Behavioral Bio Chapter 1-5 ; Exam 1
Anthropomorphism is a very common trap when interpreting animal behavior. Why?
"Anthropomorphism can lead to an inaccurate understanding of biological processes in the natural world," she said. "It can also lead to inappropriate behaviors towards wild animals, such as trying to adopt a wild animal as a 'pet' or misinterpreting the actions of a wild animal."
A researcher has found variation in courtship dancing behavior among closely related species. She has determined that simple courtship dances are the ancestral form of the trait, while complex courtship dances are derived. This research approach is an example of which of the following? A. The experimental method B. The comparative method C. The observational method D. The statistical method E. The proximate method
B. The comparative method
Phylogenies are most often associated with which of the following? A. The observational method B. The comparative method C. The experimental method D. Morgan's canon E. Behaviorism
B. The comparative method
In classical conditioning, an unlearned, inborn reaction to an unconditioned stimulus is a(n): A. Unconditioned Stimulus B. Unconditioned Response C. Conditioned Stimulus D. Conditioned Response
B. Unconditioned Response
For each of the following designate which are proximate hypotheses on the nature of song learning by white-crowned sparrows. A. Young adult white-crowned sparrow males try to match their song as closely as possible with that of their neighbors. B. White-crowned sparrow males possess genetic information that steers the development of a biased song learning mechanism. C. By singing the same song as his neighbors, the young adult male more efficiently deters invasion of his territory by those neighbors. D. The hormonal condition of the young adult male predisposes him to listen to and mimic the songs of his territorial neighbors. E. Those males with the song flexibility to mimic the songs of their neighbors have, in the past, attracted females more reliably than males without this ability.
A, B, D
Why do humans eat so much candy and drink so many soft drinks? Which of the following explanations are proximate hypotheses? More than one answer may be correct. A. Candies contain sugar, which tastes sweet to people. B. Sweet taste is remembered as good; the memory of pleasure leads people to buy more of the same. C. Sugar, which is present in candy, is an energy source that helps keep people alive. D. Our primate ancestors depended on sugar rich fruits; from these ancestors,we have inherited the same kind of taste perceptions that they had. E. The genetic information in our bodies shapes the development of nerve cells that provide perceptions of sweetness and pleasure. F. In the past, those individuals who liked sugar left more descendants than those who were indifferent to sweet-tasting foods. G. The sensory input from taste receptors in the tongue to selected brain cells leads to a positively reinforcing sensation of sweetness.
A, B, E, G
Cocaine... (more than one answer may be correct) A. Increases the amount of dopamine present in a synapse. B. Decreases the amount of dopamine present in a synapse. C. Binds to receptors preventing proper operation of the neuron D. Destroys the receptors on a post-synaptic neuron. E. Dissolves the plasma membrane of neurons in the brain.
A, C A. Increases the amount of dopamine present in a synapse. C. Binds to receptors preventing proper operation of the neuron
The claim has been made that, in some populations of humans, about 70 percent of the variation with respect to personality measurements stems from genetic variation. This statement means that A. 30 percent of the variation in the population arises from environmental differences between people. B. personality traits are 70 percent genetic and 30 percent environmental. C. the similarities between people are caused 70 percent by shared genes and 30 percent by shared environmental effects on development. D. the trait in question cannot have evolved because there is so much genetic variation still remaining in the population.
A. 30 percent of the variation in the population arises from environmental differences between people.
Which of the following allows a researcher to conclude that environmental factors affect behavior? A. Genetically similar individuals raised in different environments behave differently. B. Genetically different individuals raised in the same environment behave differently. C. Genetically similar individuals raised in the same environment behave differently. D. Genetically different individuals raised in different environments behave the same. E. Genetically similar individuals behave the same in all environments.
A. Genetically similar individuals raised in different environments behave differently.
What is behavior?
