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Author Cynx, J.; Hulse, S.H.; Polyzois, S.
Title A psychophysical measure of pitch discrimination loss resulting from a frequency range constraint in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) Type Journal Article
Year 1986 Publication Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume 12 Issue 4 Pages 394-402
Keywords Animals; *Birds; Cognition; Female; *Generalization, Stimulus; Male; *Pitch Discrimination; Psychoacoustics; Transfer (Psychology)
Abstract Earlier research (Hulse & Cynx, 1985) revealed that a number of species of songbirds acquired a pitch discrimination between rising and falling sequences in an arbitrarily defined training range of frequencies, but then failed to generalize the discrimination to new frequency ranges--a frequency range constraint. The two experiments here provide a psychophysical estimate of how pitch discrimination deteriorated in one species as sequences were stepped out from the training range. The gradient showing loss of discrimination was much sharper than would have been anticipated by stimulus generalization or the training procedures, and appeared unaffected by the removal of rising and falling frequency information. The frequency range constraint and its psychophysical properties have implications both for the analysis of birdsong and the study of animal cognition.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:3772303 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2786
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Author Heffner, R.S.; Heffner, H.E.
Title Localization of tones by horses: use of binaural cues and the role of the superior olivary complex Type Journal Article
Year 1986 Publication Behavioral Neuroscience Abbreviated Journal Behav Neurosci
Volume 100 Issue 1 Pages 93-103
Keywords Animals; Auditory Pathways/physiology; Auditory Perception/*physiology; Avoidance Learning/physiology; Brain Mapping; Electroshock; Female; Horses/*physiology; Male; Olivary Nucleus/anatomy & histology/*physiology; Orientation/physiology; Pitch Perception/physiology; Sound Localization/*physiology
Abstract The ability of horses to use binaural time and intensity difference cues to localize sound was assessed in free-field localization tests by using pure tones. The animals were required to discriminate the locus of a single tone pip ranging in frequency from 250 Hz to 25 kHz emitted by loudspeakers located 30 degrees to the left and right of the animals' midline (60 degrees total separation). Three animals were tested with a two-choice procedure; 2 additional animals were tested with a conditioned avoidance procedure. All 5 animals were able to localize 250 Hz, 500 Hz, and 1 kHz but were completely unable to localize 2 kHz and above. Because the frequency of ambiguity for the binaural phase cue delta phi for horses in this test was calculated to be 1.5 kHz, these results indicate that horses can use binaural time differences in the form of delta phi but are unable to use binaural intensity differences. This finding was supported by an unconditioned orientation test involving 4 additional horses, which showed that horses correctly orient to a 500-Hz tone pip but not to an 8-kHz tone pip. Analysis of the superior olivary complex, the brain stem nucleus at which binaural interactions first take place, reveals that the lateral superior olive (LSO) is relatively small in the horse and lacks the laminar arrangement of bipolar cells characteristic of the LSO of most mammals that can use binaural delta I.
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0735-7044 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:3954885 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5634
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Author Krishnan, A.; Gandour, J.T.; Ananthakrishnan, S.; Bidelman, G.M.; Smalt, C.J.
Title Functional ear (a)symmetry in brainstem neural activity relevant to encoding of voice pitch: A precursor for hemispheric specialization? Type Journal Article
Year Publication Brain and Language Abbreviated Journal
Volume In Press, Corrected Proof Issue Pages
Keywords Auditory; Human; Brainstem; Pitch; Language; Mandarin Chinese; Fundamental frequency-following response (FFR); Functional ear asymmetry; Experience-dependent plasticity; Subcortical
Abstract Pitch processing is lateralized to the right hemisphere; linguistic pitch is further mediated by left cortical areas. This experiment investigates whether ear asymmetries vary in brainstem representation of pitch depending on linguistic status. Brainstem frequency-following responses (FFRs) were elicited by monaural stimulation of the left and right ear of 15 native speakers of Mandarin Chinese using two synthetic speech stimuli that differ in linguistic status of tone. One represented a native lexical tone (Tone 2: T2); the other, T2', a nonnative variant in which the pitch contour was a mirror image of T2 with the same starting and ending frequencies. Two 40-ms portions of f0 contours were selected in order to compare two regions (R1, early; R2 late) differing in pitch acceleration rate and perceptual saliency. In R2, linguistic status effects revealed that T2 exhibited a larger degree of FFR rightward ear asymmetry as reflected in f0 amplitude relative to T2'. Relative to midline (ear asymmetry = 0), the only ear asymmetry reaching significance was that favoring left ear stimulation elicited by T2'. By left- and right-ear stimulation separately, FFRs elicited by T2 were larger than T2' in the right ear only. Within T2', FFRs elicited by the earlier region were larger than the later in both ears. Within T2, no significant differences in FFRS were observed between regions in either ear. Collectively, these findings support the idea that origins of cortical processing preferences for perceptually-salient portions of pitch are rooted in early, preattentive stages of processing in the brainstem.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0093-934x ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5391
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