individual members of a species that form the basis of communicative
behavior. The neuroethological approach presented here builds on the psychophysical perspective by extending analysis to the perception of natural,
complex sounds (or simulations thereof) in addition to sounds embodying
variations of particular acoustic parameters. In addition, the influence of
social, ecological and environmental factors on auditory perception and
discrimination is explicitly addressed. Similar neuroethological perspectives
can be found in chapters by Zelick et al. (1999), which focuses on field
studies of sound communication in anurans, and Römer (1998), which
examines ecological factors constraining insect communication. Clearly,
both psychophysical limits and real-world manifestations of performance
are influenced by the evolutionary history of the species, and neuroethological analyses attempt to integrate both types of experimental and theoretical approaches.
1.1. The Neuroethological Perspective
According to Tinbergen (1963), a useful way to answer the question of
“what makes behavior happen the way it does” is to dissect this question
into different levels of conceptual and experimental analysis. On one level,
behavior can be analyzed mechanistically in terms of its underlying physiological and hormonal bases. A second level of analysis is ontogenetic,
which considers the differing influences of genetic and environmental
factors on the expression of behavior during an individual’s lifetime.
Tinbergen called the mechanistic and ontogenetic levels the “proximate”
causes of behavior because they concern events within an individual
organism. Behavior also can be understood phylogenetically, from its evolutionary history, and in terms of its fitness consequences and adaptive significance. Tinbergen called these two additional levels of analysis the
“ultimate” causes of behavior because they concern events taking place
across multiple individuals on a time scale spanning numerous generations.
Neuroethological studies attempt to integrate all four of these levels of
analysis into a unified view of behavior. Although some chapters in this
volume focus more closely on ultimate (Bass and Clark, Chapter 2;
Fitch and Hauser, Chapter 3; Ryan and Kime, Chapter 5 ) or proximate
(Boughman and Moss, Chapter 4; Yamaguchi and Kelley, Chapter 6;
Gentner and Margoliash, Chapter 7) explanations, all of them examine
acoustic communication within Tinbergen’s theoretical framework. For
example, Fitch and Hauser creatively place the issue of the evolution of
honest and dishonest signals in the context of the mechanistic constraints
imposed by the signaler’s vocal apparatus. This direct inclusion of proximate mechanisms in ultimate explanations distinguishes chapters in this
volume from those in earlier, classic volumes on animal acoustic communication (e.g., Lanyon and Tavolga 1960; Busnel 1963), which focused primarily on evolutionary origins and functional descriptions of vocal signals.
1. Acoustic Communication
3
behavior. The neuroethological approach presented here builds on the psychophysical perspective by extending analysis to the perception of natural,
complex sounds (or simulations thereof) in addition to sounds embodying
variations of particular acoustic parameters. In addition, the influence of
social, ecological and environmental factors on auditory perception and
discrimination is explicitly addressed. Similar neuroethological perspectives
can be found in chapters by Zelick et al. (1999), which focuses on field
studies of sound communication in anurans, and Römer (1998), which
examines ecological factors constraining insect communication. Clearly,
both psychophysical limits and real-world manifestations of performance
are influenced by the evolutionary history of the species, and neuroethological analyses attempt to integrate both types of experimental and theoretical approaches.
1.1. The Neuroethological Perspective
According to Tinbergen (1963), a useful way to answer the question of
“what makes behavior happen the way it does” is to dissect this question
into different levels of conceptual and experimental analysis. On one level,
behavior can be analyzed mechanistically in terms of its underlying physiological and hormonal bases. A second level of analysis is ontogenetic,
which considers the differing influences of genetic and environmental
factors on the expression of behavior during an individual’s lifetime.
Tinbergen called the mechanistic and ontogenetic levels the “proximate”
causes of behavior because they concern events within an individual
organism. Behavior also can be understood phylogenetically, from its evolutionary history, and in terms of its fitness consequences and adaptive significance. Tinbergen called these two additional levels of analysis the
“ultimate” causes of behavior because they concern events taking place
across multiple individuals on a time scale spanning numerous generations.
Neuroethological studies attempt to integrate all four of these levels of
analysis into a unified view of behavior. Although some chapters in this
volume focus more closely on ultimate (Bass and Clark, Chapter 2;
Fitch and Hauser, Chapter 3; Ryan and Kime, Chapter 5 ) or proximate
(Boughman and Moss, Chapter 4; Yamaguchi and Kelley, Chapter 6;
Gentner and Margoliash, Chapter 7) explanations, all of them examine
acoustic communication within Tinbergen’s theoretical framework. For
example, Fitch and Hauser creatively place the issue of the evolution of
honest and dishonest signals in the context of the mechanistic constraints
imposed by the signaler’s vocal apparatus. This direct inclusion of proximate mechanisms in ultimate explanations distinguishes chapters in this
volume from those in earlier, classic volumes on animal acoustic communication (e.g., Lanyon and Tavolga 1960; Busnel 1963), which focused primarily on evolutionary origins and functional descriptions of vocal signals.
1. Acoustic Communication
3