Coordinated response of whole living organisms to internal or external stimuli
Under which of the following conditions would you expect habituation to occur? A. Deer in a national forest where hunting is allowed will habituate to hikers. B. Wrasse on a reef will habituate to predators that are common visitors to a reef. C. Squirrels in a woodland will habituate to hawks that frequent the woods every few weeks. D. Geese defending their nest and chicks become habituated to humans walking close to their nest. E. Prairie dogs in a zoo will habituate to the loud noise of people outside their enclosure.
E. Prairie dogs in a zoo will habituate to the loud noise of people outside their enclosure.
Dingemanse and colleagues (2002) found a positive correlation between a mother's exploratory behavior and that of her offspring. Which of the following can be concluded from this result? Dominant selection is acting on exploratory behavior Exploratory behavior is an adaptation Exploratory behavior is shaped by stabilizing selection Natural selection can act on exploratory behavior Exploratory behavior represents an example of sensitization
Natural selection can act on exploratory behavior
A student sometimes got A's on his midterm exams last year when he used his green pen to write the exams. Now he always takes his lucky green pens to exams. How did the student's superstitious behavior arise? Observational learning Classical conditioning Operant conditioning None of the above
Operant conditioning
Jamal wanted his dog to learn to walk slowly on a leash. In order to train the dog Jamal bought a "choke" collar that constricted the dog's neck when the dog ran too fast. Is this an example of: Positive reinforcement Negative reinforcement Positive punishment Negative punishment
Positive punishment
Aaron's parents wanted him to improve his grades. They decided they would allow him to stay out on Saturday night if he made the honor roll. Is this an example Positive reinforcement Negative reinforcement Positive punishment Negative punishment
Positive reinforcement
Learning is best defined as: a process by which only aversive stimuli elicit changes in behavior. a permanent change in behavior resulting from hormonal but not neurobiological changes a relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of developmental plasticity. changes in behavior that result from past experience. a process by which only positive stimuli elicit changes in behavior.
changes in behavior that result from past experience.
Define hypothesis and explain why it is critical to the scientific process.
A hypothesis is an explanation that makes a prediction. The scientific method is based on the formulation and testing of hypotheses to answer research questions. Other disciplines do not test predictions from hypotheses.
All other things being equal, what affect does increasing the diameter of a neuron's axon have on the speed at which a nervous impulse (action potential) is conducted down that axon? A. It increases the speed of transmission. B. It decreases the speed of transmission. C. It promotes extensive variation on the speed of transmission. D. It has no influence on the speed of transmission. E. Nervous impulses are not propagated along axons, only along dendrites.
A. It increases the speed of transmission.
Which one of the following statements is most accurate? A. Natural selection works on variation already present in a population. B. Natural selection works on non-heritable traits. C. Individuals evolve through natural selection. D. Organisms evolve structures that they need. E. None of the statements are true.
A. Natural selection works on variation already present in a population.
If habitat selection behavior is influenced by genes, why is learning not an adaptation in a fixed world with constant good and bad habitat types? A. Selection will favor individuals that prefer to breed in the good habitat, so the world will contain individuals that only breed in the good habitat and learning will be unnecessary. B. Learning will only lead to breeding in the good habitat 50% of the time, so it will not be favored. C. In a fixed world, there is no relationship between past experience and future conditions, so learning is not beneficial. D. Learning is too costly in a fixed world. E. The benefits of learning in a fixed world are too unpredictable.
A. Selection will favor individuals that prefer to breed in the good habitat, so the world will contain individuals that only breed in the good habitat and learning will be unnecessary.
In response to moderate winds, many small spiderlings climb high in vegetation and release several strands of silk that form a "parachute." The spider is then lifted into the air by the wind and drifts to a new location, a phenomenon known as "ballooning." Which of the following is true? A. The movement associated with ballooning would not be considered a behavior because it is not internally coordinated B. Ballooning would not be considered a behavior because it is not externally visible C. Spider movement associated with ballooning would not be considered a behavior because it occurs in response to changing conditions D. The movement associated with ballooning would not be considered a behavior because it is not an activity pattern E. The movement associated with ballooning would not be considered a behavior because only some spiders exhibit this activity
A. The movement associated with ballooning would not be considered a behavior because it is not internally coordinated
Which of the following is NOT required for natural selection to act so that evolutionary change occurs on a behavior over time? A. The trait must be learned. B. The trait has fitness consequences. C. The trait can be inherited. D. There is variation in the expression of the trait. E. All of these are required.
