Integrating Perception and Communication: The Function of Acoustic Fine Structure in Natural Zebra Finch Communication

鸟类和人类的听觉范围是重叠的，但这并不意味着它们以同样的方式感知复杂的声音。事实上，鸟类的听觉时间处理能力远远超过人类。对人类的研究表明，这种时间处理能力使人们在嘈杂的环境中更容易理解语音，并有助于识别熟悉的说话者。到目前为止，还没有研究测试鸟类增强的时间处理能力的功能。这个建议将测试鸟类的功能异常的时间处理能力。如果鸟类能够利用这些实验室研究表明它们能够听到的声音细节，那将是惊人的。到目前为止，这些声学细节在很大程度上超出了传统生物学方法所能捕捉的范围。因此，这一提议可能会从根本上影响未来如何描述鸟鸣。反过来，研究具有这种特殊时间处理能力的鸟类可能会对与人类一生中听觉个体差异相关的研究产生更广泛的影响。最后，周围和听鸟是许多人喜欢的事情。因此，这项建议还包括制定一个无障碍多媒体外联方案。由于沟通能力不同，残疾人往往被排除在积极参与外联方案之外。此外，还有一个强大的机会，利用动物交流的多样性，帮助创造包容性的空间，思考和联系人类交流的多样性。要理解社会行为和交流的机制，关键是要全面了解一个物种的感知空间或“umwelt”。这个建议结合了社会行为的专业知识和心理物理学方法的精确性。 鸟类辨别声音细节的能力比人类强十倍。到目前为止，这种特殊的能力，区分声学精细结构（AFS）已被确定在所有七个鸟类物种的研究。这项提议旨在发现鸟类这种感知能力的潜在功能。为了正确地解释鸟类自然生态学中对AFS的看法，本建议采用三种不同的调查方法。(1)为了确定是否感知AFS形状声乐学习，歌曲学习实验将进行使用自然和人工刺激，不同的复杂性和类型的AFS。(2)为了测试噪声对个人感知自然声音信号的能力的影响，将使用经典的心理物理实验。(3)为了确定AFS在塑造社会沟通中的作用，人工和自然刺激将被用来确定AFS在求爱和配对过程中是否重要。结合这三个视角，可以进一步阐明鸟类感知能力在自然交际语境中的作用。此外，这些研究将为未来的研究提供基础，旨在更充分地整合基本感知和自然行为学在taxa.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

Birds and humans have an overlapping hearing range, but this does not mean they are perceiving complex sounds the same way. In fact, birds have an auditory temporal processing ability that far exceeds humans. From research on humans, it has been shown that such temporal processing abilities make it easier to understand speech in noisy environments and facilitate the identification of familiar talkers. Thus far, there has been no research testing the function of bird’s enhanced temporal processing ability. This proposal will test the function of birds exceptional temporal processing ability. It would be striking if birds are using these fine acoustic details which lab studies have shown they are capable of hearing. Such acoustic details have so far been largely beyond the scope of what traditional biological approaches have been able to capture. Thus, this proposal may fundamentally impact how birdsong is described going forward. Reciprocally, studying bird species with such exceptional temporal processing abilities may have broader impact on research related to individual differences in hearing of people over their lifetime. Finally, both being around and listening to birds is something many people enjoy. Therefore, this proposal also includes developing an accessible multimedia outreach program. Too often disabled people are excluded from active participation in outreach programs due to different communication abilities. Furthermore, there is a powerful opportunity to leverage diversity in animal communication to help create inclusive spaces for thinking about and relating to diversity in human communication. To understand mechanisms of social behavior and communication, it is critical to have a comprehensive understanding of the perceptual space, or ‘umwelt,’ of a species. This proposal combines expertise in social behavior with the precision of a psychophysical approach. A bird’s ability to discriminate fine acoustic details in vocalizations is about ten times better than a human’s ability. So far, this exceptional ability to discriminate acoustic fine structure (AFS) has been identified in all seven avian species studied. This proposal aims to discover potential functions of this perceptual ability in birds. To properly situate the perception of AFS in the natural ecology of birds, this proposal pursues three distinct lines of inquiry. (1) To determine whether perception of AFS shapes vocal learning, song learning experiments will be conducted using natural and artificial stimuli that vary in their complexity and type of AFS. (2) To test the effect of noise on an individual’s ability to perceive natural vocal signals, classic psychophysical experiments will be used. (3) To identify the role of AFS in shaping social communication, artificial and natural stimuli will be used to determine if AFS is important during courtship and pair bonding. Combined these three perspectives will clarify the function of bird’s perceptual ability in natural communicative contexts. Furthermore, these studies will provide a foundation for future research aiming to integrate basic perception and natural ethology more fully across taxa.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.