Relating approach-to-target and detection tasks in animal psychoacoustics

Sumner, Christian; Sollini, Joseph; Alves-Pinto, Ana

Abstract

Psychophysical experiments seek to measure the limits of perception. While straightforward in humans, in animals they are time consuming. Choosing an appropriate task and interpreting measurements can be challenging. We investigated the localization of high-frequency auditory signals in noise using an “approach-to-target” task in ferrets, how task performance should be interpreted in terms of perception, and how the measurements relate to other types of tasks. To establish their general ability to localize, animals were first trained to discriminate broadband noise from 12 locations. Subsequently we tested their ability to discriminate between band-limited targets at 2 or 3 more widely spaced locations, in a continuous background noise. The ability to discriminate between 3 possible locations (−90°, 0°, 90°) of a 10-kHz pure tone decreased gradually over a wide range (>30 dB) of signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Location discrimination ability was better for wide band noise targets (0.5 and 2 octave). These results were consistent with localization ability limiting performance for pure tones. Discrimination of pure tones at 2 locations (−90/left, 90/right) was robust at positive SNRs, yielding psychometric functions which fell steeply at negative SNRs. Thresholds for discrimination were similar to previous tone-in-noise thresholds measured in ferrets using a yes/no task. Thus, using an approach-to-target task, sound “localization” in noise can reflect detectability or the ability to localize, depending on the stimulus configuration. Signal-detection-theory-based models were able to account for the results when discriminating between pure tones from 2- and 3-source locations.

Citation

Sumner, C., Sollini, J., & Alves-Pinto, A. (2016). Relating approach-to-target and detection tasks in animal psychoacoustics. Behavioral Neuroscience, 130(4), 393-405. https://doi.org/10.1037/bne0000143

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 17, 2016
• Online Publication Date: May 20, 2016
• Publication Date: 2016-08
• Deposit Date: Sep 28, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: May 6, 2020
• Journal: Behavioral Neuroscience
• Print ISSN: 0735-7044
• Electronic ISSN: 1939-0084
• Publisher: American Psychological Association
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 130
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 393-405
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/bne0000143
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1118356
• Publisher URL: https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2016-24681-001.html
• PMID: 27196623