4.6 DBQ

1. Foreign aid is extended to economically less developed countries either by governments of donor countries in contrast, foreign direct investment is country investing to capital of other country resulting a economic development.
2. Japan would not be able to aid less developed countries from the affect of tsunami and earthquake since government would not have enough cash or resource that would aid less developed countries. This is because Japanese government have to aid the area that were damaged by tsunami and/or earthquake within the country before aiding other country as government would not have enough resource that can be aided for others and the priority is larger to save its own country.
3. Reduction in foreign aid to recipient nations would affect them to have less economic development as they would not have cash or resources which recipient nations would be able to invest in their capital for further economic development.

E.6b Further Studies of Behavior

how foraging behavior optimizes food intake

Bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus

• live in ponds and feed on small invertebrates, including Daphnia
• prey can be classified into small, medium and larger sizes
• low density of prey
  • eat all possible prey sizes, simply to attain enough food
• high density of prey
  • select larger prey, optimizing energy intake per effort
• medium density of prey
  • intermediate strategy, favoring larger prey over smaller

Starlings, Sturnis vulgaris

• parents feed crane fly larvae to young, which they collect from soil by probing
  • with each larva held in the beak, foraging for additional larvae becomes increasingly inefficient
  • however, flying is energetically costly, so maximizing the number of larvae carried per journey is also favored
  • thus, the maximum number of larvae carried is a function of the distance between the foraging area and the nest
    • if close to nest, carry fewer larvae per journey
    • if far from nest, carry more larvae per journey
• observational counts of numbers of larvae caught and carried to the nest closely matches theoretically expected values

 

E.5a Further Studies of Behavior

social organization of honey bees

honey bees

• 30,000 workers which are sterile and one fertile queen
• queen lays fertilized eggs in wax chambers built by workers
• eggs fed (up to 1300 times/day) by nurse workers (for 6 days)
• cells sealed, pupate (for 12 days), emerge as sterile worker (rest for 1-2 days)
• queen produces pheromones which keep workers sterile
• remain in hive as nurse for about a week
• spend additional time as housekeeper, wax producer
• become guard, making brief trips outside hive
• become forager, collecting nectar and pollen
• workers thus build, maintain and protect hive
• over winter, workers huddle around queen to keep warm
• in spring, queen lays unfertilized eggs, which develop into haploid male drones
• drones mate with queen from other hive during her nuptial flight
• queen stores sperm for lifetime (5-7 years)
• workers evict drones when they are not needed
• when pollen nectar peaks (spring), diet affects developing eggs
• richer diet: some eggs develop as queen candidates, workers enlarge cells
• old queen departs with about half of workers
• swarming behavior as workers + queen find and create new hive location
• in old hive, 1st new queen emerges; others queen candidates killed by workers

evolution of altruistic behavior

altruistic behavior

• donor behavior that benefits recipient relatives
• at cost to donor

kin selection & inclusive fitness:

• The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
• fitness for any allele includes the fitness of all identical alleles in relatives
• greater degree of relatedness, greater likelihood of altruism
• because, from the allele’s perspective, copies in the next generation from either self or relative are equal measures of success
• r = relatedness = proportion of shared alleles
• Hamilton’s rule:

1. alleles affecting altruism will increase in frequency

2. if and only if genetic relatedness is greater than the quotient of

fitness cost to the altruist over fitness benefit to the recipient:

 

r > fitness costs to altruist/fitness benefits to recipients

• example: honey bees: haplodiploid reproduction:

1. haploid males: sperm by mitosis = genetically identical

2. queen mates with single drone, stores lifetime of identical sperm

3. sister workers: r(sister worker) = 0.75 (meiotic egg + identical sperm)

4. more closely related to sisters than to any potential daughters

5. greatest genetic benefit is to assist sisters

6. benefits to recipient alleles also benefit donor alleles

7. r(brother drone) = 0.25; workers force drones from hive by stinging

• thus, apparent altruism = hidden selfishness from gene’s perspective
• example: silver-backed jackal

1. yearling males altruistically assist parents rather than begin their

own family, when other territory is unavailable

2. increases helper’s inclusive fitness because r(siblings) = 0.5

3. parents provide food and grooming; helper gains parenting skills

reciprocal altruism = benefitting nonrelatives at cost to self, possibly self-sacrifice

• origins: kin selection due to inclusive fitness produces familial altruism
• genetic basis for behaviors which allow for self-sacrifice
• extended to nonrelatives only under conditions which resist exploitation
• repeated encounters + recognition of individuality
• respond in kind (tit-for-tat; do unto others as they do to you)
• recognition and punishment of cheaters
• example: vampire bats

