THE AUDITORY SENSITIVITY OF THE WHITE RAT 



WALTER S. HUNTER 



The University of Texas 



INTRODUCTION 



The present paper is a continuation of the research upon the 

 auditory sensitivity of the white rat reported in volume 4 of 

 this Journal 1 . That paper and the present one should be read 

 in conjunction with an article on the localization of sound in 

 the rat by Miss Barber 2 . The three together present a large 

 array of data upon the sensitivity of the white rat to tones in 



Figure 1. (Reprinted from volume 4, page 215, of this Journal.) T shaped 

 discrimination box. F, food; R, release box; X, tuning fork was held above 

 this point; A, alley stop, can be placed in either alley; S, switches. 



the lower part of the pitch scale. The results have been accumu- 

 lating since January, 1913, and so far as I can detect are all 

 consistently opposed to the conclusion that the rats are sen- 

 sitive to tones of the pitch used. Perhaps I should add "under 

 the present experimental conditions," but I can see no reason 

 for doubting that the method employed offered a perfectly fair 

 test of the rat's ability. 



The same apparatus and method were used in the present 



1 Hunter, Walter S. The Auditory Sensitivity of the White Rat. Journal 

 Animal Behavior, vol. 5, no. 4, 1915. 



2 Barber, Alda Grace. Localization of Sound in the White Rat. Journal Animal 

 Behavior, vol. 5„no. 4, 1915. 



312 



