Deck 18: Conflict

Question 1

The difference in the terms "aggression" and "agonistic behavior" is that agonistic behavior

A) describes only behavior that is intended to inflict harm on another organism.
B) includes behaviors on both sides of a conflict between conspecifics, both initiator and receiver.
C) usually includes interspecific interactions related to attacks by predators.
D) usually includes interspecific interactions related to responses to predators, such as fleeing.

Answer 1

includes behaviors on both sides of a conflict between conspecifics, both initiator and receiver.

Question 2

Which of the following would NOT be considered an example of agonistic behavior?

A) a submissive display by a subordinate
B) a territorial song
C) an alarm call in response to a predator
D) an overt fight between two group members

Answer 2

an alarm call in response to a predator

Question 3

Early ethologists tended to believe that

A) animals displayed restraint in fighting for the good of the species as a whole.
B) animals would always fight to their maximum ability.
C) natural selection favors the individual that behaves for the sake of other individuals that are related to it.
D) natural selection favors the individual that passes on more of its own genes.

Answer 3

animals displayed restraint in fighting for the good of the species as a whole.

Question 4

To construct hypotheses about the evolution of conflict behavior, many researchers have turned to game theory because

A) animals involved in conflict in nature are not usually involved in particularly serious struggles.
B) animals with highly developed cognitive abilities use it as they navigate their day to day lives.
C) it predicts an animal's optimal strategy while taking into account the behavior of other animals.
D) the mathematics involved are complex.

Question 5

In a simple game-theory model of aggression called the hawk-dove game, which of the following strategies is NOT likely?

A) dove meets a dove and immediately attacks.
B) dove meets a hawk and immediately flees.
C) hawk meets a dove and immediately attacks.
D) hawk meets a hawk and immediately attacks.

Question 6

If V=value of the resource, W=cost of being wounded, and D=cost of displaying, which of the following terms correctly represents the average payoff for an interaction in which a dove meets another dove?

A) 0
B) V
C) (V-W)/2
D) (V/2)-D

Question 7

If V=value of the resource, W=cost of being wounded, and D=cost of displaying, which of the following terms correctly represents the average payoff for an interaction in which a hawk meets a dove?

A) 0
B) V
C) (V-W)/2
D) (V/2)-D

Question 8

If V=value of the resource, W=cost of being wounded, and D=cost of displaying, which of the following terms correctly represents the average payoff for an interaction in which a dove meets a hawk?

A) 0
B) V
C) (V-W)/2
D) (V/2)-D

Question 9

If V=value of the resource, W=cost of being wounded, and D=cost of displaying, which of the following terms correctly represents the average payoff for an interaction in which a hawk meets another hawk?

A) 0
B) V
C) (V-W)/2
D) (V/2)-D

Question 10

In the numerical example given in the text, where the value of the resource (V)=30, the cost of being wounded (W)=60, and the cost of displaying (D)=5, the equilibrium proportion for hawks was calculated to be .57. This means that an ESS will be produced if

A) 57% of the individuals play hawk.
B) 43% of the individuals play dove.
C) each individual plays hawk 57% of the time and dove 43% of the time.
D) all of the above.

Question 11

If V=value of the resource, W=cost of being wounded, and D=cost of displaying, under what circumstances might a pure hawk strategy be an ESS?

A) never
B) when V>W
C) when V< W
D) when W=D

Question 12

If V=value of the resource, W=cost of being wounded, and D=cost of displaying, then the fact that male elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris and M. leonina) fight brutal and bloody battles for the right to mate

A) supports the prediction of game theory that if V>W, a hawk strategy should prevail.
B) means that only a few dominant males can who defend harems of females perform all the matings.
C) fits with the finding that the fights among males are so strenuous that a male can usually be harem master for only a year or two before he dies.
D) all of the above.

Question 13

Toads (Bufo bufo) are especially willing to engage in energetic battles over females, probably because

A) the cost of battle relative to the benefit of winning is high.
B) the cost of battle relative to the benefit of winning is low.
C) toads have serious weapons to use again species that prey upon them.
D) toads have serious weapons to use against their conspecifics.

Question 14

In the basic hawk-dove model, we assume that

A) all individuals have the same ability to fight.
B) contests are usually asymmetric.
C) rivals are rarely true equals.
D) the participants value the contested resource differently.

Question 15

If a conditional strategy, such as the "assessor strategy", is to be effective it is likely that

A) animals evolve in ways that allow them to assess one another's resource holding potential accurately.
B) animals will evolve in ways that allow them to bluff convincingly when possible.
C) contestants might increase their fitness by assessing their opponent's resource holding potential relative to their own and adjust their fighting strategy to suit the occasion.
D) all of the above.

Question 16

Whitehouse (1997) set up fights between pairs of tiny spiders (Argyrodes antipodiana) that were matched for size. In each case, however, one of the two spiders had previously experienced a fight that it had won and the other had previously experienced a fight that it had lost. Whitehouse found that in 15 of the 17 pairs tested,

A) spiders that had experience as losers defeated their size-matched opponents, thus, failing to support the "assessor strategy" hypothesis.
B) spiders that had experience as losers won because they had been matched with larger opponents earlier, leading them to underestimate their abilities.
C) spiders that had experience as winners defeated their size-matched opponents.
D) spiders that had experience as winners lost because they had been matched with smaller opponents earlier, leading them to overestimate their abilities.

