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Q1 Examine Figure 1.1 of Book 5, Chapter 1. The data there are compatible with which of the following possible explanations? Choose TWO letters from the key.
KEY for Q1
A
Urination and loss of water through evaporation are higher in the dark
phase than in the light.
B The internal determinants of drinking motivation are such as to cause
the animal to raise the level of body fluid in the dark phase compared
with that in the light.
C The body fluid set-point is lower during the dark period than during
the light.
D In rats, metabolic rate is lower in the dark than in the light and
so more water is taken in to compensate and maintain balance.
E There is an infradian rhythm underlying the 24-hour cycle of fluid
intake such as to promote drinking in the dark phase of the 24 hours.
F There is an ultradian rhythm that accounts for the 24-hour cycle of
fluid intake so that drinking is promoted in the dark phase of the 24 hours.
Q2 Consider a sexually receptive female rat that is trained in a Skinner
box to earn the reward of access to a male rat. After the female presses
a lever 20 times, a light and a tone are presented and, immediately after
this, a sexually active male rat drops down a chute. One brief penile thrust
is allowed and then the male is removed. (This procedure might sound bizarre,
but it is employed and is not an invention of the rich imagination of the
Course Team!) The female then presses the lever another 20 times for further
access. Suppose the female is then put on extinction conditions. When she
is near to giving up lever-pressing, a male drops down the chute.
Which of the following conditions prevailing (1) just prior to the
last delivery of the male, and (2) subsequent to the last delivery, are
most likely to increase the vigour of the female in the period subsequent
to the last male delivery?
(Hint: It is known that in some respects (e.g. the role of classical
conditioning, dopamine blockers) there are important similarities between
behaviour motivated by hunger, sex or drugs.)
Choose ONE letter from the key.
KEY for Q2
A (1) Pimozide is injected just prior to the last delivery of the male, and (2) the tone and the light are later presented.
B (1) A neutral substance is injected just prior to the last delivery of the male, and (2) neither the tone nor the light are later presented.
C (1) Pimozide is injected just after the last delivery of the male, and (2) neither the tone nor the light is later presented.
D (1) Pimozide is injected just prior to the last delivery of the male, and (2) neither the tone nor the light is later presented.
E (1) A neutral substance is injected just prior to the last delivery of the male, and (2) the tone and the light are later presented.
F (1) A dopamine antagonist other than pimozide is injected just prior to the last delivery of the male, and (2) neither the tone nor the light is later presented.
Q3 A researcher is investigating stress-induced analgesia. She subjects
two groups of rats (groups A and B) to a stressor (a tone that in the past
had been paired with shock) and measures the latency of the tail-flick
reaction to a heat stimulus at the tail. The group A rats are injected
with naloxone and, to act as controls for the naloxone injection, the group
B rats are given an injection of a neutral substance (actually a sodium
chloride solution of exactly the same concentration as the fluid of the
blood). A third group (group C) are tested for their reaction to the heat
stimulus in the absence of the stressor but are also injected with the
neutral substance.
The following sets of data indicate the mean latency of the reaction
(measured in seconds) for each of the three groups.
Which set would provide evidence for stress-induced analgesia mediated
by opioids?
Choose ONE letter from the key.
KEY for Q3
| group A | group B | group C | |
| A | 5s | 5s | 5s |
| B | 5s | 2s | 5s |
| C | 2s | 2s | 5s |
| D | 5s | 8s | 5s |
| E | 1s | 3s | 5s |
| F | 5s | 4s | 3s |
Q4 A group of rats has been trained to run through a maze for the reward
of electrical brain stimulation administered at the goal-box. They learned
this task rapidly and their running speed increased over several days.
Then they were placed on extinction conditions and their running speed
decreased. When they were near to giving up, they were injected with a
certain substance and placed at the start of the maze. On reaching the
goal-box, a form of electrical stimulation was given. On the next occasion
of being put in the start box, their running speed increased dramatically.
Which of the following would be the most likely combination of substance
and stimulation to have been given?
Choose ONE letter from the key.
KEY for Q4
A
A neutral substance (a salt solution of concentration identical to the
fluid of the blood) and a shock to the feet
B A dopamine antagonist and a mild electric shock to the feet
C A dopamine antagonist and electrical stimulation of the brain
D A neutral substance (a salt solution of concentration identical to
the body fluids) and electrical brain stimulation.
