2024-03-28T13:52:48Zhttps://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/oai/requestoai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/25552023-04-18T09:44:58Zcom_10023_184com_10023_39com_10023_301com_10023_130com_10023_32com_10023_879com_10023_878col_10023_185col_10023_303col_10023_131col_10023_880
Claidiere, Nicolas
Bowler, Mark Timothy
Whiten, Andrew
The Wellcome Trust
University of St Andrews. School of Psychology and Neuroscience
University of St Andrews. Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences
University of St Andrews. ‘Living Links to Human Evolution’ Research Centre
University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
2012-04-16T11:01:02Z
2012-04-16T11:01:02Z
2012-02-20
Claidiere , N , Bowler , M T & Whiten , A 2012 , ' Evidence for weak or linear conformity but not for hyper-conformity in an everyday social learning context ' , PLoS One , vol. 7 , no. 2 , e30970 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030970
1932-6203
PURE: 19317236
PURE UUID: a640cfff-45ac-469a-bd18-efa2225faa81
Scopus: 84857400769
ORCID: /0000-0003-2426-5890/work/65014003
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2555
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030970
094440/Z/10/Z
Conformity is thought to be an important force in cultural evolution because it has the potential to stabilize cooperation in large groups, potentiate group selection and thus explain uniquely human behaviors. However, the effects of such conformity on cultural and biological evolution will depend much on the way individuals are influenced by the frequency of alternative behavioral options witnessed. Theoretical modeling has suggested that only what we refer to as ‘hyper-conformity’, an exaggerated tendency to perform the most frequent behavior witnessed in other individuals, is able to increase within-group homogeneity and between-group diversity, for instance. Empirically however, few experiments have addressed how the frequency of behavior witnessed affects behavior. Accordingly we performed an experiment to test for the presence of conformity in a natural situation with humans. Visitors to a Zoo exhibit were invited to write or draw answers to questions on A5 cards and potentially win a small prize. We manipulated the proportion of existing writings versus drawings visible to visitors and measured the proportion of written cards submitted. We found a strong and significant effect of the proportion of text displayed on the proportion of text in the answers, thus demonstrating social learning. We show that this effect is approximately linear, with potentially a small, weak-conformist component but no hyper-conformist one. The present experiment therefore provides evidence for linear conformity in humans in a very natural context.
Publisher PDF
Peer reviewed
eng
PLoS One
© 2012 Claidière et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Cultural evolution
QL Zoology
QL
Evidence for weak or linear conformity but not for hyper-conformity in an everyday social learning context
Journal article
oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/54432022-04-14T20:39:20Zcom_10023_184com_10023_39com_10023_301com_10023_130com_10023_32com_10023_879com_10023_878col_10023_185col_10023_303col_10023_131col_10023_880
Hunter, David William
Tiddeman, Bernard Paul
Perrett, David Ian
University of St Andrews. School of Psychology and Neuroscience
University of St Andrews. Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences
University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
2014-09-18T09:31:01Z
2014-09-18T09:31:01Z
2012-02
Hunter , D W , Tiddeman , B P & Perrett , D I 2012 , ' A genetic algorithm for face fitting ' , Paper presented at GRAPP - International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications , Rome, Italy , United Kingdom , 24/02/12 - 26/02/12 pp. 115-120 . https://doi.org/10.5220/0003816101150120
conference
PURE: 20248043
PURE UUID: 418b9dc7-0654-4967-9732-6a89ddc25867
Scopus: 84862218570
ORCID: /0000-0002-6025-0939/work/64360959
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5443
https://doi.org/10.5220/0003816101150120
Accurate estimation of the shape of human faces has many applications from computer-imaging to psychological research. One well known method is to fit a Three Dimensional Morphable Model to a target image. This method is attractive as the faces it constructs are already projected onto an orthogonal basis making further manipulation and analysis easier. So far its use in these fields has been limited the inaccuracy and inconvenience of current face-fitting methods. We present a method based on Genetic Algorithms that avoid the local minima and gradient image errors that current methods suffer from. It has the added advantage of requiring no manual interaction to initialise or guide the fitting process.
