PrepTest 104, Section 2, Question 17
Many birds that form flocks compete through aggressive(453 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(19 more words not shown)
- AThe live birds(6 more words not shown)
- BThe physical characteristics(12 more words not shown)
- CNo live juvenile(6 more words not shown)
- DThe food placed(17 more words not shown)
- EEven the live(12 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Which experiment are we attacking? The stuffed titmouse on the feeding tray. Live birds approach and act aggressively toward a dummy with a narrower stripe than their own; they act submissively toward one with a broader stripe.
What we’re looking for
The experiment is supposed to show that the stripe affects their response. Could something about the dummies make this a poor test? I don't have to know exactly what went wrong yet, but the answer needs to explain why those reactions might not establish what the researchers think they do.
Working the answers
- A
Coming from different flocks doesn't show that the stripe failed to produce the response. The experiment isn't presented as a test of behavior learned within one particular flock.
- BCorrect
What if the dummy with the wider stripe was also much bigger? The live bird might back away because of its size, not its stripe. If other features changed too, we can't confidently isolate stripe width as the explanation for the different reactions.
- C
An experiment using adults could still show that those birds respond to stripe width. Leaving juveniles out doesn't explain away the result among the birds tested.
- D
Unusual food is odd, but it doesn't explain why the birds reacted differently to wider and narrower stripes. We need a problem with what those differences establish.
- E
Aggression needn't involve an actual attack. Approaching aggressively and staying away submissively are still different responses. The experiment can reveal that difference without a fight.
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