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Chickadee vocal production and perception: An integrative approach to understanding acoustic communication

Christopher B. Sturdy, Laurie L. Bloomfield, Isabelle Charrier, and Tiffany T.-Y. Lee

in Ecology and Behavior of Chickadees and Titmice: an integrated approach

The three key elements in the scientific study of animal communication are the sender, the receiver, and the interaction between the two. Senders produce a signal that is perceived by the receiver ... More

The three key elements in the scientific study of animal communication are the sender, the receiver, and the interaction between the two. Senders produce a signal that is perceived by the receiver and, operationally, communication occurs when the signal leads to an observable change in the behaviour of the receiver. Production and perception are integral to communication in general and both sides of the equation must be considered when studying acoustic communication in any particular species or in any animal group. This chapter takes this integrative approach and considers equally both production and perception, in an attempt to understand acoustic communication in the chickadees. The discussion begins with a look at the production and perception of fee-bees and chick-a-dees in both field and laboratory studies of chickadees. Studies that use operant techniques to tease apart the mechanisms by which note structure and sequence are classified are reviewed.Less

The gargle call of black-capped chickadees: ontogeny, acoustic structure, population patterns, function, and processes leading to sharing of call characteristics

Myron C. Baker and David E. Gammon

in Ecology and Behavior of Chickadees and Titmice: an integrated approach

This chapter summarizes investigations of a common vocalization in the repertoire of the black-capped chickadee. This vocalization, known as the gargle call, has an ontogeny that is dependent upon ... More

This chapter summarizes investigations of a common vocalization in the repertoire of the black-capped chickadee. This vocalization, known as the gargle call, has an ontogeny that is dependent upon learning occurring from early life through adulthood. As is the case for the territorial songs of a great many species of songbirds, social interactions most likely play a significant role in gargle call ontogeny. Thus, these calls evidently result from ‘socially biased individual learning,’ simply termed ‘social learning’ in this chapter. In examining the gargle call, this chapter gives a brief description of the call, provides information on the ontogeny of the call as it occurs in natural populations, and describes the fundamental features of the call, the nature and extent of sharing of calls by birds in a local area, and the similarities and changes in calls across time. Furthermore, observational and experimental evidence on the roles of the calls in the social lives of the birds is reported, and inferences are drawn about the ways social behaviour selects based on vocal convergence among birds in a local area, and the possible functional significance of convergence.Less

How postdispersal social environment may influence acoustic variation in birdsong

David E. Gammon

in Ecology and Behavior of Chickadees and Titmice: an integrated approach

This chapter assesses the potential for postdispersal environments to influence song structure in the fee-bee of black-capped chickadees. This call is remarkably stereotyped throughout much of the ... More

This chapter assesses the potential for postdispersal environments to influence song structure in the fee-bee of black-capped chickadees. This call is remarkably stereotyped throughout much of the distribution of this species across North America, yet extreme cases of song variation in isolated populations gives insight into the nature of dialectal variation that arises through social isolation. The chapter begins by tackling the question ‘In what social and ecological circumstances should juveniles retain novel acoustic material as adults?’ A visual model of song learning is presented, and a hypothesis is considered that would explain how the environment following natal dispersal affects variation in the vocal output of a juvenile songbird. This hypothesis is tested using data from the fee-bee song of the black-capped chickadee. Finally, this chapter takes a broad look at cultural evolution and the origin and maintenance of song variation.Less

Expression in Synthetic Speech

Mark Tatham and Katherine Morton

in Expression in Speech: Analysis and Synthesis

This chapter emphasizes the distinction between intelligible synthetic speech and natural-sounding synthetic speech: expressive and emotive content contribute greatly to naturalness. All natural ... More

This chapter emphasizes the distinction between intelligible synthetic speech and natural-sounding synthetic speech: expressive and emotive content contribute greatly to naturalness. All natural speech has expressive content; no natural speech is ever neutral. It follows that synthetic speech must incorporate expressive and emotive content in order to create natural-sounding speech, although the acoustic parameters of expression have not been adequately determined. The advantages and disadvantages of formant and concatenative synthesis for synthesizing expressive and emotive content are outlined.Less

The Perception of Expression

Mark Tatham and Katherine Morton

in Expression in Speech: Analysis and Synthesis

This chapter emphasizes the goal of the speaker as the production of a speech waveform containing the components, which will trigger adequate perception in the listener. Current limitations to ... More