Question 17

Northern harrier hawks (Circus cyaneus) are less aggressive at some times than they are at others toward territorial intruders that might steal food. This is most likely to happen when the territory owners

A) are expanding their boundaries.
B) are nesting.
C) are out hunting.
D) have just eaten.

Question 18

In an experiment (Arnott and Elwood 2007), some hermit crabs, who use empty snail shells as shelters, were induced to change their fighting strategies such that they fought harder if they were in the role of attacker, but gave up more easily when in the role of defender. In this case, this occurred because they

A) had been shown a hidden cache of higher quality shells the other crabs weren't yet aware of.
B) had lost previous arranged fights.
C) had recently eaten.
D) were carrying a shell with an unpleasantly scratchy inside surface produced by the experimenter.

Question 19

A variation of the hawk-dove model includes the bourgeois strategy, one that sets rules for dealing with prior ownership: Play hawk if you had possession first; otherwise play dove. The bourgeois strategy is an example of a(n)

A) arbitrary asymmetry.
B) correlated asymmetry.
C) strategy within which a resource and resource holding potential are associated with one another.
D) all of the above.

Question 20

In a stable social group, the same two individuals are

A) likely to encounter one another repeatedly, but unlikely to recognize one another as individuals.
B) likely to encounter one another repeatedly and are likely to fight nearly every time they meet.
C) likely to encounter one another repeatedly and will usually establish a predictable relationship between themselves.
D) unlikely to encounter one another with any consistency.

Question 21

Dominance

A) may take the form of despotism.
B) may take the form of a linear hierarchy.
C) refers to the ability of one animal to assert itself over others in acquiring access to a limited resource.
D) all of the above.

Question 22

If you are the daughter of a high-ranking rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), you

A) are probably going to be the target of considerable hostility.
B) hold a dominance rank immediately below that of your mother.
C) will have to disperse from the group before you can be reproductively active.
D) will have to earn your place in the group's hierarchy once you get beyond your juvenile years.

Question 23

Dominant individuals

A) are likely to reproduce more than subordinates.
B) may show increased glucocorticoid levels.
C) often get more food than lower ranking individuals.
D) all of the above.

Question 24

Subordinates within a group

A) may achieve a higher status in the future.
B) nearly always die of starvation.
C) will generally do better if they disperse from the group.
D) all of the above.

Question 25

Subordinates within a group

A) may employ rather subversive strategies.
B) may do rather well overall reproductively.
C) occasionally win a fight and gain access to a resource.
D) all of the above.

Question 26

The entire area in which an animal lives is called a

A) home range.
B) homestead.
C) territorial system.
D) wide range.

Question 27

An area that is defended from intruders is called a

A) core area.
B) deteriorating range.
C) home range.
D) territory.

Question 28

The ideal free distribution

A) automatically occurs once each animal has dealt with the constraints placed upon it by other animals.
B) has been shown to actually occur in numerous species.
C) is the predicted result if animals had no actual knowledge about the relative value of individual habitats.
D) is the way animals distribute themselves if each of them is successful in defending a territory.

Question 29

Which of the following would NOT be considered a cost of maintaining a territory?

A) evicting intruders.
B) having a high quality site to raise young.
C) having less time to forage.
D) patrolling boundaries.

Question 30

An individual animal is most likely to be territorial when resources are

A) plentiful.
B) moderately abundant.
C) scarce.
D) thinly dispersed.

Question 31

Territories

A) are, by definition, always worth defending.
B) are most valuable when they are small and compact.
C) are worth defending only when the benefits outweigh the costs.
D) become more valuable the larger they are.

Question 32

Carpenter and colleagues (1983) describe the territorial behavior of a migrating rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) as it paused for five days in southern California during its southward migration. It ended up maximizing its weight gain during the rest period by

A) enlarging its territory bit by bit over the course of each of the five days.
B) fiercely defending its territory as originally established on the first day.
C) first expanding its territory size over three days and then reducing it slightly over the next two.
D) reducing the size of its territory day by day for the five day period.

Question 33

If you are trying to reduce the costs of maintaining a territory, you would probably select it so that it

A) avoids natural boundary markers.
B) includes good lookout points.
C) includes lots of conspecifics.
D) includes several visual barriers.

Question 34

Marler and colleagues (1988, 1991, 1995) described research in which they implanted male spiny lizards (Scleroporus jarrovi) with testosterone-laden capsules in winter, a season during which testosterone levels are usually low. The implanted lizards

A) became very aggressive.
B) failed to eat or rest enough and died sooner than other males.
C) spent a great deal of time in territorial defense and vigorous displays.
D) all of the above.

Question 35

In addition to testosterone, the neurotransmitter serotonin and the hormones called glucocorticoids are also involved in the expression of aggressive behavior. Summers and Winter (2006) have suggested that prior to the beginning of a fight, especially one between two lizards or two fish, the dominant animal tends to show

A) high levels of both.
B) high levels of serotonin and low levels of glucocorticoids.
C) low levels of both.
D) low levels of serotonin and high levels of glucocorticoids.

Question 36

Patterns of glucocorticoids across dominant and subordinate animals

A) have been found to be positively, negatively, or uncorrelated with rank across species.
B) may be related to long term differences in health associated with differences in rank.
C) may vary in their correlation with rank throughout the day.
D) all of the above.