A. The trait must be learned.
Phenotypic plasticity refers to the ability of an organism to adopt: A. alternative phenotypes depending on environmental and/or social conditions. B. many different phenotypes simultaneously. C. different morphological phenotypes with no change in behavioral phenotype. D. different behavioral phenotypes within no change in morphological phenotype. E. one specific phenotype that is fixed throughout the organism's lifetime.
A. alternative phenotypes depending on environmental and/or social conditions.
Investigations that seek to reveal the nature of the stimuli emanating from a prey item that elicit attack, or that act as signals recruiting nest-mate ant workers to a potential food source, would best be considered to fall within which of the following one of Tinbergen's four questions? A. questions of immediate causation B. questions of development C. questions of function (e.g., survival function D. questions of evolution
A. questions of immediate causation
Neurons possess fibers called dendrites that perform which of the following functions? A. receive electrochemical information from other cells in the nervous system B. transmit electrochemical information to other cells in the nervous system C. serve as the "space" between cells into which neurotransmitters are released D. package neurotransmitters and transport them to the synaptic gap E. control the number of times a neuron fi res depending on stimulus strength
A. receive electrochemical information from other cells in the nervous system
In endeavoring to understand why male moths would ingest and expel such huge volumes of water in such short periods of time, Smedley and Eisner contrasted the sodium content of eggs that were fertilized by male moths that had engaged in puddling behavior with those fertilized by males that had not puddled. This type of attempt to understand adaptive significance, in which the investigator manipulates certain aspects of the organism or its environment and measures the outcome, exemplifies: A. the experimental approach. B. the observational approach C. the conceptual approach. D. the correlative approach.
A. the experimental approach.
Ethograms allow a researcher to calculate which of the following? A. time budget B. The fitness of an individual C. Adaptive behavior D. Selection on a behavior E. Density-dependent selection on a behavior
A. time budget
Natural selection is best described as a process through which the frequency of: A. traits that confer reproductive and/or survival success and that are heritable increase over generations. B. certain traits increase over evolutionary time in a random fashion. C. traits that confer reproductive and/or survival success increase over generations. D. traits that are heritable increase over generations. E. traits that hinder reproductive and/or survival success and that are not heritable increase over generations.
A. traits that confer reproductive and/or survival success and that are heritable increase over generations.
Compare and contrast hormones that have "activational" and "organizational" effects. Provide general definitions for these two terms and provide two differences between the effects that these two types of hormones have.
Activational effects Short-term, reversible effects that occur in the fully developed organism (e.g. alteration of transmission in neural networks that respond to certain aspects of the environment) Organizational effects Long-term, irreversible effects on tissue differentiation and development (e.g. brain, ovary) that can either directly (brain) or indirectly (ovary) influence behavior
Alison's parents take away her instant messaging service to get her to study and improve her grades. Simone was placed on restriction for violating her parents' curfew. Is this positive or negative punishment? Both are instances of negative punishment Both are instances of positive punishment Alison received negative punishment and Simone received positive punishment Simone received negative punishment and Alison received positive punishment
Alison received negative punishment and Simone received positive punishment
What is the best explanation for why blind cave fish have evolved to have non-functional eyes? A. Cavefish have lost the use of their eyes because they need to use their eyes extensively in the dark environment of the cave. B. Cavefish have lost the use of their eyes as an adaptation driven by natural selection for survival in the dark. C. Cavefish have lost the use of their eyes because there is no natural selection maintaining eye function in the dark. D. Evolution by natural selection only produces organisms which are better adapted to their environment; therefore, the loss of an advanced trait like eyesight cannot be considered evolution by natural selection.