This chapter emphasizes the goal of the speaker as the production of a speech waveform containing the components, which will trigger adequate perception in the listener. Current limitations to characterizing acoustic triggers are discussed, including the listener’s ability to differentiate acoustic signals and the non-linearity in the relation between the signal and listener. The relationship between rendering the speaker’s plan and the ability to assign a perceptually useful label to the speech waveform is emphasized.Less

Emotion in Speech Synthesis

Mark Tatham and Katherine Morton

in Expression in Speech: Analysis and Synthesis

This chapter emphasizes the notion that human speech is listener-centred; speech is intended to be heard and understood. Adding expressive and emotive content provides the listener with information ... More

This chapter emphasizes the notion that human speech is listener-centred; speech is intended to be heard and understood. Adding expressive and emotive content provides the listener with information about the speaker’s identity (gender, age, education, etc.), the speaker’s attitude and feelings toward the listener, and the nature of what is being said. Adding this to synthesis presents problems, including determining the most useful type of synthesizer, incorporating a proposed prosodic wrapper for speech, linking parameters of emotive content with acoustic parameters, and with underlying theory constructs such as category labels or parameters for driving the synthesizer. The relationship between high- and low-level synthesis, and how to incorporate a range of emotive content and voice quality are discussed.Less

The Linguistics, Phonology, and Phonetics Perspective

Mark Tatham and Katherine Morton

in Expression in Speech: Analysis and Synthesis

This chapter introduces some aspects of linguistics that may be helpful in labelling emotive content of speech. The following questions are asked: Are speech and emotion separate events or does ... More

This chapter introduces some aspects of linguistics that may be helpful in labelling emotive content of speech. The following questions are asked: Are speech and emotion separate events or does speech occur within the context of emotion? Is a uniqueness hypothesis more useful than a modulation hypothesis? How context sensitive is expressive content? What might be the function of prosodic patterns in triggering perception of expressive and emotive content? What are some acoustic correlates of speech production and perception? Can linguistics and phonetics theory and models provide useful descriptive labels for characterizing expression in speech?Less

The Beginnings of a Generalized Model of Expression

Mark Tatham and Katherine Morton

in Expression in Speech: Analysis and Synthesis

This chapter defines expressive speech as used in this book. The concept of a composite acoustic waveform is presented, consisting of two components: the basic message and expression. The speaker ... More

This chapter defines expressive speech as used in this book. The concept of a composite acoustic waveform is presented, consisting of two components: the basic message and expression. The speaker plans an utterance, a listener assigns labels to that utterance, and arrives at a percept which recovers the intended message. This differs from other models which do not emphasize the assignment of labels or symbolic representation to the waveform. Another difference is the proposal that speaking occurs within an overall expressive wrapper. Short term and long term expression is discussed and the role of the listener is emphasized.Less

All Speech is Expression-Based

Mark Tatham and Katherine Morton

in Expression in Speech: Analysis and Synthesis

This chapter discusses neutral speech and expressive speech. A model is presented which proposes that all speech is expressive, and that speaking occurs within an expression wrapper. Neutral speech ... More

This chapter discusses neutral speech and expressive speech. A model is presented which proposes that all speech is expressive, and that speaking occurs within an expression wrapper. Neutral speech is a type of speaking which has the expressive content set to ‘neutral’, i.e., the parameters of expressive speech are set to near zero. The concept of an expression envelop is explained — a message is modulated onto a prosodic carrier. The possibility of relating emotion expression to the acoustic waveform is presented.Less

Introduction

Aniruddh D. Patel

in Music, Language, and the Brain

According to Nettl in 2000, both language and music, regardless of the cultural aspects that are absent within a particular society such as perhaps the notion of numbers and counting, serve as traits ... More

According to Nettl in 2000, both language and music, regardless of the cultural aspects that are absent within a particular society such as perhaps the notion of numbers and counting, serve as traits that define every human society. While both language and music involve complex sequences of sound, cognitive science has not yet been able to fully explore such domains, and researchers today from various fields of expertise are now showing interest towards this interdisciplinary enterprise. This is because, in contrast to how examining the brains and behavior of animals may be simplified by the similarities between our various senses and experiences, human beings have a unique capability of making sense of different sounds. As humans possess two systems that are able to aid in processing complex acoustic sequences into distinct elements, cognitive science is provided with the opportunity to compare and contrast language and music to further understand such mechanisms.Less

