Deck 35: Behavioral Adaptations to the Environment

Question 1

A male turkey that imprinted onto a human at hatching is transferred as an older juvenile to a flock of "normal" turkeys. When this turkey reaches sexual maturity, he will probably try to court

A)male, female, or immature turkeys indiscriminately.
B)immature male turkeys.
C)mature female turkeys.
D)humans.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following statements regarding behavior is true?

A)Innate behaviors are performed the same way in all members of a genus.
B)Fixed action patterns are learned behavior sequences.
C)A learned behavior triggers a fixed action pattern.
D)A fixed action pattern is under strong genetic control.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In England, at a time when milk was still delivered to doorsteps each morning in foil-capped glass bottles, a songbird called the great tit started pecking through the caps and drinking the cream in the necks of the bottles. This behavior spread through the great tit population in a matter of years. The emergence and spread of this behavior probably depended on

A)trial-and-error learning plus habituation.
B)trial-and-error learning plus social learning.
C)trial-and-error learning plus imprinting.
D)habituation plus social learning.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Baby bobcats watched as their mother stalked a rabbit and pounced, catching a meal that was shared by all. The next day, two of the young bobcats were seen stalking a field mouse, which easily escaped from the inexperienced hunters. The young bobcats were learning how to hunt by the process of

A)social learning.
B)imprinting.
C)habituation.
D)associative learning.

Question 5

Which of the following is an example of a fixed action pattern?

A)the imprinting of baby goslings on their mother
B)habituation in the cnidarian Hydra
C)the way female digger wasps find their nests
D)the way a greylag goose retrieves an egg that has rolled out of the nest

Question 6

The evolutionary explanations for behavior are called the

A)evolutionary schematics.
B)selected advantage.
C)proximal causes.
D)ultimate causes.

Question 7

Which of the following statements is false?

A)In examining proximate behavior in the octopus, scientists might look at behavior in close relatives, like squid, to seek evidence for the kinds of behaviors demonstrated by ancestral molluscs.
B)In examining ultimate behavior in bird territory defense, scientists might look at how the surrounding environment has changed over time.
C)In examining proximate behavior in humans, scientists might examine how reproduction is affected by endocrine disrupters.
D)In examining ultimate behavior in penguins, scientists might examine how melting artic ice caps change feeding behavior over many generations.

Question 8

In a study on human mate choice, researchers found that daughters choose mates who look like their fathers. To determine whether they choose mates who are genetically similar, the mate choices of adopted daughters were analyzed. Independent judges determined that adopted daughters chose mates with facial similarities to their adoptive father. This influence of parental image on mate choice could be considered a human example of

A)imprinting.
B)habituation.
C)pattern recognition.
D)a dominance hierarchy.

Question 9

You are told that the song of males among a particular songbird species has an innate component but is also largely learned. Nestling males imprint on their father's song and then sing it themselves when they reach sexual maturity. Which of the following observations would lead you to doubt this information?

A)A male chick reared in isolation but introduced as an older juvenile into an aviary containing normal males of his species sings his species' song.
B)A male chick who is reared in isolation but hears tape recordings of his species' song grows up to sing normally.
C)A male chick who is reared in isolation but hears tape recordings of a different species' song grows up to sing that species' song.
D)A male chick fostered in the nest of a different species grows up to sing the song of its foster species.

Question 10

Squirrels seem to be able to figure out how to steal seeds from bird feeders no matter what people do to try to stop them. One day, Jeremy put out a bird feeder with a new design, and sure enough, by the end of the day the squirrels were snacking on the seeds. The squirrels most likely figured out how to get the seeds through

A)trial-and-error learning.
B)the use of alarm calls.
C)imprinting.
D)spatial learning.

Question 11

When building a nest, a female Fisher's lovebird cuts long strips of vegetation and carries them to the nest site one at a time in her beak. The female peach-faced lovebird cuts short strips and carries them to the nest tucked under her back feathers. Hybrid female offspring cut intermediate-sized strips and attempt to tuck them under back feathers before carrying them in their beak. What does this demonstrate about behavior?

A)Behavior can be learned from parents.
B)There is a genetic basis to behavior.
C)Environment is important in forming behaviors.
D)Lovebirds can be trained easily.

Question 12

A grayling butterfly will normally fly toward the sun. This is an example of

A)kinesis.
B)migration.
C)phototropism.
D)taxis.

