Exam 2: The Integrative Study of Behavior

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There are several hypothesized benefits to a bird that can sing the local dialect. Describe two hypotheses that explain the adaptive benefit of learning to sing from one's neighbor.

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The adaptive hypotheses explain the acoustic, social, and/or ecological benefit to learning one's song from the local environment. The hypotheses are the following: environmental adaptation hypothesis, recognition hypothesis, information-sharing hypothesis, sexual selection hypothesis, and geographic matching hypothesis.

Males in different populations are exposed to different songs, an experience that influences the kind of song that the birds learn. This is an example of a(n)

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In a study by Nowicki et al. (2002), the researchers compared brain development and song learning in two groups of nestling swamp sparrows: an experimental group that was given 30 percent less food, and a control group. Their results showed that the experimental group displayed lower HVC volume and lower song copy quality. What hypothesis was Nowicki et al. (2002) testing, and what is the proposed reasoning for their findings?

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They were testing the nutritional stress hypothesis. The experimental birds suffered from lower nutritional quality and higher developmental stress, which resulted in reduced song complexity and reduced brain development of the HVC.

The differences among dialects are environmentally determined, not genetically controlled. This is an example of a(n)

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It is difficult for a sparrow to learn a dialect, which enables females to mate with only those males with good dialects so as to increase the song competence of their offspring. This is an example of a(n)

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Describe the neurophysiological changes that occur when a young male bird is exposed to its own species' song for the first time.

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Young white-crowned sparrows are remarkably good at remembering the sounds produced by adult white-crowned males singing around them. If the learning abilities of these birds evolved by Darwinian natural selection, specific conditions must have applied to the species in the past. Which of the following statements about those conditions is incorrect?

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The ability to sing the local dialect enables a bird to communicate more effectively with neighboring males. This is an example of a(n)

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I say that a white-crowned sparrow sings a distinctive dialect because its genes influenced how its song system was assembled, which in turn made dialect learning possible. You say that it sings the song because of the operation of the robust nucleus of the arcopallium, which sends signals to the bird's vocal control apparatus, the syrinx. Who is correct?

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Males in different populations have song systems in their brains that operate slightly differently. This is an example of a(n)

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Young adult white-crowned sparrows are motivated to match their song as closely as possible to that of their neighbors. This is an example of a(n)

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Research results showed that in zebra finches, the sonograms of the songs of a father and his sons reveal a close match unless a son has been deafened early in life. These results best support which hypothesis?

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In cooperatively breeding birds, songs provide information about the group as well as individual identity, whereas birds with smaller breeding groups (most often composed of only kin) have songs that provide group identity without individual distinction. Why?

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Researchers produced three sonograms from male zebra finches: a father and two sons. One of the sons had been deafened early in life. The intact young male's song exactly matched that of his father; the deafened male produced a rudimentary sub-song. Outline the complete scientific process for which the sonograms are only one part.

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Researchers produced three sonograms from male zebra finches: a father and two sons. One of the sons had been deafened early in life. The intact young male's song exactly matched that of his father; the deafened male produced a rudimentary sub-song. Why were these sonograms made? What aspect of the scientific process are they related to?

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Males in different populations have different forms of certain genes that influence the development of the song system. This is an example of a(n)

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White-crowned sparrows evolved from an ancestral species that possessed the capacity for song learning. This is an example of a(n)

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