Question

You observe two populations of chimpanzees using sticks to dig termites out from nests for food. One population uses long sticks; the second population uses short sticks. Which of the following observations would not support the hypothesis that the choice of stick length is a learned behavior? A. There are equal numbers of short and long sticks in the environment of each population. B. The population using long sticks has mostly long sticks in its environment. C. The chimpanzees using short sticks have obtained them by breaking long sticks. D. Young chimpanzees in both populations start out using sticks of many different sizes. E. Individuals that don’t use the common stick length for that population catch fewer termites.

Answer 1

Answer: B. The population using long sticks has mostly long sticks in its environment

Explanation:

Going back to the statement that reiterates the hypothesis after observations about the apes in the Introduction.

Reviewing the findings in this case, on the behavior of using sticks to dig seem to be the focus the experiment and choice length of the stick.

Making a judgment about whether or not the two finding has been supported is next step.

If there are equal numbers of short and long sticks in the environment of each population and the apes chooses one specific we can say their behavior is learned.

 If the chimpanzees using short sticks have made the the sticks short by breaking long sticks then we can say this behavior is learned.

When the Young chimpanzees in both populations start out using sticks of many different sizes we can see that these variables of learning is yet to be perfected.

When individuals in the population that don’t use the common stick length for that population catch fewer termites this reveals a randomness in the behavior of interest.

At this point we can say that if the population using long sticks has mostly long sticks in its environment then there is a biased objective in the study and this does not support the hypothesis that the choice of stick length is a learned behavior.