Methods in Comparative Psychoacoustics

Hören; Biokybernetik;

• BM - BioMethods; 6

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Comparative psychoacoustics is an area of animal psychophysics which has seen remarkable advances in methodology since the 1970s. The developments of small laboratory computers has had a crucial impact on the field. Acoustic stimuli are now routinely generated using digital methods, providing the researcher with unprecedented possibilities. The strategies and paradigms for data collection are becoming more refined as well, again due in large part to the use of computer technology. This volume presents an array of methods designed to measure detection and discrimination of both simple and complex acoustic stimuli, along with strategies designed to assess how acoustic stimuli are perceived, categorized or classified. Refinements in modern methodologies now make it possible to compare the hearing capabilities of diverse species tested under similar, if not identical, experimental conditions. Tests on non-verbal human infants fit well in this category and have much in common with comparative methodologies used in testing animals.