Deck 38: Behavioral Ecology

Question 1

Male birds court females of the correct species because they look like their mother.This is an example of:

A)An innate behavior
B)A learned behavior
C)An altruistic act
D)Imprinting
E)A fixed action pattern

Answer 1

D
Explanation: Imprinting is considered a form of learning.

Question 2

If you were studying a type of learned behavior that causes a family of baby ducks to follow their mother you would be studying which of the following?

A)Imprinting
B)Operant conditioning
C)Insight learning
D)Extinction
E)Motivation

Answer 2

A
Explanation: Imprinting is a form of learning.

Question 3

An animals physiology will play a role in determining its behavior.

Answer 3

True
Explanation: An animal's anatomy and physiology determine what types of behavior are possible for that animal.Therefore,genes,which control anatomy and physiology,also control behavior.

Question 4

Which of the following supports a genetic basis of behavior?

A)Two brothers raised in the same household who like the same type of ice cream
B)Identical twins that are raised in two separate families and grow up to smoke the same brand of cigarettes
C)A sister and a brother who are raised in the same household and say things in the same way
D)Two unrelated individuals who are raised in the same household and have the same taste in clothing
E)Cousins who grow up in the same family prefer the same foods

Question 5

A biologist is studying the two organ systems that are involved in producing physiological changes leading to appropriate behavior.Based on this information you would conclude that he or she is studying which two systems?

A)The nervous and digestive
B)Digestive and urinary
C)Nervous and reproductive
D)Nervous and endocrine
E)Reproductive and digestive

Question 6

The sensitive period is most closely associated with:

A)Operant conditioning
B)Insight learning
C)Imprinting
D)Extinction
E)Motivation

Question 7

Which of the following statements is NOT true for inherited behavior?

A)Once the fixed action pattern starts,it can be modified by behavior
B)The behavior pattern is stereotyped
C)It is a fixed action pattern
D)All members of a species perform the exact same sequence
E)The fixed action pattern is initiated by a sign stimulus

Question 8

Some animals define a territory and defend it.Maintaining a territory costs in terms of the energy expended in defense and puts the defender and the aggressor at risk of an injury that could cost them their lives.What are the main benefits that organisms derive from keeping a territory?

A)Obtaining a mate and keeping a constant supply of food
B)Obtaining a mate and defeating predators
C)Keeping a constant supply of food and encouraging other species to settle in the area
D)Encouraging other species to settle in the area and obtaining a mate
E)Defeating predators and encouraging other species to settle in the area

Question 9

Why do different species of animals have territories that are different sizes?

A)Different species need different sized territories depending on their food source
B)They must be able to travel the entire territory in one day to defend it
C)They only need to maintain a territory that is large enough for the male and one mate
D)They must be able to sing loudly enough to be heard throughout the territory
E)They must be able to mark the entire territory every day so others of their species will not invade it

Question 10

The discovery of a gene in Aplysia slugs that results in protein products including an egg-laying hormone is evidence that:

A)The egg-laying behavior is innate or hardwired into the slugs' brain
B)The egg-laying behavior has absolutely no nervous system involvement
C)Genes can control endocrine gland secretions that can control behavior
D)This slug could avoid being eaten by garter snakes
E)Genes only influence physiology and structure but not behavior

Question 11

Fifty days after hatching,a white-crowned sparrow will never be able to sing a normal song if reared in isolation.This is an example of:

A)A sensitive period for learning
B)A sign stimulus
C)An innate behavior
D)A fixed action pattern
E)Habituation

Question 12

Some fish give off a chemical when injured that signals to other fish that a predator is nearby.The chemical causes the uninjured fish to group together in a tight formation,move to the bottom of the water and cease movement to make it less likely that they will be preyed upon.

A)This is communication using a chemical signal
B)This is a futile attempt by the fish to survive
C)An unnecessary action since the predator already has killed its prey
D)This is a visual signal to the predator that they are prey items
E)This behavior will only work one time

Question 13

Imprinting and songbird singing are both examples of:

A)Altruism
B)Innate but not learned behavior
C)A type of courtship ritual
D)Behavior that requires some learning
E)Kin selection

Question 14

If you were studying a durable change in behavior brought about by experience you would be studying which of the following?

A)Instinct
B)Learning
C)Altruism
D)Kin selection
E)Associative learning

Question 15

Behavior is any action which can observed or described.

Question 16

A digger wasp continues to close its nest even though a researcher has removed the nest's contents.This shows that nest-closing behavior in the digger wasp is:

A)A learned behavior
B)An imprint behavior
C)A fixed action pattern
D)An insight learning behavior
E)A classical conditioned behavior

Question 17

The pecking behavior of gull chicks becomes more accurate with time.This is most likely an example of:

A)A fixed action pattern
B)Innate behavior
C)Learning
D)Imprinting
E)Altruistic behavior

Question 18

Which statement about behavior is NOT true?