Postprint
Peer reviewed
6
eng
©2012. SCITEPRESS Lda. This is the accepted manuscript of a Conference Paper originally submitted to the International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications (GRAPP 2012) available from http://www.scitepress.org/DigitalLibrary/Link.aspx?doi=10.5220/0003816101150120
Genetic algorithm
Face recognition models
Three dimensional morphable models
QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
QA75
A genetic algorithm for face fitting
Conference paper
oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/34722024-02-20T00:40:13Zcom_10023_45com_10023_17com_10023_184com_10023_39com_10023_879com_10023_878col_10023_46col_10023_185col_10023_880
Guillette, Lauren
Bloomfiled, Laurie
Batty, Emily
Dawson, Michael
Sturdy, Chris
University of St Andrews. School of Biology
University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
2013-04-06T20:31:01Z
2013-04-06T20:31:01Z
2011
49562541
add1dcc8-af05-48db-8922-a675438c1cd0
82255163970
Guillette , L , Bloomfiled , L , Batty , E , Dawson , M & Sturdy , C 2011 , ' Development of a contact call in black-capped chickadees ( Poecile atricapillus ) hand-reared in different acoustic environments ' , Journal of the Acoustical Society of America , vol. 130 , no. 4 , pp. 2249-2256 . https://doi.org/10.1121/1.3628343
0001-4966
https://hdl.handle.net/10023/3472
10.1121/1.3628343
The tseet contact call, common to black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain chickadees (P. gambeli), is the most frequently produced vocalization of each species. Previous work has characterized the tseet call of black-capped and mountain chickadees from different geographic locations in terms of nine acoustic features. In the current study, using similar methods, the tseet call of black-capped chickadees that were hand reared with either conspecifics, heterospecifics (mountain chickadees), or in isolation from adult chickadees are described. Analysis of call features examined which acoustic features were most affected by rearing environment, and revealed that starting frequency and the slope of the descending portion of the tseet call differed between black-capped chickadees reared with either conspecific or heterospecific adults. Birds reared in isolation from adults differed from the other hand-reared groups on almost every acoustic feature. Chickadee tseet calls are more individualized when they are reared with adult conspecifics or heterospecifics compared to chickadees that are reared in isolation from adults. The current results suggest a role of learning in this commonly used contact call.
Peer reviewed
232522
eng
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
QL Zoology
QL
Development of a contact call in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) hand-reared in different acoustic environments
Journal article
oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/124552022-04-20T15:50:31Zcom_10023_184com_10023_39com_10023_130com_10023_32com_10023_879com_10023_878col_10023_185col_10023_131col_10023_880
Hardus, Madeleine E.
Lameira, Adriano R.
Zulfa, Astri
Atmoko, S. Suci Utami
de Vries, Han
Wich, Serge A.
University of St Andrews. School of Psychology and Neuroscience
University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
2018-01-10T16:30:06Z
2018-01-10T16:30:06Z
2012-04
Hardus , M E , Lameira , A R , Zulfa , A , Atmoko , S S U , de Vries , H & Wich , S A 2012 , ' Behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary aspects of meat-eating by Sumatran orangutans ( Pongo abelii ) ' , International Journal of Primatology , vol. 33 , no. 2 , pp. 287-304 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9574-z
0164-0291
PURE: 252020507
PURE UUID: 3c05008d-3ec3-4cb7-ad56-f38ed4844e90
Scopus: 84858792076
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12455
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9574-z
Meat-eating is an important aspect of human evolution, but how meat became a substantial component of the human diet is still poorly understood. Meat-eating in our closest relatives, the great apes, may provide insight into the emergence of this trait, but most existing data are for chimpanzees. We report 3 rare cases of meat-eating of slow lorises, Nycticebus coucang, by 1 Sumatran orangutan mother-infant dyad in Ketambe, Indonesia, to examine how orangutans find slow lorises and share meat. We combine these 3 cases with 2 previous ones to test the hypothesis that slow loris captures by orangutans are seasonal and dependent on fruit availability. We also provide the first (to our knowledge) quantitative data and high-definition video recordings of meat chewing rates by great apes, which we use to estimate the minimum time necessary for a female Australopithecus africanus to reach its daily energy requirements when feeding partially on raw meat. Captures seemed to be opportunistic but orangutans may have used olfactory cues to detect the prey. The mother often rejected meat sharing requests and only the infant initiated meat sharing. Slow loris captures occurred only during low ripe fruit availability, suggesting that meat may represent a filler fallback food for orangutans. Orangutans ate meat more than twice as slowly as chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), suggesting that group living may function as a meat intake accelerator in hominoids. Using orangutan data as a model, time spent chewing per day would not require an excessive amount of time for our social ancestors (australopithecines and hominids), as long as meat represented no more than a quarter of their diet.
