Behavior Vocab - Ecology

preprogrammed response to a stimulus

loss of responsiveness to unimportant stimuli or stimuli that provides no feedback

innate behavior learned during critical period early in life

one stimulus is associated with another (Classical conditioning - Pavlov)

trial-and-error learning (aposometric predator training)

ability to reason through a problem the first time through with no prior experience

learning by watching someone else do it first

change in the speed of movement in response to a stimulus. (Organisms will move faster in bad environments and slower in good ones)

cyclic movement of animals over long distances according to the time of year

reflex movement toward or away from a stimulus

conflict behavior over access to a resource. Often a matter of which animal can mount the most threatening display and scare the other into submission

ranking of power amongst the members of a group; subject to change. Since members of the group know the order, less energy is wasted in conflicts over food and resources

defense of territory to keep others out

action in which an organism helps another at its own expense

animals behave altruistically toward others who are not relatives, hoping that the favor will be returned sometime in the future

feeding behavior of an individual. Animals have a search image that directs them to food

natural selection favors those whose foraging strategies that maximize the differential between costs and benefits, If the effort involved in obtaining food outweighs the nutritive value of the food, forget about it.

the ability of individuals to pass their genes not only through the production of their own offspring, but also by providing aid to enable closely related individuals to produce offspring

statistic that represents the average proportion of genes tow individuals have in common. The higher the value, the more likely they would be to altruistically aid one another

communication through the use of chemical signals, such as pheromones

communication through the use of visual cues, such as the tail feather displays of peacocks

communication through the use of sound, such as the chirping of frogs in the summer

communication through the use of touch, such as a handshake in humans