A)Inborn behavior is usually inherited
B)Innate behavior is triggered by stimulus and does not vary
C)Fixed action patterns are sometimes subject to modification by learning
D)Animals with simple nervous systems tend to respond to a stimulus with inherited behavior
E)All patterns of behavior can be explained as fixed action patterns

Question 19

The main result of the experiments with two groups of California garter snakes that varied in habitat and food was:

A)The behavior was general;the snake ate anything that moved
B)The behavior was determined by the environment
C)The behavior was genetic,and the hybrids had an intermediate response to the food extracts
D)The behavior was imprinted by whatever they ate when they hatched
E)The behavior was learned;one group learned to like to eat slugs,the other,fish

Question 20

If you were studying the nest-building behavior of two populations of birds and hybrid birds you would observe that:

A)The hybrids showed a behavior intermediate between the behaviors of the parents
B)The nest-building behavior was completely random
C)The hybrid was the best at nest building
D)No learning at all occurred with this type of behavior
E)All of the birds began building their nests in the most efficient way

Question 21

Why is it an advantage for a female cardinal to choose a brightly colored male as her mate?

A)A brightly colored male is less attractive to predators
B)Brightly colored males are able to camouflage the nest with their red feathers
C)Brightly colored males tend to be healthier
D)A brightly colored male sings the loudest
E)A brightly colored male will help her raise their offspring

Question 22

Figure:
This figure shows an example of classical conditioning.What does "C" represent?

A)An unconditioned stimulus
B)A conditioned stimulus
C)A conditioned response
D)An imprinted response
E)An unconditioned response

Question 23

Learning that is reinforced by rewards,and a gradual strengthening of stimulus-response connections,is called:

A)Imprinting
B)Operant conditioning
C)Insight learning
D)Motivation
E)Extinction

Question 24

If you were studying a change in behavior that involves a link between two events,you would be studying which of the following?

A)Imprint learning
B)Fixed action learning
C)Associative learning
D)Sensitive learning
E)Altruistic learning

Question 25

Which of the following scientists is best associated with classical conditioning?

A)Karl von Frisch
B)Niko Tinbergen
C)Konrad Lorenz
D)John Krebs
E)Ivan Pavlov

Question 26

Figure:
This figure shows an example of classical conditioning.What does "A" represent?

A)An unconditioned stimulus
B)A conditioned stimulus
C)A conditioned response
D)An imprinted response
E)An unconditioned response

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT a benefit to living in a group?

A)Protection against predators
B)Easier to find food
C)Increased change of contracting a disease
D)Easier to find a mate
E)Division of labor among the group

Question 28

If you were studying unselfish acts that help others in a group so that they,and the individual,increase their chances of surviving and reproducing,you would be studying:

A)Altruistic behavior
B)Selfish behavior
C)Natural selection
D)Inclusive fitness
E)Sexual selection

Question 29

If you were studying a type of learning which occurs when an animal solves a problem without any prior experience with that problem you would be studying which of the following?

A)Conditioned learning
B)Imprint learning
C)Unconditioned learning
D)Insight learning
E)Fixed action learning

Question 30

A scientist who is studying the application of the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of the social behavior of animals would be referred to as a:

A)Sociobiologist
B)Behavioral psychologist
C)Neuroendocrinologist
D)Zoopsychologist
E)Ethologist

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT an advantage to group living?

A)Increased predator avoidance
B)Help with the rearing of offspring
C)Help with finding food
D)Competition for mates
E)Division of labor

Question 32

A biologist is studying an adaptive change in males and females that leads to an increased ability to secure a mate.Based on this information you would conclude that he or she is studying which of the following?

A)Conditioned selection
B)Fixed action selection
C)Unconditioned selection
D)Reciprocal selection
E)Sexual selection

Question 33

___________ is a system in which animals arrange themselves in a pecking order,where the animal above takes precedence over the one below.

A)Imprinting
B)Inclusive fitness
C)Dominance hierarchy
D)Altruism
E)Circadian rhythm

Question 34

Figure:
This figure shows an example of classical conditioning.What does "D" represent?

A)An unconditioned stimulus
B)A conditioned stimulus
C)A conditioned response
D)An imprinted response
E)An unconditioned response

Question 35

Brightly colored and extremely large tails in male birds of paradise have been selected by evolutionary processes mainly because these features:

A)Makes the animal smartest
B)Allows the animal to live the longest
C)Allows the animal to live in the widest variety of environments
D)Allows the animal to produce the largest number of viable offspring
E)Allows the animal to become the largest

Question 36

An example of territoriality is:

A)Barnacles attached to the bottom of a boat
B)A red-winged blackbird singing to ward off other males and attract a female to his nest
C)A cloud of moths attracted to a light
D)A swarm of mosquitoes hovering around a sweaty person
E)A herd of zebras grazing in a field

Question 37

Fitness of an animal is best judged by the:

A)Strength of an animal
B)Health of an animal
C)Ability of an animal to survive and reproduce
D)Courtship rituals
E)Feeding behavior

Question 38

Figure:
This figure shows an example of classical conditioning.What does "B" represent?

A)An unconditioned stimulus
B)A conditioned stimulus
C)A conditioned response
D)An imprinted response
E)An unconditioned response

Question 39

A fixed action pattern occurs when an animal no longer responds to a repeated stimulus.

