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Communicating about communicating: When innate is not enough
Author(s) -
West Meredith J.,
King Andrew P.,
Duff Michele A.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420230705
Subject(s) - babbling , brood parasite , explanatory power , construct (python library) , instinct , offspring , perspective (graphical) , cowbird , biology , psychology , cognitive science , cognitive psychology , communication , ecology , computer science , epistemology , host (biology) , linguistics , artificial intelligence , parasitism , pregnancy , philosophy , genetics , programming language
The cowbird is a brood parasite, providing no parental care to its offspring. The species has often been cited as a model of the usefulness of the construct of innate behavior, as an explanation of how young cowbirds develop species‐typical behavior. Here we evaluate the adequacy of this perspective. We show that although it is difficult to explain ontogenetic beginnings without recourse to the concept of innate behaviors, ontogenetic outcomes are less easily accommodated. Constraints on the explanatory power of innateness as an ontogenetic concept are demonstrated with data from the development of singing in cowbirds and the development of babbling in human infants.