Animal Behavior Chapter 3 & 4

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Interobserver Reliability

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A method for checking on the agreement between two or more people watching the same animals behave. This becomes important both as a check on the definitions developed for particular behavior patterns and when we have two or more individuals gathering the data in a particular investigation and we wish to know that they are taking down their records of the data in as nearly similar a manner as possible.

Front 2

Mean

Back 2

The average of all values.

Front 3

Experimental Hypotheses

Back 3

The biological ideas, both broad and specific, developed from knowledge about previous investigations and our own imagination and creativity, that lead to tests of statistical null hypotheses using experiment designs.

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Null Hypothesis

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In a statistical sense, to the statement that there will not be any difference between effects of experimental treatments.

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Independent Variables

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The variables that define the treatment conditions in an experiment; literally, the variables that we manipulate to test their effects on behavior.

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Dependent Variables

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What may change in response to manipulation of an independent variable by the experimenter.

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Control Group

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An observed, unmanipulated set of test subjects. In an experimental manipulation, we must also perform actions involved in that manipulation on a second test group of organisms in order to ascertain whether any effects of the experimental treatment are due to that treatment and not to the actions involved in providing the treatment.

Front 8

Pseudoreplication

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Artificially inflating sample size by incorrectly counting units as independent when they are not. Can result from either repeated testing of the same animal without proper statistical correction using repeated measures design, or counting members of an interacting social group as separate data points. In both cases, problems with independence of data points arises with pseudoreplication.

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Discrete Variable

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A variable that can take on only certain values (usually integers), as opposed to a continuous variable.

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Continuous Variable

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One that can assume any value whatsoever between certain limits, versus a discrete variable that can assume only specific values (usually integers).

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Variance

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A statistical measure of the amount of variation in a series of measurements.

Front 12

Standard Deviation

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A statistical measure of the degree of variation from the mean value among the individual measurements in a series of values.

Front 13

Standard Error of the Mean (SEM)

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A statistical measure of variation most properly restricted to use with a group of means, though often reported as a measure of variation around the mean value in a series of individual measurements.

Front 14

Observability

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Not all of the members of a group are always seen the same proportion of time. Animals of different ages, sexes, or of different dominance status may be seen more or less than other animals.

Front 15

Phenotype

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The observable characteristics of an organism that result from the influence of both the organism's genotype and environmental factors.

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Genotype

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The genetic constitution of an individual.

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Genes

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A sequence of nucleotides on a DNA molecule that is the basic unit of heredity.

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Chromosomes

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A long , complex molecule of DNA, portions of which are the different units of heredity (genes).

Front 19

Locus

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The position of a particular gene on a chromosome.

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Homologous Chromosomes (Homologues)

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Chromosomes that exist in pairs; each homologue possesses the same genes or loci, but the homologues may have different alleles at the same locus; one member of each pair comes from each parent.

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Alleles

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A particular form of a gene (locus) that can be distinguished from other forms (alleles) of that gene.

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Homozygous

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A condition where an individual has two copies of the same allele at the same locus on homologous chromosomes.

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Heterozygous

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A condition where an individual has two different alleles of the same gene on homologous chromosomes.

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Dominant Trait

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A trait whose phenotype is determined by a single allele at a particular locus.

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Recessive Trait

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A trait caused by an allele, the phenotype of which is suppressed when it occurs with the dominant allele. Hence, two recessive alleles are necessary for the recessive phenotype to be displayed.

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Structural Genes

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A gene that determines the amino acid sequence of a protein.

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Regulatory Genes

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A gene that turns other genes on an off.

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Somatic

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Having to do with body cells, i.e., those that do not produce gametes.

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Recombination

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The formation of new combinations of alleles through exchange of sections of homologous chromosomes during the process of meiosis; sometimes refers to the combinations of new alleles that result from fertilization.

Front 30

Evolution

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A change in the frequency of alleles in a population over generations.The change is caused by natural selection and/or genetic drift.

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Microevolution

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Changes in gene frequencies or traits that occur in small increments.

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Macroevolution

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Major evolutionary events occurring above the species level.

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Speciation

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The process of two populations that share a common descent evolving in different ways so that they ultimately do not interbreed and are therefore different species.

Front 34

Mutation

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A change in the sequence of nucleotides in a gene.

Front 35

Adaption

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In evolutionary biology, any structure, physiological process, or behavioral trait that makes an animal better able to survive and reproduce compared to conspecifics. Also used to describe the process of evolutionary change leading to the formation of such a trait.

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Gene Flow

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The movement of genes from one population to another via migration or interbreeding.

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Genetic Drift

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The occurrence of random changes in the gene frequency in a population due to chance rather than selection, gene flow, or mutation.

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Founder Effect

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The establishment of a genetically distinct population based on a random event in which the founders of the population represent only a subset of the genetic variability in the parent population.

Front 39

Null Model

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A hypothesis that tells us what to expect if no special forces are at work. An example is the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

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Fitness

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The potential for an individual to contribute genes to future generations as a function of its adaptive traits.

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Reproductive Success

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The number of progeny born, or surviving progeny produced by an organism.

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Inclusive Fitness

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The sum of an individual's direct and indirect fitness.

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Direct Fitness

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A measure of an individual's potential to contribute genes to future generations via personal reproduction.

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Indirect Fitness

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A measure of the potential for an individual to contribute copies of its genes to future generations through its influence on the reproduction of nondescendant relatives. Only the portion of the nondescendant kins' reproduction due to helping by the relative is included in the measure of its inclusive fitness, and it is devalued in proportion to the degree of relatedness.

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Epistasis

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One or more alleles at one locus that influence the expression of alleles at another locus.

Front 46

Pleiotropy

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A description for a gene or set of genes that influences the phenotype of more than one characteristic.