B, C
Which of the following statements about heritability is true? More than one answer may be correct A. Heritability is constant across populations over time B. Heritability estimates are population specific C. Highly heritable traits involve only a few genes D. Heritability is the amount of observed variation for a trait that is due to genetic differences between individuals from the same population E. heritability of 0 means that genes are not involved in producing the trait
B, D B. Heritability estimates are population specific D. Heritability is the amount of observed variation for a trait that is due to genetic differences between individuals from the same population
You have received a research grant to run a common garden experiment to compare the song of an island and mainland population of the same bird species, in order to determine whether the two populations have diverged genetically. How will a common garden experiment help you answer this question? A. By rearing island birds in a mainland environment, and mainland birds in an island environment, you will be able to attribute any differences in song between these two groups to differences in their genes. B. By separately rearing birds from each population in identical environments over several generations and then comparing the song of the two populations, you will be able to attribute any differences in song to differences in their genes. C. It won't. Common garden experiments only work on genetically identical populations. D. common garden experiment will not be useful, as genes and environmental factors interact in ways that are too complex to separate.
B. By separately rearing birds from each population in identical environments over several generations and then comparing the song of the two populations, you will be able to attribute any differences in song to differences in their genes.
Which of the following statements about hormones is FALSE? A. Hormonal state can affect the strength and form of a behavioral response. B. Hormones and the endocrine system influence behavior independent of the nervous system. C. Hormones are secreted by ductless glands, which comprise the endocrine system. D. Hyposecretion or hypersecretion of hormones can have dramatic effects on many behaviors. E. Hormones can affect the organization of behavior.
B. Hormones and the endocrine system influence behavior independent of the nervous system.
The parent-offspring regression analysis can be used to determine which of the following? A. The fitness of a trait B. The heritability of a trait C. Whether a trait is an adaptation D. Whether a trait is frequency-dependent E. The level of selection on a trait
B. The heritability of a trait
Which of the following would NOT be included in an ethogram? A. The number of times the animal ate fruit B. The level of estrogen throughout the day C. The levels of aggressive behavior displayed D. The length of time the animal spent grooming itself E. The rate of calling behavior
B. The level of estrogen throughout the day
Sensitization is the process by which: A. animals become less likely to exhibit a response to a stimulus over time. B. animals become more likely to exhibit a response to a stimulus over time. C. learning to associate one CS with a US blocks the ability to associate another CS with the same US. D. one event predicts the occurrence of a second event. E. one event predicts that a second event will not occur.
B. animals become more likely to exhibit a response to a stimulus over time.
Every time Jenny went to the doctor for a check up, she got a painful shot. Now just the sight of a hypodermic needle causes Jenny to become afraid. Jenny's expression of fear at the sight of a hypodermic needle is an example of which of the following: A. conditioned stimulus B. conditioned response C. An unconditioned stimulus D. An unconditioned response E. Spontaneous recovery
B. conditioned response
The three foundations of ethology are: A. molecular genetics, natural selection, and learning. B. cultural transmission, natural selection, and learning. C. neurobiology, anthropology, and psychology. D. psychology, learning, and cultural transmission. E. endocrinology, developmental biology, and natural selection.
B. cultural transmission, natural selection, and learning.
Habituation ________________. A. is a form of habitat selection B. is the reduction and then lack of response to a stimulus over time C. is the location in which an individual lives D. describes the size of a territory defended E. is a form of filial imprinting
B. is the reduction and then lack of response to a stimulus over time
How does a neural signal travel from one neuron to another? A. via direct contact B. through the release of neurotransmitters into a synapse C. via an electrical impulse that travels across a synapse D. via reversed polarity E. via the "umwelt" mechanism
B. through the release of neurotransmitters into a synapse
Which is an ultimate hypothesis on the nature of song learning by white-crowned sparrows? Young adult white-crowned sparrow males try to match their song as closely as possible with that of their neighbors. White-crowned sparrow males possess genetic information that steers the development of a biased song learning mechanism. By singing the same song as his neighbors, the young adult male more efficiently deters invasion of his territory by those neighbors. The hormonal condition of the young adult male predisposes him to listen to and mimic the songs of his territorial neighbors. The males possess a neural system that is able to coordinate sounds that are transmitted to other individuals in the environment.
