Marler P
Department of Zoology, University of California, Davis 95616.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1990 Aug 29;329(1253):109-14. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1990.0155.
The high degree of developmental plasticity displayed by the songs of oscine birds makes them appropriate subjects for research on the etiology and neurobiology of vocal learning. Strong individual differences and learned local dialects are common. The readiness to acquire new songs appears to persist throughout life in some species and is restricted to relatively short sensitive periods in others. Learning can occur with remarkably few exposures to song. Mimicry of other species occurs but, given a choice, there is a tendency to favour conspecific songs. Evidence is presented for two kinds of vocal learning, one 'memory-based', the other 'action-based.' Subsong and 'plastic song' phases of motor development appear to be obligatory steps in the ontogeny of learned songs. A case is made that acquisition and production should be viewed as distinct phenomena with different physiological correlates. Research on behavioural development is closely associated with studies of the physiology of development. The two are mutually synergistic, and the synergism is well displayed in research on song learning in birds. This review of some of the characteristics of avian vocal learning as derived from behavioural studies, indicates lacunae in our knowledge about the ethology of song learning, and suggests how the comparative study of vocal development can pave the way for new insights into the underlying neurobiology.
鸣禽歌曲所展现出的高度发育可塑性，使其成为研究声乐学习的病因学和神经生物学的合适对象。强烈的个体差异和习得的地方方言很常见。在某些物种中，获取新歌曲的意愿似乎贯穿一生，而在其他物种中则局限于相对较短的敏感期。只需很少接触歌曲就能发生学习。对其他物种的模仿确实存在，但在有选择的情况下，倾向于偏好同种歌曲。文中给出了两种声乐学习的证据，一种是“基于记忆的”，另一种是“基于动作的”。运动发育的亚鸣声和“可塑性歌曲”阶段似乎是习得歌曲个体发育过程中的必经步骤。有人提出，习得和发声应被视为具有不同生理关联的不同现象。行为发育的研究与发育生理学的研究密切相关。两者相互协同，这种协同作用在鸟类歌曲学习的研究中得到了很好的体现。这篇源自行为研究的关于鸟类声乐学习某些特征的综述，指出了我们在歌曲学习行为学知识上的空白，并提出了声乐发育的比较研究如何能够为深入了解潜在的神经生物学开辟道路。
