Temporal Sequence Analysis of Bottlenose Dolphin Vocalizations
Date of Award
2009
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Natural Sciences
Second Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Henckell, Karsten
Keywords
Temporal Sequence, Syntax, Dolphin Vocalizations
Area of Concentration
Computer Science with an Emphasis in Theory
Abstract
This investigation explores the usefulness of statistical language processing methods for analyzing structure in sequences of vocalizations produced by Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). The inherent difficulties underlying such a process are examined and a suite of methods is established for the desired analysis. To date, few studies have addressed all the categories of dolphin vocalizations within a single analysis or the sequences in which they are produced. A protocol was developed to identify categories spanning the dolphin vocal repertoire and to define sequences of vocalizations. Varying datasets were constructed from an identified corpus to discriminate between differences in potential information content, based on assigning vocalizations to a few broad categories versus more finely defined groups. Sequences of broadly categorized vocalizations appeared to be randomly structured, but inclusion of finer groupings revealed a syntax; statistical analysis of a finely grouped dataset indicated the presence of correlations between successive vocalizations in a sequence. A well defined set of vocalizations also began and ended the sequences. Finally, analysis revealed that a number of vocalization types disregarded in previous studies occurred at very high frequency counts and in statistically significant pairs of vocalizations as computed by a log-likelihood measure of bi-gram association. Altogether these data suggest that sequences of dolphin vocalizations are constructed in a non-random fashion, i.e., they follow syntactic rules.
Recommended Citation
Abbott, Joshua T., "Temporal Sequence Analysis of Bottlenose Dolphin Vocalizations" (2009). Theses & ETDs. 4051.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/4051
Rights
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