By singing the same song as his neighbors, the young adult male more efficiently deters invasion of his territory by those neighbors.
What might be the result if a person was exposed to a substance that reduced the action of acetylcholinesterase (acetylcholinesterase breaks down acetylcholine, which allows neurons to return to resting state)? More than one answer may be correct. A. Acetylcholine could not be released from a neuron. B. Muscles would be continually relaxed. C. Muscles would remain contracted. D. Acetylcholine could not bind to receptor sites. E. Acetylcholine would accumulate in the synapse
C, E C. Muscles would remain contracted. E. Acetylcholine would accumulate in the synapse
Humpback whales sometimes leap right out of the water and land with a huge splash. In the following list of hypotheses on this behavior, circle the letter of any that deals with an ultimate cause. A. The whales are driven to leap because their skin is irritated by barnacles that have attached themselves to their bodies. B.The leapers are genetically different from the non-leapers.. C. Leaping dislodges attached barnacles, enabling the cleaned whales to swim more efficiently. D. Leaping occurs because when one whale leaps, the sound stimulates others to follow suit. E. Leaping creates changes in water pressure that drive killer whales, deadly predators of humpback whales, away from the area.
C,E C. Leaping dislodges attached barnacles, enabling the cleaned whales to swim more efficiently. E. Leaping creates changes in water pressure that drive killer whales, deadly predators of humpback whales, away from the area.
Which is learned? A. Sneezing when dust gets in your nose B. Blinking your eye when a puff of air hits it C. Drooling when you taste a lemon D. Increasing heart rate when you see a spider
C. Drooling when you taste a lemon
Which of the following statement(s) are NOT true? A. Past experiences can alter behavior within the lifetime of an individual via learning. B. The ability to learn can be genetically encoded. C. Learning and natural selection operate independently. D. Natural selection can operate on the ability to learn. E. Learning can change behavior within a generation, while natural selection can change the frequency of different learning rules across generations.
C. Learning and natural selection operate independently.
Average human height has increased in the past one hundred years. This change in height occurred because of changes in childhood nutrition. Which statement is most correct? A. Human height has evolved over the past one hundred years due to natural selection. B. Human height has evolved over the past one hundred years, but we can't tell if this was caused by natural selection. C. The change in height does not demonstrate that evolution occurred because there were no changes in the frequencies of alleles associated with height. D. The change in height does not demonstrate that evolution occurred because height is not heritable. E. Human height is heritable and, therefore, any changes in height must have a genetic basis and reflect true biological evolution. F. Evolution in height could only be said to have occurred if taller individuals lived longer than shorter individuals.
C. The change in height does not demonstrate that evolution occurred because there were no changes in the frequencies of alleles associated with height.
What will happen to a population of snakes if the small mice they normally eat are no longer available and all that is left are larger rats that are more difficult to swallow? A. Mutations would be induced in the population to allow the snakes to eat rats. The snakes with these mutations would be more likely to survive and reproduce. B. The snakes would develop wider jaws as they continued to try to eat large rats. The successful snakes would survive and reproduce. C. The individual snakes that already have slightly wider jaws that allow them to eat rats would be more likely to survive and reproduce. D. Because the population of snakes is all the same species, they all have the same physical traits. No individual snakes would have an advantage in swallowing rats, and all of the snakes would die.
C. The individual snakes that already have slightly wider jaws that allow them to eat rats would be more likely to survive and reproduce.
A research study quantifies the fitness of individuals that defend territories of different size and finds that individuals that defend a territory of 10 m2 have the highest fitness. This is example of: A. The comparative method B. The experimental method C. The observational method D. Heritable variation in a population E. selection experiment
C. The observational method
Ethograms are most often associated with which of the following? A. The comparative method B. The experimental method C. The observational method D. Cladograms E. Sister species
C. The observational method
Which of the following questions addresses ultimate causation? A. How does an animal escape predation? B. What neurobiological mechanisms are involved in predator escape behavior? C. Why do some animals secrete noxious compounds when threatened by a predator? D. What is the anatomical basis for rapid escape behavior? E. What types of neuroendocrine changes occur after successful escape from a predator?
