Question

Which of the following occurs only at a certain critical time in an animal’s life?
A. Dominance
B. Reflex
C. Instinct
D. Imprinting
E. Habituation

Answer 1

Animal Behaviour is concerned with the scientific investigation of the various ways in which animals interact with their own species. The dimension of animal behaviour goes on to talk about how animals interact with their surroundings as well as other organisms. Animals exhibit a variety of behaviours, which may be tied to their physiology or anatomy. They assist the animals in obtaining food for energy, ensuring the survival of their offspring, or ensuring their own survival. Animals' fitness is improved by behaviours that assist them or their young in surviving. If genes control fitness-enhancing behaviours, the behaviours grow increasingly widespread in the species.

Complete answer:
Option A: Stress triggers dominance signals, which are the foundation of animal hierarchies. Within and between species, these signals are employed to preserve courting dominance, social dominance, territorial and resource dominance.
So, option A is not correct.
Option B: A reflex is a simple, inborn, involuntary response of a bodily part to a stimulus. Reflexes enable animals to respond swiftly to a stimulus, thereby preventing injury. Animals can adjust to new settings thanks to learned behaviour, which is the consequence of experience.
So, option B is not correct.
Option C: When an animal perceives a stimulus, instinctive action begins and continues until the entire behaviour is completed.
So, option C is incorrect.
Option D: Imprinting is a type of learning that occurs immediately after birth within a genetically set key period. Habituation is the most complex type of learnt behaviour, involving the application of previously learned skills to a new context without the need for trial and error. The argument establishes the concept of cause and effect in a specific situation. Reflex and dominance are traits that develop later in life.
So, option D is correct.
Option E: After repeated exposure to a stimuli, or signal, an animal quits reacting to it. Initially, they will sound the alarm when they hear human footsteps, which suggest the presence of a large and potentially hungry animal.
So, option E is also not correct.

Therefore, Option D is the correct answer.

Note:
Imprinting is a crucial period early in an animal's life when it builds attachments and develops a sense of self-identity. Birds and mammals have a pre-programmed impulse to imprint on their mothers when they are born. Imprinting has been used to domesticate animals and fowl for generations.
Imprinting is a sort of learning that occurs at highly sensitive times in an organism's life, usually during infancy, or it may be defined as the psychobiology by which animals acquire certain behaviours at a specific age or life stage. Several examples can be used to explain imprinting. After hatching, a baby goose can follow its future mating partner, and once mature, it will begin to mate with that partner owing to sexual behaviour it has imitated.