Publisher PDF
Peer reviewed
18
eng
International Journal of Primatology
© The Author(s) 2011. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
Chewing rates
Evolution
Meat-eating
Pongo abelii
Seasonality
QL Zoology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Animal Science and Zoology
QL
Behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary aspects of meat-eating by Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii)
Journal article
oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/36742023-04-18T09:47:54Zcom_10023_184com_10023_39com_10023_301com_10023_130com_10023_32com_10023_879com_10023_878col_10023_185col_10023_303col_10023_131col_10023_880
Arnold, Kate
Zuberbuehler, Klaus
University of St Andrews. School of Psychology and Neuroscience
University of St Andrews. Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences
University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
2013-06-12T15:01:01Z
2013-06-12T15:01:01Z
2013-06-05
Arnold , K & Zuberbuehler , K 2013 , ' Female putty-nosed monkeys use experimentally altered contextual information to disambiguate the cause of male alarm calls ' , PLoS ONE , vol. 8 , no. 6 , e65660 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065660
1932-6203
PURE: 51290969
PURE UUID: 7468cf02-ccde-4da8-bda4-6d9e58343e34
Scopus: 84878758053
ORCID: /0000-0001-8378-088X/work/64360641
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3674
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065660
Funding was provided by The Leverhulme Trust (http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Many animal vocal signals are given in a wide range of contexts which can sometimes have little in common. Yet, to respond adaptively, listeners must find ways to identify the cause of a signal, or at least rule out alternatives. Here, we investigate the nature of this process in putty-nosed monkeys, a forest primate. In this species, adult males have a very restricted repertoire of vocalizations which are given in response to a wide variety of events occurring under conditions of limited visibility. We carried out a series of field playback experiments on females (N = 6) in a habituated group in Gashaka Gumti National Park, Nigeria, in which male alarm/loud calls were presented either alone, or following acoustic information that simulated the occurrence of natural disturbances. We demonstrate that listeners appear to integrate contextual information in order to distinguish among possible causes of calls. We conclude that, in many cases, pragmatic aspects of communication play a crucial role in call interpretation and place a premium on listeners' abilities to integrate information from different sources.
