Deck 33: Behavioral Ecology

Question 1

Imprinting helps birds

A) perform the proper courtship ritual.
B) defend their territory.
C) recognize a member of their own species.
D) form a fixed action pattern.
E) build a better nest.

Answer 1

C
Explanation: By imprinting on the parents, the chicks learn the appropriate appearance of others in their species. If they imprint on something other than their species they will not recognize appropriate mates later when they are adults.Bloom's

Question 2

Scientists can state that all behavior has a genetic basis because

A)they have proved that all aspects of behavior are coded in the animal's genome.
B)as with other life characteristics,there is no other source beyond what can be coded in DNA.
C)scientists do not believe in anything beyond natural phenomena arising from the structure of matter.
D)an animal inherits its anatomy and physiology with which it performs behaviors.
E)animal behaviorists such as B.F.Skinner have reduced all behavior to biology.

Answer 2

D
Explanation: Bloom's

Question 3

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.

Answer 3

B
Explanation: If the individuals are raised in the same household then learned behaviors could not be discounted. Identical twins would have the same genetics but if they are raised apart from one another then it would be possible to discount learned behaviors and relate their behavior to a genetic cause.Bloom's

Question 4

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

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

Question 5

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.
B) a sign stimulus.
C) an innate behavior.
D) fixed action pattern.
E) habituation.

Question 6

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

A) the behavior was determined by the environment [terrestrial versus aquatic].
B) the behavior was learned; one group learned to like to eat slugs, the other, fish.
C) the behavior was general; the snakes ate anything that moved.
D) the behavior was genetic, and hybrids had an intermediate response to the two food extracts.
E) the behavior was imprinted by whatever they ate when they were first born.

Question 7

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.

Question 8

The nest-building behavior of two populations of Fischer lovebirds and hybrid lovebirds showed that

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

Question 9

The sensitive period is most closely associated with

A) imprinting.
B) operant conditioning.
C) insight learning.
D) extinction.
E) motivation.

Question 10

Which two organ systems are most involved in producing physiological changes leading to appropriate behavior patterns?

A) nervous and digestive
B) digestive and urinary
C) nervous and reproductive
D) nervous and endocrine
E) reproductive and digestive

Question 11

The pecking behavior of laughing 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 12

The discovery of a gene in Aplysia slugs that results in protein products including 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 13

An increase in fitness-the survival of more offspring-that occurs due to competition among males and mate choice by females is called

A) altruistic behavior.
B) selfish behavior.
C) natural selection.
D) sociobiology.
E) sexual selection.

Question 14

That behavior often has a learned component was shown by studying the

A) migration of birds.
B) altruism of human beings.
C) feeding behavior of baby gull chicks.
D) singing patterns of song birds.
E) feeding behavior of baby gull chicks AND singing patterns of song birds.

Question 15

Which experiment most closely confirms the linkage between DNA $\rarr$ a gene $\rarr$ a gene product $\rarr$ the behavior that results from that product?

A) experiments with the inland and coastal garter snakes and their food preferences
B) experiments with the Fischer lovebirds and their nest-building behavior
C) experiments with laughing gull chicks and their pecking behavior to solicit food from the mother gull
D) experiments with white-crowned sparrows and the critical period for learning bird songs
E) experiments with Aplysia snails and their egg-laying behavior

Question 16

You are passing through one of the science buildings on a University campus when you see a researcher come out of his laboratory and go into another room.You hear and then see a duck come out of the lab and run to follow the researcher into the other room.The duck's behavior can best be described as

A) a fixed action pattern.
B) classical conditioning.
C) imprinting.
D) operant conditioning.
E) altruistic.

Question 17

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 18

Learned behavior that causes a family of baby ducks to follow their mother is called

A) imprinting.
B) operant conditioning.
C) insight learning.
D) extinction.
E) motivation.

Question 19

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

A) a learned behavior.
B) an imprinted behavior.
C) a fixed action pattern.
D) an insight learning behavior.
E) a classical conditioned behavior.

Question 20

Salmon fish hatcheries add a harmless perfume (morpholine)to a stream when they release young fish.When the fish mature,they attract them back to the home stream by using this chemical (in nature the fish smell the unique odors of soil and trees along the home stream).In effect,the hatchery biologist is using

A) the fish's inborn instincts to relocate its own stream.
B) a fish's higher order reasoning.
C) an experiment based on the ability of fish to learn by trial and error.
D) chemotropisms.
E) imprinting.

