Practice question · Multiple choice
A researcher shows that longer daylight raises testosterone, which triggers a male bird's song. A colleague objects that this is wrong, because the real reason birds sing is to attract mates and deter rivals. Why is the colleague's objection misconceived?
Hints
- Ask what each account is actually claiming. Do they contradict each other anywhere?
- One says how the song is produced. The other says what it is for.
Show the answer
D. Because the two are answers to different questions.
Why
The objection assumes the two explanations compete for one slot, and Tinbergen's framework exists to show they do not: daylight and testosterone answer how, mates and rivals answer why, and each would still hold if the other were overturned. Treating them as rivals is the commonest error here, and it runs in both directions.
Practise Tinbergen's Four Questions
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