher mates and raises two of its own offspring. What is its direct fitness in this second year of its life? A) 0.50 B) 1.00 C) 1.50 D) 2.00

37) A pied kingfisher in its first year of life helps in the feeding of three full siblings who would not have made it without the helper's efforts. In this first year the bird does not raise any of its own offspring. In the second year of its life the pied kingfisher mates and raises two of its own offspring. After the first two years, what is the inclusive fitness of the pied kingfisher? A) 0.75 B) 1.50 C) 2.50 D) 3.00

38) If a prairie dog had the opportunity to perform an altruistic act (that is, give an alarm call) to help its relatives, which combination of the following relatives would the prairie dog be most likely to help (base your answer solely on the genetic relationships)? A) four cousins and one brother B) two nieces, two cousins, and one half-brother C) two half-sisters and two nieces D) one son, one niece, and one half-sister E) The prairie dog would be equally likely to act altruistically to each of the combinations described.

39) With regard to understanding the evolution of cooperation, the principal prediction that can be made from the expression Br > C is that _____. A) natural selection will favor cooperation among close relatives B) cooperation evolves because it benefits all members of a species C) cooperation evolves because it enhances the species' fitness D) selection favors self-sacrifice in reproduction E) natural selection will favor cooperation among any individuals

40) According to Hamilton's rule, _____. A) natural selection does not favor altruistic behavior that causes the death of the altruist B) natural selection favors altruistic acts when the resulting benefit to the beneficiary, corrected for relatedness, exceeds the cost to the altruist C) natural selection is more likely to favor altruistic behavior that benefits an offspring than altruistic behavior that benefits a sibling D) the effects of kin selection are larger than the effects of direct natural selection on individuals E) altruism is always reciprocal