Question 13

In some social insects, there are individuals that do not mate or may not be fertile but help look after other members of their group. Which statement regarding this situation is true?

A)There is no way that natural selection can act on the genes of nonreproducers since they do not leave offspring.
B)The ultimate cause of this behavior is the need to keep their group safe.
C)By protecting relatives, the nonreproducers increase the probability that their genes will be passed to the next generation.
D)Lack of mating is an agonistic behavior.

Question 14

Which of the following behaviors is unlikely to involve imprinting?

A)A nestling male sparrow learns the "dialect" of song that is used in his native district.
B)A nestling male songbird raised in the nest of a different species grows up to sing the song of his foster species.
C)A songbird that engages in solitary migration using star navigation returns each year to the district where it was hatched.
D)A migrating mother gazelle leaves her calf hidden in grass while she feeds and always returns to the correct patch of grass.

Question 15

Cross-fostering experiments with Norway rat pups showed that in their response to stress,

A)environment was the critical factor, not genetics.
B)genetics was the only important factor.
C)both genetics and the environment played a clear role.
D)cross-fostered pups resembled their biological mothers more than their foster mothers.

Question 16

When a nipple is placed in a newborn baby's mouth, the infant will immediately begin to suckle. This is an example of

A)imprinted behavior.
B)classical conditioning.
C)innate behavior.
D)imitation.

Question 17

Many rats were tested for their ability to learn to navigate a maze. The average number of errors, for a total of 14 trials, was 64 per rat. The rats that made the fewest errors were bred to each other, and the offspring were tested in a similar way. This process was repeated for seven generations, at which point the average number of errors for 14 trials was 36. This experiment demonstrates that

A)learned behavior cannot be inherited.
B)maze-learning ability has a genetic basis.
C)maze-learning ability depends mainly on early contact with adept parents.
D)natural selection has a role in the evolution of fixed action patterns but not in the evolution of behavior involving learning.

Question 18

When you successfully study with the stereo on in the background, you are demonstrating

A)habituation.
B)imprinting.
C)associative learning.
D)conditioning.

Question 19

After many hours of observation, Jennifer noticed that a squirrel in her backyard retreated up a certain tree every time it was frightened. At the base of that tree was a wheelbarrow. Jennifer wondered how the squirrel found the same tree each time. That night, she moved the wheelbarrow to the base of another tree. The next day, the squirrel retreated up the new tree. This experiment suggests that the squirrel was using

A)spatial learning.
B)imprinting.
C)habituation.
D)social learning.

Question 20

Answers to questions about the immediate mechanisms for a behavior are called

A)conclusions.
B)proximate causes.
C)habituation.
D)ultimate causes.

Question 21

Organisms that are nocturnal are more likely to communicate using

A)sight and sound.
B)sight and smell.
C)smell and sound.
D)touch and taste.

Question 22

Which of the following situations represents an example of territorial behavior?

A)Digger wasps are able to recognize the pattern of landmarks around their nests.
B)Sow bugs become more active and move around randomly if they find themselves in a dry area.
C)Gannets breed in dense colonies. Each gannet defends the area within the beak's reach of its nest, but gannets feeding at sea are indifferent to each other.
D)Troops of monkey species use well-defined, widely overlapping ranges. Troops avoid encountering each other and are aggressive if they meet.

Question 23

Based on von Frisch's work on honeybee communication, which of the following types of information is communicated to other workers by a honeybee's "dance"?

A)the direction of the nectar source
B)the distance of the nectar source from the nearest water
C)the color of the flowers producing the nectar
D)the quality of the nectar

Question 24

Which of the following situations could represent kin selection in action?

A)You help your friend with linguistics, and your friend helps you with biology.
B)You help your brother pay for his children's college tuition, even though he may not be able to pay you back.
C)When your mother gets old, you help her pay her property taxes.
D)You inexplicably forget to use birth control, and a child results.

Question 25

You lose track of your friend in a store and start looking for her. Which of the following strategies represents the use of a search image?

A)You ask a woman if she has seen anyone around this part of the store.
B)You think about what color clothing your friend is wearing and look for that color.
C)You go to the department in the store where your friend most likes to shop.
D)You return to the last place you saw your friend.

Question 26

Agonistic behavior

A)usually causes serious injury to one or both of the combatants.
B)increases the number of individuals who mate.
C)is typically used to determine access to food, mates, or territories.
D)is rare among vertebrates.