Publisher PDF
Peer reviewed
eng
PLoS ONE
© 2013 Arnold and Zuberbühler. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
QL Zoology
QL
Female putty-nosed monkeys use experimentally altered contextual information to disambiguate the cause of male alarm calls
Journal article
oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/39602023-07-25T10:30:02Zcom_10023_45com_10023_17com_10023_184com_10023_39com_10023_879com_10023_878col_10023_46col_10023_185col_10023_880
Mercado, Eduardo
Wisniewski, Matthew
Guillette, Lauren
McIntosh, Brittany
Sturdy, Christopher
University of St Andrews. School of Biology
University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
2013-08-14T08:31:01Z
2013-08-14T08:31:01Z
2013-06
Mercado , E , Wisniewski , M , Guillette , L , McIntosh , B & Sturdy , C 2013 , Reverberlocation in chickadees? in Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics . vol. 19 , Acoustical Society of America (ASA) , Melville, NY , The 21st International Congress on Acoustics , Montreal , Canada , 2/07/13 . https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4799208
conference
1939-800X
PURE: 55875283
PURE UUID: 976845e1-7134-471d-a17e-1968d83edfb3
Scopus: 84878959812
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3960
https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4799208
Chickadee songs provide conspecifics with information about the locations of singers. Song amplitude, frequency, and reverberation all vary with distance, and it is thought that chickadees use such cues to estimate distance. The current study examined transmission of chickadee songs in an open field to assess whether other cues such as relative changes in inter-note timing or relative differences in spectral energy might also provide useful information about a singer's location. Surprisingly, the difference between direct signal energy and reverberant spectral energy provided clear indications of how far a song had traveled. Preliminary analyses suggest that this cue may be robust to variations in source level, note duration, note frequency, and transmission loss. If chickadees use this cue to judge auditory distance, then this may explain why they maintain specific spectral ratios between the notes within their songs. Specifically, the spectral spacing of notes within songs appears to be directly related to chickadee auditory filter bandwidth. We describe ranging of a singing chickadee based on the spectral profile of its songs as reverberlocation (construed as an instance of passive echolocation) because it involves comparisons between a direct signal and echoes of a signal.
Publisher PDF
eng
Acoustical Society of America (ASA)
Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics
© 2013 Acoustical Society of America. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (POMA) is an online open-access journal published by the Acoustical Society of America.
Chickadee song
Amplitude
Frequency
Reverberation
Auditory distance
Spectral energy
Signal energy
Auditory filter bandwidth
Reverberlocation in chickadees?
Conference item
oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/156102024-02-22T00:42:30Zcom_10023_184com_10023_39com_10023_130com_10023_32com_10023_879com_10023_878col_10023_185col_10023_131col_10023_880
Davis, Sarah J.
Schapiro, Steven J.
Lambeth, Susan P.
Wood, Lara A.
Whiten, Andrew
John Templeton Foundation
John Templeton Foundation
University of St Andrews. School of Psychology and Neuroscience
University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
2018-07-20T11:30:09Z
2018-07-20T11:30:09Z
2018-07-19
254677661
0f1c498a-f08a-442b-af01-00b7c6ffd3cd
85050115009
000457473800003
Davis , S J , Schapiro , S J , Lambeth , S P , Wood , L A & Whiten , A 2018 , ' Behavioral conservatism is linked to complexity of behavior in chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) : implications for cognition and cumulative culture ' , Journal of Comparative Psychology , vol. Advance Online . https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000123
0735-7036
ORCID: /0000-0003-2426-5890/work/65013957
https://hdl.handle.net/10023/15610
10.1037/com0000123
40128
40128
Cumulative culture is rare, if not altogether absent in non-human species. At the foundation of cumulative learning is the ability to modify, relinquish or build upon prior behaviors flexibly to make them more productive or efficient. Within the primate literature, a failure to optimize solutions in this way is often proposed to derive from low-fidelity copying of witnessed behaviors, sub-optimal social learning heuristics, or a lack of relevant socio-cognitive adaptations. However, humans can also be markedly inflexible in their behaviors, perseverating with, or becoming fixated on outdated or inappropriate responses. Humans show differential patterns of flexibility as a function of cognitive load, exhibiting difficulties with inhibiting sub-optimal behaviors when there are high demands on working memory. We present a series of studies on captive chimpanzees which indicate that behavioral conservatism in apes may be underlain by similar constraints: chimpanzees showed relatively little conservatism when behavioral optimization involved the inhibition of a well-established but simple solution, or the addition of a simple modification to a well-established but complex solution. In contrast, when behavioral optimization involved the inhibition of a well-established but complex solution, chimpanzees showed evidence of conservatism. We propose that conservatism is linked to behavioral complexity, potentially mediated by cognitive resource availability, and may be an important factor in the evolution of cumulative culture.
Peer reviewed
1481218
eng
Journal of Comparative Psychology
Behavioral flexibility
Cumulative culture
Chimpanzee
Executive functions
Learning
Decision-making
BF Psychology
DAS
BF
Behavioral conservatism is linked to complexity of behavior in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) : implications for cognition and cumulative culture
Journal article
oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/160922024-02-20T00:42:24Zcom_10023_184com_10023_39com_10023_130com_10023_32com_10023_879com_10023_878col_10023_185col_10023_131col_10023_880
Broihanne, M. -H.