Dissonance and Discord

Peter van der Merwe

in Roots of the Classical: The Popular Origins of Western Music

This chapter distinguishes between dissonance and discord. Dissonance is the property of attraction or repulsion between notes of different pitch, giving rise to a sense of instability or ... More

This chapter distinguishes between dissonance and discord. Dissonance is the property of attraction or repulsion between notes of different pitch, giving rise to a sense of instability or restlessness. Discord is the property of acoustic roughness between simultaneously sounding notes.Less

Drumming (1971)

Steve Reich

in Writings on Music 1965–2000: 1965-2000

This chapter presents Reich's account of his composition of Drumming between the fall of 1970 and the fall of 1971. To the frequent question of what influence his visit to Africa in the summer of ... More

This chapter presents Reich's account of his composition of Drumming between the fall of 1970 and the fall of 1971. To the frequent question of what influence his visit to Africa in the summer of 1970 had on Drumming, Reich answers confirmation. It confirmed his intuition that acoustic instruments could be used to produce music that was genuinely richer in sound than that produced with electronic instruments, as well as confirming his natural inclination toward percussion.Less

A description of the orangutan's vocal and sound repertoire, with a focus on geographic variation

Madeleine E. Hardus, Adriano R. Lameira, Ian Singleton, Helen C. Morrogh-Bernard, Cheryl D. Knott, Marc Ancrenaz, S. Suci Utami Atmoko, and Serge A. Wich

in Orangutans: Geographic Variation in Behavioral Ecology and Conservation

This chapter provides an overview of the sounds and vocalizations that Sumatran and Bornean orangutans produce. The current data set indicates that there are at least 32 different orangutan sounds ... More

This chapter provides an overview of the sounds and vocalizations that Sumatran and Bornean orangutans produce. The current data set indicates that there are at least 32 different orangutan sounds and vocalizations that can be distinguished. Interestingly enough not all of these are produced by all individuals in all populations and several occur only in certain populations, but not in others. These preliminary findings indicate that there might be socially learned variation in orangutan sounds and that the cultural domain includes sounds. Future studies should examine such possibilities in detail.Less

Other Hearing: Beyond Space and Time

Monika Renz, Mark Kyburz, and John Peck

in Dying: A Transition

The specific auditive and musical sensitivity of dying patients is comparable to intrauterine hearing. Patients enter a state beyond space, time, and body (non-local, endless).

DUSTY PLASMAS

V. E. Fortov, I. T. Iakubov, and A. G. Khrapak

in Physics of Strongly Coupled Plasma

This chapter discusses the physics of complex (dusty) plasmas — low-temperature plasmas containing charged microparticles — and the major types of experimental dusty plasmas. Various elementary ... More

This chapter discusses the physics of complex (dusty) plasmas — low-temperature plasmas containing charged microparticles — and the major types of experimental dusty plasmas. Various elementary processes, including grain charging in different regimes, interaction between charged particles, and momentum exchange between different species are investigated. The major forces on microparticles and features of the particle dynamics in dusty plasmas are described. An overview of the wave properties in different phase states, as well as results on the phase transitions between different crystalline and liquid states are presented. Special attention is given to “crystallization” of dusty plasmas. Results of investigations of dusty plasmas under microgravity conditions are discussed in detail. Properties of plasmas with nonspherical particles are considered. Possible applications of dusty plasmas and new directions in experimental research are considered.Less

THE ACOUSTIC-WAVE DRIVEN QUANTUM PROCESSOR

C. H. W. Barnes and M. Pepper

in Problems of Condensed Matter Physics: Quantum coherence phenomena in electron-hole and coupled matter-light systems

This chapter reviews the use of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) in an electron-spin based quantum state processor. A SAW-induced electric current of discrete single or controllable numbers of ... More

This chapter reviews the use of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) in an electron-spin based quantum state processor. A SAW-induced electric current of discrete single or controllable numbers of electrons, which can interact and become entangled, is discussed. Variable g-factor materials are proposed as a means of applying electrical control to single-qubit rotation and as a form of optical input and readout. The processing scheme can be used as a component in a quantum communications network.Less