Question 1

Figure 50.1
-In Figure 50.1, in which quadrant would the egg- rolling behaviour of a goose be plotted?

Accepted Answer

A

Question 2

How would you classify the genetic basis for most behavioural traits in the animal kingdom?

Accepted Answer

Most behavioral traits in animals are complex and influenced by multiple genes rather than being determined by a single gene. This polygenic nature allows for a wide range of behaviors and adaptations within and across species.

Question 3

You observe scrub jays hiding food and notice that one particular individual only pretends to hide food. What kind of experiment could you perform to test whether this was random or in response to another signal?

Accepted Answer

Hypothesizing a set of signals that could produce the behavior and trying to match the behaviors with the signals would allow for testing whether the behavior was intentional and in response to a signal, rather than random. Attempting to reproduce the behavior in captivity and observing more of these behaviors in the wild would not necessarily provide evidence that the behavior was intentional and in response to a signal.

Question 4

The recognition and manipulation of facts about the world is termed

Accepted Answer

The term "cognition" refers to the mental processes involved in recognizing, acquiring, and using knowledge and understanding about the world. This includes perception, attention, memory, language, problem-solving, and decision-making. Conditioning refers specifically to a type of learning where an organism associates a particular behavior or response with a stimulus. Learning and imprinting are related to the acquisition and retention of information, but are not as specific to the mental processes involved in cognition.

Question 5

Lobsters can navigate back home at night using Earth's magnetic field. Is this statement a proximate cause or an ultimate cause?

Accepted Answer

The statement is a proximate cause because it describes how lobsters navigate (the immediate mechanism), not why this behavior evolved (the evolutionary reason).

Question 6

Which one of the following examples best illustrates classical conditioning?

Accepted Answer

The sound of a food can being opened has become a conditioned stimulus for the cats, causing them to salivate and run into the kitchen in anticipation of food. This is an example of classical conditioning, where a neutral stimulus (the sound of the can opener) becomes associated with a natural, unconditioned response (the cats' hunger), and eventually elicits the same response (running into the kitchen) on its own.

Question 7

Which of the following statements about imprinting is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

Imprinting can occur on various characteristics, such as sound, smell or movement patterns, not just on a specific color/shape.

Question 8

In testing a hypothesis that "territorial defence in European robins is a fixed action pattern that is released by the sight of orange feathers," researchers found that robins defended their territory by attacking anything that was of similar size and had an orange patch. How would you show that it was indeed colour that initiated the defence responses?

Accepted Answer

By repeating the experiment without the orange patch, researchers can determine if it is indeed the presence of orange coloration that triggers the territorial defence response. If the defense response is absent in the absence of orange coloration, it further supports the hypothesis that territorial defence is triggered by the sight of orange feathers. The other options (B, C, and D) do not directly address the role of color in initiating the defense response.

Question 9

Based on your knowledge of cost- benefit analysis, why would you expect some white- fronted bee- eaters to fly very far away from the nests to forage when there are food sources nearby?

Accepted Answer

Based on cost-benefit analysis, it is likely that the white-fronted bee-eaters have found some plentiful food sources further away from the nest that are worth the additional energy expenditure to forage. They may be balancing the benefits of higher quality or quantity of food with the costs of travel and potential risks.

Question 10

In the case of the redback spider, would males be better off, in terms of fitness, looking for another female to mate with instead of provoking his mate to eat him?

Accepted Answer

In the specific mating strategy of the redback spider, the male's self-sacrifice by allowing the female to consume him after or during mating significantly increases the amount of sperm transferred, ensuring greater reproductive success with that mate. This peculiar behavior is advantageous in their natural context, where finding another mate can be highly uncertain and risky, thus making the self-sacrifice a more viable strategy for passing on genes to the next generation.