Romain, A.
Call, Josep
Thierry, B.
Wascher, C. A. F.
De Marco, A.
Verrier, D.
Dufour, V.
University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
University of St Andrews. School of Psychology and Neuroscience
2018-09-27T15:30:10Z
2018-09-27T15:30:10Z
2018-12-27
255500846
94be1c33-b1e9-48dc-ba0e-bfa3e068d457
85059262453
Broihanne , M -H , Romain , A , Call , J , Thierry , B , Wascher , C A F , De Marco , A , Verrier , D & Dufour , V 2018 , ' Monkeys ( Sapajus apella and Macaca tonkeana ) and great apes ( Gorilla gorilla , Pongo pygmaeus , Pongo abelii, Pan paniscus and Pan troglodytes ) play for the highest bid ' , Journal of Comparative Psychology , vol. Online First . https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000153
0735-7036
ORCID: /0000-0002-8597-8336/work/53214532
https://hdl.handle.net/10023/16092
10.1037/com0000153
This work was supported by grants from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-08-412 BLAN-0042-01) and the European Science Foundation (Compcog Exchange Grant N°3648).
Many studies investigate the decisions made by animals by focussing on their individual attitudes towards risk, i.e., risk seeking, risk neutrality or risk aversion. However, little attention has been paid to how far individuals understand the different odds of outcomes. In a previous gambling task involving up to 18 different lotteries (Pelé et al., 2014), non-human primates used probabilities of gains and losses to make their decision. Although the use of complex mathematical calculation for decision-making seemed unlikely, we applied a gradual decrease in the chances to win throughout the experiment. This probably facilitated the extraction of information about odds. Here, we investigated whether individuals would still make efficient decisions if this facilitating factor was removed. To do so, we randomized the order of presentation of the 18 lotteries. Individuals from four ape and two monkey species were tested. Only capuchin monkeys differed in their gambling behaviour, playing even when there was nothing to win. Randomising the lottery presentation order leads all species to predominantly use a maximax heuristic in which individuals gamble as soon as there is at least one chance to win more than they already possess, whatever the risk. Most species also gambled more as the frequency of larger rewards increased. These results suggest the occurrence of optimistic behaviour. The maximax heuristic is sometimes observed in human managerial and financial decision-making, where risk is ignored for potential gains, however low they may be. Our results suggest a shared and strong propensity in primates to rely on heuristics whenever complexity in evaluation of outcome odds arises.
Peer reviewed
12
1699819
252366
eng
Journal of Comparative Psychology
Risk preferences
Heuristics
Decision making
Gambling
Primates
BF Psychology
QL Zoology
NDAS
BF
QL
Monkeys (Sapajus apella and Macaca tonkeana) and great apes (Gorilla gorilla, Pongo pygmaeus, Pongo abelii, Pan paniscus and Pan troglodytes) play for the highest bid
Journal article
oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/39612023-07-25T10:30:02Zcom_10023_45com_10023_17com_10023_184com_10023_39com_10023_879com_10023_878col_10023_46col_10023_185col_10023_880
Hahn, Allison
Guillette, Lauren
Hoeschele, Marisa
Cook, Robert
Sturdy, Christopher
University of St Andrews. School of Biology
University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
2013-08-14T12:31:01Z
2013-08-14T12:31:01Z
2013-06
Hahn , A , Guillette , L , Hoeschele , M , Cook , R & Sturdy , C 2013 , Categories, concepts, and calls : auditory perceptual mechanisms and cognitive abilities across different types of birds. in Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics . vol. 19 , Acoustical Society of America (ASA) , Melville, New York , The 21st International Congress on Acoustics , Montreal , Canada , 2/07/13 . https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4806086
conference
1939-800X
PURE: 52508657
PURE UUID: c7f6d86d-256c-4558-b05a-25bbaf1dff93
Scopus: 84878955726
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3961
https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4806086
Although involving different animals, preparations, and objectives, our laboratories (Sturdy's and Cook's) are mutually interested in category perception and concept formation. The Sturdy laboratory has a history of studying perceptual categories in songbirds, while Cook laboratory has a history of studying abstract concept formation in pigeons. Recently, we undertook a suite of collaborative projects to combine our investigations to examine abstract concept formation in songbirds, and perception of songbird vocalizations in pigeons. This talk will include our recent findings of songbird category perception, songbird abstract concept formation (same/different task), and early results from pigeons' processing of songbird vocalizations in a same/different task. Our findings indicate that (1) categorization in birds seems to be most heavily influenced by acoustic, rather than genetic or experiential factors (2) songbirds treat their vocalizations as perceptual categories, both at the level of the note and species/whole call, (3) chickadees, like pigeons, can perceive abstract, same-different relations, and (4) pigeons are not as good at discriminating chickadee vocalizations as songbirds (chickadees and finches). Our findings suggest that although there are commonalities in complex auditory processing among birds, there are potentially important comparative differences between songbirds and non-songbirds in their treatment of certain types of auditory objects.