C. Why do some animals secrete noxious compounds when threatened by a predator?
Conceptual approaches to ethology involve: A. generating complex mathematical models of the world to establish explicit predictions about animal behavior. B. conducting controlled experiments in the field to test hypotheses related to animal behavior. C. combining ideas from different subdisciplines in a novel way to generate new sets of predictions about animal behavior. D. conducting controlled experimental studies in the laboratory to test hypotheses related to animal behavior. E. neglecting past observations and experiments in order to generate novel concepts concerning animal behavior.
C. combining ideas from different subdisciplines in a novel way to generate new sets of predictions about animal behavior.
Which of the following is NOT part of the procedure for QTL mapping? A. selection of parental strains that differ considerably in their behavior B. selection of parental strains that differ at a set of marker alleles C. selection of parental strains that are heterozygous at the marker gene loci D. crossing the two parental strains to generate the F1 generation E. Mate F1 individuals to produce F2 and then examine both the behavior and the marker loci genotypes of these F2 individuals
C. selection of parental strains that are heterozygous at the marker gene loci
Of the three major approaches to the study of behavior, presenting captive fish with models of different colors and documenting differential responses to those models best exemplifies: A. the conceptual approach. B. the theoretical approach. C. the empirical approach. D. All of these answers are correct. E. None of these answers is correct.
C. the empirical approach.
A Darwinian behavioral biologist would be most surprised and puzzled by which one of the following observations? A. A moth that beautifully mimics the appearance of a leaf. B. A raven that is able to find food extremely efficiently. C. A frog that is able to lay her eggs on leaves above the water. D. A parent spider that consumes her entire clutch of eggs. E. A toad that eats the offspring of her neighbors.
D. A parent spider that consumes her entire clutch of eggs.
Island X has a famine that strikes all. Island Y is a paradise for all. What is the relative heritability for running speed on the two islands if individuals experience virtually identical environments within each island? A. Low on X and low on Y B. Low on X and high on Y C. High on X and low on Y D. High on X and high on Y
D. High on X and high on Y
Which of the following would NOT be included in an ethogram? A. Sleeping duration B. Stereotypic behaviors C. Feeding frequency D. Hormone profiles E. Fighting behavior
D. Hormone profiles
Individual learning and cultural transmission differ in which of the following ways? A. Individual learning alters the behavior of an organism within a lifetime, while cultural transmission does not. B. Individual learning can lead to the rapid spread of a behavior through a population, while cultural transmission cannot. C. Individual learning involves copying the behavior of others, while cultural transmission does not. D. Individual learning does not permit the transmission of information across generations, while cultural transmission does. E. Individual learning allows behavioral traits to spread quickly through apopulation, both within an organism's lifetime and across generations, while cultural transmission allows behavioral traits to spread through a population only across generations.
D. Individual learning does not permit the transmission of information across generations, while cultural transmission does.
Which of the following is true about the knockout technique? A. It compares the epistatic and additive effects of a disabled gene. B. It uses a linkage map to examine the heritability of a gene that has been disabled. C. It breaks gene-environment interactions by disabling a gene. D. It compares the behavior of wild-type individuals and those with a disabled gene. E. It allows estimation of heritability by disabling a gene.
D. It compares the behavior of wild-type individuals and those with a disabled gene.
When would natural selection favor the evolution of learning? A. When the environment is completely constant B. When the environment is constantly changing C. Both A and B D. Neither A nor B
D. Neither A nor B
You hear someone say that human language is 80 percent environmental and 20 percent genetic, whereas the song of the white crowned sparrow is 40 percent environmental and 60 percent genetic. Which of the following assessments of this claim is correct? A. The claim is true because humans have so many more languages and language dialects than white crowned sparrows have song dialects. B. The claim is true because human language has a greater learned component than sparrow song. C. The claim is false because human language is really closer to 100 percent environmental. D. The claim is false because the development of the neural mechanisms that make speech and bird song possible would not occur at all without the genetic information present in nerve cells.
