Midterm - Topic 1 Flashcards

Question

Directional vs. nondirectional hypothesis

Answer 1

Directional alternative hypothesis: predicts specifically how the variable under examination will affect the particular behaviour --> ie. behaviour will increase or decrease Nondirectional alternative hypothesis: offers no specific prediction of how one variable will affect the behaviour

Answer 2

Descriptive: to develop descriptions of the phenomenon Correlational: is there an association b/w the two variables, do they vary together. can be positively or negatively correlated Experimental: using independent (manipulated) variables and examining the dependant variable (measured)

Answer 3

- two variable vary together - can change in the same direction (ie both increase or both decrease) which is called positive correlation, or they can change in opposite directions (ie. as one increases the other decreases) which is called negative correlation. Or it can have zero correlation.

Answer 4

- when one variable causes the other - NOTE correlation does not mean causation - it is very difficult to establish causation because you would have to rule out all other variables

Answer 5

we look at the results in statistical terms to determine if the result obtained is significant, meaning that there is a less than 5% chance that the data obtained was by chance p < 0.05 then the data obtain was significant

Answer 6

Random sampling: participants randomly selected to give a good representation of the population. Random assignment: subjects in the experiment are randomly assigned to the different groups (ie. control vs. experimental group)

Answer 7

A scientific paper submitted will be reviewed by peers to evaluate the merit of the paper. Often papers are rejected many time before being publish

Answer 8

Primary literature has been peer reviewed ex. - Primary research articles in peer reviewed journals - Dissertations - Technical reports - Conference proceedings

Answer 9

Secondary literature had been reviewed but not necessarily peer reviewed Someone summarizes the findings of others. ex. - Monographs: books dealing with specific areas of research - literature reviews - magazine articles -- even if the scientist wrote the article, the review process is different and it has not been reviewed by peers therefore is not primary

Answer 10

Each journal will produce and impact factor. The impact factor refers to the number of scientists that use this journal in their reference list. Number of citations found in other research journals

Answer 11

Control groups are important to make sure that the effect of the independent variable is isolated.

Answer 12

Research question: Why is there variation if the number of robins feeding in yards? Hypothesis: the amount of food in a yard determines the number of robins feeding there Prediction: the more food found in the yard, the more robins will be in the yard Methods: The number of robins in each yard were counted. Then they examines how much food was in the yard in a specific area by mixing worm food together and pouring it over the soil and counting how many worms came up

Answer 13

When making conclusions, we do not say definitive words like proved, we use words like support You can either say that you reject the null hypothesis or you fail to reject the null hypothesis

Answer 14

It is hard for a male wolf spider to find a female wolf spider for a few reasons: 1. after a female wolf spider has matted, they do not mate again 2. females are cryptic meaning they blend in with their surroundings male spiders will use chemical cues that females deposit on their webs to find them. Once a female is found, the male starts a courtship dance. This dance is attractive to the female but can also attract other males. --> tap their leg and run their specialized organs together (seismic cue)

Answer 15

Hypothesis: male wolf spiders use the behaviour of nearby wolf spiders to find females Prediction: the presence of rival males will result in the searching male to orient towards the rival and then begin courtship H0: male wolf spiders do not use the other males to find receptive females Ha: male wolf spiders use the behaviours of nearby males to find females

Answer 16

Visual cues: larger males are preferred to smaller males Seismic cues: tapping their foot, females will feel the vibrations

Answer 17

Juvenile males were taken from the wild and raised in captivity until sexual maturity. The visual cues, seismic cues and both together were measured pre exposure (before female was seen), during stimulus exposure (while seeing female) and post exposure (after female was taken away) The number of bouts (number of times each behaviour occurred) and mean duration for the bouts was recorded

Answer 18

There were no difference in seismic cues before, during or after exposure. The problem was that the males they collected had never had a sexual experience. The spiders need to learn from other males.