Question 21

Which statement about behavior is NOT true?

A) Inborn behavior is usually inherited.
B) Innate behavior is triggered by a 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 an inherited behavior.
E) All behaviors can be explained as fixed action patterns.

Question 22

Fitness of an animal is judged by the

A) strength of an animal.
B) health of the animal.
C) ability of an organism to survive and reproduce.
D) courtship ritual.
E) feeding behavior.

Question 23

Altruism is described as

A) displaced aggressive behavior.
B) a means of ranking animals in a dominance hierarchy.
C) actions of an animal that immediately benefit others rather than itself, but may harm itself.
D) belligerent behavior that helps an animal compete in its society.
E) an individual's reproductive success.

Question 24

When an ant finds a source of food,such as an open sugar bin in a kitchen,it returns to the nest leaving a trail that other ants can follow to the sugar.This is a case of

A) innate knowledge of where food is located.
B) a learned response that is an advantage of social insects.
C) a pheromone pathway.
D) marking territory.
E) higher reasoning, just as a hiker leaving signs along a trail.

Question 25

The competitive behavior among red deer stags competing to be harem master is advantageous because

A) the survivor of the competition is the stag that lives the longest, longer than the females.
B) the survivor is the most altruistic and caring.
C) the increased number of offspring produced will offset the shorter life of the harem master.
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 26

Altruistic behaviors between closely related animals are selected for because they

A) reduce fighting between species.
B) ensure the survival of the altruistic individual.
C) increase the frequency of the altruistic individual's genes in the next generation.
D) force individuals to cooperate with one another and thereby increase mating and population growth.
E) stimulate new learning behaviors.

Question 27

Kin selection is a form of

A) altruism.
B) territoriality.
C) imprinting.
D) confrontation.
E) sexual selection.

Question 28

The first female aphids to hatch in the spring settle on large leaves and defend them against other females.This is an example of

A) territoriality.
B) reproductive behavior.
C) feeding behavior.
D) learned behavior.
E) dominance hierarchy.

Question 29

____ is a system in which animals arrange themselves in a pecking order.The animal above takes precedence over the one below.

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

Question 30

An example of territoriality is

A) barnacles attached to a boat bottom.
B) a red-winged blackbird singing to ward off other males and attract a female to the nest in his fence row.
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 31

Isolated songbirds will sing a more correct song if they

A) are never removed from isolation.
B) listen to their own species' song within a particular time period.
C) listen to other species' songs.
D) are punished for not singing a complicated song.
E) are given an adult tutor.

Question 32

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

A) protection against predators
B) easier to find food
C) easier to find a mate
D) amount of work can be divided up among members
E) increased chance of disease

Question 33

A very rapid kind of communication that works even at a distance and in the dark is

A) chemical communication.
B) auditory communication.
C) tactile communication.
D) visual communication.
E) pheromones.

Question 34

What is a change in behavior that involves associating two separate events?

A) a fixed action pattern
B) innate behavior
C) associative learning
D) imprinting
E) altruistic behavior

Question 35

The ability of an individual and the individual's kin to survive and reproduce is called

A) altruistic behavior.
B) selfish behavior.
C) natural selection.
D) fitness.
E) inclusive fitness.

Question 36

Unselfish acts that help others in a group so that they increase their chances of surviving and reproducing is called

A) altruistic behavior.
B) selfish behavior.
C) natural selection.
D) inclusive fitness.
E) sexual selection.

Question 37

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

A) imprinting.
B) operant conditioning.
C) insight learning.
D) extinction.
E) motivation.

Question 38

Many sterile worker bees give their lives to save a beehive from an attack by bears,etc.In such cases,we now know

A) these female worker bees are more related to hive offspring than they would be if they were themselves fertile and mated - it is "calculated selfishness."
B) this is really a case of bees consciously understanding the need to preserve the nest for their individual benefit and they might survive if all work together.
C) each female worker is waiting to get her chance to reproduce.
D) this is a case of sexual selection.
E) the system is not yet understood.

Question 39

To train an animal,you try to reward each instance of desired behavior.In this way,you can eventually get pigeons to play ping-pong.This system of reward,where animals are given a reward each time they responded correctly,usually in a boxlike environment,is called

A)imprinting.
B)operant conditioning.
C)insight learning.
D)extinction.
E)motivation.

