Concept explainers
Introduction:
Behavior is a term that describes what an animal does. It is a way through which an animal responds to environmental stimulus with the help of signals like visual, odor, or sound associated with mating, avoiding predators or to search food. Behavior helps an animal to survive and reproduce by monitoring social environment, making decisions, and thinking. Ethology is the study of animal behavior.
Answer to Problem 1U
Correct answer:
Ethologists suggested that the behavior in animals is controlled by the nervous system through an innate releasing mechanism which is a neural circuit that triggers the motor programs called fixed action patterns and is involved in the interpretation of key stimulus that triggered the action. They generalized that key stimulus is the environmental signal that starts the neural circuit which causes behavior. Innate releasing mechanisms are those sensory parts in the body that detect the signal and muscles controlled by neural circuits to generate a fixed action pattern. Therefore option b. is the correct answer.
Explanation of Solution
Reason for the correct statement:
A key stimulus is the environmental signal that starts the neural circuit which causes behavior. The innate releasing mechanism includes sensory parts in the body that detect the signal and muscles controlled by neural circuits to generate a fixed action pattern. Thus, key stimulus, innate releasing mechanism and fixed action pattern are the innate components of behavior.
Option b. is given as “are components of behaviors that are innate”.
As, “a key stimulus, innate releasing mechanism, and fixed action pattern are components of behaviors that are innate”, is the right answer.
Hence option b. is correct.
Reasons for the incorrect statements:
Option a. is given as “are mechanisms associated with behaviors that are learned”.
A key stimulus, innate releasing mechanism and fixed action pattern are the innate components of behavior and cannot be learned. So, it is a wrong answer.
Option c. is given as “involve behaviors that cannot be explained in terms of ultimate causation”.
A key stimulus, innate releasing mechanism and fixed action pattern are the innate components of behavior that can be explained in term of ultimate causation through the adaptive value of the behavior. Different adaptive behavior helps an animal to survive. So, it is a wrong answer.
Option d. is given as “involve behaviors that are not subject to natural selection”.
Innate behavior that helps an organism to survive is subjected to natural selection that helps an animal in their evolution. So, it is a wrong answer.
Hence options a., c., and d. are incorrect.
The behavior in animals is controlled by internal factors. A nervous system on receiving a key stimulus or signals regulates behavior through an innate releasing mechanism that triggers the motor programs called fixed action pattern.
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Chapter 54 Solutions
Biology with Connect Access Card
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Biology (MindTap Course List)BiologyISBN:9781337392938Author:Eldra Solomon, Charles Martin, Diana W. Martin, Linda R. BergPublisher:Cengage Learning