Adaptive Behavior (ecology)
In behavioral ecology an adaptive behavior is a behavior which contributes directly or indirectly to an individual's survival or reproductive success and is thus subject to the forces of natural selection. Examples include favoring kin in altruistic behaviors, female selection of the most fit male, and defending a territory or harem from rivals.
Conversely, a non-adaptive behavior is a behavior or trait that is counterproductive to an individual's survival or reproductive success. These might include altruistic behaviors which do not favor kin, adoption of unrelated young, and being a subordinate in a dominance hierarchy.
Adaptations are commonly defined as evolved solutions to recurrent environmental problems of survival and reproduction. Individual differences commonly arise through both heritable and nonheritable adaptive behavior. Both have been proven to be influential in the evolution of species adaptive behaviors, although heritable adaptation remains a controversial subject.
Read more about Adaptive Behavior (ecology): Nonheritable Adaptive Behavior, Heritable Adaptive Behavior, Importance of Adaptive Behavior, Measuring Adaptive Behavior
Famous quotes containing the words adaptive and/or behavior:
“The shift from the perception of the child as innocent to the perception of the child as competent has greatly increased the demands on contemporary children for maturity, for participating in competitive sports, for early academic achievement, and for protecting themselves against adults who might do them harm. While children might be able to cope with any one of those demands taken singly, taken together they often exceed children’s adaptive capacity.”
—David Elkind (20th century)
“To be told that our child’s behavior is “normal” offers little solace when our feelings are badly hurt, or when we worry that his actions are harmful at the moment or may be injurious to his future. It does not help me as a parent nor lessen my worries when my child drives carelessly, even dangerously, if I am told that this is “normal” behavior for children of his age. I’d much prefer him to deviate from the norm and be a cautious driver!”
—Bruno Bettelheim (20th century)