1. roost together over many years

2. successfully obtain blood meal an average of only 1/3 of nights

3. risk of starvation when body weight falls below 80% normal weight

4. following successful feeding, likelihood of sharing blood meal by

regurgitation with nonrelatives increases as:

a. number of repeated encounters (association index) increases

b. previous encounters have been altruistic by both individuals

c. recipient is close to starvation weight

5. benefits to recipient exceed costs to donor

a. donor regurgitation costs 6 hours of time before starvation

b. recipient of regurgitation gains 18 hours of time before starvation

E.3b Innate & Learned Behavior

process of learning can improve the chance of survival:

Moths learn by classical conditioning

• moths vary in their ability to learn by classical conditioning (variation)
• moths that are better at learning by classical conditioning will better associate black and orange caterpillars with noxious taste, and avoid getting sick, increasing survival chances (natural selection)
• alleles allowing classical conditioning are passed on to offspring at a higher rate than alleles without classical conditioning ability (heritability)
• thus, classical conditioning alleles accumulate (evolution)
• and the trait becomes common in the population (adaptation)

Bears learn by trial and error/operant conditioning

• bears vary in their ability to learn by operant conditioning (variation)
• bears that experiment with various methods to catch salmon obtain more resources than those that don’t, increasing their survival chances (natural selection)
• alleles that lead them to attempt operant conditioning are passed on to their offspring at a higher rate than alleles without operant conitioning ability (heritability)
• thus, operant conditioning alleles accumulate (evolution)
• and the trait becomes common in the population (adaptation)

Goslings imprint on their mothers

• goslings vary in their ability to imprint (variation)
• goslings that are able to imprint on their mother, will avoid predators by remaining close to her, increasing their chances of survival (natural selection)
• alleles allowing imprinting are passed on to their offspring at a higher rate than alleles without imprinting ability (heritability)
• thus, imprinting alleles accumulate (evolution)
• and the trait becomes common in the population (adaptation)

E.3a Innate & Learned Behavior

innate and learned behavior:

innate behavior

• behaviour shown in all normal members of a species
• despite any variation in environmental influences

learned behavior

• modification of behavior as a result of experience

innate behavior in invertebrates, including either a taxis or a kinesis:

taxis:

• locomotion of an organism
• in a particular direction
• in response to an external stimulus
• examples:
  • Planaria moves towards food = positive chemotaxis
  • Euglena moves towards light = positive phototaxis

kinesis:

• the movement (as opposed to growth) of an organism or a cell
• in response to a stimulus
• such that rate depends on intensity, but not direction, of the stimulus
• example:
  • woodlice move about less in optimum, humid, conditions, and more in unfavorable, dry conditions

E.1 Stimulus and Response

stimulus, response, and reflex in the context of animal behavior:

• stimulus: a change in either the internal or external environment that is detected by a receptor and elicits a response
• response: a change in an organism, produced by a stimulus
• reflex: a rapid, unconscious response to a stimulus

role of receptors, sensory neurons, relay neurons, motor neurons, synapses and effectors in the response of animals to stimuli

receptors

• sensory cells, or nerve endings of sensory neurons
• transduce an environmental stimulus into an action potential

sensory neurons

• receive messages from receptors
  • across synapses from sensory cells
  • or from nerve endings of sensory neurons
• transmit message to CNS

relay neurons

• receive messages from sensory neurons
• across synapses
• transmit messages to motor neurons
• that cause an appropriate response

motor neurons

• receive messages from relay neurons
• across synapses
• transmit messages to effector organs

effectors

• receive messages from motor neurons
• produce a response
  • muscles contract (or relax)
  • glands secrete

4.3 data response

Data Response (2)

Question 1: Explain how microcredit works

Microcredit work by lending small amounts to the poor in a developing country.

 

Question 2: Examine the benefits of using microcredit systems in developing countries to promote economic development.

By using microcredit systems in developing countries, firms would be able to invest on their capitals, which would increase their efficiency, and productivity that would lead to the economic growth. As economies grow, moving the aggregate supply or demand shifting to the right, it could reduce the employment as firms grow to product more goods or services.

 

Question 3: Examine the problems associated with operating microcredit systems and whether these could contribute to a worsening in the levels of poverty.

The problem associated with operating microcredit system is that money loaner can change the interest rate meaning that they can make a lot of profit by lending their money. If the interest rate is too high as the article states some money loaner put interest rate to more than 100%, it could increase poverty as firms or individuals who borrowed money would not be able to pay to the money loaner. Perhaps if they were not able to pay, they would have to sell their firm to make money as they would not be able to expand their firm as they already have debt. When this happens, microcredit system might contribute to a worsening in the level of the poverty although the system would help economic development if the interest is low enough that firms are able to invest in their capital.