Term
| game theory models are set up to... |
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Definition
| examine behavioral evolution when the fitness of an individual depends both on its own behavior and the behavior of others. |
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Term
| the 3 most well-developed game theory models of aggression: |
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Definition
| 1.) the hawk-dove game
2.) the war of attrition game
3.) the sequential assessment game |
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Term
| the game theory models have these elements in common: |
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Definition
| a cost to fighting: opportunity cost (doing something else like mating or foraging), the cost of physical injury, etc.
the value of whatever resource is being contested (mates, food) |
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Term
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Definition
| individuals can adopt one of two behavioral strategies when contesting some resource:
1.) hawk - wherein a player will escalate and continue to escalate until either it is injured or its opponent cedes the resource
2.) dove - a player displays as if it will escalate, but retreats and cedes the resource if its opponent escalates (aka mouse strategy) |
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Term
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Definition
| instructs an individual to play hawk if it is a territory holder, and dove if it does not own a territory. |
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Term
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Definition
| play dove if you are a territory holder, and hawk if you are not. |
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Term
| antibourgeois mexican spiders |
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Definition
| sets down territory under rocks and plays antibourgeois strategy
when an intruder approaches a territory, the spider flees instead of fighting.
then, the former territory holder searches for a new home, where that territory owner will leave, and so on. |
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Term
| why are mexican spiders antibourgeois? |
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Definition
| the cost of fighting versus the # of territories available and the danger in moving b/w territories.
if the cost of fighting is high, but numerous territories are available, and it is safe to move b/w territories, antibourgeois may be the best option. |
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Term
| bourgeois speckled wood butterflies |
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Definition
| butterflies occupy territories w/ sunlight
the contest is always as follows: resident wins, intruder retreats
aggression is low when males come upon occupied territories b/c fighting over a short-lived resource such as a sun patch is not worth the costs. |
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Term
| the war of attrition model |
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Definition
| calculate duration the animal is willing to engage in a competition. Dove will always retreat, never confronts.
3 assumptions:
1.) the strategy set - how long to contest a resource - is continuous
2.) the aggressive behavior displayed is mild (no severe injury)
3.) no clear cues such as size, territory possession, etc. that contestants can use to settle a contest. the war of attrition predicts an ESS distribution of contest lengths. |
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Term
| dungflies and the war of attrition |
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Definition
| if a male dungfly stays at one spot for too long, he will encounter fewer and fewer females, and he will also increase the # of aggressive contests.
if he leaves too quickly, he may miss the chance to mate w/ females ath the spot he left. |
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Term
| the sequential assessment model |
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Definition
| used to analyze fights in which individuals keep assessing one another in a series of "bouts."
assessing an opponent's fighting abilities is critical to contest behavior.
more evenly matched opponents should be more aggressive w/ one another
also predicts that when numerous behaviors are used in contests, they should be used in the same order in all fights. |
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Term
| sequential assessment in nannacara anomala |
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Definition
| males aren't territorial but form hierarchies with a top-ranked individual who searches for females for mating.
aggressive actions: changing color (least dangerous) and approaching through "tail beating," biting, etc.
fights are longer w/ evenly matched individuals, compared to fights were one fish outweighed the other |
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Term
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Definition
| winning a fight increases the probability of future wins |
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Term
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Definition
| losing a fight increases the probability of future losses |
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Term
| winner and loser effects in blue-footed boobies |
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Definition
| aggressive older chicks would defeat younger chicks that were considerably larger in size.
an experiment put older subordinate chicks against smaller inexperienced partners, and dominant chicks against larger inexperienced partners.
subordinates were less aggressive than the inexperienced, and dominant were more aggressive than the inexperienced chicks. |
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Term
| winner and loser effects in rivulus marmoratus (fish) |
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Definition
| more studies of winner and loser effects have been in fish than any other group, because:
1.) aggression is common in fish, 2.) aggression in fish is easily quantified in a lab, and 3.) the endocrinology of aggression in fish has been documented in many species.
in rivulus marmoratus, penultimate interactions (overall wins vs. losses) were important, but not as important as the interaction that immediately preceded the present fight.
the loser effect was not stronger than the winner effect, and vice versa. |
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Term
| winner and loser effects in copperhead snakes |
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Definition
| male-male aggression has a significant impact on mating success
an experiment showed that larger males were always dominant to the smaller male and gained reproductive access
ten winners and ten losers were then paired with same-sized snakes that had no prior experience.
prior winners were not more likely to win again, but the loser effect did have an impact on subsequent interactions
then, two time losers were pitted against inexperienced smaller snakes. the two time losers lost again. |
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Term
| resource holding power (RHP) |
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Definition
| animals assessing each other's fighting ability |
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Term
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Definition
| occurs when the observer of an aggressive interaction changes its assessment of the fighting abilities of those it has observed. |
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Term
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Definition
| individuals involved in an aggressive interaction change their behavior if they are watched |
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Term
| corticosterone and aggression |
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Definition
| males who lose fights:
have raised levels of corticosterone
act subordinately
rarely challenge other males
never court females where they fought
the levels of cotricosterone raised in the loser doesn't differ depending on the length of the fight |
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Term
| testosterone and aggression |
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Definition
| high levels of testosterone are associated w/ behavioral dominance in men.