Question 40

____ is defined as the transmission of a signal from one animal that influences the behavior of a receiving animal.

A) Imprinting
B) Dominance hierarchy
C) Communication
D) Circadian rhythm
E) Operant conditioning

Question 41

Which body system plays an important role in influencing behavior?

A) endocrine
B) cardiovascular
C) respiratory
D) digestive
E) integumentary

Question 42

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 43

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

A) They must be able to travel the entire territory in one day to defend it.
B) They only need to maintain a territory that is large enough for the male and one mate.
C) Different species need different sized territories depending on their food source.
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 44

Which of the following experiments would help support the idea that behavior can be influenced by the environment?

A) Robins who were raised in the nest of sparrows sing the sparrow song when they are older.
B) Laughing gull chicks increase their pecking efficiency when presented with a model of the parents bill.
C) A baby goose hatches out and the first object it sees is a red ball. The goose will follow the ball around as it grows up.
D) Young blue jays eat a monarch for the first time and become ill. The birds stop preying upon monarchs after the experience.
E) All of these are examples of how the environment can influence behavior.

Question 45

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 46

While walking along a trail in the woods you notice that your dog walks over to a tree and urinates on the base of the largest tree on the trail.Your dog's behavior is an example of

A) visual communication.
B) auditory communication.
C) tactile communication.
D) chemical communication.
E) learning.

Question 47

A parrot fluffs out her feathers and screeches when another female bird approaches.She is

A) communicating using visual signals
B) sick
C) communicating using auditory signals
D) communicating using visual signals and auditory signals
E) communicating using tactile cues

Question 48

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 49

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

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

Question 50

List the four main methods of communication among animals.

Question 51

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 their life.What benefits do organisms derive from keeping a territory?

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

Question 52

Why do females have a greater investment in offspring?

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

Question 53

You are laying on your favorite beach in Florida and while looking down the beach you observe periodic white flashes in the sand.You get up and walk down the beach to see what is causing the flashes.You observe Fiddler Crabs waving their enlarged claw in the air producing the flashes.This behavior is an example of

A) auditory communication.
B) chemical communication.
C) visual communication.
D) tactile communication.
E) territoriality.

Question 54

What mechanism allows bees to compensate for the movement of the sun when they return to the hive and do a waggle dance?

A) the ability to detect the earth's magnetic field
B) always doing the waggle dance outside where the sun is visible
C) a biological clock
D) imprinting
E) a mental map of the region encoded by learning when young

Question 55

When training a dog to perform on a Television show the trainer first watches the dog's behavior,chooses one that approximates what the director has asked to have done and begins rewarding the dog every time he performs this natural behavior.Gradually the trainer changes when the reward is given altering the behavior toward the desired performance until this is what the dog does each time,in place of the natural behavior.The trainer has used __________ to train the dog.

A) tactile communication
B) imprinting
C) a fixed action pattern
D) operant conditioning
E) chemical communication

Question 56

Pheromones are

A) visual signals.
B) auditory signals.
C) chemical attractants.
D) tactile responses.
E) hormones.

Question 57

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 are healthier.
D) A brightly colored male sings the loudest.
E) A brightly colored male will help her raise their offspring.

Question 58

Which of the following is NOT a tactile communication method?

A) baby gulls pecking at parent's beak
B) grooming in primates
C) the waggle dance of bees
D) pheromone release from female moths
E) fish using their lateral lines to feel the presence of other fish swimming alongside

Question 59

Primate grooming and honeybee waggle dancing share which of these forms of communication?

A) chemical communication
B) auditory communication
C) tactile communication
D) visual communication
E) physical communication

Question 60

The waggle dance helps bees

A) feed their offspring when they are hungry.
B) learn to hum the right tune.
C) perfect the avoidance response.
D) communicate the location of food.
E) sound the alarm to protect the hive when it is invaded.

Question 61

In reciprocal altruism the helper "gains" a fitness benefit.

Question 62

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) visual
D) auditory
E) chemical

Question 63

Describe the classical conditioning experiment of Ivan Pavlov.

Question 64

Which of the following is a negative consequence of having a territory?

A) energy expended to defend the territory
B) access to food sources
C) nesting sites for raising offspring
D) protection from predators

Question 65

List and describe the two types of associative learning.

Question 66

In gibbon society which parent invests more energy into the success of the young?

A) Both parents are equally involved in the success of the young.
B) The female invests more energy into the success of the young.
C) The male invests more energy into the success of the young.
D) Neither parent invest in the success of the young.
E) Initially the female invests in the success of the young but the male takes over and ensures the success of the young.