Animal Behavior and Neurobiology
What this domain tests
Animal Behavior and Neurobiology tests proximate mechanisms, including neural and hormonal causes, and ultimate explanations, including evolutionary function. Expect questions on learning, communication, mating systems, and synaptic transmission.
Core rules and concepts
- Proximate questions ask how a behavior works; ultimate questions ask why it evolved.
- Innate behaviors are developmentally fixed; learned behaviors are modified by experience, including habituation, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and insight.
- Natural selection favors behaviors that increase inclusive fitness; kin selection can favor altruism toward relatives.
- Neurons: action potential is all-or-none; myelination increases conduction speed; synaptic transmission is chemical at most synapses.
- Neurotransmitters can be excitatory or inhibitory; drugs may act as agonists or antagonists.
- Communication signals evolve under both sender and receiver interests; honest signals are often costly.
Worked example
A male bird sings to attract mates and repel rivals. A proximate question: which hormone or brain nucleus triggers song? An ultimate question: how does song increase reproductive success? Reasoning: the same behavior can be studied at both levels; neither answer replaces the other. If song attracts predators, the behavior may persist if reproductive benefits outweigh survival costs.
Traps that cost marks
Do not answer a proximate question with an ultimate explanation. Do not assume all behavior is learned or all is innate. Do not confuse correlation with causation in behavioral observations. Do not anthropomorphize: saying a bee wants something is not a scientific explanation. Do not assume a larger brain always means more complex behavior.