Behavioral Ecology
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Fighting4myown on September 7, 2011
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chapter 51
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42 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 behavioral ecology | studies how behavior is controlled and how it develops, evolves, and contributes to survival and reproductive success |
| behavior | everything an animal does and how it does it |
| proximate questions | focus on the environmental stimuli, if any, that trigger a behavior, as well as the genetic, physiological, and anatomical mechanisms underlying a behavioral act' "how" questions |
| ultimate questions | address the evolutionary significance of a behavior; "why" questions |
| ethology | the scientific study of how animals behave, particularly in their natural environments |
| Fixed action pattern (FAP) | a sequence of unlearned behavioral acts that is essentially unchangeable and, once initiated, is usually carried to completion |
| sign stimulus | an external sensory stimulus that triggers a FAP |
| imprinting | a type of behavior that includes both learning and innate components and is generally irreversible |
| sensitive period | a limited phase in an animal's development that is the only time when certain behaviors can be learned |
| innate behavior | behavior that is developmentally |
| kinesis | a simple change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus |
| taxis | a more or less automatic, oriented movement toward or away from some stimulus |
| signal | a behavior that causes a change in another animal's behavior |
| communication | the transmission of, reception of, and response to signals; an essential element of interactions between individuals |
| pheromones | chemical substances emitted from animals that tend to communicate through odor |
| learning | the modification of behavior based on specific experiences |
| habituation | a loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no information |
| spatial learning | the modification of behavior based on experience with spatial structure of the environment, including the locations of nest sites, hazards, food, and prospective mates; the capacity for spatial learning can enhance the fitness of an organism |
| landmark | location indicator |
| cognitive map | an internal representation, or code, of the spatial relationships between objects in an animal's surroundings |
| associative learning | the ability of many animals to associate one feature of the environment with another |
| classical conditioning | an arbitrary stimulus is associated with a reward or punishment |
| cognition | the ability of an animal's nervous system to perceive, store, or process, and use information gathered by sensory receptors |
| cognitive ethology | the study of animal cognition; examines the connection between an animal's nervous system and its behavior |
| foraging | behavior associated with recognizing, searching for, capturing, and consuming food |
| optimal foraging theory | foraging behavior as a compromise between the benefits of nutrition and the costs of obtaining food |
| promiscuous | no strong pair-bonds or lasting relationships |
| monogamous | one male mating with one female |
| polygamous | an individual of one sex mating with several of the other |
| polygyny | a single male and many females |
| polyandry | single females mates with several males |
| agonistic behavior | an often ritualized contest that determines which competition gains access to a resource, such as food or mates |
| game theory | evaluates alternative strategies in situations where the outcome depends not only on each individual's strategy but also on the strategies of other individuals |
| altruism | some animals do behave in ways that reduce their individual fitness but increase the fitness of other individuals in the population |
| inclusive fitness | the total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing its own offspring and by providing aid that enables other close relative to produce offspring |
| coefficient of relatedness | the probability that if two individuals share a common parent or ancestor, a particular gene present in one individual will also be present in the second individual |
| kin selection | natural selection that favors this kind or altruistic behavior by enhancing reproductive success of relatives |
| reciprocal altruism | behavior can be adaptive if the aided individual returns the favor in the future; invoked to explain altruism between unrelated humans |
| social learning | learning through observing others |
| culture | a system of information transfer through social learning or teaching that influences the behavior of individuals in a population |
| mate choice copying | a behavior in which individuals in a population copy the mate choice of others |
| sociobiology | where human culture is related to evolutionary theory |
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