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Richard (Rick) Braaten
Professor of Psychology
Department/Office Information
Psychological and Brain SciencesContact
My recent research is concerned with constraints on song learning in birds. Birdsong learning is constrained in two ways. First, songbirds are more likely to learn the song of their species than the songs of heterospecifics, indicating constraints on the kinds of songs that are learned. Second, songbirds are more likely to learn songs presented during a specialized period of development, the sensitive period. Cognitive processes responsible for constraints on song learning are poorly understood. There has also been little research on how these constraints change with development.
My research is aimed at better understanding the cognitive processes that guide song learning, their potential role in selective learning of conspecific song, and possible changes in these processes with age and experience. Experiments involve operant conditioning methods to study how song learning in zebra finches is influenced by several processes, including reinforcement, attention, perceptual identification and categorization, and memory. In order to study possible developmental changes, the effects of these processes on song learning are assessed in zebra finches during and after the sensitive period for song learning. Effects of early experience are also evaluated by testing birds raised in acoustic isolation from zebra finch song.
The research is supported by Colgate University and the National Science Foundation.