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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Trivers look at breeding as?
(a) A race with time.
(b) A war between the sexes.
(c) A careful calculation based on resources.
(d) A goal of existence.

2. What factors are part of Dawkins' net benefit score?
(a) Benefit to the other, relatedness to the other, and risk to the organism.
(b) Benefit to the organism, risk to the other, and relatedness to the other.
(c) Risk to the organism, risk to the other, an relatedness to the other.
(d) Benefit to the organism, risk to the organism, and relatedness to the other.

3. What attribute of male birds of paradise does Zahavi say is a kind of boast that even with a dangerous physical characteristic, the bird is strong enough to survive?
(a) A beautifully feathered but uselessly structured foot.
(b) A bright, attractive pattern on its wings.
(c) A brightly colored, easily seen headdress.
(d) A long, dragging tail.

4. What does Dawkins mean by a "selfish gene?"
(a) A portion of DNA, copied in multiple organisms, "trying" to survive in ways that will continue to copy and propigate the gene.
(b) A portion of DNA, copied in mutliple organisms, that "tries" to become the dominant gene by preventing other genes from replicating.
(c) A portion of DNA, copied in mutliple organisms, that programs behavior in the individual for self-survival.
(d) A portion of DNA, copied in mutliple organisms, that modifies behaviors in the organisms that would tend otherwise to be altruistic.

5. What does Dawkins give as his example of the individual benefit of pack behavior in hyenas?
(a) The hyenas can find more prey as a pack.
(b) The hyenas can gain more information from the pack.
(c) The hyenas can hunt bigger prey as a pack.
(d) The hyenas can get protection from other hyenas.

6. In sexual reproduction, what does the larger egg cell have that the smaller sperm cell does not?
(a) The ability to protect itself from other cells.
(b) The ability to move around to more beneficial environments.
(c) More food reserves for the future embryo.
(d) A complete set of DNA.

7. According to Dawkins' description, what do insect colonies usually consist of?
(a) A large number of offspring descended from a small group of mothers.
(b) A large number of offspring descended from the same mother.
(c) Small, interrelated groups of offspring descended from many mothers.
(d) A communal group of offspring descended from many mothers.

8. What does Wynne-Edwards believe about territories that animals fight over?
(a) Individual territories are symbolic.
(b) Individual territories provide survival for the species.
(c) Individual territories provide survival for the individual.
(d) Individual territories are illusions.

9. What does Wynne-Edwards say happens when other animals communicate to the species that there is overpopulation?
(a) The animals have fewer young.
(b) The animals store extra food.
(c) The animals attack others' young.
(d) The animals claim larger territories.

10. What does Dawkins speculate that cuckoo chicks might do?
(a) Kill other chicks in the nest.
(b) Scream less loud to not attract too much attention to themselves as intruders.
(c) Blackmail parents into getting more food by screaming loud enough to attract predators.
(d) Steal food from other chicks in the nest.

11. To what does Dawkins attribute changes to female mice as the population rises?
(a) Random variation in individuals.
(b) Natural selection of individuals.
(c) Random variation within groups.
(d) Group selection.

12. From a gene's point of view, what does Dawkins say an organism is equally related to?
(a) A father and a son.
(b) A cousin and a grandparent.
(c) A baby brother and a baby son.
(d) A baby brother and a parent's sibling.

13. Who does Dawkins' idea of AI expand the idea of PI to include?
(a) All adults in a species.
(b) All related adults and children.
(c) All adult caregivers.
(d) All children in a family unit.

14. In Dawkins' discussion, what is the detriment of raising offspring, if there is something wrong with it?
(a) It does not pass on good genes.
(b) It reduces the parent's resources to protect itself.
(c) It takes more energy away from other offspring.
(d) It will only have future offspring with the same problems.

15. What does the study of egg clutch sizes that Dawkins cites show?
(a) That there are only benefits to having a lot of eggs.
(b) That there are only detriments to having a lot of eggs.
(c) That there are detriments and benefits to having a lot of eggs.
(d) That having a lot of eggs is, in the end, exactly the same as having few eggs.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is a female bird doing, according to Dawkins, by forcing the male to make a nest before she breeds with him?

2. What does AI stand for?

3. To what does Dawkins attribute a male backing down from a powerful rival over territory?

4. What happens to cuckoo eggs that look dissimilar to the host eggs they replace?

5. Do gulls recognize their own eggs and chicks?

(see the answer keys)

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