Vocal Learning

Question 1

ACOUSTIC STRUCTURE OF BIRD SONG

Answer 1

• syntax = specific timing & ordering of song elements:
  1. note
  2. element
  3. syllable
  4. phrase

Question 2

MARLER & TAMURA (1962)

Answer 2

• song dialects in dif populations of white-crowned sparrows
• San Francisco Bay; sparrows from Marin/Berkeley/Sunset Beach (city regions) differ in song dialects

Question 3

GOULD & MARLER (1987)

Answer 3

• isolated young white-crowned sparrows distinguish/learn own-species song from tape tutors
• young males recognise/learn species-specific songs played along w/several songs from other species

Question 4

BOLHUIS & GAHR (2006)

Answer 4

• zebrafinch song development
• CA 60-80 days = plastic song
• CA 100 days = full song

Question 5

BRAINARD & DOUPE (2002)

Answer 5

• birds raised in isolation DON’T develop full songs
• adult zebra finch tutor = full song(ish) at late stage
• zebra finch raised in acoustic isolation = broken “plastic” song
• seasonality/overlap between sensory/sensorimotor phase in dif bird species
• sparrows/zebra finches sing same song all life long; canaries change annually

Question 6

KONISHI (1965); NORDEEN & NORDEEN (1992)

Answer 6

• role of auditory feedback in control of vocalisation in white-crowned sparrow
• auditory feedback = necessary for maintenance of stereotypes song in adult zebra finches
• birds deafened (cochlea removal) prior to onset of subsong stage = no normal song
• birds match produced song to memorised song template
• auditory feedback = also important for maintenance of full songs

Question 7

NELSON, MARLER & PALLERONI (1995)

Answer 7

• comparative approach to vocal learning; intraspecific variation in learning process
• developmental plasticity during sensitive period
• sensitive period = constrained onset/end time BUT environmental factors can modulate it:
  1. local adaptiations in length/onset of breeding season (ie. coastal VS montane populations of white-crowned sparrows)
  2. length/frequency of social exposure to singing males (ie. male zebrafinches raised by females could learn songs post exposure to males long after end of normally occurring sensitive period)
  3. group housing accelerates song learning in adolescent zebra finches

Question 8

BAPTISTA & PETRINOVICH (1984)

Answer 8

• some types of social experience can override bio predisposition for own-species song
• white-crowned sparrows exposed to both strawberry finch tutors/own-species song playbacks

Question 9

HOW DO BIRDS SING?

Answer 9

• cervical sac
• interclavicular sac
• anterior thoracic sac
• posterior thoracic sac
• cervical sac
• abdominal sac
  THE SYRINX
• trachea
• syringeal muscles
• bronchial rings
• lateral labium
• internal tympaniform membranes
• bronchus

Question 10

BIRD SONG PRODUCTION

Answer 10

• neurally controlled
• song production pathway = posterior vocal pathway
• NCM = caudiomedial neostratium
• brain areas involved in song production in typical songbird:
  1. HVC (higher vocal centre)
  2. RA (robust nucleus of arcopallium)
  3. nXIIts (hypoglossal nucleus; projection neurons/motor neurons innervate syrnix muscles from here)

Question 11

NOTTEBOHM & ARNOLD (1976)

Answer 11

• RA = robust nucleus of arcopallium; critical role in bird song production
• male/female zebrafinches
• RA lesions/cutting RA-nXIITs projection affects bird song production
• RA = larger in white-crowned sparrow males > non-singing females & Carolina wren
• RA grows/shrinks seasonally in white-crowned sparrow males

Question 12

BRENOWITX & KROODSMA (1996)

Answer 12

• sexual dimorphism in HVC volumes
• dif in HVC volume systematically relate to difs in singing between sexes
• zebra finches = ONLY males sing

Question 13

NORDEEN & NORDEEN (1990); KIRN & DEVOOGD (1989)

Answer 13

• neural reconstruction/neurogenesis in adult bird braun
• seasonal variations in HVC/RA volume
• HVC/RA volumes correlate w/size of song repertoire/song system

Question 14

BIRD SONG LEARNING PATHWAY

Answer 14

• aka. anterior forebrain pathway (Area X)
• brain areas involved in song learning in typical songbird:
  1. LMAN (lMAN; lateral portion of magnocellular nucleus of anterior neostriatum)
  2. DLM (medial portion of dorsolateral thalamus)
• lesions of said nuclei affect song during learning BUT not production of crystallised songs

Question 15

WHAT MAKES SPECIES A VOCAL LEARNER?

Answer 15

• dependent on beh/psychoacoustics/communication
• assess acoustic signals imitated
• describe change of acoustic parameters

Question 16

WHEN IS VOCAL LEARNING EMPLOYED?

