Failure of operant control of vocal learning in budgerigars

Seki, Yoldaş; Osmanski, Michael S.; Dooling, Robert J.

doi:10.26451/abc.05.01.11.2018

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Following previous work, budgerigar vocal behavior can be brought under basic stimulus-response control in an operant environment, and differential reinforcement using simple sensory stimuli is sufficient to drive vocal learning and plasticity in these birds Manabe et al, 1995;Seki et al, 2018). Here we use differential reinforcement to train birds to produce a particular contact call to visual (LEDs) and/or auditory stimuli (contact calls/tones) that differed either in spatial location (left vs. right) or stimulus features (i.e., visual = color difference, or auditory = either call-type or tone frequency) in order to assess the relative saliency of visual and auditory cues to vocal learning in these birds.…”

Section: Training Birds To Produce Two Contact Calls Under Operant Comentioning

confidence: 91%

“…In this spirit, we recently attempted to train budgerigars to produce two different contact calls to two spatially separated LEDs and to acoustic playbacks of two different contact calls. Results showed birds could use LEDs as discriminative stimuli, producing a different contact call to each of the two LEDs, but could not produce two different calls to two different acoustic playbacks (Seki et al, 2018 ). This suggests that there are interesting constraints on vocal production learning that call into question what exactly is being learned when budgerigars learn to mimic another bird’s contact call.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Constraints on vocal production learning in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulates)

2021

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Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) are small Australian parrots with a well-documented, learned vocal repertoire and a high degree of vocal production learning. These birds live in large, social flocks and they vocally interact with each other in a dynamic, reciprocal manner. We assume that budgerigars must process and integrate a wide variety of sensory stimuli when selecting appropriate vocal responses to conspecifics during vocal interactions, but the relative contributions of these different stimuli to that process are next to impossible to tease apart in a natural context. Here we show that budgerigars, under operant control, can learn to respond to specific stimuli with a specific vocal response. Budgerigars were trained to produce contact calls to a combination of auditory and visual cues. Birds learned to produce specific contact calls to stimuli that differed either in location (visual or auditory) or quality (visual). Interestingly, the birds could not learn to associate different vocal responses with different auditory stimuli coming from the same location. Surprisingly, this was so even when the auditory stimuli and the responses were the same (i.e., the bird’s own contact call). These results show that even in a highly controlled operant context, acoustic cues alone were not sufficient to support vocal production learning in budgerigars. From a different perspective, these results highlight the significant role that social interaction likely plays in vocal production learning so elegantly shown by Irene Pepperberg’s work in parrots.

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Section: Training Birds To Produce Two Contact Calls Under Operant Comentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints on vocal production learning in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulates)

2021

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Context-Dependent Modulations in Acoustic Features of Zebra Finch Distance Calls: Insights from a Novel Goal-Directed Vocalization Paradigm

Safarcharati,

Bahramani,

Mokari Amjad

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Songbirds are renowned for their complex vocal communication abilities; among them, zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) are a key species for studying vocal learning and communication. Zebra finches use various calls with different meanings, including the distance call, which is used for long-distance contact. Whether these calls are static with fixed meanings or flexible remains an open question. In this study we aimed to answer this question by designing a novel behavioral paradigm, in which we trained food-restricted zebra finches to use distance calls for food request. Nine out of ten birds learned this association and used their distance calls to obtain food when they were hungry. We then introduced a visually-separated audience and compared the distance calls used for food requests with those used for communication between birds. Results revealed significant acoustic differences in power, pitch, and other spectral characteristics between the distance calls uttered in these two contexts. Our findings suggest that zebra finches can use their distance call for different goals and also acoustically modulate it based on the context. Therefore, it demonstrates a level of vocal control thought to be exclusive to songs. This study enhances our understanding of vocal flexibility and its role in vocal communication.

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Vocal usage learning and vocal comprehension learning in harbor seals

Duengen,

Jadoul,

Ravignani

2024

BMC Neurosci

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Background Which mammals show vocal learning abilities, e.g., can learn new sounds, or learn to use sounds in new contexts? Vocal usage and comprehension learning are submodules of vocal learning. Specifically, vocal usage learning is the ability to learn to use a vocalization in a new context; vocal comprehension learning is the ability to comprehend a vocalization in a new context. Among mammals, harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) are good candidates to investigate vocal learning. Here, we test whether harbor seals are capable of vocal usage and comprehension learning. Results We trained two harbor seals to (i) switch contexts from a visual to an auditory cue. In particular, the seals first produced two vocalization types in response to two hand signs; they then transitioned to producing these two vocalization types upon the presentation of two distinct sets of playbacks of their own vocalizations. We then (ii) exposed the seals to a combination of trained and novel vocalization stimuli. In a final experiment, (iii) we broadcasted only novel vocalizations of the two vocalization types to test whether seals could generalize from the trained set of stimuli to only novel items of a given vocal category. Both seals learned all tasks and took ≤ 16 sessions to succeed across all experiments. In particular, the seals showed contextual learning through switching the context from former visual to novel auditory cues, vocal matching and generalization. Finally, by responding to the played-back vocalizations with distinct vocalizations, the animals showed vocal comprehension learning. Conclusions It has been suggested that harbor seals are vocal learners; however, to date, these observations had not been confirmed in controlled experiments. Here, through three experiments, we could show that harbor seals are capable of both vocal usage and comprehension learning.

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Failure of operant control of vocal learning in budgerigars

Cited by 3 publications

References 32 publications

Constraints on vocal production learning in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulates)

Constraints on vocal production learning in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulates)

Context-Dependent Modulations in Acoustic Features of Zebra Finch Distance Calls: Insights from a Novel Goal-Directed Vocalization Paradigm

Vocal usage learning and vocal comprehension learning in harbor seals

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