Question 27

During the spring, male sage grouse gather in an open area and strut about, erecting their feathers in a fanlike display. They also make booming sounds using their inflated air sacs. The function of this dance is to

A)frighten off smaller birds from the territory.
B)select the showiest females and mate.
C)attract the attention of females.
D)imprint the younger male birds.

Question 28

Which of the following is communicated by courtship displays?

A)The individuals are of the same species and of the opposite sex.
B)The male represents a threat to other males.
C)The individuals intend to hurt each other.
D)The individuals are of different species.

Question 29

Which of the following terms broadly describes any kind of interaction between two or more animals?

A)competition
B)dominance hierarchy
C)foraging behavior
D)social behavior

Question 30

From a sociobiological perspective, altruism is a behavior that

A)does not have a genetic basis.
B)has the potential to enhance the altruist's fitness at a later point in time.
C)will always be selected against.
D)occurs only in the social insects.

Question 31

Endocrine disruptors on reproductive behavior affect behavior by

A)impairing the immune system.
B)mimicking a hormone or enhancing hormone activity.
C)increasing social behavior.
D)reinforcing mating rituals.

Question 32

Pecking order in chickens is an example of

A)dominance hierarchy.
B)alpha order.
C)agonistic behavior.
D)mating behavior.

Question 33

An insectivorous bird has the choice of eating (1)meadow beetles, which are abundant and large but expose the bird to hawk predation, (2)under-a-rock beetles, which are large and fatty but hard to obtain, or (3)under-a-leaf beetles, which are easy to obtain but small. The bird has nestlings to feed. As an optimal forager, it will

A)concentrate on under-a-leaf beetles because they are easy and safe.
B)concentrate on under-a-rock beetles because they are energy-rich.
C)eat one kind of beetle at a time (first under-a-leaf, then meadow, then under-a-rock), switching to a new kind when the old kind becomes scarce.
D)eat all three kinds of beetles, balancing the energy spent and the risks incurred against the energy gained.

Question 34

A big difference between social learning and imprinting is that

A)imprinting does not involve a reward.
B)imprinting can only take place among members of the same species.
C)social learning has a primarily genetic basis.
D)social learning is not limited to a sensitive period.

Question 35

The need for intense parental care of offspring favors mating systems that are

A)polygamous.
B)diurnal.
C)monogamous.
D)promiscuous.

Question 36

Several primates have been taught to communicate with humans using sign language. This supports the view that animals other than humans can learn through the process of

A)social learning.
B)cognition.
C)trial-and-error learning.
D)imprinting.

Question 37

Which of the following is an example of agonistic behavior?

A)A dog raises its hackles, bares its teeth, and stands tall to appear threatening.
B)A honeybee does a waggle dance to indicate the direction of food.
C)A male ruffed grouse spreads its tail and beats its wings to attract a female.
D)Ants mark their trails by releasing pheromones.

Question 38

The sending of, reception of, and response to signals constitute animal

A)cost-benefit analysis.
B)communication.
C)problem solving.
D)associative learning.

Question 39

Territories are typically used for activities such as

A)feeding, mating, and rearing young.
B)migration and feeding.
C)identification of kin and rearing young.
D)feeding and identification of kin.

Question 40

The certainty of paternity is greatest in organisms that

A)are promiscuous.
B)have extensive parental care.
C)use internal fertilization.
D)mate and lay eggs at the same time.

Question 41

After reading the paragraph below, answer the questions that follow.
In examining the effects of atrazine, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world, scientists studied the mating behavior of male frogs exposed to atrazine (Atr) compared to a group that was not exposed (Non). The results are shown in the figure.

Part B indicates that

A)atrazine is an endocrine disrupter.
B)trazine-treated males are more successful in mating than nontreated males.
C)there were fewer atrazine-treated males than nontreated males.
D)atrazine males are unable to mate.

Question 42

You unsuccessfully search your room for your math book. Your friend points out that it is on the table in front of you. You overlooked it because it is orange, and you thought it was green. This demonstrates a flaw in your

A)early imprinting.
B)social learning.
C)innate behavior.
D)search image.

Question 43

Information on latitude and longitude is provided to migrating animals through

A)olfactory clues.
B)celestial observation.
C)magnetic information.
D)spatial learning.

