Abstract
A 2 yr. old captive sea lion (Zalophus californianus) presented with a discrimination task permitting little visibility of the targets gradually increased the frequency with which it made a series of underwater clicks. Further tests revealed that the amount of clicking elicited was inversely related to the degree of visibility and that the animal was incapable of discriminating between inanimate targets of different size and sound-reflecting characteristics on the basis of active sonar alone.
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This research was supported by NSF Grant GB-1437 and was presented at the 1965 meetings of the Eastern Psychological Association, Atlantic City, N J.
A click has been defined as a discrete sound pulse of short duration (see Broughton, 1964).
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Schusterman, R.J. Underwater Click Vocalizations by a California Sea Lion: Effects of Visibility. Psychol Rec 16, 129–136 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393651
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393651