Deck 39: Motor Mechanisms and Behavior

Question 1

Myasthenia gravis is a form of muscle paralysis in which

A) motor neurons lose their myelination and the ability to rapidly fire action potentials.
B) acetylcholine receptors are recognized by antibodies and destroyed by an overactive immune system.
C) ATP production becomes uncoupled from mitochondrial electron transport.
D) the spinal cord is infected with a virus that attacks muscle stretch receptors.
E) troponin molecules become unable to bind calcium ions.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Skeletal muscle contraction begins when calcium ions bind to

A) calcium channels.
B) myosin.
C) actin.
D) tropomyosin.
E) troponin.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle all have

A) A bands and I bands.
B) transverse tubules.
C) gap junctions.
D) motor units.
E) thick and thin filaments.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

The "motor unit" in vertebrate skeletal muscle refers to

A) one actin binding site and its myosin partner.
B) one sarcomere and all of its actin and myosin filaments.
C) one myofibril and all of its sarcomeres.
D) one motor neuron and all of the muscle fibers on which it has synapses.
E) an entire muscle.

Question 5

The muscles of a recently deceased human can remain in a contracted state, termed rigor mortis, for several hours due to the lack of

A) phosphorylated myosin.
B) ATP needed to break actin-myosin bonds.
C) calcium ions needed to bind to troponin.
D) oxygen supplies needed for myoglobin.
E) sodium ions needed to fire action potentials.

Question 6

A skeleton that consists of fluid held under pressure in a closed body compartment is known as a(n)

A) endoskeleton.
B) exoskeleton.
C) hydrostatic skeleton.
D) cuticle.

Question 7

A skeletal muscle deprived of adequate ATP supplies will

A) immediately relax.
B) release all actin-myosin bonds.
C) enter a state where actin and myosin are unable to separate.
D) fire many more action potentials than usual and enter a state of "rigor."
E) sequester all free calcium ions into the sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Question 8

The calcium ions released into the cytosol during excitation of skeletal muscle bind to

A) troponin.
B) tropomyosin.
C) actin.
D) myosin.
E) transverse tubules.

Question 9

In a relaxed skeletal muscle, actin is not bound to

A) myosin.
B) troponin.
C) tropomyosin.
D) Z lines.

Question 10

Calcium ions initiate sliding of filaments in skeletal muscles by

A) breaking the actin-myosin cross-bridges.
B) binding to the troponin complex, which causes tropomyosin to move and thus expose myosin-binding sites.
C) transmitting action potentials across the neuromuscular junction.
D) spreading action potentials through the T tubules.
E) reestablishing the resting membrane potential following an action potential.

Question 11

Calcium ions regulate contraction of smooth muscle cells by binding to

A) troponin.
B) tropomyosin.
C) actin.
D) myosin.
E) calmodulin.

Question 12

What force(s) must animals overcome in order to move?

A) friction only
B) gravity only
C) inertia only
D) friction and gravity only
E) friction and inertia only

Question 13

Which of the following is the correct sequence that describes the excitation and contraction of a skeletal muscle fiber?
1) Tropomyosin moves and uncovers the cross-bridge binding sites.
2) Calcium is released and binds to the troponin complex.
3) Transverse tubules depolarize the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
4) The thin filaments are ratcheted across the thick filaments by the heads of the myosin molecules using energy from ATP.
5) An action potential in a motor neuron causes the axon to release acetylcholine, which depolarizes the muscle cell membrane.

A) 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5
B) 2 → 1 → 3 → 5 → 4
C) 2 → 3 → 4 → 1 → 5
D) 5 → 3 → 1 → 2 → 4
E) 5 → 3 → 2 → 1 → 4

Question 14

Ruminant animals such as cows regurgitate their food and chew it (the "cud") seemingly nonstop all day long. What type of muscle fibers would you expect to find in their masticatory muscles?

A) oxidative fast-twitch
B) oxidative slow-twitch
C) glycolytic fast-twitch
D) smooth muscle

Question 15

The hydrostatic skeleton of the earthworm allows it to move around in its environment by

A) walking on its limbs.
B) crawling with its feet.
C) swimming.
D) using peristaltic contractions of its circular and longitudinal muscles.
E) alternating contractions and relaxations of its smooth muscle.

