Summary
Barn owls (Tyto alba) could discriminate sound frequency by memory. Frequency differences as small as 0.7–0.5% were easily detected. The same acuity was obtained when two frequencies had to be remembered simultaneously and distinguished from other frequencies. The response latency was proportional to the difference between the reference and test frequencies and served as a sensitive criterion for discrimination.
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Supported by National Science Foundation Grant GB 12729.
We thank Martha Hughes and Dorothee Goldman for their assistance.
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Quine, D.B., Konishi, M. Absolute frequency discrimination in the barn owl. J. Comp. Physiol. 93, 347–360 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00606802
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00606802