Self-study
P1
Traditional theories of animal behavior assert that animal conflict within a species is highly ritualized and does not vary from contest to contest. ████ ████████████████ █████ ███████ ████ ██████████ ███ ██ ███ ████ ██████ ███ █████ ████████ ███ ██ ███████ ██ █████████ ████████ ███████ ██ ███████ ███████ ███ ██████████ ████ ████████ ███ ██████ ███████ ████ ███ █████████ █████████ ███
Other people's hypothesis ·
Species-specific model
Animal conflict is ritualized, consistent, and minimizes injury; conflict is mainly for show
Support hypothesis ·
E.g. of galápagos tortoises
Neck height contest is ritualized and just for show
P2
██ ███████████ ██ ███ ██████ ███████████ ███████ ████████ ████████ ████████ ██████ ███████ ████ ███████ ██ ████████ ██ █████████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █████████ ██████ ███ ███████ ███ ███████ ███
Weaken hypothesis ·
E.g. of A. aperta spider
Conflict is not consistent and not just for show
Riechert's hypothesis ·
Evolutionary game theory is a better explanation of A. aperta behavior
Support: evolutionary game theory is able to account for variations in behavior
Background ·
on evolutionary game theory
Based on classical game theory; describes behavior in terms of average payoff of taking certain actions
Application ·
to spiders
Contrast ·
Evolutionary and classical game theory
Evolutionary game theory says behavior is driven by instinct and reproductive advantage, rather than rational thought and personal preferences
P3
██ ████████ ███████████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ █ █████████ ███████ ███ █ ████████ ████████ ████████ ████████ ████ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ███ ██████████ ███ █████████ ████ ██ █████████ ██ █ ████████ ███ ███ ███████████ ██ ███████ █ ██████████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ███ ████████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████████ █████████ ██ █████████ ███ ████████ ████ ███ ████████ █████████ ██████ ██ ███████████ ███ ███ █████ ██ ███ ███ ████████ ████ ██████ ███ ████████ ███████████ ██ ██████ ██ █████████ █████████ ███
Elaborate on Richert's hypothesis ·
Variations in A. aperta behavior explained by several factors
Including features of individual opponent and surrounding habitat
Application ·
of Riechert's hypothesis
Escalated fighting more likely where habitat is scarce than where it is plentiful
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
18.
The passage suggests which one ██ ███ █████████ █████ ███ ████████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ ████████ ███████████
Question Type
Implied
It’s difficult to predict the correct answer just based on the question stem, so let’s use process of elimination.
a
They exhibit variations ██ ████████ ████████ ████ ███████ ██ ███████ █████████ ███████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████ ██ ███████████ ███ ████████ █████ ██ █████████ █████████
Too strong to be supported, because we don’t know that their fighting behavior varies “primarily” because of competition for suitable sites. We know that competition is one of the factors that affects their behavior, but we don’t know that it is the main factor.
b
They may confine █████ ████████ ████████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ██ █ ████████ ████████ ██ ███ ███ ███ ███ ████ ██ ████████ ██████ ██ ███ ██████
c
They exhibit variations ██ ████████ ████████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ █████████ ██ ███████ ██ ████ █████ ███████ ██ ████████
Not supported, because the author doesn’t compare the variations in A. aperta’s behavior to those seen in “most” (over half) other species of animals.
d
They are more ██████ ██ ██████ ██ █████████ ████████ ██████ ████████ ████ ██ █████ █████ ████████ ████████ ██ ██████ ███ █████ █████████
Not supported, because the choice of escalated fighting behavior or more visual/vocal displays depends on the circumstances. We’re never told that, in general, the spiders have a greater chance of escalated fighting than of visual/vocal displays.
e
They are more ███████ ██ ██████ ██ █████████ ████████ ██████ ████████ ██████████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ █████ ███████ ██ ████████
Not supported, because the author doesn’t compare the willingness of the spider to engage in escalated fighting to the willingness of “most” (over half) other species of animals.