Answer 19

This time, the males were used as a stimulus The juvenile males were presented with other males and the juveniles behaviours were once again measured, same as before but with an adult male as the stimulus. The results were the same, there were no difference in the responses. The conclusion is that the spiders need to have prior sexual experiences to display these behaviours

Answer 20

Assumptions: 1. Male fitness increases with number of fertilized eggs 2. some males are more attractive to females than others 3. once mated, some females sometimes/always/rarely mate with other males Conclusions: 1. the attractive males shouldn't spend energy on females that are always faithful or on the ones that are never faithful. They should spend the most energy in the middle 2. the unattractive male shouldn't spend time with the unfaithful or faithful. There is a point where they should just give up because there is too much energy for someone who is likely going to cheat. REFER TO GRAPH Both spend most energy in the middle, but the unattractive males spend more energy than the attractive ones. The UA will give up sooner than the A as the faithfulness of the female decreases Both spend little E on the never faithful and always faithful ones

Answer 21

when you attribute human motivations, characteristics and emotions to animals does not produce testable hypothesis but we should not dismiss the possibility of animals having emotions

Answer 22

- seasonal changes in day length can trigger hormonal changes that lead to increased feeding, fat storage etc - in some species migration is genetically wired where in other species it must be learned - they migrate to track resources - migration patters may differ between populations of species and closely related species

Answer 23

Proximate What is the mechanism that causes the behaviour? --> common trigger for infant crying is hunger, pain, separation from adult How does the behaviour develop? --> Infants cry at birth, and the crying peaks at 6 weeks then slowly declines till 4 month where it plateaus until around 1 year. First half of year, crying happens when they are separated, but not as much after 6 months Ultimate What is the function? --> crying is metabolically costly and may attract predators but it is a form of communication that elicits a beneficial response from the care taker How did the behaviour evolve? Vocal chords produce vocalization which elicit a beneficial response from the caretaker, leading to survival.

Answer 24

Hypothesis: male wolf spiders use the behaviour of nearby wolf spiders to find females Prediction: the presence of rival males will result in the searching male to orient towards the rival and then begin courtship H0: male wolf spiders do not use the other males to find receptive females Ha: male wolf spiders use the behaviours of nearby males to find females The juvenile male spider were caught from the wild and raised in captivity. These are called the focal males. The focal males were then exposed to an adult male who was previously exposed to the web chemical. The adult male was therefore performing the courtship dance. The focal males were exposed to the adult male just tapping, or just vibrating or both together. The focal male was observed for their chemoexploratory behavior (slow walking and rubbing as a sign of them detecting the chemical signals), it's courtship/behavoirs to attract the male (rapid walking and rubbing) Results: None of the treatments had an effect on the focal males chemoexplore behaviours. Conclusion: male wolf spiders do not appear to use the visual and seismic cues of rival males as a cue to locate females. HOWEVER they found a few years later the same spiders in the wild doing what they had predicted. Could prior social interactions be an important prerequisite? A similar experiment was performed using adult males caught from the wild. This time their results were what they expected Conclusion: male wolf spiders indeed used the cues of other males as a cue for finding females.

Answer 25

Some squirrels are seen eating in the open while others run back to their tree. Hypothesis: Food carrying might represent a trade-off between feeding in safety (in a tree) and obtaining highest energy intake. Created a mathematical model with 2 variables: energy intake(e consumed per sec) and the probability of being killed by a predator Model assumes that squirrel fitness increases as E intake increases and that the tree is safer than the ground Prediction 1: the larger the food item, the more often it should be carried to the tree.--> assumes that larger food items require more handelling time (amount of time required to manipulate the food so it is ready to eat). Prediction 2: as the distance between the food patch and the tree increases, individuals should reduce their carrying. (as distance increases, the amount of food the animal should carry decreases). Methods: Put cookies at varying distances Results: at each distance, they carried the larger pieces back more frequently. They rarely carried smaller items, they ate them in the field. They also carried fewer items to the tree as the distance increased. The data matched both predictions. Conclusion: food carrying behaviour in squirrels indeed represented a behavioural trade off between maximizing energy intake and minimizing predation risk this is true for many species

Answer 26

Source of hypothesis and prediction Analytical model Resulting models can generate predictions about which behaviour maximize an individuals fitness Advantage: allow scientists to easily manipulate their assumptions to produce new predictions about a behaviour

Answer 27

Amanda Vincent studied seahorses Spent many hours conducting observations. Question began with the mating of seahorses --> are they monogamous and do males defend territories Some are monogamous, which is rare in the animal world Mated pairs greet each other in a daily ritual that seems important to maintaining the bond Found that the seahorse population is decreasing because they are used in Chinese rituals and medicine. In response, Project Seahorse was founded to protect the seahorses while also ensuring sustainable livelihoods of those dependant on seahorse fishing.

Midterm - Topic 1 Flashcards

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