Development of auditory localization in dogs: Single source and precedence effect sounds
✍ Scribed by Daniel H. Ashmead; Rachel K. Clifton; Ellen P. Reese
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1986
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 946 KB
- Volume
- 19
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0012-1630
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The development of auditory localization in dogs was investigated in a litter of 12 pups. Behavioral auditory localization consisted of orienting responses to dog vocalizations presented from loudspeakers 90 degrees to each side. Sounds were presented in two configurations, single source (only one loudspeaker) and precedence effect (both loudspeakers, with one slightly leading the other). Localization began around 16 days after birth, for single-source sounds. This is consistent with previous observations and with findings on dogs' auditory neural development. Single-source sounds were localized earlier during development than precedenceeffect sounds. This ordering resembles findings on human infants and can be related to neuroanatomical investigations of mammalian brain structures mediating single source versus precedence effect localization.
Behavioral localization of sound sources depends on structures that transduce sound energy into neural signals, on neural coding of information for sound location, and on the execution of appropriate behavior related to this information. Such localization indicates that the auditory system is working as a functional whole for the dimensions of sound being investigated. The present study had two purposes. The first was to determine the earliest age at which dogs localize sounds that are attentionally salient. The second was to compare the developmental onset of localization for two configurations of sound: single source, with sound from a single loudspeaker, and precedence effect, with sound from two loudspeakers with one leading the other by several milliseconds. Since local-