2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

A study of formation and diffusion of trends by tracing vocal alterations in budgerigars

Research Project

Project/Area Number	22830131
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Experimental psychology
Research Institution	The University of Tokyo (2011) The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (2010)
Principal Investigator	SEKI Yoshimasa 東京大学, 大学院・総合文化研究科, 民間等共同研究員 (50575123)
Project Period (FY)	2010 – 2011
Keywords	コミュニケーション / 模倣 / 発声学習
Research Abstract	Four budgerigars were put in a sound attenuate chamber. Then, all vocalizations of those birds were recorded during 24 hours per day for around 2 weeks. This experiment was conducted in 5 groups, including male-only groups and male-female groups. I analyzed vocal timings, the number of vocalizations and the acoustic properties of those vocalizations. The results showed vocal synchronizations among subjects and some individuals guided vocal behaviors of the other subjects, indicating this kind of study in budgerigars should contribute to investigate formation and diffusion of trends in also humans.