Question 16

Compared to oxidative skeletal muscle fibers, those classified as glycolytic typically have

A) a higher concentration of myoglobin.
B) a higher density of mitochondria.
C) a darker visual appearance.
D) a smaller diameter.
E) less resistance to fatigue.

Question 17

The contraction of skeletal muscles is based on

A) actin filaments coiling up to become shorter.
B) myosin filaments coiling up to become shorter.
C) actin and myosin filaments both coiling up to become shorter.
D) actin cross-bridges binding to myosin and transitioning from a high-energy to a low-energy state.
E) myosin cross-bridges binding to actin and transitioning from a high-energy to a low-energy state.

Question 18

A skeletal muscle with abnormally low levels of calcium ions would be impaired in

A) ATP hydrolysis.
B) the initiation of an action potential.
C) maintaining its resting membrane potential.
D) initiating contraction.
E) its ability to sustain glycolysis.

Question 19

What bones unite to form the elbow joint in humans?

A) humerus and ulna only
B) humerus and radius only
C) radius and ulna only
D) humerus, radius, and ulna

Question 20

Muscle cells are stimulated by neurotransmitters released from the synaptic terminals of

A) T tubules.
B) motor neuron axons.
C) sensory neuron axons.
D) motor neuron dendrites.
E) sensory neuron dendrites.

Question 21

What type of signal is fast and requires daylight with no obstructions?

A) olfactory
B) visual
C) auditory
D) tactile

Question 22

Circannual rhythms in birds are influenced by

A) periods of food availability.
B) reproductive readiness.
C) periods of daylight and darkness.
D) magnetic fields.
E) lunar cycles.

Question 23

In which form of locomotion is friction the greatest impediment to moving?

A) running
B) hopping
C) swimming
D) flying

Question 24

What type of signal is brief and can work among obstructions at night?

A) olfactory
B) visual
C) auditory
D) tactile

Question 25

A type of learning that can occur only during a brief period of early life and results in a behavior that is difficult to modify through later experiences is called

A) innate behavior.
B) imprinting.
C) spatial learning.
D) associative learning.

Question 26

Upon returning to its hive, a European honeybee communicates to other worker bees the presence of a nearby food source it has discovered by

A) vibrating its wings at varying frequencies.
B) performing a round dance.
C) performing a waggle dance.
D) visual cues.

Question 27

What type of communication signal is long-lasting and works well even at night?

A) olfactory
B) visual
C) auditory
D) tactile

Question 28

A stickleback fish will attack a fish model as long as the model has red coloring. What animal behavior idea is manifested by this observation?

A) sign stimulus
B) migration
C) imprinting
D) associative learning

Question 29

A chemical produced by an animal that serves as a communication to another animal of the same species is called a

A) hormone.
B) visual signal.
C) pheromone.
D) tactile signal.

Question 30

Animals use pheromones to communicate

A) only reproductive readiness.
B) only species recognition.
C) only gender recognition.
D) only danger.
E) reproductive readiness, species recognition, gender recognition, and danger.

Question 31

Which of the following examples describes a behavioral pattern that results from a proximate cause?

A) A cat kills a mouse to obtain nutrition.
B) A male sheep fights with another male because it helps to improve its social position.
C) A female bird lays its eggs because the amount of daylight is decreasing slightly each day.
D) A goose squats and freezes motionless to escape a predator.
E) A cockroach runs into a crack in the wall and avoids being stepped on.

Question 32

A ball-and-socket joint connects the

A) radius to the ulna.
B) radius to the humerus.
C) ulna to the humerus.
D) humerus to the scapula.
E) radius to the scapula.

Question 33

Parental protective behavior in turkeys is triggered by the cheeping sound of young chicks. What term best applies to this behavior?

A) sign stimulus
B) migration
C) imprinting
D) associative learning

Question 34

A female cat in heat urinates more often and in many places. Male cats congregate near the urine deposits and fight with each other. Which of the following would be an ultimate cause of the male cats' response to the female's urinating behavior?

