Showing papers by "William C. Stebbins published in 1971"
TL;DR: Two monkeys were trained to press and hold a response key in the presence of a light and to release it at the onset of a pure tone, and the intensity of the pure tone that resulted in equal latencies at each frequency was determined.
Abstract: Two monkeys were trained to press and hold a response key in the presence of a light and to release it at the onset of a pure tone. Initially, all responses with latencies shorter than 1 sec were reinforced without regard to the frequency of the pure tone, and the intensity of the pure tone that resulted in equal latencies at each frequency was determined. The second stage of the experiment consisted of discrimination training, during which releases to one pure-tone frequency (positive stimulus) were reinforced and releases to a second frequency (negative stimulus) were extinguished. Median latencies to the negative stimulus slowly increased as did the variability of the latency distribution for the negative stimulus. There was no evidence of a concurrent decrease in latencies to the positive stimulus indicative of behavioral contrast. The third part of the experiment consisted of determining maintained generalization gradients by increasing the number of nonreinforcement stimuli. The gradients that eventually resulted showed approximately equal latencies to all frequencies of the negative stimulus and shorter latencies to the positive stimulus frequency.
13 citations
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TL;DR: The use of language for instructing the subject and for the subject's response assumes an extensive and complex history of discrimination training in regard to language on the part of both experimenter and subject as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Publisher Summary
This chapter provides an overview of hearing. There are two primary concerns for the laboratory scientist interested in a behavioral analysis of sensory function. First, there are the procedural problems of instructing the subject, ordering the stimuli for presentation, and data treatment of the subject's responses. The second concern is with the instruments, particularly the acoustic transducers. It is difficult to evaluate the characteristics of the sound field in relation to the physical position of the subject in any experimental arrangement. Precise measurement of the stimuli in physical units appropriate to the source of energy is essential to make any quantitative statements about the sensory acuity of an organism. The oldest and the most controversial area of inquiry in laboratory psychology and psychophysics is heavily introspective and firmly tied to language. The use of language for instructing the subject and for the subject's response assumes an extensive and complex history of discrimination training in regard to language on the part of both experimenter and subject.
1 citations