Sound categorization by crocodilians
Summary: Rapidly sorting the information contained in a stream of stimuli is a major challenge for animals. One cognitive mechanism for achieving this goal is categorization, where the receiving individual considers a continuous variation of a stimulus as belonging to discrete categories. Using play...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-04-01
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| Series: | iScience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223005187 |
| _version_ | 1827976758830301184 |
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| author | Julie Thévenet Mounia Kehy Nicolas Boyer Aurélie Pradeau Léo Papet Etienne Gaudrain Nicolas Grimault Nicolas Mathevon |
| author_facet | Julie Thévenet Mounia Kehy Nicolas Boyer Aurélie Pradeau Léo Papet Etienne Gaudrain Nicolas Grimault Nicolas Mathevon |
| author_sort | Julie Thévenet |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: Rapidly sorting the information contained in a stream of stimuli is a major challenge for animals. One cognitive mechanism for achieving this goal is categorization, where the receiving individual considers a continuous variation of a stimulus as belonging to discrete categories. Using playback experiments in a naturalistic setup, here we show that crocodiles confronted with an acoustic continuum ranging from a frog call to a crocodile call classify each acoustic variant into one of these two categories, establishing a meaningful boundary where no acoustic boundary exists. With GO/NO-GO experiments, we then observe that this boundary is defined along the continuum following learning. We further demonstrate that crocodilians rely on the spectral envelope of sounds to categorize stimuli. This study suggests that sound categorization in crocodilians is a pre-wired faculty allowing rapid decision-making and highlights the learning-dependent plasticity involved in defining the boundary between sound categories. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T20:40:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-def36d4630ad4fe49f0813bb18a10d38 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2589-0042 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T20:40:38Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | iScience |
| spelling | doaj.art-def36d4630ad4fe49f0813bb18a10d382023-03-30T04:26:58ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422023-04-01264106441Sound categorization by crocodiliansJulie Thévenet0Mounia Kehy1Nicolas Boyer2Aurélie Pradeau3Léo Papet4Etienne Gaudrain5Nicolas Grimault6Nicolas Mathevon7ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne 42100, France; Equipe Cognition Auditive et Psychoacoustique, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University Lyon 1, Bron 69500, France; Corresponding authorENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne 42100, FranceENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne 42100, FranceENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne 42100, FranceENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne 42100, FranceEquipe Cognition Auditive et Psychoacoustique, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University Lyon 1, Bron 69500, FranceEquipe Cognition Auditive et Psychoacoustique, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University Lyon 1, Bron 69500, FranceENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne 42100, France; Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, FranceSummary: Rapidly sorting the information contained in a stream of stimuli is a major challenge for animals. One cognitive mechanism for achieving this goal is categorization, where the receiving individual considers a continuous variation of a stimulus as belonging to discrete categories. Using playback experiments in a naturalistic setup, here we show that crocodiles confronted with an acoustic continuum ranging from a frog call to a crocodile call classify each acoustic variant into one of these two categories, establishing a meaningful boundary where no acoustic boundary exists. With GO/NO-GO experiments, we then observe that this boundary is defined along the continuum following learning. We further demonstrate that crocodilians rely on the spectral envelope of sounds to categorize stimuli. This study suggests that sound categorization in crocodilians is a pre-wired faculty allowing rapid decision-making and highlights the learning-dependent plasticity involved in defining the boundary between sound categories.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223005187Biological sciencesZoologyEvolutionary biology |
| spellingShingle | Julie Thévenet Mounia Kehy Nicolas Boyer Aurélie Pradeau Léo Papet Etienne Gaudrain Nicolas Grimault Nicolas Mathevon Sound categorization by crocodilians iScience Biological sciences Zoology Evolutionary biology |
| title | Sound categorization by crocodilians |
| title_full | Sound categorization by crocodilians |
| title_fullStr | Sound categorization by crocodilians |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sound categorization by crocodilians |
| title_short | Sound categorization by crocodilians |
| title_sort | sound categorization by crocodilians |
| topic | Biological sciences Zoology Evolutionary biology |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223005187 |
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