E A dopamine antagonist and delayed electric shock to the feet
Q5 The corticosteroid level in the blood is said to exhibit a circadian rhythm in most species. Which of the following can be concluded from this? Choose ONE letter from the key.
KEY for Q5
A
The rhythm in corticosteroids is exogenous.
B The rhythm in corticosteroids will have a period of about 24 hours,
even in complete darkness.
C Shifting the time of zeitgeber will be followed by a shift in phase
of the corticosteroid rhythm.
D A and B, but not C
E B and C, but not A
F A, B and C
Q6 One day a team of ethologists discovers a new species of rodent living
in a park in Milton Keynes. The ethologists capture a number of these rodents
and bring them into the laboratory. There they are held for 6 months to
allow familiarization with the laboratory and are exposed to continuous
light to make round-the-clock observation of their behaviour easier. After
this, their blood levels of corticosteroids are monitored. When these are
plotted, it is discovered that the mean value over all the animals does
not change during a 24-hour period. Which of the statements in the key
would be the most reasonable conclusion to draw from this?
Choose ONE letter from the key.
KEY for Q6
A There is no ultradian rhythm in the secretion of corticosteroids in this species.
B There is no circadian rhythm in the secretion of corticosteroids in this species.
C There could be a circadian rhythm in the secretion of corticosteroids but its zeitgeber is the light/dark cycle; the animals are out of phase with each other so no overall rhythm is detectable.
D Both B and C are compatible with the evidence.
E There is a circadian rhythm in corticosteroid secretion but its zeitgeber is not the light/dark cycle. Rather it is driven by some other mysterious zeitgeber present in Milton Keynes such that even in continuous light in the laboratory all of the animals are in phase.
F Both C and E are compatible with the evidence.
Q7 Rattlesnakes rarely, if ever, use their potentially deadly poison in fights amongst each other. Rather, they usually engage in a process of head banging until one submits. To understand how such behaviour evolved, modern ethologists would suggest that there exists a cost to fitness attached to the use of the venom. What might this cost be? Choose ONE letter from the key.
KEY for Q7
A Although such behaviour might be advantageous from the point of view of the individual, it would incur the cost of being to the detriment of the species as a whole.
B A defeated rattlesnake, if subjected to a venomous bite, might still be able to return one, and this could impose a cost on the initiator.
C The cost to the attacker would be that a conspecific, even though unrelated and in competition for a resource, might die.
D Both A and C, but not B, are costs that ethologists would take into account in any cost-benefit analysis.
E Both A and B are costs that ethologists would take into account in any cost-benefit analysis.
Q8 Section 5.2.2 describes an understanding of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system. Suppose a certain disease state is associated with an abnormally low level of corticosteroids in the blood. Based upon the explanatory model given, which of the following is most likely to be the cause? Choose ONE letter from the key.
KEY for Q8
A An elevated excitatory input to the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-containing neurons in the hypothalamus.
B A lower than normal rate of breakdown of corticosteroids in the blood.
C A loss of corticosteroid receptors in the hypothalamus, the hippocampus and the pituitary gland.
D A failure of CRH-neurons to synthesize CRH.
E Injection of an inert substance which blocks the corticosteroid receptors in the hypothalamus, the hippocampus and the pituitary gland.
F Abnormally high levels of ACTH secretion.
Q9 Suppose a substance is injected which has the effect of blocking the receptors for corticosteroids in the brain and pituitary gland. Which of the following would be the expected consequence? Choose ONE letter from the key.
KEY for Q9
A
A decrease in blood levels of corticosteroids
B A decrease in blood levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
C An increase in secretion of CRH, ACTH and corticosteroids
D Decreased secretion of CRH
E A decrease in secretion of CRH and ACTH
F A rise in blood levels of corticosteroids but no change in secretion
of either CRH or ACTH.
Q10 Figure 5.9 in Chapter 5 (p. 150), shows the measures of some variables within the sympathetic and HPA systems of tree shrews. These results suggest the possibility of which of the following events taking place in submissive animals? Choose TWO letters from the key.
KEY for Q10
A An increased rate of breakdown of corticosteroids and noradrenalin in the blood.
B A decreased amount of tyrosine hydroxylase in the adrenal gland.
C A decreased rate of secretion of ACTH.
D A decreased rate of corticosteroid synthesis at the adrenal gland.
E A decreased rate of catecholamine synthesis at the adrenal gland.
F An increased rate of CRH secretion.
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