Vocabulary Review Ch 44- Animal Behavior

A person who specializes in the scientific study of animal behavior Ethologist

An action that an individual carries out in response to a stimulus or to the environment Behavior

An inherited behavior that does not depend on the environment or experience Innate Behavior

An innate behavior that is characteristic of certain species Fixed action pattern

The development of behaviors through experience or practice Learning

A type of learning in which an animal learns to ignore a frequent, harmless stimulus Habituation

A type of learning in which specific animal behaviors are deterred or reinforced by external actions upon the animal; usually refers to a controlled experimental situation Operant conditioning

A type of learning in which an animal learns to produce a specific response to a predictive stimulus in anticipation of receiving external reinforcement Classical conditioning

A type of problem solving that requires the ability to solve a problem that has not been encountered previously Reasoning

Learning that occurs early and quickly in a young animal’s life and that cannot be changed once learned Imprinting

In an animal’s development, the specific phase during which imprinting occurs Sensitive period

A prediction of the ratio of the energy expended to the energy gained as an animal searches for food; holds that animals tend to behave in a way that maximizes food intake while minimizing efforts to find food and avoiding danger Optimality hypothesis

Threatening behavior or physical conflict between animals Aggressive behavior

An area that is occupied by one animal or a group of animals that do not allow other members of the species to enter Territory

In competitive animal groups, a ranking of individuals from most dominant to most subordinate Dominance hierarchy

An animal behavior that functions to attract mates Courtship

A transfer of a signal or message from one animal to another that results in some type of response Communication

In animals, bright coloration that warns predators that a potential prey animal is poisonous Aposematic coloration

A defense in which one organism resembles another that is dangerous or poisonous Mimicry

A substance that is released by the body and that causes another individual of the same species to react in a predictable way Pheromone

The interaction between animals of the same species that are not related or are only distant relatives Social behavior

A biological daily cycle Circadian rhythm

A period of inactivity and lowered body temperature that some animals undergo in winter as a protection against cold weather and lack of food Hibernation

In general, any movement of individuals or populations from one location to another; specifically, a periodic group movement that is characteristic of a given population or species Migration