5. Acoustics and Social Behavior
257
7. Areas of Future Inquiry-Acquisition, Analysis,
and Application
Future areas of inquiry and examples of the benefits gained from each
technique are listed in Table 5.5 and include the following:
7.1 Sensory and Social Sets of Information
7.1.1 Environmental Envelopes
Environmental envelopes, including the sounds of wind, waves, and fish
movement, need to be assessed (see Richardson et aI. 1995 for review).
What does a fish moving under the sand sound like? What transmits
during long-distance conspecific information (i.e., frequency, rhythm, escalation of vocalizations)?
7.1.2 Context, Development, and Identification of the
Individual Vocalizer
Correlating vocalizations with behavior is critical, even if done only from a
surface perspective. The importance of including contextual information,
including individuals, audience, and relationship, during the use of communicative signals has been emphasized by many researchers (Smith 1977;
Tavolga 1983). Learning, memory, development, and the relationship
between cognition and communication is relevant to delphinid communication (Johnson 1993).
7.1.3 Abilities to Detect, Decipher, and Discriminate the World
Recent work on language in nonhuman species focuses on aspects of receptive competencies including listening, understanding, and comprehension
as primary to functional testing of a communication system (SavageRumbaugh et aI. 1986; Herman and Morrel-Samuels 1996). Sound sets
available to dolphins determine their ability and need to decipher signals
for environmental navigation, predator detection, and social negotiations.
7.1.4 Measuring Affective States
In addition to providing sociological and ecological parameters that are
external to the vocalizer, both direct (physiological) and indirect (postures,
movements) measures can be integrated into analysis of affective states and
correlated acoustics of indivudual dolphins.
7.1.5 Full Bandwidth Recording
Bandwidth-limited technology has been the largest obstacle in obtaining
full sound production information. Our inability to regularly document the
257
7. Areas of Future Inquiry-Acquisition, Analysis,
and Application
Future areas of inquiry and examples of the benefits gained from each
technique are listed in Table 5.5 and include the following:
7.1 Sensory and Social Sets of Information
7.1.1 Environmental Envelopes
Environmental envelopes, including the sounds of wind, waves, and fish
movement, need to be assessed (see Richardson et aI. 1995 for review).
What does a fish moving under the sand sound like? What transmits
during long-distance conspecific information (i.e., frequency, rhythm, escalation of vocalizations)?
7.1.2 Context, Development, and Identification of the
Individual Vocalizer
Correlating vocalizations with behavior is critical, even if done only from a
surface perspective. The importance of including contextual information,
including individuals, audience, and relationship, during the use of communicative signals has been emphasized by many researchers (Smith 1977;
Tavolga 1983). Learning, memory, development, and the relationship
between cognition and communication is relevant to delphinid communication (Johnson 1993).
7.1.3 Abilities to Detect, Decipher, and Discriminate the World
Recent work on language in nonhuman species focuses on aspects of receptive competencies including listening, understanding, and comprehension
as primary to functional testing of a communication system (SavageRumbaugh et aI. 1986; Herman and Morrel-Samuels 1996). Sound sets
available to dolphins determine their ability and need to decipher signals
for environmental navigation, predator detection, and social negotiations.
7.1.4 Measuring Affective States
In addition to providing sociological and ecological parameters that are
external to the vocalizer, both direct (physiological) and indirect (postures,
movements) measures can be integrated into analysis of affective states and
correlated acoustics of indivudual dolphins.
7.1.5 Full Bandwidth Recording
Bandwidth-limited technology has been the largest obstacle in obtaining
full sound production information. Our inability to regularly document the