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IB 429 – Spring 2007
Name ________________________
Exam 1, Version A (questions for version B in parentheses)
1. (5.) Which of the following statements best defines “Animal Behavior”?
a. The study of how animals interact with each other.
b. The study of recognition systems.
c. The study of how and why animals interact with each other and their
environment.
d. The study of why animals interact with their environment to find food, shelter and
mates.
2. (3.) Chris’ cat Zadig sometimes has a bad habit of pooping on the carpet instead of in the
litter box. According to the rules of operant conditioning, what would be the best way to
“cure” Zadig of this bad behavior?
a. Give Zadig a treat (positive reinforcement) immediately every time he uses the
litter box.
b. Spray Zadig with water (negative reinforcement) 5 minutes after every time he
poops on the carpet.
c. Give Zadig a treat (positive reinforcement) just sometimes immediately after
he uses the litter box.
d. Spray Zadig with water (negative reinforcement) just sometimes 5 minutes after he
poops on the carpet.
3. (4.) Behaviors can be influenced by a single gene.
a. True
b. False
4. (5.) Which of the following is NOT one of Tinbergen’s 4 approaches to the study of
animal behavior?
a. Study the development or ontogeny of the behavior
b. Study the adaptive value of the behavior
c. Study the statistics of the behavior
d. Study the evolutionary history of the behavior
5. (1.) Automeris moths in Costa Rica exhibit a “wing-flipping” behavior in response to
being disturbed, in which false eyespots on their hindwings are displayed. Which of the
following is a proximate question regarding this behavior?
a. What do moths gain, in terms of fitness, from wing-flipping?
b. Is wing flipping behavior heritable?
c. What neural pathways control the wing-flipping response?
d. Are wing-flipping moths eaten less often?
IB 429, Spring 2007
Exam 1, Version A
Name ______________________
UIN _______________________
Some vole species are monogamous (mate with only a single partner in a breeding season).
Researchers have proposed various theories for the existence of monogamy. For each theory
below (questions 6, 7, and 8) answer whether the mechanism explaining monogamy is
proximate or ultimate.
6. (7.) High levels of the hormone vasopressin increase pair bonding and monogamy.
a. Proximate
b. Ultimate
7. (8.) Males that stayed with and guarded mates increased the survival of their offspring.
a. Proximate
b. Ultimate
8. (6.) A specific chunk of DNA on the V1aR gene is missing in polygynous voles.
Insertion of this chunk into males of a polygynous species increased mating bonding (a
behavior associated more with monogamy).
a. Proximate
b. Ultimate
9. (13.) According to the “biological species concept”, what characteristic defines the
separation between two species?
a. Deep splits in evolutionary history
b. Their morphology
c. The ability to interbreed
d. Allopatry
10. (9.) Which of the following is NOT a reason why it is hard to identify genes “for” a
behavior?
a. Evidence suggests that behavioral phenotypes are not highly heritable.
b. Behavioral traits are often polygenic.
c. Behavioral traits are plastic and highly responsive to the environment.
d. Often, many genes interact to influence a single behavioral trait.
11. (10.) Song development in male white crown sparrows depends on (select best answer):
a. Changes in the male’s neural circuitry and hormone levels during early adulthood.
b. The male’s auditory environment during early adulthood.
c. The male’s visual exposure to other males during early adulthood.
d. b and c only
e. a, b, and c
12. (11.) Which did NOT win a Nobel prize for their work on animal behavior?
a. K. Lorenz
b. B.F. Skinner
c. K. von Frisch
d. N. Tinbergen
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IB 429, Spring 2007
Exam 1, Version A
Name ______________________
UIN _______________________
13. (12.) If IQ were 100% heritable (or genetically based), we would predict a correlation of
____% between parents and offspring and a _____% between adopted siblings.
a. 100, 75
b. 50, 0
c. 25, 25
d. 50, 50
14. (14.) A microarray provides information on which of the following?
a. DNA sequence variation
b. Hormone levels
c. DNA expression levels
d. Cytoplasmic incompatibility
15. (19.) Many behaviors are only favorable if they are expressed at the right time, such as at
dawn or dusk. For animals to perform behaviors at the correct time their behavior rhythm
is often regulated by two components; which of the answers below has both of these
components?