D. The claim is false because the development of the neural mechanisms that make speech and bird song possible would not occur at all without the genetic information present in nerve cells.
Which of the following is necessary for a chemical messenger such as a steroid hormone to initiate biochemical changes in the target cell? A. axons B. cell membrane C. golgi apparatus D. hormone receptor sites E. pituitary
D. hormone receptor sites
The larvae of stream caddisflies graze on algae in streams and defend territories from other individuals. A researcher observed that in streams with low algae abundance, caddisflies tended to defend large territories, while in streams with high algae abundance, individuals tended to defend small territories. Territory size was intermediate in streams with moderate levels of algae. What can you conclude from these data? A. Territoriality in this species functions to prevent starvation B. Caddisfly size affects territory size C. Algae abundance affects territory size in caddisflies D. The environment affects territory size in caddisflies E. Algae abundance is correlated with territory size in caddisflies.
E. Algae abundance is correlated with territory size in caddisflies.
The phenotype of an organism is defined as A. those traits that are coded by recessive alleles. B. those traits that are not subject to natural selection. C. the genes that an organism possesses. D. those traits that are coded by dominant alleles. E. the sum of all observable traits including behavior and morphology.
E. the sum of all observable traits including behavior and morphology.
You have trained your dog to bark on command by giving her rawhides when she is successful. However, you quit giving her the rawhides when she barks and you find that eventually she will not bark on command. This is an example of: Habituation Discrimination Counterconditioning Extinction
Extinction
How is operant conditioning different from classical conditioning? In operant conditioning, reinforcement is presented only when the subject responds In operant conditioning, reinforcement is presented before the subject responds In operant conditioning, reinforcement is presented whether or not the subject responds In operant conditioning, reinforcement is paired and presented with an unconditioned stimulus
In operant conditioning, reinforcement is presented only when the subject responds
Where do endocrine glands secrete their chemicals? Into ducts linked to recepter cells Into the exogenous transportation system Into the environment Onto skin Into the bloodstream
Into the bloodstream
Heritability values from behavioral traits are typically lower than those for morphological traits. Propose an explanation for this difference.
It has been suggested that environmental variation is greater for behavioral traits than morphological traits. Other explanations are acceptable.
In lieu of working directly with animals, a researcher uses a computer model to examine how variation in resource distribution might affect territoriality. Which of the following applies to this research with respect to the 3 Rs of ethical standards in research? It is an example of redundancy It is an example of refinement It is an example of reduction It is an example of regression It is an example of replacement
It is an example of replacement
How do researchers defend the claim that certain traits are "derived" or "ancestral"?
Students needed to discuss the use of phylogenies in determining whether particular traits were derived or ancestral in the course of evolution.
Classical conditioning usually works best if which of the following occurs: The conditioned stimulus (CS) is presented just after the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) The CS is presented just before the UCS The CS is presented many hours after the UCS All of the above are equally effective
The CS is presented just before the UCS
When a child hears a loud noise, he cries. The family's dog often barks loudly. Each time the child sees the dog, he cries. What is the conditioned response: The dog The loud noise The crying The barking
The crying
What is wrong with this definition? "Natural selection causes individuals to change when they need to adapt to changed environmental pressures."
The problem with the definition is the suggestion that natural selection can turn an existing individual with one trait into one with a different characteristic. Natural selection cannot change existing individuals. Instead, those that happen to have traits that promote reproductive success under changed environmental conditions will leave more descendants, changing the makeup of the population in the future.
A friend of yours is investigating the evolution of eyes in vertebrates and comes to the conclusion that "vertebrates evolved eyes in order to see". Consider this statement and explain why this seems reasonable or why it doesn't.
The statement is misleading and scientifically incorrect. The statement supposes that vertebrates were somehow able to 'decide' to evolve eyes for a specific function. That is not how evolution works. Instead, vertebrate eyes evolved slowly through many steps because proto-eyes produced a selective advantage for individuals. Individuals have no decision-making ability to evolve particular traits.