T rises in winners of aggressive interactions and is lowered in those who lose.
other studies have found no such relationship b/w T and aggression |
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Term
| neurotransmitters (serotonin) and aggression |
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Definition
| in mammals, low serotonin levels are often linked w/ high levels of aggression.
in fish, enhanced serotonergic function is seen in more subordinate individuals, leading to reduced fighting.
in crustaceans, increased serotonin levels leads to enhanced aggression and high social status. |
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Term
| behaviors that are apparently purposeless may be so for 3 reasons: |
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Definition
| 1.) observers may fail to see the benefit of the play behavior
2.) the purpose and benefit may not be seen until long after play has occured
3.) the benefits may be multiple and confounding. |
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Term
| 3 different types of play |
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Definition
| object, locomotor, and social play |
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Term
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Definition
| play that centers around an inanimate object. |
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Term
| young animals and object play |
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Definition
| 1.) object play in young animals tends to be associated w/ an aspect of "practice" that will benefit the animal in the short or long term.
2.) juveniles have more "free time" to engage in play. |
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Term
| object play among juvenile ravens |
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Definition
| young ravens play with every new object they encounter
this sets the stage for what they fear and don't fear when they get older
juveniles choose objects primarily based on novelty
object play helps them identify new food sources |
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Term
| object play in young cheetahs |
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Definition
| cheetah play is a low cost activity - cubs were never seen seriously injured during play
in all cases of play, cubs' mothers were so close that their cubs were not under any serious predation threat
benefit: higher rates of object play result in increased rates of grasping and biting live prey that their mother had just released. this may lead to better hunters when they mature. |
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Term
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Definition
| 2 categories: play chasing (generally considered social play) and solitary locomotor-rotational play.
locomotor play provides exercise and training for motor skills. another potential benefit is that it teaches animals about the "lay of the land." |
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Term
| benefits of locomoter play |
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Definition
| cerebellar synaptogenesis: the creation and distribution of synapses in the cerebellum > provides coordination, smooth movement, etc.
the differerntiation of muscle fiber into "fast" or "slow" fibers |
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Term
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Definition
| social play may provide physical skills (fighting, hunting)
social play may lead to the forging of long-lasting social bonds
social play may aid in the development of cognitive skills |
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Term
| social play and bighorn sheep |
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Definition
| male lambs engaged in more contact play than female lambs > may prepare them for battles for mating in the future
findings:
social "contact" play was preceded by "rotational" movements that signaled contact was part of a play sequence
play behavior doesn't automatically appear at a certain age, it happens after sheeps associate w/ eachother for a while
play slowed down more quickly in the desert population than in the grassy slope population. this is because sheep in the desert bump into cactus while playing |
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Term
| social play and cognition in primates and carnivores |
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Definition
| a benefit of male-male social play sessions is to give them cognitive skills for coalition formation later in life
social play allows "self-assessment" - used to monitor their developmental progress as compared to others |
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Term
| how do animals know that they are engaged in play? (3 possible solutions) |
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Definition
| 1,) the order and frequency of behavioral components in play are different from those of the "real" activity (behaviors are exaggerated or misplaced)
2.)animals use "play markers"
3.)role-reversal or self-handicapping: older individuals either allow younger animals to take on the dominant role during play or perform an act (ex. aggressive act) at a level below what they are capable of. |
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Term
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Definition
| cheating may lead to others ostracizing the individual at social playtime |
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Term
| play fighting and cognitive training in squirrel monkeys |
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Definition
| play begins as early as 5 weeks old
they prefer to play w/ others lower in dominance rank
males (dominant) do not engage in role reversal when playing w/ females
dominant males will use role reversal w/ other subordinate males. it does not reverse roles outside of play. w/o role reversal, few play partners would be available |
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Term
| 3 cognitively based possible benefits to play fighting in squirrel monkeys: |
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Definition
| 1.) behavioral flexibility (ex: role reversal in male squrrel monkeys)
2.) gauging the intention of others
3.) experience in both the subordinate and dominant roles |
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Term
| a general theory for the function of play |
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Definition
| play allows animals to develop the skills to handle unexpected events in which they experience a loss of control
individuals deprived of social play often react more negatively to unexpected stimuli than those not deprived of play
self-handicapping is a means for preparing for the unexpected
locomotor play should be most commo in species that live in the most variable environments
between-sex differences in play should increase over time |
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Term
| hormones, energy, and play in young belding's ground squirrels |
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Definition
| male-female differences in mammalian play are often related to sex hormones - this is a function of gonadal hormones.
males display more sexual play than females.
play typically evolves only in species where resource levels are high |
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Term
| the neurobiology of play in young rats |
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Definition
| dopamine inhibitors reduce play in rats
dopamine may prime an animal to prepare for play
lesions to the parafascicular (PFA) area, as well as the hypothalamus and cortex of a rat's brain reduces play fighting
play may serve as a mechanism for coping with stress throughout development
play may facilitate learning and creativity |
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Term
| a phylogenetic approach to play |
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Definition
| closely related species of rodents were no more likely to share similar play attributes than were species that were much more distantly related
researchers did not find that variation in sociality correlated with variation in play complexity in rodents |
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