Animal Behavior & Psychology Flashcards

Which type of aggression is typically seen when two animals compete directly for the same limited resource?

Answer: Resource-based competition

Resource-based competition involves direct conflict between individuals competing for food, mates, territory, or other limited resources.

What does an animal's 'dominance hierarchy' primarily determine within a social group?

Answer: Access priority to resources like food and mates

A dominance hierarchy (pecking order) establishes ranked access to resources, with higher-ranked individuals having priority over subordinates.

The waggle dance performed by honeybees primarily communicates:

Answer: Distance and direction of a food source

The honeybee waggle dance encodes both the direction (relative to the sun) and distance to a food source for recruited foragers.

Counter-conditioning in animals involves:

Answer: Pairing a feared stimulus with a positive experience to change the response

Counter-conditioning replaces a negative emotional response to a stimulus by repeatedly pairing it with something positive.

Which behavioral strategy do prey animals use when a predator is detected but escape is unlikely?

Answer: Thanatosis (playing dead)

Thanatosis, or tonic immobility (playing dead), is a last-resort defense where an animal becomes motionless to deter predators that prefer live prey.

Konrad Lorenz's work on imprinting demonstrated that goslings would follow:

Answer: The first moving object they saw after hatching

Lorenz showed that goslings imprint on the first moving object they encounter after hatching, regardless of species, during a critical developmental window.

What does the term 'neophobia' mean in the context of animal behavior?

Answer: Avoidance of unfamiliar food or objects

Neophobia is the avoidance or fear of novel stimuli, such as new foods or unfamiliar objects, common in many wild and domestic species.