A) The males have learned to recognize the specific odor of the urine of a female in heat.
B) When the males smelled the odor, various neurons in their brains were stimulated.
C) Responding to the odor means locating reproductively receptive females.
D) Male cats' hormones are triggered by the odor released by the female.
E) The odor serves as a releaser for the instinctive behavior of the males.

Question 35

Displays of nocturnal mammals are usually

A) visual and auditory.
B) tactile and visual.
C) olfactory and auditory.
D) visual and olfactory.
E) tactile and auditory.

Question 36

The proximate causes of behavior are interactions with the environment, but behavior is ultimately shaped by

A) hormones.
B) evolution.
C) mating rituals.
D) pheromones.
E) the nervous system.

Question 37

Animal communication involves what type of sensory information?

A) visual only
B) auditory only
C) olfactory only
D) tactile only
E) visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile

Question 38

A female cat in heat urinates more often and in many places. Male cats are attracted to the urine deposits. Which of the following is a proximate cause of this increased urination?

A) It announces to the males that she is in heat.
B) Female cats that did this in the past attracted more males.
C) It is a result of hormonal changes associated with her reproductive cycle.
D) The female cat learned the behavior from observing other cats.

Question 39

Karl von Frisch demonstrated that European honeybees communicate the location of a distant food source by

A) performing a round dance.
B) performing a waggle dance.
C) emanating minute amounts of stimulus pheromone.
D) varying wing vibration frequency.

Question 40

A cage containing male mosquitoes has a small earphone placed on top through which the sound of a female mosquito is played. All the males immediately fly to the earphone and go through all of the steps of copulation. What is the best explanation for this behavior?

A) The males learned to associate the sound with females.
B) Copulation is a fixed action pattern, and the female flight sound is a sign stimulus that initiates it.
C) The sound is a form of a visual signal, which causes the males to attempt to mate.
D) The reproductive drive is so strong that when males are deprived of females, they will attempt to mate with anything that has even the slightest female characteristic.

Question 41

Sea otters use stones and rocks to break open abalone shells in order to eat the flesh inside. A young sea otter observes other sea otters break open shells and thus learns how to perform this task. What type of learning did the young sea otter use to be able to perform this task?

A) associative learning
B) spatial learning
C) imprinting
D) social learning

Question 42

Which of the following would be the best experiment to conduct in order to determine if a rabbit is capable of using associative learning?

A) Provide some food for the rabbit in a specific location and then cover it up with leaves. Monitor the location to see if the rabbit returns to find the food at a later time.
B) Introduce the sound of a predator (e.g., coyote howl) to the rabbit's habitat at a specific time of the day. Monitor the rabbit's activity when the sound is and is not played throughout the day.
C) Provide the rabbit with some food in a hard to reach location. Monitor the rabbit's activity to see if it is able to reach the food using a novel approach.
D) Expose the rabbit to pheromones and see if they stimulate the rabbit's interest in mating even though a potential mate is not available.

Question 43

Animal behavior that includes searching for, capturing, and eating food is known as

A) innate behavior.
B) foraging.
C) imprinting.
D) altruistic behavior.

Question 44

Male stalk-eyed flies compete with other males in order to attract female attention. What kind of mating behavior is this an example of?

A) intersexual selection
B) intrasexual selection
C) polygamy
D) monogamy

Question 45

Pair-bonding in a population of prairie voles can be prevented by

A) the ensuing confusion caused by introducing meadow voles.
B) administering a drug that inhibits the brain receptor for vasopressin in males.
C) administering a drug that turns on ADH receptor sites in male voles.
D) dying the coat color from brown to blond in either male or female prairie voles.
E) allowing the population size to reach critically low levels.

Question 46

A mother goat can recognize its own kid by smell. What form of animal behavior is this?

A) associative learning
B) innate behavior
C) imprinting
D) altruistic behavior
E) agonistic behavior

Question 47

A human baby performs a sucking behavior perfectly when it is put in the presence of the nipple of its mother's breast. What form of animal behavior is this?

