BIO 331 Exam 1
Typological thinking - answer based on the idea that species are unchanging types and
that variations within species are unimportant or even misleading
Species concept - answer like grouped with like based on shared appearance and
actions as well as categorization of behavior
Inheritance of acquired characteristics - answer Lamarckian belief that characteristics
acquired during the lifetime of an organism can be passed on to offspring
Cultural evolution - answer The adaptive changes of cultures in response to
environmental changes over time
Natural selection - answerA process in which individuals that have certain inherited
traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of
those traits.
Sexual selection - answer the variation in fitness that can be explained by how sexes
compete for mating with the opposite sex
Survival of the fittest - answer Process by which individuals that are better suited to their
environment survive and reproduce most successfully; also called natural selection
Heritability - answerThe proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute
to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and
environments studied.
Ethology - answerThe scientific study of how animals behave, particularly in natural
environments.
Ethogram - answera catalog or inventory of all of the behaviors an animal exhibits in its
natural environment
Sign stimulus - answeran external sensory stimulus that triggers a fixed action pattern
Imprinting - answerthe process by which certain animals form attachments during a
critical period very early in life
Fixed action pattern - answerIn animal behavior, a sequence of unlearned acts that is
essentially unchangeable and, once initiated, usually carried to completion.
, Niko Tinbergen - answercontributed to the study of instinct and to the four central
questions we can ask about animal behavior
Levels of analysis
Karl von Frisch - answerdescribed bee waggle dance
Charles Darwin - answer-Evolution by "natural selection" (the weaker die out) wrote On
the Origin of Species
William Hamilton - answerkin selection rule
Amotz Zahavi - answerhandicap principle
Jean Baptiste Lamarck - answerinheritance of acquired characteristics
Konrad Lorenz - answerimprinting
Levels of analysis - answerthe differing complementary views, from biological to
psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon
Causation - answerProximate = mechanism (hormones, neurons, ecology) short term
Development - answerProximate = ontogeny (imprinting, organization) short term
Evolution - answerUltimate = history (shared ancestry) long term
Function - answerUltimate = current value (survival, reproduction) long term
Sociobiology - answerthe systematic study of how biology affects human social
behavior
Comparative psychology - answerarea of psychology in which the psychologists study
animals and their behavior for the purpose of comparing and contrasting it to human
behavior
Kin selection - answerthe idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by
natural selection
Gene flow - answermovement of alleles from one population to another
Group selection - answernotion, largely discredited by the rise of Darwinian theory,
proposing that animals act for the good of their social group or of their species
Selfishness - answerSelf-interest and concern with individual needs/wants which
excludes considering those of others
Typological thinking - answer based on the idea that species are unchanging types and
that variations within species are unimportant or even misleading
Species concept - answer like grouped with like based on shared appearance and
actions as well as categorization of behavior
Inheritance of acquired characteristics - answer Lamarckian belief that characteristics
acquired during the lifetime of an organism can be passed on to offspring
Cultural evolution - answer The adaptive changes of cultures in response to
environmental changes over time
Natural selection - answerA process in which individuals that have certain inherited
traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of
those traits.
Sexual selection - answer the variation in fitness that can be explained by how sexes
compete for mating with the opposite sex
Survival of the fittest - answer Process by which individuals that are better suited to their
environment survive and reproduce most successfully; also called natural selection
Heritability - answerThe proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute
to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and
environments studied.
Ethology - answerThe scientific study of how animals behave, particularly in natural
environments.
Ethogram - answera catalog or inventory of all of the behaviors an animal exhibits in its
natural environment
Sign stimulus - answeran external sensory stimulus that triggers a fixed action pattern
Imprinting - answerthe process by which certain animals form attachments during a
critical period very early in life
Fixed action pattern - answerIn animal behavior, a sequence of unlearned acts that is
essentially unchangeable and, once initiated, usually carried to completion.
, Niko Tinbergen - answercontributed to the study of instinct and to the four central
questions we can ask about animal behavior
Levels of analysis
Karl von Frisch - answerdescribed bee waggle dance
Charles Darwin - answer-Evolution by "natural selection" (the weaker die out) wrote On
the Origin of Species
William Hamilton - answerkin selection rule
Amotz Zahavi - answerhandicap principle
Jean Baptiste Lamarck - answerinheritance of acquired characteristics
Konrad Lorenz - answerimprinting
Levels of analysis - answerthe differing complementary views, from biological to
psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon
Causation - answerProximate = mechanism (hormones, neurons, ecology) short term
Development - answerProximate = ontogeny (imprinting, organization) short term
Evolution - answerUltimate = history (shared ancestry) long term
Function - answerUltimate = current value (survival, reproduction) long term
Sociobiology - answerthe systematic study of how biology affects human social
behavior
Comparative psychology - answerarea of psychology in which the psychologists study
animals and their behavior for the purpose of comparing and contrasting it to human
behavior
Kin selection - answerthe idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by
natural selection
Gene flow - answermovement of alleles from one population to another
Group selection - answernotion, largely discredited by the rise of Darwinian theory,
proposing that animals act for the good of their social group or of their species
Selfishness - answerSelf-interest and concern with individual needs/wants which
excludes considering those of others
