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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2014 Jul 5;0:42–47. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2014.06.002

Figure 1. A scheme of developmental vocal learning.

Figure 1

Vocal learning is a slow, iterative developmental process of progressively shaping vocal change that eventually leads to an integration in a complex communication system that endows an animal with individual identity (e.g., a unique song), a group identity (integrated in a vocal culture) and a means for coordinating behavior with other individuals (including affiliation, aggression and courtship behaviors). The capacity to imitate is only one factor that shapes the outcome of vocal learning over development.