Question 1

Lower levels of hormones such as oxytocin and vasopressin have been found to be associated with human disorders such as

Accepted Answer

A)  agoraphobia. 
B)  autism. 
C)  bipolar disorder. 
D)  depression.

Question 2

Prairie voles are monogamous; meadow voles are polygamous. It has been determined that male prairie voles have many more vasopressin receptors than do male meadow voles, and their receptors are concentrated in a reward system of the brain. Which of the following statements about voles is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

A)  Coding sequences in the DNA of the vasopressin receptor gene of the two species of voles are 99% identical, thus the proteins produced by the gene in the two species is virtually identical. 
B)  Differences in DNA were found between the two species in the promoter region of the gene. 
C)  Different amounts of vasopressin surge in the brains of males of the two species following mating. 
D)  The male prairie vole associates the odor of his female mate with the feeling of reward.

Question 3

If the frequency of a trait in a population can be altered by choosing the appropriate breeders, it must have a genetic basis. This is the rationale for which of the following research techniques?

Accepted Answer

A)  artificial selection 
B)  cross-fostering 
C)  hybridization 
D)  mosaic analysis

Question 4

If a colony of honey bees is manipulated so that it contains very few foragers

Accepted Answer

A)  many forager bees will switch to nursing behavior as much as two weeks early. 
B)  many nurse bees will switch to foraging behavior as much as two weeks early. 
C)  the colony dies within a few days. 
D)  the level of for gene activity drops dramatically.

Question 5

The offspring of a reciprocal cross between an inbred strain A mother and an inbred strain B father will have

Accepted Answer

A)  different genotypes among themselves. 
B)  the same genotype as one another. 
C)  the same genotype as their inbred strain A mother. 
D)  the same genotype as their inbred strain B father.

Question 6

Male cichlids may be either dominant or subordinate. Opportunities for a subordinate to rise in social status may occur rapidly, however, as when a dominant male is taken by a predator. Which of the following physical changes occurs first once the opportunity arises?

Accepted Answer

A)  He acquires a territory. 
B)  He becomes brilliantly colored. 
C)  His body size increases. 
D)  His fertility level rises.

Question 7

The for gene that codes for PKG (an important cell signaling molecule) influences not only locomotion during foraging, but also readiness to respond to sucrose, and tendencies to habituate to repeated presentations of sucrose. This illustrates the principle that

Accepted Answer

A)  a gene's activity may be modified by using RNAi. 
B)  genes operate in interacting networks. 
C)  one gene is usually dedicated to a particular, primary trait. 
D)  one gene usually affects several traits.

Question 8

The finding that zenk activity increased in song sparrows whose territorial boundaries had been challenged suggests that

Accepted Answer

A)  genes have much less to do with the production of behavior patterns than we believed to be the case 25 years ago. 
B)  the environment can continuously alter gene activity and, therefore, modify an organism's behavior. 
C)  while the environment influences when a gene becomes active, once that has happened, environment plays little role in further repetitions of the behavior. 
D)  All of the above are true.

Question 9

Whitfield and colleagues (2003) found that nurse and forager bees showed significant differences in the expression of 2,200 of the 5,500 genes analyzed in the study. Their study made use of which of the following techniques?

Accepted Answer

A)  hybridization 
B)  knocked in genes 
C)  knocked out genes 
D)  microarray analysis

Question 10

The regulatory gene fruitless (fru) affects nearly every aspect of courtship behavior in fruit flies by

Accepted Answer

A)  altering the structures of nearly 90% of the fly's nervous system. 
B)  influencing the number of potassium channels in nerve cells. 
C)  producing white eyes rather than red. 
D)  responding to the number of X chromosomes present.

Question 11

Some larval fruit flies (D. melanogaster), "rovers," move around continually on their food source and often leave one food source to look for another. Others, "sitters," travel only short distances and tend to remain on a single food source. Further, the differences in foraging activity have been determined to be related to differences in the enzyme PKG. These findings were based on which of the following methodologies?

Accepted Answer

A)  artificial selection studies 
B)  comparisons of inbred strains 
C)  finding natural variants and looking for genetic differences 
D)  inducing mutations and screening for changes in behavior

Question 12

DNA mythelation

Accepted Answer

A)  consists of adding a methyl group to the cytosine bases in DNA. 
B)  makes the DNA less tightly coiled. 
C)  permanently alters gene expression in certain tissues once it has occurred. 
D)  renders gene expression easier.

Question 13

Lynch's research on nest-building in mice suggests that natural selection could have an influence on that behavior. This is based on evidence that

Accepted Answer

A)  mice build larger nests in the South than in the North. 
B)  mice from lines that built larger nests raised more pups at 4°C than did mice from lines that built smaller nests. 
C)  mice from lines that built smaller nests raised more pups at 4°C than did mice from lines that built larger nests. 
D)  pup survival in both lines was reduced overall at colder temperatures.

Question 14

Epigenetics involves

Accepted Answer

A)  a stable alteration in gene expression without changes in DNA sequence. 
B)  processes such as DNA methylation and histone acetylation. 
C)  the regulation of the way genes are expressed without changing the proteins they encode. 
D)  all of the above.

Question 15

A technique to confirm whether a particular candidate gene underlies a behavior is to alter the gene's expression. This can be done by

Accepted Answer

A)  increasing gene activity by adding copies of the gene (knocking in). 
B)  increasing gene activity by disabling genes (knocking out). 
C)  increasing gene activity by microarray analysis. 
D)  all of the above.

Exam 3: Genetic Analysis of Behavior