DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Neighbor Recognition Between Territorial Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana): The Behavioral Ecology of a Psychological Phenomenon

在自然界中，动物能认出它们的邻居。本研究将探讨认知的心理机制如何在这一普遍现象中发挥作用的基础。有领地意识的雄性牛蛙通过它们独特的声音交流信号或歌声来识别附近的邻居。三个声学回放实验将解决关于邻居识别的四个未解决的问题：1)新邻居的感知战斗能力是否影响新领土边界的建立？2)位置和声音线索在介导邻居识别中的相对重要性是什么？3)在建立领土边界的过程中，物理互动有多重要？4)记忆在识别邻居时的作用是什么？这些实验将扩展先前的研究，以更集中和有趣的问题，关于识别的心理机制，提供了一个机会，以获得更深入的了解这些机制在自然界的运作。这些结果将为未来研究邻居识别中学习经验的确切性质提供基础。由于我们对青蛙神经系统对声音信号的处理了解甚多，因此本研究中的行为实验可以为未来对邻居识别的神经生理学研究奠定基础。这一建议延续了最近在动物行为研究中整合行为学、生态学和心理学方法的重要趋势。

In nature, animals recognize their neighbors. This research will examine the foundation of how psychological mechanisms of recognition play a role in this widespread phenomenon. Territorial male bullfrogs recognize their nearby neighbors by the distinctive properties of their acoustic communication signals, or songs. Three acoustic playback experiments will address four unanswered questions about neighbor recognition: 1) Does the perceived fighting ability of new neighbor's affect the establishment of new territorial borders? 2) What is the relative importance of locational and acoustic cues in mediating recognition of neighbors? 3) How important are physical interactions during the establishment of territorial borders? 4) What is the role of memory in recognizing a neighbor?The experiments will extend previous investigations to more focused and interesting questions about the psychological mechanisms of recognition, providing an opportunity to gain deeper insight into the operation of these mechanisms in nature. The results will provide a foundation for future studies examining the precise nature of the learning experience involved in neighbor recognition. Because much is known about the processing of acoustic signals by the frog nervous system, the behavioral experiments in this proposal can form the basis for future neurophysiological investigations of neighbor recognition. This proposal continues a recent and important trend toward integrating behavioral, ecological and psychological approaches in the study of animal behavior.