A) associative learning
B) innate behavior
C) imprinting
D) altruistic behavior
E) agonistic behavior

Question 48

Scientists have tried raising endangered whooping cranes in captivity by using sandhill cranes as foster parents. This strategy is no longer used because

A) fostered whooping crane chicks did not develop the necessary cues for migration.
B) the fostered whooping cranes' critical period was variable such that different chicks imprinted on different "mothers."
C) sandhill crane parents rejected their fostered whooping crane chicks soon after incubation.
D) none of the fostered whooping cranes formed a mating pair-bond with another whooping crane.
E) sandhill crane parents did not properly incubate whooping crane eggs.

Question 49

Salmon are hatched in freshwater streams, and then they migrate to the ocean. When an adult salmon is ready to mate, it returns to the exact stream where it hatched. What term best applies to this behavior?

A) sign stimulus
B) spatial learning
C) imprinting
D) associative learning

Question 50

Which of the following statements about the evolution of behavior is correct?

A) Natural selection will favor behavior that enhances survival and reproduction.
B) An animal may show behavior that minimizes reproductive fitness.
C) If a behavior is less than optimal, it will eventually become optimal through natural selection.
D) Innate behaviors can never be altered by natural selection.

Question 51

Which of the following statements about the certainty of paternity is true?

A) Young or eggs laid by a female are likely to contain the same genes as another female's eggs in a population of birds.
B) The certainty of paternity is high in most species with internal fertilization because the acts of mating and birth are separated by time.
C) Males that guard females they have mated with are certain of their paternity.
D) The certainty of paternity is low when egg laying and mating occur together, as in external fertilization.
E) Paternal behavior exists because it has been reinforced over generations by natural selection.

Question 52

Upon observing a golden eagle flying overhead, a prairie dog on "guard duty" gives a warning call to other members of the prairie dog community that are foraging. What form of animal behavior is this?

A) associative learning
B) innate behavior
C) imprinting
D) altruistic behavior
E) agonistic behavior

Question 53

The mating system in which females are more ornamented than males is

A) monogamy.
B) promiscuity.
C) polygamy.
D) polygyny.
E) polyandry.

Question 54

Male elephant seals routinely fight (sometimes to the death) in order to mate with large groups of female elephant seals. What kind of mating behavior is this an example of?

A) intersexual selection
B) intrasexual selection
C) polygandry
D) monogamy

Question 55

While on a field expedition in Ethiopia, you come across a group of baboons. After watching them for several days, you notice that one male baboon frequently mates with many different females. You also don't see any other males in the group. What type of mating system best describes these baboons?

A) monogamy
B) polygyny
C) polyandry
D) intrasexual selection

Question 56

What is the fitness benefit of polygamy in birds that rear young that are precocious (develop and mature rapidly)?

A) Females will copulate with many males to ensure that all of their eggs are fertilized.
B) Females don't have to decide on one mate and can copulate with as many males as they deem worthy to share their genes with in reproduction.
C) Fit males don't have to help feed and rear young and can spend this time seeking out and mating with many females.
D) Females don't have to spend time rearing young and can mate and rear additional broods during a breeding season.
E) Both males and females spend little time with courtship and brood-rearing and don't tax their own physiology, so they can breed again in subsequent breeding seasons.

Question 57

Imagine that you are designing an experiment aimed at determining whether the initiation of migratory behavior is largely under genetic control. Of the following options, the best way to proceed is to

A) observe genetically distinct populations in the field and see if they have different migratory habits.
B) perform within-population matings with birds from different populations that have different migratory habits. Do this in the laboratory and see if offspring display parental migratory behavior.
C) bring animals into the laboratory and determine the conditions under which they become restless and attempt to migrate.
D) perform within-population matings with birds from different populations that have different migratory habits. Rear the offspring in the absence of their parents and observe the migratory behavior of offspring.

Question 58

How do altruistic behaviors arise through natural selection?

A) By its actions, the altruist increases the likelihood that some of its genes will be passed on to the next generation.
B) The altruist is appreciated by other members of the population because their survivability has been enhanced by virtue of the altruist's risky behavior.
C) Animals that perform altruistic acts are allowed by their population to breed more, thereby passing on their behavior genes to future generations.
D) Altruistic behaviors lower stress in populations, which increases the survivability of all the members of the population.

