PSYC 381 Final Exam UPDATED ACTUAL Questions and
CORRECT Answers
Parental Behaviour
What four categories can parental behaviour be In humans, parental behaviour can be broadly classified into four categories
classified into? Describe each based on two dimensions, expectation and support...
1. Neglectful (low expectation, low support)
2. Permissive (low expectation, high support)
3. Authoritarian (high expectation, low support)
4. Authoritative (high expectation, high support)
There may be endocrine correlates of many aspects of these classes, but none
have been described to date
,Reproduction for many species ends immediately after What is alloparental behaviour?
sex, but many others require a prolonged
intergenerational period of nurturing... Caregiving to offspring that is provided by individuals other than their genetic
parents
What is alloparental behaviour?
Parenting includes both paternal and maternal behaviours , and is often also
Differ between altricial and precocial offspring extended to broader social groups
What is r/K selection theory?
Differ between altricial and precocial offspring
The degree to which offspring require parental assistance in order to survive to
reproductive age is partially dependent on whether they are…
1. Altricial
Born or hatched at an early stage of development. Altricial offspring are
generally quite helpless and require substantial parental care to survive
2. Precocial
Born or hatched at an advanced stage of development so that little or no
parental intervention is required for survival
What is r/K selection theory?
One evolutionary strategy to avoid the costs of parenting is the overproduction
of precocial young (e.g., mosquitoes)…
1. r-Selection
r-selection species produce many offspring
2. K-Selection
K-selection species produce few offspring
,What is parental investment theory? What is parental investment theory?
What is kin selection? There is an evolutionary trade-off between reproductive effort and parental
care, where care for one or few offspring comes at the cost of foregoing the
What is Hamilton's rule for altruism? production of more offspring
What is kin selection?
Kin selection is a mechanism that can promote alloparenting, in which fitness is
conferred to genetic relatives of those providing care
What is Hamilton's rule for altruism?
Hamilton’s rule for altruism is…
r > C/B
r is the coefficient of relatedness that can range from 0 to 1, such that 0 indicates
no relation above average and 1 indicates a clone
B is a quantification of the fitness benefit conferred to the offspring
C is a quantification of the fitness cost incurred by the caregiver
What is parent-offspring conflict theory? Parent-offspring conflict theory maintains that parents and offspring should
disagree over the amount of parental resources invested in the offspring so that
offspring should always demand more than parents are willing to invest
Depending on the ecological circumstances of a particular species, the time
point at which the cost overcomes the benefits varies, but it inevitably arrives...
1. Early care termination allows parents to reinvest in new young
2. Late care termination allows young to maximize their benefit
, Describe the sex differences regarding parental Describe the sex differences regarding parental behaviour
behaviour
Paternal behavior is rather rare in the animal kingdom; maternal care is much
Describe the sexual selection trade-off between low- more common. Females of most animal species experience more proximal costs
and high-investment males than males for their investment in offspring
Describe the sexual selection trade-off between low- and high-investment
males
Since paternal investment is rare, sexual selection itself becomes a trade-off
between selection of low- and high-investment males…
1. Low-investment males have more time for inter-male competition
2. High-investment males are therefore less likely to be able to dominate low-
investment males in inter-male competition
Unfortunately, while the vast array of parental care styles have been well-
documented in many species, very little is known about the behavioural
endocrinology of parental investment, except in a few species of birds, sheep,
and rodents
Describe parental behaviour in plants Plants and fungi have well characterized vascular systems with which they
transport nutrients, endocrine, and exocrine signals. One notable example of the
combining of these systems has been dubbed the “mother tree”, where some
trees, such as local Douglas firs, preferentially redistribute nutrients to related
local saplings and other plants
This redistribution is facilitated by a network of fungi that act as sources and sinks
for the various molecules that can be “called for” by both plants and fungi
themselves
Describe parental behaviour in fish While most fish do not engage in parenting behaviour, there are a few
exceptions, including yolk composition and other feeding...
1. In tropical damselfish, the hormonal content of yolk affects morphology
Cortisol decreases larvae length, whereas testosterone increases yolk size
2. Midas cichlids feed off the mucus produced in the skin of their parents
The mucus contains prolactin, growth hormone, and T4
3. Daffodil cichlid alloparents show higher levels of cortisol than parents
CORRECT Answers
Parental Behaviour
What four categories can parental behaviour be In humans, parental behaviour can be broadly classified into four categories
classified into? Describe each based on two dimensions, expectation and support...
