Auditory Categorization of Complex Sounds by Rats (Rattus norvegicus )

Little research has explored the auditory categorization abilities of mammals. To better understand these processes, the authors tested the abilities of rats ( Rattus norvegicus ) to categorize multidimensional acoustic stimuli by using a classic category-learning task developed by R. N. Shepard, C....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of comparative psychology (1983) 2005-02, Vol.119 (1), p.90-98
Main Authors: Mercado, Eduardo, Orduña, Itzel, Nowak, Jeaveen M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal
Animal behavior
Animal ethology
Animals
Auditory Perception
Auditory Stimulation
Biological and medical sciences
Classification (Cognitive Process)
Ears & hearing
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Learning
Learning. Memory
Mammalia
Norway Rats
Pitch (Frequency)
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Rats
Rats, Long-Evans
Rodents
Sound
Stimulus Parameters
Vertebrata
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Summary:Little research has explored the auditory categorization abilities of mammals. To better understand these processes, the authors tested the abilities of rats ( Rattus norvegicus ) to categorize multidimensional acoustic stimuli by using a classic category-learning task developed by R. N. Shepard, C. I. Hovland, and H. M. Jenkins (1961) . Rats proved to be able to categorize 8 complex sounds on the basis of either the direction or rate of frequency modulation but not on the basis of the range of frequency modulation. Rats' categorization abilities were limited but improved slowly and incrementally, suggesting that learning was not facilitated by selective attention to acoustic dimensions.
ISSN:0735-7036
1939-2087
DOI:10.1037/0735-7036.119.1.90