Question 59

You discover a rare new bird species, but you are unable to observe its mating behavior. You see that the male is large and ornamental compared with the female. On this basis, you can probably conclude that the species is

A) polygamous.
B) monogamous.
C) polyandrous.
D) promiscuous.

Question 60

What probably explains why coastal and inland garter snakes react differently to banana slug prey?

A) Ancestors of coastal snakes that could eat the abundant banana slugs had increased fitness. No such selection occurred inland, where banana slugs were absent.
B) Banana slugs are camouflaged, and inland snakes, which have poorer vision than coastal snakes, are less able to see them.
C) Garter snakes learn about prey from other garter snakes. Inland garter snakes have fewer types of prey because they are less social.
D) Inland banana slugs are distasteful, so inland snakes learn to avoid them. Coastal banana slugs are palatable to garter snakes.
E) Garter snakes learn to eat what their mothers eat. Coastal snake mothers happened to prefer slugs.

Question 61

Figure 39.2
The most energetically efficient locomotion per unit mass is likely

A) running by a 50-gram rodent.
B) running by a 40-kg ungulate.
C) flying by a 100-g bird.
D) swimming by a 10-g minnow (bony fish).
E) swimming by a 100-kg tuna (bony fish).

Question 62

Figure 39.1
The structure pictured in Figure 39.1 is found in

A) skeletal muscles and smooth muscles only.
B) cardiac muscles and skeletal muscles only.
C) smooth muscles and cardiac muscles only.
D) smooth muscles, skeletal muscles, and cardiac muscles.
E) smooth muscles only.

Question 63

Although many chimpanzees live in environments with oil palm nuts, members of only a few populations use stones to crack open the nuts. The likely explanation is that

A) the behavioral difference is caused by genetic differences between populations.
B) members of different populations have different nutritional requirements.
C) the cultural tradition of using stones to crack nuts has arisen in only some populations.
D) members of different populations differ in learning ability.

Question 64

The presence of altruistic behavior is most likely due to kin selection, a theory maintaining that

A) aggression between sexes promotes the survival of the fittest individuals.
B) genes enhance the survival of copies of themselves by directing organisms to assist others who share those genes.
C) companionship is advantageous to animals because in the future they can help each other.
D) critical thinking abilities are normal traits for animals and they have arisen, like other traits, through natural selection.
E) natural selection has generally favored the evolution of exaggerated aggressive and submissive behaviors to resolve conflict without grave harm to participants.

Question 65

During a field trip, an instructor touched a moth resting on a tree trunk. The moth raised its forewings to reveal large eyespots on its hind wings. The instructor asked why the moth lifted its wings. One student answered that sensory receptors had fired and triggered a neuronal reflex culminating in the contraction of certain muscles. A second student responded that the behavior might frighten predators. Which statement best describes these explanations?

A) The first explanation is correct, but the second is incorrect.
B) The first explanation refers to proximate causation, whereas the second refers to ultimate causation.
C) The first explanation is testable as a scientific hypothesis, whereas the second is not.
D) Both explanations are reasonable and simply represent a difference of opinion.

Question 66

Curare, a substance that blocks the acetylcholine receptors on skeletal muscle, will cause

A) rapid muscle twitches.
B) sustained muscle contraction (tetanus).
C) muscle relaxation.
D) no effect in the absence of acetylcholinesterase.

Question 67

Which of the following has a coefficient of relatedness of less than 0.5?

A) a father to his daughter
B) a mother to her son
C) an uncle to his nephew
D) a brother to his brother
E) a sister to her brother

Question 68

One way to understand how early environment influences differing behaviors in similar species is through the "cross-fostering" experimental technique. Suppose that the curly-whiskered mud rat differs from the bald mud rat in several ways, including being much more aggressive. How would you set up a cross-fostering experiment to determine if environment plays a role in the curly-whiskered mud rat's aggression?