a. Locomotion and Paternity
b. Environmental Cue and Biological Clock
c. Paternity and Biological Clock
d. Environmental Cue and Locomotion
16. (15.) Which of the following is NOT a way in which hormones are regulated?
a. Changes in receptor binding
b. Changes in hormone synthesis
c. Negative feedback
d. Reaction norm
17. (16.) Evolution works via all of the following mechanisms except:
a. Migration
b. Natural Selection
c. Developmental Flexibility
d. Genetic Drift
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IB 429, Spring 2007
Exam 1, Version A
Name ______________________
UIN _______________________
18. (17.) The diagram below represents what theory?
a. Variable Stimulus Model
b. Template Frequency Model
c. Recognition Optimization Model
d. Optimal Threshold Model
C
A
B
D
19. (18.) Which letter on the above diagram represent “rejection errors” (signals you want to
accept but are rejected)?
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D
20. (20.) MHC alleles may be used in which of the following category of recognition?
a. Sex recognition
b. Individual recognition
c. Allorecognition (self/non-self)
d. All of the above
21. (21.) Which of the following are reasons that we may see differences in song dialects
among populations of a species of songbird?
a. There are genetic differences among populations.
b. The populations are in different environments that may influence song
development.
c. Small differences in song have been maintained or amplified due to learning and
cultural transmission.
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
22. (23.) A good hypothesis will be:
a. Written in scientific jargon
b. Testable and falsifiable
c. Written without prior observation
d. None of the above
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IB 429, Spring 2007
Exam 1, Version A
Name ______________________
UIN _______________________
23. (22.) Hypotheses that explain behaviors as being advantageous through natural selection
are categorized as:
a. Proximate
b. Orthogonal
c. Distal
d. Adaptationist
24. (24.) An ethogram is best described as:
a. A diagram with means and variances
b. A plot of the frequency of various behaviors
c. A linear regression of cue and perception strengths
d. Estimated variance parameters and proximate modifiers
After some experiments, we determine that an individual white-crowned sparrow’s song is
more similar to that of his neighbor than that of his father. Categorize the following
hypotheses (questions 25-29) as either proximate (a) or ultimate (b):
25. (29.) Young adult white crowned sparrow males avoid sounding like their relatives to
avoid fitness costs associated with inbreeding. b
26. (25.) White-crowned sparrow males possess genetic information that influences the
development of a biased song learning mechanism. a
27. (26.) By singing the same song as his neighbors, the young male more efficiently deters
invasion of his territory by neighbors. b
28. (27.) The hormonal condition of young males predisposes him to listen to and mimic
songs of territorial males. a
29. (28.) Males with the song flexibility to mimic songs of their neighbors attract more
mates than males without this ability. b
30. (32.) Science advances by proving hypotheses.
a. True
b. False
31. (30.) Honey bee workers usually do _________ behaviors when young and ________
behaviors when old.
a. Defending, Reproducing
b. Nursing, Reproducing
c. Foraging, Defending
d. Nursing, Foraging
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IB 429, Spring 2007
Exam 1, Version A
Name ______________________
UIN _______________________
32. (31.) If a scientist uses a phylogenetic tree to infer the origin and historical changes in a
behavior, what term best describes her methodology?
a. Comparative
b. Experimental
c. Theoretical
d. Punctual
An egg placed near the nest of a swan will always elicit a predictable and practically
invariable behavior: the swan will get up from the nest and push the egg into her own nest
and incubate it (in fact, just about anything the right color and shape will initiate the
behavior). (questions 33 and 34)
33. (34.) The behavior by the swan elicited by the egg near her nest is an example of what:
a. A sign stimulus
b. An evolutionary stable strategy
c. A fixed action pattern
d. A Theoretical experiment
34. (35.) The stimulus that elicited the predictable behavior by the swan is called ________.
a. A sign stimulus
b. An evolutionary stable strategy
c. A fixed action pattern
d. A Theoretical experiment
35. (33.) Which of the following best describes co-evolution?
a. The cooperative transfer of information from a signaler to a receiver
b. The contribution that a trait or gene makes to inclusive fitness
c. A tentative explanation that will require testing before acceptance.