Question 40

Territoriality is more likely to occur during the mating season than any other time of the year.

Question 41

Which type of learning does not link behavior to stimuli?

A)Classical conditioning
B)Operant conditioning
C)Insight learning
D)Habituation
E)All of these types of learning have a stimuli associated with them

Question 42

Which of the following statements is NOT true about fixed action patterns (FAPs)?

A)FAPs are strictly the result of the expression of particular genes
B)The fixed action pattern was considered to be initiated by a sign stimulus
C)Many behaviors thought to be fixed action patterns have been shown to develop after practice
D)The behavior pattern is stereotyped
E)All the members of a species perform the exact same sequence of behaviors

Question 43

Which of the following would be used by species active only during the day as a way to identify members of the same species to avoid conflict and can only be used over a relatively short distance?

A)Visual communication
B)Tactile communication
C)Auditory communication
D)Chemical communication
E)Pheromone communication

Question 44

A biologist is studying the adaptation to the environment due to the reproductive success of the individual's relatives.Based on this information you would conclude that he or she is studying which of the following?

A)Direct selection
B)Selfish selection
C)Kin selection
D)Reciprocal selection
E)Imprint selection

Question 45

Which type of communication occurs when one animal touches another?

A)Chemical communication
B)Visual communication
C)Tactile communication
D)Auditory communication
E)Pheromone communication

Question 46

If you were studying a very rapid kind of communication that works even at a distance and in the dark you would be studying which of the following?

A)Chemical communication
B)Auditory communication
C)Visual communication
D)Tactile communication
E)Pheromone communication

Question 47

In most species the _______ invests most of the energy in raising the young and the _______ chooses the mate.

A)Female: female
B)Male: female
C)Female: male
D)Male: male
E)They both invest energy equally and raise the young together.

Question 48

Which of the following is an example of a species showing territoriality?

A)a red-winged blackbird singing to ward off other males and attract a female to the nest in his fence row
B)barnacles attached to a boat bottom
C)a cloud of moths attracted to a light
D)a swarm of mosquitoes hovering around a sweaty person
E)bees attracted to a flower garden

Question 49

Altruistic behavior between closely related animals is selected for because it:

A)Reduces fights between species
B)Ensures the survival of the altruistic individual
C)Increases the frequency of the altruistic individual's genes in the next generation
D)Forces the individuals to cooperate with one another
E)It only increases the survival of the non-altruistic individual

Question 50

The ability of kin to survive and reproduce is called:

A)Altruistic behavior
B)Selfish behavior
C)Natural selection
D)Sexual selection
E)Inclusive fitness

Question 51

Ants follow a trail to the sugar bowl in your kitchen left by secretions of the tail glands of other ants in the colony.They are doing so because of:

A)Chance alone
B)A dance done by an ant in the anthill
C)A learned response about where the sugar is
D)An innate knowledge of where the sugar is
E)A pheromone pathway

Question 52

Why is it an advantage for a female elk to choose a male that has a large set of antlers as her mate?

A)A male with a larger set of antlers if more likely to be health and carry good genetics
B)The male can use the antlers to spear food for the female
C)The male is more likely to have already fathered offspring in the past
D)The male is most likely a young bull that will be alive for many years to help raise the offspring
E)The antlers will help nourish the offspring once they are born

Question 53

The waggle dance helps bees:

A)Feed their offspring
B)Reproduce
C)Perfect predator avoidance
D)Communicate the location of a food source
E)Sound an alarm to protect the hive when invaded

Question 54

Male red stag deer will compete fiercely during the mating season.Males have been know to die from injuries sustained during fights over territories.It is not only the losing male that will sustain the injuries.Often the winner will be injured.The winner of multiple competitions will adopt the role of harem master.Even though he has the greatest access to the harem of females,food and resources,the harem master will have a shorter life span than many of the other males in the community.The competitive behavior among red deer stags competing to be harem master is advantageous because

A)the increased number of offspring produced will offset the shorter life of the harem master.
B)the survivor of the competition is the stag that avoids the predators the best.
C)the survivor is the most altruistic and caring.
D)the best DNA genome is directing the best animal to be superior in combat.
E)once the top stag wins,females ensure he will remain harem master for his lifetimE.

Question 55

A male and female crane perform a series of moves in concert that lead up to mating.This is a form of

A)Operant conditioning
B)Altruism
C)Imprinting
D)Communication
E)Learning

Question 56

Direct selection is adaptation to the environment due to the reproductive success of an individual.

Question 57

Why do females have a greater investment in offspring?

A)Females continuously invest energy as the embryo develops
B)Females invest energy in fighting off other females to obtain a mate
C)Females must fight off any predators
D)Females are the only ones who invest any energy in raising offspring
E)Choosing a mate takes a great deal of the energy from the female

Question 58

Which communication method can be effective both during the day and at night?

A)All of these can be effective both during the day and at night
B)Tactile
C)Auditory
D)Chemical
E)Visual

Question 59

Imprinting and songbird singing are both examples of

A)behavior that requires some learning.
B)altruism.
C)innate but not learned behavior.
D)a type of courtship ritual.
E)kin selection.