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research article
Freedom and rules: the acquisition and reprogramming of a bird's learned song
2005
Canary song is hierarchically structured: Short stereotyped syllables are repeated to form phrases, which in turn are arranged to form songs. This structure occurs even in the songs of young isolates, which suggests that innate rules govern canary song development. However, juveniles that had never heard normal song imitated abnormal synthetic songs with great accuracy, even when the tutor songs lacked phrasing. As the birds matured, imitated songs were reprogrammed to form typical canary phrasing. Thus, imitation and innate song constraints are separate processes that can be segregated in time: freedom in youth, rules in adulthood.
Type
research article
Authors
Publication date
2005
Published in
Volume
308
Issue
5724
Start page
1046
End page
9
Peer reviewed
REVIEWED
EPFL units
Available on Infoscience
November 1, 2010
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