Chapter 2 class (exam1)

Question 1

Acoustic Stimuli: Song Recognition

White-crowned sparrow males sing regional dialects
10-50day old males raised in isolation
1) Sang good/bad
2) exposed to tapes of normal songs…
3) if heard their song with another species’ song..
4) when housed near a visible social tutor of another species…

Answer 1

1) sang poorly
2) eventually sang dialect they heard, but not if from another species
3) learned species song if heard together with that of another species
4) white crown sparrow will learn the other species’ song, even when the white-crown song is heard. Even if older than 50 days

Question 2

Song practice - template

Answer 2

A template apparently accepts species song and creates a memory to compare with sounds made in first subsong practice at 150 days

Question 3

birds won’t show proper song if deafened before ___ days

Answer 3

150 days

Question 4

Practice produces

Answer 4

a variable song repertoire - variations

Question 5

bird prefers and practices…

Answer 5

the dialect heard when young which becomes crystallized adult song

Question 6

species dialects indicate some learning but…

Answer 6

the brain seems restricted to learning a specific song in a certain period, and needs later auditory feedback to improve with practice

Question 7

Social interaction

1) adults add _ _ from neighbors, showing ____
2) starling learn _ _, only if ___
3) birds housed near

Answer 7

1) song elements from neighbors, showing further social influence
2) starlings learn human words only if part of family social interaction
3) birds housed near a visible social tutor of another species learn that song even if older than 50 days, and even when their song is heard

Question 8

Different species have different predispositions to _______, and some _____

Answer 8

learn their own songs, and some sing more complex songs than others.
Cowbirds (nest parasites) will lay eggs in another nest, other birds end up raising their babies. yet they open their mouths and cowbird song comes out.

Question 9

Avian song control system

1) neural networks allow _____ OR ___, but ____
2) increasing ___ ___ increases ___
3) Subsong practice stimulates ___ __

Answer 9

1) Neural networks allow learning own species OR tutor’s song, but are so specialized that young birds prefer ancestral dialect
2) Increasing day length increases testosterone causing the higher vocal center nucleus to add new neurons. Female company speeds the process.
3) Subsong practice stimulates receptor cells, leading to chemical changes that activate genes in these cells, altering their function

Question 10

Avian song control system:

E___, a___, h___, and s___ stimuli are ______

Answer 10

Environmental, acoustical, hormonal, and social stimuli are part of a complex interaction between genes creating neural structure, environmental stimuli, and altered gene action in the functioning nervous system

Question 11

avian gender differences:

zebra finch male song requires ___

Answer 11

estrogen (produced in growing male brain).
this organizing substance initiates male-pattern brain development.
Exposure to normal song is needed to sing normally, so experience is a factor.

Question 12

[avian gender differences]
YOUNG FEMALES
listen to and learn the song
1) treated with estrogen early in life and testosterone as adults sing ___ song
2) if treatment is not begun before 4 days of age ___
3) destruction of song recognition area in female brain results in ___

Answer 12

1) sing male song
2) If treatment not begun before 4 days of age, the effect is greatly diminished as brain differentiation has begun
3) Destruction of song recognition area in the female brain results in sexual receptivity to other species songs (they’ll mate w other bird species)

Question 13

Song Learning NON-ADAPTATIONIST HYPOTHESIS

1) involve ___, ___ evolutionary ___
2) _-____ hypothesis

Answer 13

1) involve nonadaptive, incidental evolutionary origins
2) by-product hypothesis. during speciation random or adaptive selection occurred for other characteristics and incidentally affected song.

Question 14

Adaptationist Hypothesis (define)

Answer 14

related to adaptive advantage of a behavior

Question 15

Song Learning ADAPTATIONIST HYPOTHESIS

1) Environmental
2) Recognition
3) information sharing
4) sexual selection

Answer 15

1) Environmental adaptation – vegetation. Lower frequency tunes – wrap around objects in the way. Higher frequency bounces off. Regional dialects have developed for better transmission in that particular environment. (Rural area tich vs urban tich – they communicate differently)
2) Recognition: identify others of your species. Member of a particular species to your competitors, relatives, females, etc. local dialects as newcomers adjust and mimic.
3) Information sharing: living in a social group you get more complex communication. Vary elements of vocal sequences.
4) Male competition and female choice

Question 16

Song Learning ADAPTATIONIST HYPOTHESIS
Sexual selection: Male competition
A) how does male competition affect song?
B) shared version leads to
C) messages they send by singing variation of the same version. mimicking = ___
D)

Answer 16

A) Male competition is involved in the song that’s developed. Staking claim for that area when singing. Territorial.
B) Males song sparrows who respond to a neighbors’ song with a shared version of the song are peaceful. Happy with that. If unshared version – more competition.
C) A variation of the same version is slightly aggressive. The same version signals aggression (mimicking = competing)
D) Cowbirds: when babies grow up they prefer local dialect anyway. They produce a perched song even if they’re isolated from other birds.

Question 17

Song Learning ADAPTATIONIST HYPOTHESIS
Sexual selection: Female choice

Why do female cowbirds prefer song of isolated males versus the males that grew up in the wild?

Answer 17

In the wild there’s competition of males. Dominant male sings the best song – anyone else that copies him has to speak to him. Females prefer that best song (and isolated males don’t tone their song down)

Fun fact: species with birds that sing – 70% of females also sing.

Question 18

Song Learning ADAPTATIONIST HYPOTHESIS
Geographic matching
A) Females prefer locals because they’re likely to have genes that are more ___
B) Greater variety and better version of song

Answer 18

A) Genes that are more successful in this environment than some foreigner. Newcomers moving into the area adopt local dialect, to be successful in attracting a female.
B) Greater variety and better version – associated w growing up well. Deprived of food = poorer development in song area of brain. Adaptive feature

Question 19

Why do only Males Sing?
A) Non-adaptationist hypothesis
B) Adaptationist Hypothesis

Answer 19

A) Female hormonal and reproductive systems would be messed up by a song system. [Counterargument: Females of some species sing, so this seems wrong]
B) Adaptationist Hypothesis:
- Attraction of females
- Signaling genetic quality
- Signaling presence to other males – territory
- Defense of fertile male – eggs

Question 20

Human Speech/Language Development
A) infant \_\_ stage
B) \_\_\_-word sentences
C) \_\_\_-word sentences
D) \_\_\_\_ speech
E) G\_\_\_\_

Answer 20

A) infant babbling stage
B) one-word sentences (go. no)
C) Two-word sentences (mama go)
D) Telegraphic speech: basic nouns and verbs without tenses (not creating own sentences - mimicking things they’ve heard from someone else
E) Grammar: before 20 months: adult speech is imitated. after 20 months: grammar appears, based on neural systems favoring the subject-verb-object construction characteristic of most languages

Question 21

HUMAN SPEECH

Telegraphic speech

Answer 21

basic nouns and verbs without tenses (not creating own sentences - mimicking things they’ve heard from someone else

Question 22

HUMAN SPEECH
Grammar
A) before __ months: __
B) after __ months:

Answer 22

A) before 20 months: adult speech is imitated.
B) after 20 months: grammar appears, based on neural systems favoring the subject-verb-object construction characteristic of most languages