Question 11

Learning has the most influence on behaviour when

Accepted Answer

This choice encompasses two important factors that contribute to effective learning and subsequent behavioral change: the ability to make mistakes without dire consequences and the presence of mentors or teachers to guide the learning process. The other choices only address one of these factors or narrow the focus to a specific type of animal, whereas choice B applies to a wide range of species.

Question 12

You have captured a number of rats from a wild population and quickly surmise with tests that they are very good at avoiding food with poisons. What would best explain this observation?

Accepted Answer

Rats have likely evolved to be able to detect and avoid toxins in their environment in order to survive. This behavior could be learned through their exposure to a large variety of toxins in their surroundings.

Question 13

Which would be the best way to obtain evidence of a bird's cognitive abilities?

Accepted Answer

Having the bird attempt to solve novel problems in captivity would be the most reliable way to obtain evidence of its cognitive abilities. This approach allows researchers to control variables and ensure that the problem is indeed new to the bird, eliminating any bias that may arise from prior experience or familiarity with the task. While observing the bird solving problems in the wild can provide valuable insights into its behavior and adaptations, it may be difficult to determine whether the bird is truly solving the problem or relying on instinctual responses. Similarly, testing the bird with problems similar to those it would face in the wild could also be confounded by instinctual responses or prior experience.

Question 14

Figure 50.2
-Which of the following conclusions is most logical based on the data above?

Accepted Answer

The data shows that females exposed to breeding males produced more eggs per day compared to those not exposed to breeding males. Therefore, it is logical to conclude that females produce more eggs more quickly when exposed to breeding males. The data does not provide evidence to support conclusions A or B, and D is not a valid choice as it includes all answer options.

Question 15

You see young spiders hatch from eggs, and, within 5 hours, they are dispersing far from their parents and forming webs. What can you hypothesize about their behaviour?

Accepted Answer

The fact that the spiders are able to form webs and disperse within 5 hours of hatching suggests that web-building is an innate behavior, as there has not been enough time for any observational learning to occur. Additionally, the lack of parental involvement also supports the idea that web-building is innate.

Question 16

How would self- sacrifice of male redback spiders be an adaptive behaviour?

Accepted Answer

Male redback spiders engage in self-sacrifice by willingly allowing the female to consume them during or after mating. This behavior is adaptive because the chances of a male encountering more than one female are relatively low, so sacrificing himself to maximize mating time and sperm transfer with any female he finds increases his reproductive success. This behavior allows the male to transfer as much sperm as possible while avoiding potential competition from other males.

Question 17

You observe scrub jays hiding food and notice that one particular individual only pretends to hide food. Your experiments associate the presence of other siblings with the frequency of pretending to cache food. A colleague shows you animals of the same species that do not perform this pretend caching. How does this information affect your conclusions about this behaviour?

Accepted Answer

The presence of animals of the same species that do not perform this behavior suggests that the behavior may be learned rather than inherent to the species. This would affect the conclusions that can be drawn about the behavior and may require further investigation to determine the factors influencing its occurrence.

Question 18

You observe a species of bird that, upon hatching, has contact with its parents only while being fed. You also never hear the parents sing during the feeding process. What would you propose about song learning in this species of bird?

Accepted Answer

Since the parents do not sing during the feeding process, it is unlikely that the bird learns its songs from them. Therefore, the most likely explanation is that song learning in this species is innate.

Question 19

A cage containing male mosquitoes has a small earphone placed on top, through which the sound of a female mosquito is played. All the males immediately fly to the earphone and go through all the steps of copulation. What is the best explanation for this behaviour?

Accepted Answer

Copulation is a fixed action pattern, and the female flight sound is a sign stimulus that initiates it.

Question 20

Figure 50.1
-In which quadrant of the figure above would bird migration be plotted?

Accepted Answer

The answer of  Figure 50.1
-In which quadrant of the...

Quiz 50: Behavioural Ecology

Figure 50.1 -In Figure 50.1, in which quadrant would the egg- rolling behaviour of a goose be plotted?