Sensory Systems and Communication

1. Apply the principles of tactical and strategic signal components to:

a) male male competition

b) sensory drive and female choice.

2. Is the phenomenon of sensory drive more related to runaway process or indicator models of sexual selection? Justify your answer.

3. Why are cut and paste experiments especially useful in understanding the communication between signaler and receiver?

4. Why are playback experiments useful in decoding the strategic components of a signal? (see the material on information in male contests as well).

5. Discuss the concept of honesty and dishonesty in male-male and male-female relations. (many places where honesty and dishonesty is discussed in the web pages).

6. How do animals cope with noise (visual and auditory) in decoding signals?

7. A bird squawks a song in the woods but no other bird or animal is around to hear it. Is it communicating? Why or why not?