Question

In earlier studies, scientists reported finding a "commitment gene" in men, in which men with a certain gene variant were much less likely to commit to a monogamous relationship. \(^{62}\) That study involved only men (and we return to it later in this text), but a new study, involving birds this time rather than humans, shows that female infidelity may be inherited. \(^{63}\) Scientists recorded who mated with or rebuffed whom for five generations of captive zebra finches, for a total of 800 males and 754 females. Zebra finches are believed to be a monogamous species, but the study found that mothers who cheat with multiple partners often had daughters who also cheat with multiple partners. To identify whether the effect was genetic or environmental, the scientists switched many of the chicks from their original nests. More cheating by the biological mother was strongly associated with more cheating by the daughter. Is this a positive or negative association?

Short answer

The association between the mothers' and daughters' cheating behaviors in the zebra finches is a positive association.

Step-by-step solution

Understand the Observations

Reading the exercise thoroughly to understand the observation made by the scientists. They observed the mating behavior over five generations of captive zebra finches where the behaviour of mothers who cheated often was correlated with the behaviour of their daughters. Because of environmental controls (chicks were moved from their original nests), the study aimed to separate genetic effects from environmental ones.

Analyze the findings

The scientists found that more cheating by the biological mother was strongly associated with more cheating by the daughter. This implies that as one variable (the mother's tendency to cheat) increases, so does the other (the daughter's tendency to cheat).

Determining the type of Association

An association where an increase in one variable corresponds to an increase in another is known as a positive association. Therefore, the relationship between the cheating behavior of the mother and the daughter in this case would be a positive association.