1. Neglectful (low expectation, low support)
2. Permissive (low expectation, high support)
3. Authoritarian (high expectation, low support)
4. Authoritative (high expectation, high support)
There may be endocrine correlates of many aspects of these classes, but none
have been described to date
,Reproduction for many species ends immediately after What is alloparental behaviour?
sex, but many others require a prolonged
intergenerational period of nurturing... Caregiving to offspring that is provided by individuals other than their genetic
parents
What is alloparental behaviour?
Parenting includes both paternal and maternal behaviours , and is often also
Differ between altricial and precocial offspring extended to broader social groups
What is r/K selection theory?
Differ between altricial and precocial offspring
The degree to which offspring require parental assistance in order to survive to
reproductive age is partially dependent on whether they are…
1. Altricial
Born or hatched at an early stage of development. Altricial offspring are
generally quite helpless and require substantial parental care to survive
2. Precocial
Born or hatched at an advanced stage of development so that little or no
parental intervention is required for survival
What is r/K selection theory?
One evolutionary strategy to avoid the costs of parenting is the overproduction
of precocial young (e.g., mosquitoes)…
1. r-Selection
r-selection species produce many offspring
2. K-Selection
K-selection species produce few offspring
,What is parental investment theory? What is parental investment theory?
What is kin selection? There is an evolutionary trade-off between reproductive effort and parental
care, where care for one or few offspring comes at the cost of foregoing the
What is Hamilton's rule for altruism? production of more offspring
What is kin selection?
Kin selection is a mechanism that can promote alloparenting, in which fitness is
conferred to genetic relatives of those providing care
What is Hamilton's rule for altruism?
Hamilton’s rule for altruism is…
r > C/B
r is the coefficient of relatedness that can range from 0 to 1, such that 0 indicates
no relation above average and 1 indicates a clone
B is a quantification of the fitness benefit conferred to the offspring
C is a quantification of the fitness cost incurred by the caregiver
What is parent-offspring conflict theory? Parent-offspring conflict theory maintains that parents and offspring should
disagree over the amount of parental resources invested in the offspring so that
offspring should always demand more than parents are willing to invest
Depending on the ecological circumstances of a particular species, the time
point at which the cost overcomes the benefits varies, but it inevitably arrives...
1. Early care termination allows parents to reinvest in new young
2. Late care termination allows young to maximize their benefit
, Describe the sex differences regarding parental Describe the sex differences regarding parental behaviour
behaviour
Paternal behavior is rather rare in the animal kingdom; maternal care is much
Describe the sexual selection trade-off between low- more common. Females of most animal species experience more proximal costs
and high-investment males than males for their investment in offspring
Describe the sexual selection trade-off between low- and high-investment
males
Since paternal investment is rare, sexual selection itself becomes a trade-off
between selection of low- and high-investment males…
1. Low-investment males have more time for inter-male competition
2. High-investment males are therefore less likely to be able to dominate low-
investment males in inter-male competition
Unfortunately, while the vast array of parental care styles have been well-
documented in many species, very little is known about the behavioural
endocrinology of parental investment, except in a few species of birds, sheep,
and rodents
Describe parental behaviour in plants Plants and fungi have well characterized vascular systems with which they
transport nutrients, endocrine, and exocrine signals. One notable example of the
combining of these systems has been dubbed the “mother tree”, where some
trees, such as local Douglas firs, preferentially redistribute nutrients to related
local saplings and other plants
This redistribution is facilitated by a network of fungi that act as sources and sinks
for the various molecules that can be “called for” by both plants and fungi
themselves
Describe parental behaviour in fish While most fish do not engage in parenting behaviour, there are a few
exceptions, including yolk composition and other feeding...
1. In tropical damselfish, the hormonal content of yolk affects morphology
Cortisol decreases larvae length, whereas testosterone increases yolk size
2. Midas cichlids feed off the mucus produced in the skin of their parents
The mucus contains prolactin, growth hormone, and T4
3. Daffodil cichlid alloparents show higher levels of cortisol than parents
