As part of ongoing research into the ability of koi to categorize complex auditory stimuli, we have had to develop novel apparatus, The stimulus generator presents sound from two CD drives under computer control through a new underwater speaker. The operant manipulandum is a horizontal button that eliminates spurious triggering by water turbulence and problematic response topographies. The button's design has also been adapted for use by tilapia in an aquacultural food-preference study. The feeder uses a nipple to dispense food pellets reliably under water. In this paper, the apparatus is described in detail. Also discussed are methodological issues related to its design, as weIl as its usage in a pilot study in which koi learned to discriminate music from silence by using a single manipulandum with food reinforcement.We have been studying the ability of fish-specifically koi (Cyprinus carpio)-to discriminate and categorize complex auditory stimuli such as music. In this paper, we describe both the apparatus that we have developed and a preliminary experiment that demonstrates the use of the apparatus and illustrates some methodological issues. In designing the apparatus, we were guided by ethological as weil as practical considerations.In designing our aquarium, we were influenced by the fact that koi are social animals. Living in isolation can be stressful in itself, but transportation between a horne tank and a separate experimental tank can be stressful and experimentally impractical, especially once fish have grown to a length of more than a foot and a weight of several pounds. Therefore, our aquarium consists ofa group horne tank that can be partitioned into experimental and holding areas.We also developed a response button and feeder because we needed reliable equipment.
least a limited perception of speech.A wearable twenty-channel electrotactile vocoder was used to transform audio speech stimuli into tactile patterns via a linear display on the abdomen, analogous to a frequency-to-spatial transform with increased resolution in the F2 region. A two-choice discrimination task, with simultaneous auditory and tactile feedback, was used to train and test hearing subjects on the tactile discrimination of monosyllabic words having minimal phonemic differences. In subsequent studies, the perception of words embedded in sentences and in connected discourse was tested. Results, and implications for the processing of speech information via the tactile mode, will be discussed.
Research is in progress to determine the extent to which hearing subjects can learn to process speech presented only in the tactile mode. This approach extends the theoretical ccncepts of sensory substitution to the area of profound deafness. A 20-channel tactile vocoder was used to transform audio speech stimuli into tactile patterns on a belt worn on the abdomen. The tactile transform is analogous to a frequency-to-spatial transform with increased resolution in the F2 region. A two-choice discrimination task, with feedback, was used to train and test hearing subjects on the tactile discrimination of monosyllabic words having minimal phonetic differences. After responding to each stimulus, subjects received simultaneous tactile and auditory feedback. Results from this study and from subsequent research will be presented.
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