Social Learning in Animals is Said to Occur When Direct or Indirect Social Interaction Facilitates The Acquisition of a Novel Behavior. GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question 

Social learning in animals is said to occur when direct or indirect social interaction facilitates the acquisition of a novel behavior. It usually takes the form of an experienced animal (the demonstrator) performing a behavior such that the native animal (the observer) subsequently expresses the same behavior sooner, or more completely, than it would have otherwise. One example of social learning is the acquisition of preferences for novel foods.

Some experiments have suggested that among mammals, social learning facilitates the identification of beneficial food items, but that among birds, social learning helps animals avoid toxic substances. For example, one study showed that when red-wing blackbirds observed others consuming a colored food or a food in a distinctly marked container and then becoming ill, they subsequently avoided food associated with that color or container. Another experiment showed that house sparrows consumed less red food after they observed others eating red food that was treated so as to be noxious. Studies on non-avian species have not produced similar results, leading researchers to speculate that avian social learning may be fundamentally different from that of mammals.

But Sherwin's recent experiments with domestic hens do not support the notion that avian social learning necessarily facilitates aversion to novel foods that are noxious or toxic. Even when demonstrator hens reacted with obvious disgust to a specific food, via vigorous head shaking and bill wiping, there was no evidence that observers subsequently avoided eating that food. Sherwin's research team speculated that ecological or social constraints during the evolution of this species might have resulted in there being little benefit from the social learning of unpalatability, for instance, selective pressures for this mode of learning would be reduced if the birds rarely encountered noxious or toxic food or rarely interacted after eating such food, or if the consequences of ingestion were minimal. In a related experiment the same researchers showed that if observer hens watched demonstrator hens react favorably to food of a particular color, then observer hens ate more food of that color than they ate of food of other colors. These results confirmed that avian species can develop preferences for palatable food through social learning.

“Social learning in animals is said to occur when direct or indirect social interaction facilitates the acquisition of a novel behavior.”-  is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.
This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 6 questions and answers. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions check the candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions. 

Solution and Explanation

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to discuss the

(A) techniques used in certain experiments on social learning in birds
(B) reasons for the differences between social learning in birds and in mammals
(C) question of how social learning manifests itself in birds
(D) basis for a widespread belief about a difference in behavior between birds and mammals
(E) possible reasons why birds may or may not learn from each other in a particular way

2. According to the passage, which of the following is true of the experiments on domestic hens conducted by Sherwin's research team?

(A) Only a small number of observer hens appeared to learn to avoid food that was demonstrated by other hens to be noxious.
(B) Observer hens ingested food preferentially only after numerous instances of witnessing demonstrator hens preferentially ingest that type of food.
(C) Observer hens appeared unable to recognize when demonstrator hens found a particular food especially palatable.
(D) Demonstrator hens reacted adversely to ingesting certain novel foods.
(E) Demonstrator hens altered their behavior less obviously in response to noxious foods than in response to highly palatable foods.

3. It can be inferred that the author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements regarding the results of the recent experiments conducted by Sherwin's research team?

(A) The experiments demonstrate that social learning in avian species facilitates the identification of noxious or toxic foods.
(B) The experiments suggest that social learning has made avian species less adept than nonavian species at learning to prefer beneficial foods and avoid noxious and toxic foods.
(C) The experiments undermine the notion that most avian species have evolved in environments where there is little benefit to the social learning of unpalatability.
(D) The experiments suggest that the acquisition of food preferences in avian species is largely unaffected by social learning.
(E) The experiments show that social learning in avian species can promote the preferential consumption of beneficial foods but do not support the claim that social learning in avian species promotes the avoidance of noxious or toxic foods.

4. Which of the following best describes the main purpose of the first paragraph of the passage?

(A) It explains why a particular behavior discussed in the remainder of the passage is beneficial to the animals that engage in it.
(B) It introduces a concept that has been widely misunderstood among nonscientists.
(C) It outlines the types of studies that have been conducted to investigate a certain animal behavior.
(D) It provides information necessary to understand the nature of the phenomenon discussed in the remainder of the passage.
(E) It describes a viewpoint that is called into question later in the passage.

5. According to the passage, Sherwin’s research team speculated that the social learning of unpalatability within a particular species might be discouraged if the animals

(A) did not suffer serious effects from any noxious or toxic foods they ingested
(B) consumed food in small quantities throughout the day rather than in a few large feedings
(C) had an unusually large variety of foods available to them
(D) interacted after feeding as well as during feeding
(E) did not show signs of illness until considerable time had passed following the ingestion of noxious or toxic food

6. The passage indicates that which of the following is true about studies of social learning in mammals?

(A) Such studies have only rarely demonstrated a capacity among mammals to learn to prefer certain foods via observation of other animals.
(B) Such studies have suggested that in mammals one function of social learning is to establish preferences for novel foods.
(C) Such studies have demonstrated some capacity among mammals to learn via observation of other animals to avoid ingestion of toxic substances.
(D) Such studies have been conducted primarily in the mammals’ natural habitats rather than in laboratory settings.
(E) Such studies have focused primarily on forms of social learning other than the acquisition of preferences for novel foods.