Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Professor Candy Rowe
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
Many animals produce and respond to signals made up of multiple components. For example, many avian sexual displays are highly extravagant combinations of visual and acoustic elements, and are described as being 'multicomponent'. One possible reason for the evolution of such complex signals is that they provide more reliable information for receivers. However, receivers also influence signal evolution in another important way, by how they perceive and profess signals: signallers will be selected to produce signals that are more easily received. The potential role of receiver psychology in the evolution of multicomponent signals has not previously been considered; in this review I present psychological results that support the notion that two components are better received than one alone. Detection an be improved by producing two components together, thus reducing the reaction time, increasing the probability of detection and lowering the intensity at which detection occurs. Discriminability of multicomponent stimuli is also made easier through better recognition, faster discrimination learning and multidimensional generalization. In addition, multicomponent stimuli also improve associative learning. I show that multicomponency does indeed improve signal reception in receivers, although the benefits of producing components in two sensory modalities (bimodal multicomponent signals) may be larger and more robust than producing them in just one (unimodal multicomponent signals). This highlights the need for consideration of receiver psychology in the evolution of multicomponent signals, and suggests that where signal components do not appear to be informative, they may instead be performing an important psychological function.
Author(s): Rowe C
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Animal Behaviour
Year: 1999
Volume: 58
Issue: 5
Pages: 921-931
ISSN (print): 0003-3472
ISSN (electronic): 1095-8282
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1999.1242
DOI: 10.1006/anbe.1999.1242
