Question

Part A During a field trip, an instructor gently touched a moth resting on a tree trunk. The moth raised its forewings to reveal brightly colored eyespots on its hind wings. The instructor asked why the moth lifted its wings. One student answere that sensory receptors had fired and triggered a neuronal reflex culminating in the contraction of certain muscles that ralsed the wings. A second student responded that the behavior frightens predators and that this allows the moth to escape. Which statement best describes these explanations? The first explanation is biological, whereas the second is philosophical. OBoth explanations refer to proximate causation. Both explanations refer to ultimate causation The first explanation refers to proximate causation, whereas the second refers to ultimate causation The first explanation refers to ultimate causation, whereas the second refers to proximate causation. Submit

Answer 1

ANSWER

The first explanation refers to proximate causation, whereas the second refers to ultimate causation is the correct option

Proximate cause means that 'how' an organism behaves. In the first explanation, the sensory receptor had fired and triggered a neuronal reflex culminating in the contraction of certain muscles that raised the wings. This clearly explains that how an organism(moth) behaves. It focuses on the immediate cause of the behaviour

Ultimate cause means that 'why' an organism behave as it does. In the second explanation, the behaviour frightens the predators so that the moth can be escaped. Here, this clearly explains that why the moth behave as it does. This focuses on the evolutionary significance of the behaviour