Answer 16

• dependent on development/social system/ethology
• detect potential sensitive phase for vocal learning
• investigate impact of context (social interactions/motivations etc.) on expression of vocal learning

Question 17

HOW CAN VOCAL LEARNING BE EXPRESSED BY ORGANISM?

Answer 17

• dependent on morphology/genetics/neurobiology
• identify perception/production constraints that could impact performance
• evaluate neuronal circuitry/genetics enabling vocal learning

Question 18

WHO ELSE IS CAPABLE OF VOCAL LEARNING?

Answer 18

• dependent on phylogenetics
• determine distribution of trait across phylogeny of closely related species

Question 19

WHY DID VOCAL LEARNING EVOLVE?

Answer 19

• dependent on ecology/evolution
• evaluate ecological constraints/evolutionary preassures causing loss/gain of vocal learning

Question 20

WHICH ANIMALS = VOCAL LEARNERS?

Answer 20

• songbirds/parrots/hummingbirds
• humans/primates
• bats
• whales/dolphins/seals
• elephants
• mice
• goats

Question 21

GENETIC BASIS OF SONG LEARNING

Answer 21

• genes expressed in song nuclei specifically during sensory/sensorimotor phase of song learning
• learning depends also on gene activity
• Zenk = transcription factor
• IEG = immediate early gene (IEG)
• AR = androgene receptors

Question 22

WEBB & ZHANG (2004)

Answer 22

• point mutation in FOXP2 gene (transcription factor) -> human speech/language deficits
• FOXP2 = 1 gene in gene network underpinning vocal learning
• human language deficits = aphasia/stuttering/articulation disorders/verbal dyspraxia (most prominent in children)
• FOXP2 (human chromosome 7) = verbal dyspraxia; bird FOXP2 = extremely conserved (dif to humans where gene sequence has undergone change presumably in relation to evolution of language)
• sequences from vocal-learning mammals (whales/dolphines) DON’T share human-unique substitutions in FOXP2 gene

Question 23

DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SPEECH: PERCEPTION

Answer 23

• 0-4 MONTHS = infants discriminate phonetic contrasts of all languages
• 6 MONTHS = language-specific perception for vowels
• 9 MONTHS = recognition of language-specific sound combinations
• 0-8 MONTHS = universal speech perception
• 10 MONTHS = infants fail to discriminate foreign language consonant contrasts
• 6-12+ MONTHS = language-specific speech perception

Question 24

DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SPEECH: PRODUCTION

Answer 24

• 0-3 MONTHS = infants produce non-speech sounds
• 3 MONTHS = infants produce vowel-like sounds
• 7 MONTHS = “canonical babbling”
• 10 MONTHS = language-specific speech production
• 0-10 MONTHS = universal speech production
• 12 MONTHS = first words produced
• 10-12+ MONTHS = language-specific speech production

Question 25

KUHL (2000)

Answer 25

- infant vocal development - 6 month old infants - discrimination of prototype/similar sounds - dishabituation paradigm - habituation = repeated exposure to control stimulus; therefore memorised -> attention declines; followed by interspersed presentations of new stimulus - infants fail to discriminate sounds close to prototype - formants = energy peaks in vocal sounds perceived as vowels

Question 26

KUHL (2010)

Answer 26

- brain mechanisms in early language acquisition - brain activation -> speech in infants - MEG = magnetoencephalography - functional neuroimaging shows motor activity becomes increasingly synchronised w/auditory area by age 6-12 months

Question 27

DEVELOPMENT OF BIRD SONG: PERCEPTION

Answer 27

SPRING 1. species-specific predispositions 2. young birds listen & memorise 3. critical period closes 1-3. sensory learning

Question 28

DEVELOPMENT OF BIRD SONG: PRODUCTION

Answer 28

SPRING 1. hatch 2. young birds sing 3. plastic song (rehearsal of learned material) 4. song overproduction & attrition 5. crystallised song 2-5. sensorimotor learning

Question 29

KUHL, TSAO & LIU (2003)

Answer 29

- foreign-language experience in infancy; effects of STM exposure/social interaction on phonetic learning - vocal learning = enhanced by social interactions - 9 month old infants; 12 lab sessions; control group listened to English speaker - exposure to recorded Mandarin w/o interpersonal interaction = no effect

Question 30

KUHL (1999)

Answer 30

- bio predispositions for learning during development - question ISN'T "do innate mechanisms exist" but "what nature of innate mechanisms for learning/by what mechanisms do they operate/what provisions do they make for interaction between organisms/environment?" - aka. what are the ways in which innate mechanisms impinge on pervasive plasticity that beh displays in course of development