A) You would cross curly-whiskered mud rats and bald mud rats and hand-rear the offspring to see if any grew up to be aggressive.
B) You would place newborn curly-whiskered mud rats with bald mud rat parents, place newborn bald mud rats with curly-whiskered mud rat parents, and let some mud rats of both species be raised by their own species. Then you would compare the outcomes.
C) You would remove the offspring of curly-whiskered mud rats and bald mud rats from their parents, raise them in the same environment, and then compare the outcomes.
D) You would see if curly-whiskered mud rats bred true for aggression.
E) You would replace normal newborn mud rats with deformed newborn mud rats to see if it triggered an altruistic response.

Question 69

Figure 39.3
In the territorial behavior of the stickleback fish, the red belly of one male that elicits attack from another male is functioning as a

A) pheromone.
B) sign stimulus.
C) fixed action pattern.
D) hormone.

Question 70

Which of the following is true of innate behaviors?

A) Their expression is only weakly influenced by genes.
B) They occur with or without environmental stimuli.
C) They are expressed in most individuals in a population.
D) They occur in invertebrates and some vertebrates but not mammals.

Question 71

According to Hamilton's rule,

A) natural selection does not favor altruistic behavior that causes the death of the altruist.
B) natural selection favors altruistic acts when the resulting benefit to the recipient, corrected for relatedness, exceeds the cost to the altruist.
C) natural selection is more likely to favor altruistic behavior that benefits an offspring than altruistic behavior that benefits a sibling.
D) the effects of kin selection are larger than the effects of direct natural selection on individuals.

Question 72

Animals that help other animals of the same species

A) have excess energy reserves.
B) are bigger and stronger than the other animals.
C) are usually related to the other animals.
D) are always male.

Question 73

Which of the following is not required for a behavioral trait to evolve by natural selection?

A) The form of the behavior is determined entirely by genes.
B) The behavior varies among individuals.
C) An individual's reproductive success depends in part on how the behavior is performed.
D) Some component of the behavior is genetically inherited.

Question 74

Figure 39.4
The behavior of most animals is influenced by the periods of daylight and darkness in the environment. Fiddler crabs' courtship behaviors are instead synchronized by the 29 1/2-day cycle of the moon. What is the adaptive significance of using lunar cues?

A) The fiddler crab courtship ritual is highly visual, so individuals need the light of the full moon to be able to observe courtship displays.
B) Egg maturation in fiddler crab females takes 29 1/2 days.
C) By courting at the full and new moon, fiddler crabs link their reproduction to the times of the highest tides that disperse their larvae to safer, deeper waters.
D) The algae that larval fiddler crabs consume for energy and metabolism bloom on a monthly cycle, so recently hatched larvae have plenty to eat during a crucial time of their lives.
E) It takes about 29 days for a fiddler crab to reach sexual maturity.

Question 75

During the contraction of a vertebrate skeletal muscle fiber, calcium ions

A) break cross-bridges by acting as a cofactor in the hydrolysis of ATP.
B) bind with troponin, changing its shape so that the myosin-binding sites on actin are exposed.
C) transmit action potentials from the motor neuron to the muscle fiber.
D) spread action potentials through the T tubules.

Question 76

Figure 39.1
Myosin filaments without actin overlap are in which section of Figure 39.1?

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
E) 5

Question 77

Figure 39.1
Which area in Figure 39.1 indicates the Z line?

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
E) 5

Question 78

Fred and Joe, two unrelated, mature male gorillas, encounter one another. Fred is courting a female. Fred grunts as Joe comes near. As Joe continues to advance, Fred begins drumming (pounding his chest) and bares his teeth. Joe then rolls on the ground on his back, gets up, and quickly leaves. This behavioral pattern is repeated several times during the mating season. Choose the most specific behavior described by this example.

A) agonistic behavior
B) spatial behavior
C) associative behavior
D) innate behavior

Question 79

The binding of calcium to the troponin complex

A) disrupts cross-bridges, allowing filaments to slide past each other.
B) allows tropomyosin to bind actin.
C) opens ion channels, allowing sodium to rush into the muscle cells.
D) causes tropomyosin to shift position, exposing myosin bind sites on actin.