Relative salience of syllable structure and syllable order in zebra finch song

Lawson, Shelby L.; Fishbein, Adam R.; Prior, Nora H.; Ball, Gregory F.; Dooling, Robert J.

doi:10.1007/s10071-018-1182-2

Cited by 22 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Thus, if zebra finches cannot perceive syllable sequences independently of such temporal patterns, they might in fact not have recognized the syllable sequences. Nevertheless, our conclusion is in line with other perceptual studies suggesting that zebra finches pay more attention to syllable structure and are less sensitive to changes in syllable order when tested for their ability to discriminate between normal versus reversed syllables as well as normal versus reversed syllable sequences (Braaten et al, 2006;Lawson et al, 2018; for review, see Fishbein et al, 2019). Likewise, in a meta-analysis, Kriengwatana et al (2016) found that zebra finches learned phonetic discriminations (discriminations based on variation in the acoustic features of syllables) faster than discrimination based on variation in artificial syllable sequences.…”

Section: Acoustic Feature Used For Individual Vocal Recognitionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…It is also worth noting that most perceptual studies confine themselves to the song motif as the relevant song unit (e.g. Braaten et al, 2006;Cynx and Nottebohm, 1992;Lawson et al, 2018). It is perhaps not surprising that those studies revealed a low sensitivity for changes in syllable order given the rigid succession of syllables in motifs.…”

Section: Acoustic Feature Used For Individual Vocal Recognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, other perceptual studies testing the ability of zebra finches to discriminate between normal versus reversed syllables as well as normal versus reversed syllable sequences suggest that zebra finches pay more attention to syllable structure and are less sensitive to changes in syllable order (Braaten et al, 2006;Lawson et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Individual vocal recognition in zebra finches relies on the song syllable structure rather than on song syllable order

Geberzahn

Derégnaucourt

2020

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Many species are able to vocally recognize individual conspecifics and this capacity seems widespread in oscine songbirds. The exact acoustic features used for such recognition are often not clear. In the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), the song motif is composed of a few syllables repeated in a fixed sequential order and song bouts include several repetitions of the motif. Here, we used an operant discrimination task, the GO/NOGO procedure, to show that zebra finches are capable of individual vocal recognition even if the bird has to distinguish males that all produce an imitation of the same song model. Furthermore, we studied whether such individual vocal recognition was based on spectro-temporal details of song syllables, i.e. the local fine structure of the song, or on the sequential order in which song syllables are arranged in the song bout. To this end, we trained male and female zebra finches to discriminate songs of one male conspecific from those of four others. After learning this baseline discrimination, subjects were exposed to a novel set of stimuli originating from the same individuals, in order to test for their capability to generalise. Subjects correctly classified those novel stimuli, illustrating their ability for individual vocal recognition. Then they were exposed to hybrid stimuli combining the syllable sequences of one individual with the spectro-temporal features of another. Behavioural responses of subjects to hybrid stimuli suggest that they rely on spectro-temporal details of syllables and might pay less attention to syllable sequences for individual vocal recognition.

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Section: Acoustic Feature Used For Individual Vocal Recognitionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Acoustic Feature Used For Individual Vocal Recognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Individual vocal recognition in zebra finches relies on the song syllable structure rather than on song syllable order

Geberzahn

Derégnaucourt

2020

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…As described previously, e.g. 48 , 56 , 57 , birds were trained and tested in a wire cage (23 × 25 × 16 cm) anchored inside of a sound-attenuated chamber (Industrial Acoustics Company, Bronx, NY, model IAC-3) lined with acoustic foam. Two response keys, each consisting of an LED attached to a microswitch, were mounted to the wall of the cage directly in front of a perch.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies with natural song and calls confirm that songbirds use the acoustic structure of vocal signals for individual recognition 25 , 27 . Additionally, songbirds are exquisitely sensitive to manipulations of individual syllables, while some species, at least, are relatively insensitive to changes in syllable order 27 , 48 , suggesting that fine acoustic variation, such as across renditions of song syllables, may be a primary carrier of information.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discrimination of natural acoustic variation in vocal signals

Fishbein

Prior

Brown

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Studies of acoustic communication often focus on the categories and units of vocalizations, but subtle variation also occurs in how these signals are uttered. In human speech, it is not only phonemes and words that carry information but also the timbre, intonation, and stress of how speech sounds are delivered (often referred to as “paralinguistic content”). In non-human animals, variation across utterances of vocal signals also carries behaviorally relevant information across taxa. However, the discriminability of these cues has been rarely tested in a psychophysical paradigm. Here, we focus on acoustic communication in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), a songbird species in which the male produces a single stereotyped motif repeatedly in song bouts. These motif renditions, like the song repetitions of many birds, sound very similar to the casual human listener. In this study, we show that zebra finches can easily discriminate between the renditions, even at the level of single song syllables, much as humans can discriminate renditions of speech sounds. These results support the notion that sensitivity to fine acoustic details may be a primary channel of information in zebra finch song, as well as a shared, foundational property of vocal communication systems across species.

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Zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) demonstrate cognitive flexibility in using phonology and sequence of syllables in auditory discrimination

2023

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Zebra finches rely mainly on syllable phonology rather than on syllable sequence when they discriminate between two songs. However, they can also learn to discriminate two strings containing the same set of syllables by their sequence. How learning about the phonological characteristics of syllables and their sequence relate to each other and to the composition of the stimuli is still an open question. We compared whether and how the zebra finches’ relative sensitivity for syllable phonology and syllable sequence depends on the differences between syllable strings. Two groups of zebra finches were trained in a Go-Left/Go-Right task to discriminate either between two strings in which each string contained a unique set of song syllables (‘Different-syllables group’) or two strings in which both strings contained the same set of syllables, but in a different sequential order (‘Same-syllables group’). We assessed to what extent the birds in the two experimental groups attend to the spectral characteristics and the sequence of the syllables by measuring the responses to test strings consisting of spectral modifications or sequence changes. Our results showed no difference in the number of trials needed to discriminate strings consisting of either different or identical sets of syllables. Both experimental groups attended to changes in spectral features in a similar way, but the group for which both training strings consisted of the same set of syllables responded more strongly to changes in sequence than the group for which the training strings consisted of different sets of syllables. This outcome suggests the presence of an additional learning process to learn about syllable sequence when learning about syllable phonology is not sufficient to discriminate two strings. Our study thus demonstrates that the relative importance of syllable phonology and sequence depends on how these features vary among stimuli. This indicates cognitive flexibility in the acoustic features that songbirds might use in their song recognition.

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Relative salience of syllable structure and syllable order in zebra finch song

Cited by 22 publications

References 70 publications

Individual vocal recognition in zebra finches relies on the song syllable structure rather than on song syllable order

Individual vocal recognition in zebra finches relies on the song syllable structure rather than on song syllable order

Discrimination of natural acoustic variation in vocal signals

Zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) demonstrate cognitive flexibility in using phonology and sequence of syllables in auditory discrimination

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