Animal Behavior ‑ Final Examination ‑ Fall 2008

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS: The test has three sections. Read the instruction for each section carefully. Use a word processor to write your answers. The test is open book. You should not to exceed 2 double-spaced pages per answer.

SECTION I – everyone must answer this question

A) What do you consider the single most important concept in the study of animal behavior? Explain the logic of that concept and how that concept helps you understand why animals do what they do? Be sure to include examples.

SECTION II – everyone must answer this question

B) What is the difference between a hypothesis and a prediction and how are they related within the context of the Scientific Method? Illustrate your explanation by outlining an imaginary study. The study will address the observation you made on your last trip to Africa, where you noticed that wild lions seem to sleep less than zoo lions. (assume you have unlimited funds to go back and forth between the Columbus Zoo and the Serengetti Plain).

SECTION III – choose two of these to answer

C) How many times have you heard that humans are only using a fraction, say, 10 percent of their brains? Thus, humans are not using all the available brain power and are artificially limited in their potential for learning achievement. How plausible is this argument? Explain using what you know about natural selection and the adaptive value of behavior.

D) Everyone knows that when Cinderella's father died, her "evil" step-mother made her do all the work while Cinderella's oafish step-sisters had all the fun. Explain the evil step-mother's behavior in terms of what you know about animal behavior.

E) Off the coast of California, many surfers have been bitten by sharks when sitting on or paddling their boards. Generally, after the initial bite, a shark will release the surfer and swim away. Some researchers say that sharks rarely eat the surfers because "sharks prefer the odor and taste of their customary prey, seals and sea lions". Others say "Sharks release humans because humans are not fat enough, and therefore produce too few calories to be part of the optimal diet." Reconcile these two positions keeping in mind such concepts as foraging theory, sensory systems, and proximate and ultimate causation.