Question 44

After reading the paragraph below, answer the questions that follow.
In examining the effects of atrazine, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world, scientists studied the mating behavior of male frogs exposed to atrazine (Atr) compared to a group that was not exposed (Non). The results are shown in the figure.

The experiment in part A was important to the overall conclusions by demonstrating all of the following except

A)all trials of the experiment had frogs of about the same size.
B)there is variation in body weight.
C)body size did not have an impact on successful mating.
D)frogs gain weight over time.

Question 45

After reading the paragraph below, answer the questions that follow.
In examining the effects of atrazine, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world, scientists studied the mating behavior of male frogs exposed to atrazine (Atr) compared to a group that was not exposed (Non). The results are shown in the figure.

The role of the nontreated males in this experiment is

A)to increase the sample size.
B)to act as controls.
C)to show that not all matings are successful.
D)to determine number of matings per frog.

Question 46

After reading the paragraphs below, answer the questions that follow.
A researcher is investigating the ability of salmon to migrate thousands of miles in the ocean yet return to the location where they were hatched to spawn. Data from experiments suggest that more than one type of homing mechanism may be involved in this behavior. When salmon arrive at a river mouth from the open sea, they appear to use olfactory cues to find their home streams, but how do they find their way back to the correct spot along the coastline from the open ocean?
Several experiments were carried out to test the hypothesis that geomagnetic factors (the influence of Earth's magnetic field) play a key role in the ability of salmon to find the proper location along the coast. In one such experiment, salmon hatched in Ketchikan, Alaska were subjected to the geomagnetic characteristics of a different location on the Alaska Peninsula, Cold Bay. The fish were then released to determine to which of the two locations they would return to spawn.
What type of behavior would explain the ability of the salmon to return to their home streams?

A)imprinting
B)associative learning
C)social learning
D)habituation

Question 47

What type of behavior is illustrated by the bird in this figure?

A)territoriality
B)mating behavior
C)fixed action pattern
D)foraging

Question 48

After reading the paragraphs below, answer the questions that follow.
A researcher is investigating the ability of salmon to migrate thousands of miles in the ocean yet return to the location where they were hatched to spawn. Data from experiments suggest that more than one type of homing mechanism may be involved in this behavior. When salmon arrive at a river mouth from the open sea, they appear to use olfactory cues to find their home streams, but how do they find their way back to the correct spot along the coastline from the open ocean?
Several experiments were carried out to test the hypothesis that geomagnetic factors (the influence of Earth's magnetic field) play a key role in the ability of salmon to find the proper location along the coast. In one such experiment, salmon hatched in Ketchikan, Alaska were subjected to the geomagnetic characteristics of a different location on the Alaska Peninsula, Cold Bay. The fish were then released to determine to which of the two locations they would return to spawn.
If the salmon return to spawn at Cold Bay, the behavior involved is primarily ________, but if they return to Ketchikan, the behavior is primarily ________.

A)proximate; ultimate
B)innate; learned
C)learned; innate
D)fixed; altruistic

Question 49

Which of the following statements about chimpanzee behavior is true?

A)Only female chimpanzees are organized in a dominance hierarchy.
B)Alpha males assert their status by making plant stems into tools for food extraction.
C)Social primates do not show reconciliation or pacification-type behaviors.
D)Grooming behavior is crucial to maintaining relationships within chimpanzee groups.

Question 50

After reading the paragraph below, answer the questions that follow.
In examining the effects of atrazine, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world, scientists studied the mating behavior of male frogs exposed to atrazine (Atr) compared to a group that was not exposed (Non). The results are shown in the figure.

The experiment in part C adds to the conclusions by

A)giving evidence that all frogs in the experiments were male.
B)suggesting a possible explanation for the effect of atrazine.
C)showing that testosterone levels are lower in untreated frogs.
D)demonstrating a lack of relationship between successful mating and testosterone.

Question 51

Which of the following conclusions is supported by this graph?

A)Prey size does not affect the number of calories gained per second of handling time by wagtails.
B)Wagtails get more calories per second of handling time with larger flies than with smaller ones.
C)Wagtails get more calories per second of handling time with smaller flies than with larger ones.
D)Wagtails get more calories per second of handling time with 7-mm flies than with either larger or smaller ones.

Question 52

Human social behavior appears to be

A)exclusively a product of our genes.
B)determined by the environment.
C)a product of our genes, external influences, and environment.
D)unrelated to genetics.