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Water wave frequency discrimination in the clawed frog,Xenopus laevis

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Summary

  1. 1.

    The ability of adultXenopus laevis to discriminate water waves of different frequencies was tested by go/no-go conditioning.

  2. 2.

    In the range 5–30 Hz,Xenopus can distinguish waves on the basis of frequency. In this range, the relative discrimination limen DL had an optimum of 0.04 at 14 Hz and increased to 0.15 one octave above and below (Fig. 3). When the relative difficulty of the conditioning paradigm is taken into account, this discrimination acuity is in the range of vertebrate auditory discrimination.

  3. 3.

    Frequency discrimination was not limited to surface waves, but was also performed when the frog was sitting on the bottom of the basin.

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Abbreviations

S+ :

stimulus with response reward

S−:

stimulus with response punishment

†f :

frequency difference of the two waves being tested

DL :

relative discrimination limen †f/f

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fakultät Biologie, Universität Konstanz, Postfach 5560, D-7750, Konstanz, Federal Republic of Germany

    Andreas Elepfandt, Brigitte Seiler & Bernhard Aicher

Authors
  1. Andreas Elepfandt
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  2. Brigitte Seiler
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  3. Bernhard Aicher
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Elepfandt, A., Seiler, B. & Aicher, B. Water wave frequency discrimination in the clawed frog,Xenopus laevis . J. Comp. Physiol. 157, 255–261 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01350032

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