Processing of complex auditory stimuli (tunes) by rats and monkeys (Cebus apella)

Abstract

The degree to which rats and monkeys base their discriminations of complex auditory stimuli ("tunes") on frequency contours rather than on local features was investigated. In Experiment I, groups of rats and monkeys trained with tunes as S+ and 8-acquired a simple operant diacrim· ination no faster than groups that received the same notes of each tune but in a new random order on each trial; neither did the groups differ on two transfer tests devised to detect learning of frequency contour in the tune-trained animals. Acquisition in the tune-trained and randomnotes groups seemed to be based on the overall frequency difference between S+ and 8-, which was about 1.5 octaves. In Experiment 2, S+ and 8-were similar to each other with regard to overall frequency and individual notes, the most salient differentiating characteristic of the tunes being their tonal pattern. The tune-trained groups were clearly superior to the randomnotes animals in acquisition, and an initial transfer test suggested that the former might have learned the discrimination on the basis of frequency contour. However, the detailed transfer tests of Experiment 3 strongly suggested that the tune-trained rats and monkeys based their discriminations primarily on local cues rather than on frequency contour. Based on the results of Experiment 4, the data of an earlier study that suggested frequency contour learning in monkeys and rats were reinterpreted in terms of control by local cues.

Discrimination and classification of rising and nonrising pitch patterns by the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

“…Instead, if pattern element and pattern structure cues are both available, there is a strong predilection for the use of pattern element cues-that is, to process at a lower level in the hierarchy. That was true in the present experiment, and it has also been true in earlier work involving several species of songbirds Hulse, 1989;Hulse & Cynx, 1985Hulse et al, 1984;Hulse et al, 1990), parakeets (Dooling, Brown, Park, Okanoya, & Soli, 1987;Park & Dooling, 1985), rats (D 'Amato & Salmon, 1984), and cebus monkeys (D 'Amato&Colombo, 1988;D'Amato&Salmon, 1984). Only when the experimental conditions severely constrain the use of pattern element cues do starlings display (or develop) the capacity for perception of pattern structure at higher levels.…”

Intelligence and rational behaviour in the bottlenosed dolphin

“…The birds instead focussed on the absolute frequencies of the pitch series and could not recognize a tonal series as the same when it was shifted by an octave. Rats and monkeys also fail to evidence octave generalization (D'Amato and Salmon 1984). In contrast to these frequency constraints of birds, rats, and monkeys, Ralston and Herman (1995) demonstrated excellent octave generalization of pitch contours in the dolphin Phoenix.…”

The Effect of Music on Cognitive Performance: Insight From Neurobiological and Animal Studies

“…Nonhuman primates, our closest ancestors, also fail to demonstrate perceptual invariance for melodies. Monkeys can discriminate complex acoustic patterns but do so by focusing on local pitch features (e.g., the last two notes), rather than the entire melody (D'Amato, 1988;D'Amato & Salmon, 1984). This discrimination is on the basis of absolute rather than relative pitch (Hulse et al, 1992).…”