Animal Behavior Overview Quiz

Choose a study mode

Play Quiz
Study Flashcards
Spaced Repetition
Chat to Lesson

Podcast

Play an AI-generated podcast conversation about this lesson

Questions and Answers

What is the definition of animal behavior?

Any internally coordinated, externally visible pattern of activity that responds to changing external/internal conditions.

What is an example of an internally coordinated pattern of activity?

When two male giraffes meet during breeding season and exhibit aggressive behavior.

What is an example of an externally visible pattern of activity?

A squirrel eating an acorn.

What is an example of a behavioral response to changing conditions?

<p>A desert lizard moving from the top of a hot rock to the underside of a cool ledge to reduce its body temperature.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an ethogram?

<p>A formal description of an animal's behaviors.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are four different things that can be recorded on an ethogram?

<p>Frequency of behavior, Duration of behavior, Rate of behavior, Intensity of behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a time budget?

<p>A summary of the total time and relative frequency of different behaviors of an individual.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the process of science?

<p>Observing events, organizing knowledge, and providing explanations through the formulation and testing of hypotheses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the seven steps of the scientific method?

<p>Observation, Research question, Research hypothesis, Prediction, Methodology (test of predictions), Analysis of data results, Reject/Fail to reject hypothesis.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a research hypothesis?

<p>An explanation that is based on assumptions and produces a testable prediction.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What two statistical hypotheses can be used to evaluate a research hypothesis?

<p>Alternative hypothesis, Null hypothesis.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an alternative hypothesis?

<p>The statistical hypothesis that the proposed explanation for an observation does significantly affect the behavior of the organism.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a null hypothesis?

<p>The statistical hypothesis that an observation results from chance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Give an example of a research hypothesis.

<p>Why is there a variation in the number of robins feeding in different yards?</p> Signup and view all the answers

Give an example of an alternate hypothesis.

<p>The amount of food in a yard determines the number of robins.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Give an example of a null hypothesis.

<p>The amount of food in a yard does not determine the number of robins.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does getting 'negative results' mean?

<p>When you get an outcome in which the null hypothesis is not rejected and therefore, the alternate hypothesis is rejected.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What should a scientist do in response to getting a negative result?

<p>Develop a new alternate hypothesis to explain the observation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a correlation?

<p>Two variables that vary together predictably.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a scientific theory?

<p>A hypothesis that has been tested many times by many different scientists and has not been rejected.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the four basic questions that can be asked about animal behavior?

<p>What is the mechanism that causes the behavior, How does the behavior develop, What is the function of the behavior, How did the behavior evolve.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are questions 1 and 2 often referred to as and why?

<p>Proximate explanations because they focus on understanding the immediate causes of a behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are questions 3 and 4 often referred to as and why?

<p>Ultimate explanations because they require evolutionary reasoning and analysis.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Whose work represents the beginning of the evolutionary basis of animal behavior research?

<p>Darwin.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did George Romanes contribute to the study of animal behavior?

<p>He found that an animal can use previous experiences to learn and modify behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a comparative psychologist?

<p>A psychologist who studies animal behavior to understand human behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did C. Lloyd Morgan contribute to the study of animal behavior?

<p>He said that the simplest psychological process possible should be used to interpret an animal's behavior (Morgan's canon).</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did Edward Thorndike contribute to the study of animal behavior?

<p>He used standardized methodology and the experimental method to learn that animals can demonstrate a learning curve.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did Ivan Pavlov contribute to the study of animal behavior?

<p>He found that at first animals would associate a novel stimulus with an existing stimulus and that would cause them to elicit a particular response. Finally, the novel stimulus alone could cause the particular response.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did B.F. Skinner contribute to the study of animal behavior?

<p>He created operant chambers and found that animals would learn to associate a behavior with a particular consequence (either positive or negative).</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of positive reinforcement?

<p>Food.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of positive punishment?

<p>A painful shock.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did Karl von Frisch contribute to the study of animal behavior?

<p>He discovered that European honeybees communicate the distance and direction of food sources to other bees via a dance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did Konrad Lorenz contribute to the study of animal behavior?

<p>He studied imprinting and found that there is a restricted period of time during which imprinting can occur.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did Niko Tinbergen contribute to the study of animal behavior?

