According to Weber's law, discrimination between stimuli is based upon the proportional difference (ΔI/I), not the absolute difference (ΔI), between their magnitudes (I). How such nonlinear processing of signal information by receivers impacts the effectiveness of communication and drives patterns of signal evolution remains poorly understood. To investigate whether female preferences for exaggerated sexual signals follow Weber's law, we tested females of Cope's grey treefrog, Hyla chrysoscelis, in two-alternative choice tests, in which we varied both the absolute (ΔI) and proportional (ΔI/I) differences in duration between two advertisement calls. Consistent with Weber's law, female preferences for longer signals increased as ΔI/I increased; however, preferences were negatively related to both ΔI and absolute signal duration (I). This so-called ‘opposite miss’ to Weber's law (i.e. poorer discrimination performance than predicted at high stimulus magnitudes) has potential to shape signal evolution in distinct ways that differ in the extent to which further signal exaggeration is favoured. Our results highlight that animals use a diversity of approaches to information coding in perception, including coding that is neither linear nor strictly proportional according to Weber's law, and that perceptual processes have the potential to impact an important selective pressure – female preferences – and shape animal communication.

中文翻译：

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配偶选择和韦伯定律的“相反的失误”：比例处理控制着树蛙的信号偏好

根据韦伯定律，刺激之间的区分是基于它们的幅度 (I) 之间的比例差 (ΔI/I)，而不是绝对差 (ΔI)。接收器对信号信息的这种非线性处理如何影响通信的有效性并驱动信号演化模式仍然知之甚少。为了研究女性对夸大性信号的偏好是否遵循韦伯定律，我们在两种选择测试中测试了 Cope 灰色树蛙 Hyla chrysoscelis 的雌性，其中我们改变了绝对 (ΔI) 和比例 (ΔI/I) 差异两次广告调用之间的持续时间。与韦伯定律一致，女性对更长信号的偏好随着 ΔI/I 的增加而增加；然而，偏好与 ΔI 和绝对信号持续时间 (I) 均呈负相关。这种所谓的韦伯定律的“相反的失误”（即在高刺激幅度下的辨别性能比预测的差）有可能以不同的方式塑造信号演变，这些方式在进一步夸大信号的程度方面有所不同。我们的结果强调，动物在感知中使用多种信息编码方法，包括根据韦伯定律既不是线性的也不是严格成比例的编码，并且感知过程有可能影响重要的选择压力——女性偏好——并塑造动物沟通。比在高刺激幅度下预测的更差的辨别性能）有可能以不同的方式塑造信号演变，这些方式在进一步放大信号的程度方面有所不同。我们的结果强调，动物在感知中使用多种信息编码方法，包括根据韦伯定律既不是线性的也不是严格成比例的编码，并且感知过程有可能影响重要的选择压力——女性偏好——并塑造动物沟通。比在高刺激幅度下预测的更差的辨别性能）有可能以不同的方式塑造信号演变，这些方式在进一步放大信号的程度方面有所不同。我们的结果强调，动物在感知中使用多种信息编码方法，包括根据韦伯定律既不是线性的也不是严格成比例的编码，并且感知过程有可能影响重要的选择压力——女性偏好——并塑造动物沟通。