Hearing of old world monkeys (Cercopithecinae)

• Published in: American journal of physical anthropology 1973-03, Vol.38 (2), p.357-364
• Main Author: Stebbins, William C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation; Animals; Audiometry; Auditory Threshold; Biological Evolution; Conditioning, Operant; Haplorhini - physiology; Hearing; Reinforcement (Psychology)
• ISSN: 0002-9483; 1096-8644
• DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1330380233

The characteristics of normal hearing were examined in the laboratory for seven species of Old World monkeys. Operant conditioning procedures, coupled with standard audiometric testing methods, were used to assess thresholds of hearing, frequency range of hearing, and differential sensitivity to auditory intensity and frequency. To produce tonal stimulation, an animal was trained to touch and maintain manual contact with a contact‐sensitive key and to report hearing the tone by lifting his hand from the key; this response was followed by food reinforcement. When the reporting response occurred without the auditory signal, the animal was punished by a short suspension from the experiment. Additional contingencies were added to ensure stable and reliable responding, and threshold and differential acuity determinations were then made. Threshold was defined as the stimulus value responded to correctly 50% of the time. The frequency range of hearing of all the cercopithecoids tested extended from 60 to 40,000 Hz, an octave above the upper bound of 20,000 Hz for man but well below the 60–70,000 Hz limit for some prosimians. Absolute sensitivity for tonal stimulation in the most sensitive frequency range (1–8 kHz) was about 2 × 10−4 microbars, comparable to that of other primates tested, including man. Thus, the Old World monkey appears only slightly less sensitive than man to small changes in intensity and frequency of acoustic stimulation. At 1000 Hz at 60 dB above the threshold of audibility, his limit of resolution is about 5 Hz for frequency and 2 dB for intensity.