You observe scrub jays hiding food and notice that one particular individual only pretends to hide food. Your experiments associate the presence of other individuals with the frequency of pretending to cache food. A colleague shows you animals of the same species that do not perform this pretend caching. How does this information affect your conclusions about this behavior?
A) It suggests that this behavior might be learned.
B) It prevents you from making conclusions.
C) It suggests that your experimental design is flawed.
D) It does not change your initial conclusions.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The presence of animals from the same species that do not perform pretend caching suggests that this behavior might be learned rather than innate, as it would not be present in all individuals of the species.

You Observe Scrub Jays Hiding Food and Notice That One