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student22
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
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Social learning in animals
is said to occur when direct
or indirect social interaction
Line facilitates the acquisition
(5) of a novel behavior. It
usually takes the form of
an experienced animal (the
demonstrator) performing a
behavior such that the naive
(10) animal (the observer) subsequently
expresses the
same behavior sooner, or
more completely, than it
would have otherwise. One
(15) example of social learning
is the acquisition of preferences
for novel foods.
Some experiments
have suggested that among
(20) mammals, social learning
facilitates the identification
of beneficial food items,
but that among birds, social
learning helps animals
(25) avoid toxic substances.
For example, one study
showed that when red-wing
blackbirds observed others
consuming a colored food
(30) or a food in a distinctly
marked container and then
becoming ill, they subsequently
avoided food
associated with that color
(35) or container. Another
experiment showed that
house sparrows consumed
less red food after they
observed others eating
(40) red food that was treated
so as to be noxious. Studies
on nonavian species have
not produced similar results,
leading researchers to
(45) speculate that avian social
learning may be fundamentally
different from that of
mammals.
But Sherwin's recent
(50) experiments with domestic
hens do not support the
notion that avian social
learning necessarily facilitates
aversion to novel
(55) foods that are noxious or
toxic. Even when demonstrator
hens reacted with
obvious disgust to a specific
food, via vigorous head
(60) shaking and bill wiping,
there was no evidence that
observers subsequently
avoided eating that food.
Sherwin's research team
(65) speculated that ecological
or social constraints during
the evolution of this species
might have resulted in there
being little benefit from the
(70) social learning of unpalatability,
for instance,
selective pressures for this
mode of learning would be
reduced if the birds rarely
(75) encountered noxious or
toxic food or rarely interacted
after eating such food,
or if the consequences of
ingestion were minimal.
The primary purpose of the passage is to discuss the
A. techniques used in certain experiments on social learning in birds
B. reasons for the differences between social learning in birds and in mammals
C. question of how social learning manifests itself in birds
D. basis for a widespread belief about a difference in behavior between birds and
mammals
E. possible reasons why birds may or may not learn from each other in a particular
way
OA:E
I was torn between C and E. Can anybody explain why C is wrong. If it's E, then doesn't it ignore the first half of the passage?
is said to occur when direct
or indirect social interaction
Line facilitates the acquisition
(5) of a novel behavior. It
usually takes the form of
an experienced animal (the
demonstrator) performing a
behavior such that the naive
(10) animal (the observer) subsequently
expresses the
same behavior sooner, or
more completely, than it
would have otherwise. One
(15) example of social learning
is the acquisition of preferences
for novel foods.
Some experiments
have suggested that among
(20) mammals, social learning
facilitates the identification
of beneficial food items,
but that among birds, social
learning helps animals
(25) avoid toxic substances.
For example, one study
showed that when red-wing
blackbirds observed others
consuming a colored food
(30) or a food in a distinctly
marked container and then
becoming ill, they subsequently
avoided food
associated with that color
(35) or container. Another
experiment showed that
house sparrows consumed
less red food after they
observed others eating
(40) red food that was treated
so as to be noxious. Studies
on nonavian species have
not produced similar results,
leading researchers to
(45) speculate that avian social
learning may be fundamentally
different from that of
mammals.
But Sherwin's recent
(50) experiments with domestic
hens do not support the
notion that avian social
learning necessarily facilitates
aversion to novel
(55) foods that are noxious or
toxic. Even when demonstrator
hens reacted with
obvious disgust to a specific
food, via vigorous head
(60) shaking and bill wiping,
there was no evidence that
observers subsequently
avoided eating that food.
Sherwin's research team
(65) speculated that ecological
or social constraints during
the evolution of this species
might have resulted in there
being little benefit from the
(70) social learning of unpalatability,
for instance,
selective pressures for this
mode of learning would be
reduced if the birds rarely
(75) encountered noxious or
toxic food or rarely interacted
after eating such food,
or if the consequences of
ingestion were minimal.
The primary purpose of the passage is to discuss the
A. techniques used in certain experiments on social learning in birds
B. reasons for the differences between social learning in birds and in mammals
C. question of how social learning manifests itself in birds
D. basis for a widespread belief about a difference in behavior between birds and
mammals
E. possible reasons why birds may or may not learn from each other in a particular
way
OA:E
I was torn between C and E. Can anybody explain why C is wrong. If it's E, then doesn't it ignore the first half of the passage?
