Why Doesn’t a Songbird (the European Starling) Use Pitch to Recognize Tone Sequences? The Informational Independence Hypothesis

Abstract

It has recently been shown that the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), a species of songbird, does not use pitch to recognize tone sequences. Instead, recognition relies on the pattern of spectral shapes created by successive tones. In this article I suggest that rather than being an unusual case, starlings may be representative of the way in which many animal species process tone sequences. Specifically, I suggest that recognition of tone sequences based on pitch patterns occurs only in certain species, namely, those that modulate the pitch and spectral shape of sounds independently in their own communication system to convey distinct types of information. This informational independence hypothesis makes testable predictions and suggests that a basic feature of human music perception relies on neural specializations, which are likely to be uncommon in cognitive evolution.