Summary
Psychoacoustic gap-detection thresholds in four European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) were determined in a GO/NOGO procedure using the method of constant stimuli. The median minimum detectable gap in a broadband noise (590 Hz to 8 kHz) presented at 45 dB SPL was 1.8 ms. Gap-detection thresholds were independent of the sound pressure level of the stimulus at this level and above. Below 45 dB the minimum detectable gap length increased with decreasing sound pressure level and was 4.3 ms at a stimulus sound pressure level of 25 dB, which corresponds to a sensation level of below 10 dB. The results are discussed in relation to forward masking and intensity-difference limens in birds and with respect to the time constants of the peripheral auditory system of the starling. The psychoacoustical thresholds are compared with neurophysiological gap-detection thresholds in the auditory forebrain of the starling.
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Abbreviations
- MDG :
-
Minimum detectable gap
- dB SL :
-
dB sensation level, i.e. sound pressure level measured relative to the animal's auditory threshold
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Klump, G.M., Maier, E.H. Gap detection in the starling (Sturnus vulgaris). J. Comp. Physiol. 164, 531–538 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00610446
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00610446