Publisher PDF
eng
Acoustical Society of America (ASA)
Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics
© 2013 Acoustical Society of America. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the Acoustical Society of America. The following article appeared in Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Volume 19, and may be found at http://asadl.org/jasa/resource/1/jasman/v133/i5/p3442_s1
Category perception
Concept formation
Auditory objects
Bird vocalisations
QL Zoology
QL
Categories, concepts, and calls : auditory perceptual mechanisms and cognitive abilities across different types of birds.
Conference item
oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/35662022-04-14T20:31:48Zcom_10023_45com_10023_17com_10023_184com_10023_39com_10023_879com_10023_878col_10023_46col_10023_185col_10023_880
Guillette, Lauren
Farrell, Tara
Hoeschele, Marisa
Sturdy, Christopher
University of St Andrews. School of Biology
University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
2013-05-29T12:01:02Z
2013-05-29T12:01:02Z
2010
Guillette , L , Farrell , T , Hoeschele , M & Sturdy , C 2010 , ' Acoustic mechanisms of a species-based discrimination of the chick-a-dee call in sympatric black-capped (Poecile atricapillus ) and mountain chickadees ( P. gambeli ) ' , Frontiers in Psychology , vol. 1 , 229 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00229
1664-1078
PURE: 49565296
PURE UUID: c78cef60-82c1-43bc-b7e5-677cb09e01ed
Scopus: 79959606095
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3566
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00229
http://www.frontiersin.org/comparative_psychology/10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00229/abstract
Previous perceptual research with black-capped and mountain chickadees has demonstrated that these species treat each other’s namesake chick-a-dee calls as belonging to separate, open-ended categories. Further, the terminal dee portion of the call has been implicated as the most prominent species marker. However, statistical classification using acoustic summary features suggests that all note-types contained within the chick-a-dee call should be sufficient for species classification. The current study seeks to better understand the note-type based mechanisms underlying species-based classification of the chick-a-dee call by black-capped and mountain chickadees. In two, complementary, operant discrimination experiments, both species were trained to discriminate the species of the signaler using either entire chick-a-dee calls, or individual note-types from chick-a-dee calls. In agreement with previous perceptual work we find that the D note had significant stimulus control over species-based discrimination. However, in line with statistical classifications, we find that all note-types carry species information. We discuss reasons why the most easily discriminated note-types are likely candidates to carry species-based cues.
Publisher PDF
Peer reviewed
eng
Frontiers in Psychology
© 2010 Guillette, Farrell, Hoeschele and Sturdy. This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and the Frontiers Research Foundation, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
Black-capped chickadee
Chick-a-dee call
Mountain chickadee
Operant conditioning
Songbird vocalization
Species discrimination
Sympatric
QL Zoology
QL
Acoustic mechanisms of a species-based discrimination of the chick-a-dee call in sympatric black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain chickadees (P. gambeli)
Journal article