d. None of the above is a good definition for co-evolution
36. (36.) Geese form an image of their parents just after hatching, and will even follow a
human as the “parent” if this is the first animal they have contact with. This is an example
of:
a. intraspecific interactions
b. mutualism
c. parental care
d. imprinting
37. (37.) Every morning I get coffee in my favorite mug. Sometimes I feel awake and jittery
just from seeing my mug (even before I have had any coffee). This is an example of
which of the following?
a. classical conditioning
b. operant conditioning
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IB 429, Spring 2007
Exam 1, Version A
Name ______________________
UIN _______________________
38. (42.) Which of the following is NOT a factor affecting the development of cannibal
forms of tiger salamanders?
a. Population density
b. Genetic relatedness of tadpoles in pond
c. The genotype of the parents
d. Drying of the pond
39. (43.) You are working on maternal behavior in newts and are curious whether oxytocin,
a hormone involved in maternal behavior in mammals, is involved in the behavior of
your newts. Which of the following would be an acceptable method for determining the
role, if any, of oxytocin on newt maternal behavior?
a. Remove the gland producing oxytocin
b. Measure naturally varying amounts of oxytocin
c. Block oxytocin receptors in some newts.
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
Describe the effect of each hormone on the character described below. (questions 40-42)
40. (38.) Formation of human secondary sex characteristics.
a. Activational
b. Organizational
41. (39.) Courting behaviors in humans.
a. Activational
b. Organizational
42. (40.) Maternal behavior in mice
a. Activational
b. Organizational
43. (41.) Which of the following is NOT an important feature of a manipulative experiment?
a. Performing the experiment on many individuals
b. Separation of individuals into manipulated and un-manipulated groups
c. Not observing the animals during the experiment to make sure they are
undisturbed.
d. None of the above (i.e., all are important)
44. (44.) Niko Tinbergen used pine cones around digger wasp nests to test which of the
following hypotheses?
a. The wasps like pine resin because it deters predators.
b. The wasps eat pine cones and store them near their nests.
c. The wasps don’t actually use pine cones for anything.
d. The wasps use visual landmarks to find their nests.
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IB 429, Spring 2007
Exam 1, Version A
Name ______________________
UIN _______________________
45. (50.) Which of the following is NOT a prerequisite for natural selection to act on a
behavior?
a. It is phenotypically plastic
b. It is variable
c. It is heritable
d. Variations of the behavior are associated with different fitness
46. (45.) Character displacement is most likely to occur in which type(s) of species
interactions?
a. Competition
b. Mating
c. Mutualism
d. a and b are both likely
e. a, b, and c are all likely
47. (46.) Existing evidence supports which hypothesis to explain why male lions commit
infanticide?
a. Infanticide is a form of population control under high densities.
b. Infanticide is a social pathology caused by overcrowded conditions.
c. Infanticide leads to an increase in male lions’ reproductive success.
d. Infanticide is a nonadaptive form of misplaced aggression.
48. (47.) What is the main problem with classic group selection arguments to explain the
evolutionary maintenance of altruistic behavior?
a. Altruistic behavior is always non-adaptive.
b. Not all altruistic individuals live in groups.
c. Altruistic groups are susceptible to selfish cheaters.
d. Group selection can benefit indivudals.
49. (48.) Who is credited with the idea of sexual selection?
a. Alfred Russell Wallace
b. Niko Tinbergen
c. Charles Darwin
d. Charlie Whitfield
50. (49.) Which of the following best describes the process that tends to minimize
phenotypic variation regardless of environmental variation?
a. Developmental plasticity
b. Polyphenism
c. Developmental homeostasis
d. Fluctuating asymmetry
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IB 429, Spring 2007
Exam 1, Version A
Name ______________________
UIN _______________________
Bonus Questions (1 point each).
51. What is the name of your instructor who tempted Mother Nature and brought this
blizzard down upon us?
Andy, Andrew, Andy Suarez, Suarez, Dr. Suarez ….
52. Many animals exhibit cyclical behaviors. For example, crickets begin calling at dusk each
day. If we brought the crickets into the lab and determined that their calling behavior was
not related to any environmental cues, what would we call this cycle of activity?
a. a free running cycle
b. a bi-cycle
c. an environmentally dependent cycle
d. an associated reproductive pattern
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