39.3 Scenario Questions
1) 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.
2) 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.