Sturdy Christopher B, Weisman Ronald G
Department of Psychology and Centre for Neuroscience, P217 Biological Sciences Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta., Canada T6G 2E9.
Behav Processes. 2006 Jun 1;72(3):265-72. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2006.03.007. Epub 2006 Mar 7.
Songbirds, and in particular zebra finches, present a wonderful opportunity to study cognition in species that have evolved specialized abilities and brain structures for auditory cognition. The authors describe the rationale, methods, and apparatus used to test the auditory perceptual and cognitive abilities of songbirds. They have developed an operant conditioning system for conducting discrimination experiments simultaneously with several songbirds. The system uses specialized single-board computers, standard personal computers, CD-ROMs, and custom-written software to present stimuli, control training, and record responses. Also, the authors describe software to produce high-quality synthesized and naturally occurring acoustic stimuli for use in studies of auditory cognition. Typical results from a challenging frequency-range discrimination are included.
鸣禽，尤其是斑胸草雀，为研究具有专门听觉认知能力和脑结构的物种的认知提供了绝佳机会。作者描述了用于测试鸣禽听觉感知和认知能力的基本原理、方法和仪器。他们开发了一种操作性条件反射系统，用于同时对几只鸣禽进行辨别实验。该系统使用专门的单板计算机、标准个人计算机、光盘和定制软件来呈现刺激、控制训练并记录反应。此外，作者还描述了用于生成高质量合成和自然产生的声学刺激的软件，以用于听觉认知研究。文中还包括了具有挑战性的频率范围辨别实验的典型结果。
