An Automated Psychoacoustic Testing Apparatus for Use in Cats

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dc.contributor.authorBenovitski, Yuri
dc.contributor.authorBlamey, Peter
dc.contributor.authorRathbone, Graeme
dc.contributor.authorFallon, James
dc.date.accessioned2015-03-02T02:59:19Z
dc.date.available2015-03-02T02:59:19Z
dc.date.issued2014-03
dc.description.abstractAnimal behavioral studies make a significant contribution to hearing research and provide vital information which is not available from human subjects. Animal psychoacoustics is usually extremely time consuming and labor intensive; in addition, animals may become stressed, especially if restraints or negative reinforcers such as electric shocks are used. We present a novel behavioral experimental system that was developed to allow efficient animal training in response to acoustic stimuli. Cats were required to perform a relatively simple task of moving toward and away from the device depending on whether the members of a tone pair were different or the same in frequency (go/no-go task). The experimental setup proved to be effective, with all animals (N = 7) performing at above 90% correct on an easy task. Animals were trained within 2-4 weeks and then generated a total of 150-200 trials per day, distributed within approximately 8 self initiated sessions. Data collected using this system were stable over 1 week and repeatable over long test periods (14 weeks). Measured frequency discrimination thresholds from 3 animals at 3 different reference frequencies were comparable with previously published results. The main advantages of the system are: relatively simple setup; large amounts of data can be generated without the need of researcher supervision; multiple animals can be tested simultaneously without removal from home pens; and no electric shocks or restraints are required.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (HHS-N-263-2007-00053-C), the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and The Department of Electronic Engineering, La-Trobe University. The Bionics Institute acknowledges the support it receives from the Victorian Government through its Operational Infrastructure Support Program.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBenovitski, Y. B., Blamey, P. J., Rathbone, G. D. &, Fallon, J. B. (2014). An automated psychoacoustic testing apparatus for use in cats. Hearing Research 309, pp. 1-7en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://repository.bionicsinstitute.org:8080/handle/123456789/112
dc.publisherElsevieren_US
dc.subjectAcoustic Stimulation/instrumentationen_US
dc.subjectAnimal Feeden_US
dc.subjectAnimalsen_US
dc.subjectAuditory Thresholden_US
dc.subjectAutomation, Laboratoryen_US
dc.subjectBehavior, Animal*en_US
dc.subjectCatsen_US
dc.subjectCuesen_US
dc.subjectEquipment Designen_US
dc.subjectLoudness Perceptionen_US
dc.subjectMaterials Testingen_US
dc.subjectModels, Animalen_US
dc.subjectMotor Activityen_US
dc.subjectPitch Discriminationen_US
dc.subjectPsychoacousticsen_US
dc.subjectReinforcement (Psychology)en_US
dc.subjectReproducibility of Resultsen_US
dc.subjectTime Factorsen_US
dc.titleAn Automated Psychoacoustic Testing Apparatus for Use in Catsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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