Term
| Shared the Nobel Prize in 1973 (ethology) |
|
Definition
| Konrad Lorenz, Nikolaas Tinbergen, and Karl von Frisch. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Founder of ethology (as distinct area). Best known for work with imprinting, animal aggression, releasing stimuli, and fixed action patterns. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Certain species attach or imprint on the first moving object they see after birth. This attachment is usually shown through the 'following response'. Imprinting was subject to a sensitive learning period. Beyond this, it will not occur. Defined by Konrad Lorenz. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Lorenz's theory of instinct, arguing that certain types of aggression were necessary for the survival of all species. Controversially, Lorenz argued that aggression is instinctual and that even human intraspecies aggression can be explained through survival needs. |
|
|
Term
| Releasing stimuli (releasers or sign stimuli) |
|
Definition
| Lorenz started, Tinbergen continued. A releasing stimulus in one individual of a species elicits an automatic, instinctual chain of behaviors from another individual in the same species. These elicited chains of behaviors are called fixed action patterns. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Conceived by Lorenz, they are instinctual, complex chains of behavior triggered by releasers. They have four characteristics: uniform patterns, performed by most members of the species, they are more complex than simple reflexes, and cannot be interrupted or stopped in the middle. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Best known for his use of models in naturalistic settings. Continued Lorenz's work on releasing stimuli (most famously involving herring gulls). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Tinbergen:in the spring, fish develop red coloration on their belly, and they fight eachother. Built various models of the fish, ranging from crude (with red belly), to detailed (without red belly). Stickback males attacked the crude, red-bellied models rather than the detailed, indicating that it was a sign stimuli. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Tinbergen: the chicks peck at the end of their parent's bills, which have a red spot at the tip. Thee parent then regurgitates food for the chicks. He built models, with the greater contrast ones leading to more vigorous pecking by the chicks, though the contrast was unnatural. This is a supernormal sign stimulus: artificial stimuli that are more effective than their natural counterparts. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Major figure in the study of animal behavior. Discovered that honeybees communicate through a dance that they perform. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Coined the term fight or flight, referring to the change of an animal's internal state in an emergency situation that triggers the animals to choose the response. Also proposed the term homeostasis. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Genes are the basic unit of heredity, composed of DNA and chromosomes (23 pairs). A gamete (sperm or ovum) is a haploid (23 single chromosomes). All other human cells are diploid (46). Two separate sets of 23 come from parents in the zygote. Total of all genetic material received is the genotype. External characteristics are phenotypes. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| How particular genotypes are selected out (from natural selection). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The ability to reproduce and pass on genes. Natural selection favors inclusive fitness over individual-- fitness for the kin. This explains why parents protect their young and why individual animals may put themselves at risk for the colony. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| They must be: present in all normal members of a species, stereotypic in form throughout the members of a species, even when performed the first time, and independent of learning or experience. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Behavior that solely benefits another. Altruism is similar to group mentality and close related to inclusive fitness. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Endogenous rhythms that revolve around 24-hour periods. Other internal clocks include circannual, lunar, or tidal. |
|
|
Term
| Displacement activities (irrevelant behaviors) |
|
Definition
| Refer to behaviors that seem out of place or illogical. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Refers to when an animal replaces a trained or forced response with a natural or instinctive one. |
|
|
Term
| Reproductive isolating mechanisms (list) |
|
Definition
| Behavioral isolation (behaviors allowing identification of specific species), geographic isolation, mechanical isolation, isolation by season. |
|
|
Term
| Sensitive or critical periods in learning |
|
Definition
| Times when animal is vulnerable to affects of learning. Beyond this period, learning is more difficult or impossible. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Structural differences between the sexes, having arisen through natural and sexual selection. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Form of natural selection, though the fittest do not necessarily win, rather those with the greatest chance of being chosen as a mate. |
|
|
