anxious: (n. anxiety) A feeling of dread over some potential or upcoming situation, usually one over which someone feels they have little control.
attention: The phenomenon of focusing mental resources on a specific object or event.
behavior: The way something, often a person or other organism, acts towards others, or conducts itself.
breed: (noun) Animals within the same species that are so genetically similar that they produce reliable and characteristic traits. German shepherds and dachshunds, for instance, are examples of dog breeds. (verb) To produce offspring through reproduction.
cell: (in biology) The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Typically too small to see with the unaided eye, it consists of a watery fluid surrounded by a membrane or wall. Depending on their size, animals are made of anywhere from thousands to trillions of cells. Most organisms, such as yeasts, molds, bacteria and some algae, are composed of only one cell.
coauthor: One of a group (two or more people) who together had prepared a written work, such as a book, report or research paper. Not all coauthors may have contributed equally.
cognitive: A term that relates to mental activities, such as thinking, learning, remembering and solving puzzles.
cones: (in biology) A type of eye cell that is part of the retina inside the back of the eye. These cells can sense red, green or blue light. Recent research has uncovered evidence that many can sense white light — but only white light.
frequency: The number of times some periodic phenomenon occurs within a specified time interval.
resolution: (in optics) A term having to do with the degree of clarity or detail with which some object can be seen. (v. resolve)
sex: An animal’s biological status with respect to reproductive functions, typically male or female. There are a number of indicators of biological sex, including sex chromosomes, gonads, internal reproductive organs, and external genitals. It can also be a term for some system of mating between male and female animals such that each parent organism contributes genes to the potential offspring, usually through the fertilization of an egg cell by a sperm cell.
sibling: An offspring that shares the same parents (with its brother or sister).
survey: To view, examine, measure or evaluate something, often land or broad aspects of a landscape. (with people) To ask questions that glean data on the opinions, practices (such as dining or sleeping habits), knowledge or skills of a broad range of people. Researchers select the number and types of people questioned in hopes that the answers these individuals give will be representative of others who are their age, belong to the same ethnic group or live in the same region. (n.) The list of questions that will be offered to glean those data.