title: Auditory categorization of complex sounds by rats (Rattus norvegicus).
abstract: Little research has explored the auditory categorization abilities of mammals. To better understand these processes, the authors tested the abilities of rats (Rattus norvegicus) to categorize multidimensional acoustic stimuli by using a classic category-learning task developed by R. N. Shepard, C. I. Hovland, and H. M. Jenkins (1961). Rats proved to be able to categorize 8 complex sounds on the basis of either the direction or rate of frequency modulation but not on the basis of the range of frequency modulation. Rats' categorization abilities were limited but improved slowly and incrementally, suggesting that learning was not facilitated by selective attention to acoustic dimensions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA. emiii@buffalo.edu
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mercado
authors.forename: Itzel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Orduña
authors.forename: Jeaveen M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Nowak
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception; D005260:Female; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D013016:Sound