<p>He studied instinct and found that they are unlearned and once started, they must be completed.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is anthropomorphism?

<p>The attribution of human motivations, characteristics, or emotions to animals.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is ethology?

<p>The scientific and objective study of animal behavior, with a focus on behavior under natural conditions, viewing behavior as an evolutionarily adaptive trait.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Flashcards are hidden until you start studying

Study Notes

Animal Behavior Overview

  • Definition: Animal behavior comprises patterns of activity that are coordinated internally and externally visible in response to environmental changes.

Behavior Patterns

  • Internally Coordinated Activity: Example includes aggressive displays in male giraffes during breeding season.
  • Externally Visible Activity: Example includes a squirrel consuming an acorn.
  • Behavioral Response: Desert lizards shift from hot surfaces to cooler areas to regulate body temperature.

Ethograms and Time Budgets

  • Ethogram: A formal representation of an animal's behaviors.
  • Recorded Elements: Ethograms can track frequency, duration, rate, and intensity of behaviors.
  • Time Budget: A summary detailing the total time spent on various behaviors by an individual.

Scientific Method and Hypothesis

  • Process of Science: Involves observation, organization of knowledge, and hypothesis formulation/testing.
  • Scientific Method Steps: Include observation, question formulation, hypothesis creation, prediction, data analysis, and hypothesis evaluation.
  • Research Hypothesis: Offers testable predictions based on assumptions.

Statistical Hypotheses

  • Alternative Hypothesis: Suggests an observed variable affects behavior.
  • Null Hypothesis: Claims observed variations occur due to chance.

Examples of Hypotheses

  • Research Hypothesis: Variation in robin feeding across different yards.
  • Alternative Hypothesis: Food quantity influences robin presence.
  • Null Hypothesis: Food quantity has no effect.
  • Predictions based on hypotheses outline expected outcomes related to food and robin numbers.

Negative Results and Their Implications

  • Negative Results: Occurs when the null hypothesis is accepted; indicates no significant effect of the tested variable.
  • Response to Negative Results: Scientists should develop new hypotheses to explain observations.

Correlation and Scientific Theory

  • Correlation: Indicates a predictable relationship between two variables.
  • Scientific Theory: A well-tested hypothesis that remains valid across multiple studies by various researchers.

Questions in Animal Behavior

  • Proximate Questions: Focus on immediate causes and development of behavior.
  • Ultimate Questions: Concern the evolutionary origins and functions of behaviors.

Historical Contributions

  • Darwin: Laid the foundation for the evolutionary study of animal behavior.
  • George Romanes: Showed that animals can learn and adapt based on prior experiences.
  • C. Lloyd Morgan: Advocated for using the simplest interpretations of behavior (Morgan's canon).
  • Edward Thorndike: Demonstrated learning curves in animals through experimental methods.
  • Ivan Pavlov: Explored associative learning through stimulus-response connections.
  • B.F. Skinner: Developed operant conditioning, linking behaviors to their consequences.
  • Karl von Frisch: Discovered honeybee communication about food sources through dance.
  • Konrad Lorenz: Investigated imprinting and critical periods of learning.
  • Niko Tinbergen: Studied instinctual behaviors, emphasizing their fixed nature once initiated.

Key Concepts

  • Anthropomorphism: Assigning human-like emotions and motives to animals.
  • Ethology: The objective, scientific study of animal behavior, emphasizing natural conditions and evolutionary adaptations.

Studying That Suits You

Use AI to generate personalized quizzes and flashcards to suit your learning preferences.

Quiz Team

More Like This

Animal Behavior Ethology Quiz
16 questions

Animal Behavior Ethology Quiz

CharmingLaboradite avatar
CharmingLaboradite
Animal Reproduction and Behavior Quiz
18 questions

Animal Reproduction and Behavior Quiz & Flashcards

HappyInsight avatar
HappyInsight
Animal Behavior Studies
9 questions

Animal Behavior Studies

PoliteObsidian3992 avatar
PoliteObsidian3992
Animal Behavior: Conditioning and Patterns
5 questions

Animal Behavior: Conditioning and Patterns

DR.MOATAZ avatar
DR.MOATAZ
Use Quizgecko on...
Browser
Open
Browser
Browser