Bioacoustics & Ecoacoustics Glossary

Morton’s principle (or motivation-structural rules)

https://glossary.acousti.cloud/mortons-principle

en

The correspondence between the structure of an acoustic signal and the context of the sender’s emission and motivation. For example, and in general, a dull rumble is more indicative of aggressive intentions, while small, high-pitched, low-intensity calls are typical of a submissive attitude.

Reference: [1] Mathevon (2023), The Voices of Nature: How and Why Animals Communicate, pp. 305–308.