Developmental Diversity in Communicative Capacities

鸟类鸣唱的复杂性及其学习的作用 发展使其成为科学家研究的重要课题 制定学习和发展的比较原则。 韦斯特博士和金博士一直在研究 褐头燕鸥鸣声结构、功能和发育 燕八哥 着眼于声乐发展的社会中介作用， 他们的重要发现包括：（1） 来自非歌唱女性的社会刺激 男性的发展，（2）男性使用的视觉信号， 在歌曲发展过程中， 关于歌曲效力的信息，和（3）之间的差异 亚种在发声交流的发展中。 因此，棕头燕八哥是一种特别合适的 研究学习形式的物种以前没有探索过， 鸣禽，特别是视觉和声音的融合 发展过程中的刺激。 韦斯特博士和金博士设计了 一项实验方案来测量 男性，女性的感知能力，以及 两性之间的社会互动， 和生产. 不同的人群将被比较， 调查发展计划的变化程度 在同一物种和亚种中。 该项目正在探索新的研究领域， 经过验证的方法和过去的发现，揭示了以前未知的 行为的适应性改变。 研究 因此有可能引入新的声乐概念， 对我们理解 包括人类在内的动物， 与下一代的沟通。

The complexity of bird song and the role of learning in its development make it an important topic of inquiry for scientists formulating comparative principles of learning and development. Drs. West and King have been studying interrelationships among song structure, function, and development in brown-headed cowbirds. Focusing on the social mediation of vocal development, their important discoveries include (1) the important influence of social stimulation from non-singing females on vocal development of males, (2) visual signals used by males and females during song development that appear to communicate information about song potency, and (3) differences among subspecies in the development of vocal communication. The brown-headed cowbird is thus an especially appropriate species for studying forms of learning not previously explored in songbirds, particularly the integration of visual and vocal stimulation during development. Drs. West and King have designed an experimental protocol to measure the vocal capacities of males, the perceptual capacities of females, and the nature of social interactions between the sexes that link vocal perception and production. Different populations will be compared to investigate the extent to which developmental programs vary within the same species and subspecies. This project is exploring new areas of inquiry on the basis of proven methods and past findings that revealed previously unknown aspects of adaptive modification of behavior. The research therefore has the potential to introduce new concepts of vocal learning of special significance for our understanding of how animals, including humans, transmit complex modes of communication to the next generation.