Auditory Thresholds in the Rat Measured by an Operant Technique

Gourevitch, George; Hack, Martin H.; Hawkins, Joseph E.

doi:10.1126/science.131.3406.1046

Cited by 24 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, it is either present at a clearly supraliminal level or it is completely absent. So far, this procedure has been used successfully with pigeons and rats (Blough, 1958;Gourevitch, 1960) in determining absolute thresholds in a variety of sensory modalities. In our study, cats were the experimental animals, and the stimuli to be discriminated were a steady tone and a frequency-modulated tone.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Aside from the problem of the trauma, the major considerations here are the time required for preliminary training, and the size and reliability of the auditory thresholds obtainable with such a conditioning procedure. This is a report of our experiences in the initial training of cats with a procedure described by Blough (1958 (Blough, 1958;Gourevitch, 1960) Figure 1 is a schematic of the training apparatus. The training cage, which contained two levers, and a food dipper, was constructed of hardware cloth and was as open as possible so it would not interfere with the sound field more than absolutely necessary.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A TRACKING PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING THE CAT'S FREQUENCY DISCRIMINATION¹

Elliott

Frazier

Riach

1962

J Exper Analysis Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A tracking procedure was used to investigate the time required to train cats to discriminate between a frequency-modulated tone and a steady tone. The animal was reinforced with food on a VR schedule only when the steady tone was present and the animal pressed the correct bar (one of two). After reinforcement, the steady tone usually changed to a frequency-modulated signal; by pressing the other bar, the tone could be changed to its steady state and the reinforcement then obtained as before. A major difficulty was the lack of control by the auditory stimulus on the cat's responses. This problem was solved by introducing interpress time outs which forced the animal to hesitate after every press. The use of light cues to signal the time outs and the correct bar to press accelerated the rate at which the training progressed.With cats, this conditioning procedure apparently requires a much longer training period before the actual threshold determinations than the more commonly used avoidance conditioning procedures. However, when animals are to be tested repeatedly over a period of several months or longer, the procedure may prove the more desirable one because it reduces experimental neurosis.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A TRACKING PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING THE CAT'S FREQUENCY DISCRIMINATION¹

Elliott

Frazier

Riach

1962

J Exper Analysis Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The instructional variable is eliminated; the subject's behavior is brought under stimulus control by manipulation of the appropriate reinforcement contingencies. Thus, the technique can be adapted for use with lower-animal subjects.Recent application of operant procedures to the Bekesy method for tracing human auditory thresholds (Adler & Dalland, 1959;Blough, 1958;Gourevitch, Hack, & Hawkins, 1960) has opened up a new area of research in animal psychophysics. As Sidman has pointed out (1960, p. 23), what is evolving is "a new conception of the problem of 'subjective sensation."'…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A TECHNIQUE FOR MEASURING THE LATENCY OF A DISCRIMINATIVE OPERANT¹

Stebbins¹,

Lanson²

1961

J Exper Analysis Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…1) was tested, after initial acquisition, with a low intensity noise signal of 55 db. Such a signal is easily discriminable (Gourevitch, Hack, and Hawkins, 1960;Lyon, 1964) yet is well below the level of 91 db (re. .0002 dynes/cm2) which Campbell (1955) to that used here.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

THE STABILITY AND CONTROL OF CONDITIONED NOISE AVERSION IN THE TILT CAGE¹

Halpern

Lyon

1966

J Exper Analysis Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Twenty-six rats were used to study the development of stable conditioned responding to terminate white noise (100 or 105 db) in a tilt cage apparatus. Preliminary work, with one end of the cage consistently associated with silence, demonstrated stability at a high level of cumulative noise-off time per session. Time spent at the noise-off cage end was unaffected by lay-off and showed adaptation to reversal of the cage end functions. Variability in reversal acquisition, insensitivity to stimulus intensity changes and persistence in remaining at one end of the cage in the absence of noise-termination contingencies indicated the need for more precise behavioral control. A schedule programming several reversals of the no-noise end at variable intervals within each session was developed. Performance on the latter schedule was characterized by stability of high noise-off times and also proved more sensitive than the preliminary method to stimulus intensity changes (55, 70, 100 db) as measured by both cumulated noise-off time and cage crossing rates. The ease of training combined with sensitivity to stimulus change and the lack of highly specific motor response requirements make this technique promising for use with animals potentially debilitated by drugs or surgical after-effects.

show abstract

Auditory Thresholds in the Rat Measured by an Operant Technique

Abstract: An adaptation of the Ratliff and Blough technique has been developed for auditory measurement in rats. Thresholds for a 2000-cy/sec tone were determined over a period of weeks. Kanamycin, an ototoxic agent, was then administered, and the gradual rise in threshold was followed.

Cited by 24 publications

References 2 publications

A TRACKING PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING THE CAT'S FREQUENCY DISCRIMINATION¹

A TRACKING PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING THE CAT'S FREQUENCY DISCRIMINATION¹

A TECHNIQUE FOR MEASURING THE LATENCY OF A DISCRIMINATIVE OPERANT¹

THE STABILITY AND CONTROL OF CONDITIONED NOISE AVERSION IN THE TILT CAGE¹

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Auditory Thresholds in the Rat Measured by an Operant Technique

Abstract: An adaptation of the Ratliff and Blough technique has been developed for auditory measurement in rats. Thresholds for a 2000-cy/sec tone were determined over a period of weeks. Kanamycin, an ototoxic agent, was then administered, and the gradual rise in threshold was followed.

Cited by 24 publications

References 2 publications

A TRACKING PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING THE CAT'S FREQUENCY DISCRIMINATION1

A TRACKING PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING THE CAT'S FREQUENCY DISCRIMINATION1

A TECHNIQUE FOR MEASURING THE LATENCY OF A DISCRIMINATIVE OPERANT1

THE STABILITY AND CONTROL OF CONDITIONED NOISE AVERSION IN THE TILT CAGE1

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

A TRACKING PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING THE CAT'S FREQUENCY DISCRIMINATION¹

A TRACKING PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING THE CAT'S FREQUENCY DISCRIMINATION¹

A TECHNIQUE FOR MEASURING THE LATENCY OF A DISCRIMINATIVE OPERANT¹

THE STABILITY AND CONTROL OF CONDITIONED NOISE AVERSION IN THE TILT CAGE¹