A scientist wants to investigate male-guppy behavior in the presence of female guppies. She puts two long tailed guppies in the same fish tank. The male guppies appear to be indifferent to each other’s presence. However, when the scientist added a female guppy to the tank, the male guppies become aggressive toward one another. Throughout the experiment, the scientist gives the fish enough food so that they do not need to compete for it. In the experiment, why does the scientist maintain the abundance of food before and during the presence of the female guppy? (SC.912.N.1.1) *

Question

A scientist wants to investigate male-guppy behavior in the presence of female guppies. She puts two long tailed guppies in the same fish tank. The male guppies appear to be indifferent to each other’s presence. However, when the scientist added a female guppy to the tank, the male guppies become aggressive toward one another. Throughout the experiment, the scientist gives the fish enough food so that they do not need to compete for it. In the experiment, why does the scientist maintain the abundance of food before and during the presence of the female guppy? (SC.912.N.1.1) *
1 point
The scientist wants to see how the guppies react to various amounts of food.
The scientist wants to see if the female is more interested in food than the male guppies.
The scientist wants the guppies to have enough energy to display their natural behavior.
The scientist must ensure that the guppy’s behavior is not affected by the need to compete for food.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

The correct answer is: **The scientist must ensure that the guppy’s behavior is not affected by the need to compete for food.** By maintaining an abundance of food, the scientist eliminates the variable of food competition, allowing her to focus solely on the effects of the female guppy on male aggression. This ensures that any observed behaviors are due to the presence of the female and not influenced by hunger or resource competition.