Auditory reaction time and absolute threshold in cat

Abstract

Reaction time and absolute thresholds for acoustic stimuli were measured in cats using an operant reaction‐time procedure in conjunction with titration methodology. The reaction‐time/titration procedure incorporated a self‐paced feature and utilized a photobeam operandum developed for the cat. Absolute auditory thresholds,measured in two animals for frequencies between 0.25 and 8.0 kHz, compared favorably with published threshold data for the cat. Both threshold and reaction time were influenced by the test and stimulus conditions. A method of estimating the effect of guessing was developed that eliminates the need for catch trials. The reaction‐time/titration threshold procedure appears to be an effective method for use with the cat.